ke in roughly, "will you never have done and go to
sleep?" And so, taking surly harshness for a mask when my heart was nigh
bursting with shame and grief, I turned my back and cut him off.

XXIV

HOW WE FOUND THE SUNKEN VALLEY

Looking back upon the hazards and chance-takings of our adventure in the
wilderness, I recall no more promising risk than that we ran by sleeping
unsentried within rifle-shot, for aught we knew, of the camp of the
enemy.

But touching this, 'tis only on the mimic stage of the romances that the
players rise to the plane of superhuman sagacity and angel-wit, never
faltering in their lines nor betraying by slip or tongue-trip their
kinship with common humankind. Being mere mortals we were not so
endowed; we were but four outwearied men, well spent in the long chase,
with never a leg among us fit to pace a sentry beat nor a decent wakeful
eye to keep it company. So, as I have said, we took the risk and slept;
would have slept as soundly, I dare say, had the risk been twice as
great.

We were astir at the earliest graying of the dawn, Richard and I, and
were the laggards of the company at that, since the old hunter was
already out and away, and the Indian had kindled a fire and was
grinding more of the parched corn for the morning meal. Dick sat up in
his leaf litter, yawning like a sleepy giant.

"Lord, Jack," said he; "if ever we win out of this coil with a full day
to spare, I mean to sleep the clock hands twice around at a stretch, I
promise you. 'Twas but a catch, this cat-nap; no more than enough to
leave a bad taste in the mouth."

"Aye; but the taste may be washed out," said I. "I am for a dip in the
river; what say you?"

He took me at the word, and we had an eye-opening plunge in the
spring-cold flood of the swift little river at the mouth of our ravine.
'Twas most marvelous refreshing; and with appetites sharp set and
whetted by the stripping and plunging we were back at the fire in time
to give good day to Ephraim Yeates, at that moment returned with the
hindquarters of a fine yearling buck, fresh-killed, across his
shoulders.

Seeing the deer's meat, we would think the old hunter's thrift of the
dawn sufficiently accounted for; but when the cuts were a-broil, we were
made to know that the buck was merely a lucky incident in the early
morning scouting.

Taking time by the forelock, the old borderer had swept a circle of
reconnaissance around our halting place, "to get