s movements. He now felt no fear of
danger. The stranger's flight up the cleft in the chasm wall and his
careful attempts to conceal his trail among the rocks assured Rod that
he had no designs upon his life. His chief purpose had seemed to be to
keep secret his own presence in the gorge, and this fact in itself added
to the mystification of the white youth. For a long time he had been
secretly puzzled, and had evolved certain ideas of his own because of
the movements of the Woongas. Contrary to the opinions of Mukoki and
Wabigoon, he believed that the red outlaws were perfectly conscious of
their presence in the dip. From the first their actions had been
unaccountable, but not once had one of their snow-shoe trails crossed
their trap-lines.

Was this fact in itself not significant? Rod was of a contemplative
theoretical turn of mind, one of those wide-awake, interesting young
fellows who find food for conjecture in almost every incident that
occurs, and his suspicions were now aroused to an unusual pitch. A chief
fault, however, was that he kept most of his suspicions to himself, for
he believed that Mukoki and Wabigoon, born and taught in the life of the
wilderness, were infallible in their knowledge of the ways and the laws
and the perils of the world they were in.

CHAPTER XII

THE SECRET OF THE SKELETON'S HAND

A little before noon Rod arrived at the top of the hill from which he
could look down on their camp. He was filled with pleasurable
anticipation, and with an unbounded swelling satisfaction that caused
him to smile as he proceeded into the dip. He had found a fortune in the
mysterious chasm. The burden of the silver fox upon his shoulders was a
most pleasing reminder of that, and he pictured the moment when the
good-natured raillery of Mukoki and Wabigoon would be suddenly turned
into astonishment and joy.

As he approached the cabin the young hunter tried to appear disgusted
and half sick, and his effort was not bad in spite of his decided
inclination to laugh. Wabi met him in the doorway, grinning broadly, and
Mukoki greeted him with a throatful of his inimitable chuckles.

"Aha, here's Rod with a packful of gold!" cried the young Indian,
striking an expectant attitude. "Will you let us see the treasure?" In
spite of his banter there was gladness in his face at Rod's arrival.

The youth threw off his pack with a spiritless effort and flopped into a
chair as though in the last stage of exhaust