kind of matting, over which they intended to spread
furs or skins as they obtained them.

"Caves are cold when left to theirselves," said the Little Giant, "an'
it's lucky thar's a good nateral place fur our fire jest beside the
door. We'll have lots o' meat in here, too, 'cause Jim's a fine hunter
an' the valley is full o' game. Thar must be a lot o' grizzly bears
roun' in these mountings, too, Young William. Wouldn't it be funny ef we
went out some day an' come back to find our new house occupied by a
whole family o' fightin' grizzlies, every one o' them with iron claws,
ten inches long?"

"No, it wouldn't be funny, Giant, it would be tragic."

"Ef you jest knew it, Young William, we're mighty well off. Many a
trappin' outfit hez been froze in in the mountings, in quarters not half
so good ez ours."

Boyd shot another elk and smaller deer, and on the next day secured more
game, which they cured, concluding now that they had enough to last them
indefinitely. Will and the Little Giant, meanwhile, had been working on
the house, and Boyd, his hunting over, joined them. The cured skins of
the animals were put over the leaf thatch of the floor as they had
planned, and as they procured them they intended to hang more on the
walls, for the sake of dryness and warmth.

Although the clouds threatened continuously the storm still held off.
They expected every morning to wake up and find the snow drifting, but
the sun always showed, although dim and obscured by vapors. Will still
led the horses and mules down to the grass every morning, and, every
night, led them back to the new stone stable. The valley began to wear
the aspect of home, of a home by no means uncomfortable, but on the
sixth night there Will was awakened by something cold and wet striking
upon his face. He went to the door, looked out and saw that the snow
they had been expecting so long had come at last. It was thick, driving
hard, and for the first time he hung in place the great bearskin,
securing it tightly with the fastenings they had arranged and then went
back to sleep.

He was the first to awake the next morning, and pushing aside the
bearskin, he looked out to see snow still falling and apparently a good
six inches in depth already.

"Wake up, Jim, and you, too, Giant!" he called. "Here's our storm at
last, and lucky it is that we're holed up so well."

Boyd joined him. The snow was so dense that they could not see across
the valley, but it was n