rts. All, after the single
look, sank back into the shadows, and the forest was silent and deserted.
Paul and Henry, as they slept, were guarded by a single gleam of fire from
all enemies save human kind.

But as the night thickened there had been a whirring in the air not far
away. An hour earlier the twilight had been deepened by something that
looked like a great cloud coming before the sun. It was a cloud that moved
swiftly, and it was made of a myriad of motes, closely blended. It
resolved itself soon into a vast flock of wild pigeons, millions and
millions flying southward to escape the coming winter.

Presently they settled down upon the forest for the night, and all the
trees were filled with the chattering multitude. Often the bough bent
almost to the ground beneath the weight of birds, clustered so thick that
they could scarcely find a footing. The fox and the wolf that had looked
at the lone cabin came back now to seek, an easier prey.

Henry Ware slept until far after midnight, and then he awoke easily,
without jerk or start. The fire had burned down, and a deep bed of coals
lay on the hearth. Paul still slept, and when Henry touched him he found
that he had ceased to perspire. No trace of the fever was left. Yet he
would be very weak when he awoke, and he would need nourishing food. It
was his comrade's task to get it. Henry took his rifle and went outside.
The moon was shining now, and threw a dusky silver light over all the
forest. He might find game, and, if so, he resolved to risk a shot. The
chances were that no human being save himself would hear it. He felt
rather than saw that nothing had happened while he slept. No enemy to be
feared had come, while all his own strength and elasticity had returned to
him. Never had he felt stronger or more perfectly attuned in body and
mind.

He moved again in a circuit about the cabin, watching carefully, and now
and then looking up among the trees. Perhaps an opossum might be hanging
from a bough! But he saw nothing until he widened his circuit, and then he
ran directly into the myriads of wild pigeons. Here was food for an army,
and he quickly secured plenty of it. The danger of the rifle report was
gone, as he had nothing to do but take a stick and knock off a bough as
many of the pigeons as he wished. Then he hastened back to the cabin with
his welcome burden. Paul still slept, and it pleased Henry to give him a
surprise. He kindled the fire afresh, cleaned