. He did not like to rob
women, but it must be done, and he bethought himself of his painted
coat. Pulling it high over his head, concealing his rifle under it and
uttering a tremendous woof, he stalked into the open in which the fire
was burning.

The two Indian women, when they beheld the apparition, uttered
simultaneous screams and fled into the forest, while the hungry young
robber, lifting their turkey from the fire, where it was already well
broiled, disappeared among the trees in the opposite direction, happy to
have secured his rations through the aid of fright only and without
violence. He knew, however, that he could not afford to satisfy his
hunger just then. Warriors, and perhaps a village, could not be far
away, and the men, divining that the fright of the women was caused by a
human being, would soon come in pursuit. So he went at least two or
three miles before he sat down and ate a substantial dinner, reserving
the remainder for future use. Truly the wild turkey was his best friend.

That night he lay again in the forest, and he was devoutly glad that he
had saved the painted robe. The climate of the great valley is fickle,
and it rapidly turned colder again. Raw winds whistled through the
woods, and he had difficulty in finding a sheltered place where, even
with the aid of the robe, he could keep warm. He selected at last a tiny
glen, well grown with tall bushes on every side, heaped up parallel rows
of dead leaves, and then, lying down between them, wrapped in the robe,
fell asleep.

When he awoke his face felt cold, and opening his eyes, he found that it
had good reason to be so. It was covered with snow, and upon the robe
itself the snow lay deep. The whole forest was white, and, as he stood
up, he heard branches cracking beneath the weight that had gathered on
them in the night. It had come down in thick and great flakes, but so
softly that it had failed to awaken him.

Henry, despite his courage and strength, was alarmed. It is one thing
even for the best trained to live in the forest in summer, but quite
another in winter. Nor was the aspect of the sky encouraging. It was
somber with clouds, and, even as he looked at it, the snow began to fall
again. It was not an ordinary snow, but the clouds just ripped their
bottoms out and let their entire burden fall at once. A huge white
cataract seemed to fill the whole air, and Henry's alarm deepened into
dismay. The snow would soon be six inches deep,