rd we saw to-day."

Wetzel left the cave by the rear. It took him fifteen minutes to
crawl to the head of the tortuous, stony passage. Lifting the stone
which closed up the aperture, he looked out and listened. Then,
rising, he replaced the stone, and passed down the wooded hillside.

It was a beautiful morning; the dew glistened on the green leaves,
the sun shone bright and warm, the birds warbled in the trees. The
hunter's moccasins pressed so gently on the moss and leaves that
they made no more sound than the soft foot of a panther. His trained
ear was alert to catch any unfamiliar noise; his keen eyes sought
first the remoter open glades and glens, then bent their gaze on the
mossy bluff beneath his feet. Fox squirrels dashed from before him
into bushy retreats; grouse whirred away into the thickets; startled
deer whistled, and loped off with their white-flags upraised. Wetzel
knew from the action of these denizens of the woods that he was the
only creature, not native to these haunts, who had disturbed them
this morning. Otherwise the deer would not have been grazing, but
lying low in some close thicket; fox squirrels seldom or never were
disturbed by a hunter twice in one day, for after being frightened
these little animals, wilder and shyer than gray squirrels, remained
hidden for hours, and grouse that have been flushed a little while
before, always get up unusually quick, and fly very far before
alighting.

Wetzel circled back over the hill, took a long survey from a rocky
eminence, and then reconnoitered the lowland for several miles. He
located the herd of buffalo, and satisfying himself there were no
Indians near--for the bison were grazing quietly--he returned to the
cave. A soft whistle into the back door of the rocky home told Joe
that the hunter was waiting.

"Coast clear?" whispered the lad, thrusting his head out of the
entrance. His gray eyes gleamed brightly, showing his eager spirit.

The hunter nodded, and, throwing his rifle in the hollow of his arm,
proceeded down the hill. Joe followed closely, endeavoring, as
Wetzel had trained him, to make each step precisely in the hunter's
footprints. The lad had soon learned to step nimbly and softly as a
cat. When half way down the bill Wetzel paused.

"See anythin'?" he whispered.

Joe glanced on all sides. Many mistakes had taught him to be
cautious. He had learned from experience that for every woodland
creature he saw, there were ten watching