. I brought it from the boat, thinkin'
you fellers would want it afore long."

"What do you say, Henry?" asked Shif'less Sol. "Coffee would be pow'ful
warmin'. None o' us hez tasted anything but cold vittles for more'n a
day now. Let's take the chances on it."

Henry hesitated but the chill was still in his blood and he yielded.
Besides the risk was not great.

"All right," he said; "gather dead wood and we'll be as quick about it
as we can."

The wood was ready in a minute. Tom Ross whittled off shavings with his
knife. Shif'less Sol set fire to them with flint and steel. In a few
minutes something was bubbling inside Jim Hart's coffee pot, and sending
out a glorious odor.

Shif'less Sol sniffed the odor.

"I'm growin' younger," he said. "I'm at least two years younger than I
wuz when I woke up. I wish to return thanks right now to the old Greek
feller who invented fire. What did you say his name was, Paul?"

"Prometheus. He didn't invent fire, Sol, but according to the story he
brought it down from the heavens."

"It's all the same," said the shiftless one as he looked attentively at
the steaming coffee pot. "I guess it wuz about the most useful trip
Promethy ever made when he brought that fire down."

Everyone in turn drank from the cup. They also heated their dried
venison over the coals, and, as they ate and drank, they felt fresh
strength pouring into every vein. When the pot was empty Jim put it on
the ground to cool, and as he scattered the coals of fire with a kick,
Henry, who was sitting about a yard away suddenly lay flat and put his
ear to the earth.

"Do you hear anything, Henry?" asked Shif'less Sol, who knew the meaning
of the action.

"I thought I heard the bark of a dog," replied Henry, "but I was not
sure before I put my ear to the ground that it was not imagination. Now
I know it's truth. I can hear the barking distinctly, and it is coming
this way."

"Some o' them ornery yellow curs hev picked up our trail," said
Shif'less Sol, "an' o' course the warriors will follow."

"Which, I take it, means that it is time for us to move from our present
abode," said Paul.

Long Jim hastily thrust the coffee pot, not yet cold, and the cup back
into his pack, and they went towards the South at a gait that was half a
run and half a walk, easy but swift.

"This ain't a flight," said Shif'less Sol. "It's just a masterly
retreat. But I'll tell you, boys, I don't like to run away from dogs. It
humi