"Ah-ho!" said Edwin, giving the response and imitating the voice of a grown-up and serious warrior.
"The Word of Command is before you two," continued Aleck, "the Leader;" "and it is, that soon after Gray-beard has gone to bed you are to go to the village and enter the house of Hae'-sha-ra-gae, where you will see a woman making pemmican. You will say to her, 'Woman!' we are the commanded and the bearers of the word of Command. Of you we demand a bag of pemmican. Give willingly, and you shall go beyond the four hills of life without stumbling; there shall be no weariness in the pathway of life to hinder your feet, and your grandchildren shall be many and their succession endless!' Fail not in your mission. Your way out of the house shall be through one of the windows in our dormitory, and by a rope."
"It is bed-time, boys, come right up," called Gray-beard, from the head of the stairs. "See that the large doors are bolted."
When we were in bed, Gray-beard went softly downstairs, and we heard him open his door, close it, then lock it. Some of the youngsters were still awake, and, when they heard the closing of Gray-beard's door, began to talk. It seemed as though they would never stop and go to sleep, so that we could carry out the Word of Command. After a while Aleck thought of a plan, and started a game often played by small boys at night; he said, loud enough for the little boys to hear, "Tha'-ka!" Brush and the rest of us repeated the word, one after the other, and each of the wakeful little fellows, according to the rules of the game, was obliged in his turn to utter the word, and then there was silence, for no one can speak after he has said the word. Soon heavy breathing among the little ones gave sign that they had entered the land of dreams.
It was near the middle of the night when one by one the members of the Big Seven and the Middle Five noiselessly arose. George tiptoed to a corner and brought out a large coil of rope. We went with it to the window directly over that of Gray-beard's bed-room. I do not know why we selected that window, the only dangerous one in the dormitory, but there seemed to be a fatality about it. Very softly the window was raised; George slipped the noose at the end of the rope around his body, then climbed through the window. Slowly we let him down the three stories to the ground. Then we hauled the rope up again, and let Edwin down in the same manner. We closed the window, leaving space enough for the rope, which remained dangling.
On entering the village, the two boys were met by a pack of noisy curs that snapped and snarled at their heels. As the dogs became bolder in their attacks, the lads struck right and left with the heavy sticks they carried; one dog limped away yelping, and another lay thumping his tail on the ground, stunned.
The door of the house designated by the leader of the Big Seven squeaked loudly on its rusty hinges as the boys swung it open without the ceremony of knocking. A woman at work in one corner of the room looked up at them, smiled good-naturedly, and said in a sympathetic tone:
"Such a dark night as this! On what errand do they come, and little White-chests, too?"
Four men were sitting on the floor around a flickering candle playing a game; they too looked up at the sound of the door.
"Oho!" said the man of the house, who was one of the players, "for a long time you have not entered my dwelling on a visit; I fear you will make it rain! Walk around the stove and break the charm."