that their trail might be hidden by the melting sleet,
they packed and departed before breakfast, choosing a northwesterly
direction. They picked the best ground, but it was all rough.
Nevertheless the three were cheerful, and the Little Giant whistled like
a nightingale.

"Ef I remember right," he said, "we'll soon be descendin', droppin' down
fast so to speak, an' then the weather will grow a heap warmer. The
sun's out now, though, an' by noon anyway all the sleet will be gone,
which will help us a lot."

They had been walking most of the time, allowing their animals to
follow, which both horses and mules did, not only through long training
but because they had become used to the companionship of men. The three
might have abandoned them, escaping pursuit in the almost inaccessible
mazes of the mountains, but no such thought entered their minds. The
horses and mules not only carried their supplies, chief among which
being the ammunition, but also the tools with which to work the mine,
and then, in Will's mind at least, they and more of them would be needed
to bring back to civilization the tons of gold.

They were now in a fairly level, though narrow, valley, and all three of
them were riding. Once more they saw far behind them smoke signals
rising, and Boyd felt sure that the Sioux somehow had blundered upon
the trail anew. Then he and the Little Giant spoke together earnestly.

"The longest way 'roun' is sometimes the shortest way through," said
Giant Tom. "It's no plains for us, not fur many days to come. I'm
thinkin' that what we've got to do is to keep on goin' deeper an' deeper
into the mountains, an' higher an' higher, too, plum' up among them
glaciers, whar the Sioux won't keer to foller. Then, when we winter a
while thar we kin turn back toward the plains an' our search."

"Looks like good reasoning to me," said Boyd. "As I told the boy here,
once, we're richer in time than anything else. We must make for the
heights. What say you, Will?"

"I'm learning patience," replied the lad. "It's better to wait than to
spill all the beans at once. Let's head straight for the glaciers."

Will felt that there was something terrible about the Sioux pursuit. He
was beginning to realize to the full the power of Indian tenacity, and
he was anxious to shake off the warriors, no matter how high they had to
go. He knew nothing of the region about them, but he had heard that
mountains in many portions of the West rose to a