and then lest he
should break through the bushes and appear in their little glen, but
Boyd knew him better. He was content to leave alone those who left him
alone.

The breakfast with its hot coffee and hot food was very grateful, and
continuing the descent of the slope they passed through other narrow
passes and over other ridges, but all the while ascending gradually, the
world about them growing in majesty and beauty. Four days and a large
part of four nights they traveled thus after leaving the little valley
with the blue lake, and the bright air was growing steadily colder as
they rose. Boyd talked a little now of stopping, but he did not yet see
a place that fulfilled all his ideas of a good and safe camp, though he
said they would soon find it.

"How far do you think we've come into the mountains?" asked Will.

"About a hundred miles, more or less," replied the hunter.

"Seems to me more like a thousand, chiefly more. If the Sioux find us
here they'll have to be the finest mountain climbers and ravine crossers
the world has ever seen. Just what are you looking for, Jim?"

"Four things, wood, water, grass and shelter. We've got to have 'em,
both for ourselves and the horses, and we've got to find 'em soon,
because, d'you see, Will, we've been wonderfully favored by Providence.
The rains and storms have held off longer than they usually do in the
high mountains, but we can't expect 'em to hold off forever just for our
sakes. Besides, the hoofs of the horses are getting sore, and it's time
to give 'em a long rest."

They were now far up the high slopes, but not beyond the timber range.
The air was thin and cold, and at night they always used two pairs of
blankets, spreading the under pair on thick beds of dry leaves. In the
morning the pools would be frozen over, but toward noon the ice under
the slanting rays of the sun would melt. The march itself, and the air
laden with odors of pine and spruce, and cedar and balsam, was healthful
and invigorating. Will felt his chest expand. He knew that his lung
power, already good, was increasing remarkably and that his muscles were
both growing and hardening.

Another day and crossing a ridge so sharp that they were barely able to
pull the horses over it, they came to a valley set close around by high
mountains, a valley about three miles long and a mile wide, one-third of
its surface covered by a lake, usually silver in color, but varying with
the sky above it. Anoth