aid the Little Giant. "Mebbe nobody hez ever been
up here so high before, an' this old giant of a mountain don't like our
settin' here on his neck. I've seen a lot o' the big peaks in the
Rockies, w'arin' thar white hats o' snow, an' they allers 'pear to me to
be alive, lookin' down so solemn an' sometimes so threatenin'. Hark to
that, will you! I know it wuz jest the screamin' o' the wind, but it
sounded to me like the howlin' o' a thousand demons. Are you shore,
young William, that thar ain't imps an' critters o' that kind on the
tops o' high mountings, waitin' fur innocent fellers like us?"

Will slept at last, but the mind that can remain troubled and uneasy
through sleep awoke him several times in the course of the night, and
always he heard the fierce, threatening blasts shrieking and howling
over the mountain. His eyes yet heavy with sleep, it seemed to him in
spite of himself that there must be something in the Little Giant's
suggestion that imps and demons on the great peaks resented their
presence. He knew that it could not be true, but he felt as if it were,
and once he rose all swathed in many garments and stroked the noses of
the horses and mules, which were moving uneasily and showing other signs
of alarm.

Dawn came, clear, with the wind not so high, but icily cold. They fed
the last of the little store of hay to the animals, ate cold food
themselves, and then crept out of the canyon, leading their horses and
mules with the most extreme care, a care that nevertheless would have
been in vain had not all the beasts been trained to mountain climbing.
It was a most perilous day, but the next night found them so far down on
the western slope of the White Dome that they had reached the timber
line again.

The trees were dwarfed and scraggly, but they were trees just the same,
affording shelter from wind and cold, and fuel for a fire, which the
travelers built, providing themselves once more with warm food and
coffee as sizzling hot as they could stand it. The animals found a
little solace for their hunger by chewing on the tenderest parts of the
bushes.

After the meal they built the fire higher, deciding that they would
watch by turns and keep it going through the night. As the wind was not
so threatening and the glow of the coals was cheerful they slept well,
in their turns, and all felt fresh and vigorous when they renewed the
journey the next morning. They descended rapidly now among the lower
ranges o