"Dead? The Keeper dead?" he repeated hoarsely. In a few words I told him all that had passed. He bowed his head slowly, and two great tears trickled down over his beard, but no more. When he raised his countenance again I scarce knew it, so deep-sunken was it all in a moment, so ghastly pale.
"Come, Davie," he muttered as if his spirit had broken beneath the weight of sorrow. "Swift Arrow has not yet arrived. We are in bad case, and—and—I am hard hit."
I caught him with a cry of grief, but he gathered himself together and once more we went on. My mind was in a whirl, for I knew the old man was wounded and badly, yet I was thinking more of his terrible grief than of his wound. And so we came to the ridge again, and when we reached bare rock Ruth sprang forward and into my arms, Grim leaping up on me.
"Davie—Davie!" she cried, sobbing, then lifted her face to mine. I held her for an instant, and kissed her on the brow. But as I looked across her shoulder to Radisson I bethought me that he was hurt, and so I loosed her again and would have gone to him, but he stopped me.
"Listen, David! My strength is sore spent—we must leave this cranny in the rocks for the mouth of the pass, for with the darkness the Chippewas will be upon us. Stop not for talking, lad, but catch up the muskets and powder and hasten!" he said.
Seeing that it was useless to irritate him by not obeying, I loaded myself with the weapons and horns of powder, Ruth helping me bind on my snowshoes. Radisson stood, swaying a little, but gazing at the rock walls above as if searching for aid. We set out, Ruth at his arm, and wended beneath the cliffs toward the mouth of that valley of shadow through which we had come hither, striking a path through the great bowlders strewed around while Grim followed sedately. I cast watchful glances down toward the camp, but Gib seemed to be waiting for his hunters and for that second party before he moved on us. On a sudden the old wanderer paused, and his voice rang out as firm as ever.
"Look! The Mighty One has come again to lead us!"
And there in the snow were the tracks of that gigantic moose, fresh and new-made, and leading toward the mouth of the valley! We followed them as speedily as might be, and in ten minutes more the great rock walls had towered above and closed us in. Ruth had come to my side now, and she pressed close to me in fear.
The track suddenly turned away from those old tracks of ours, to one side of the rocks. Without hesitation Radisson followed, until we came to where the moose had milled around and around in the snow, possibly to make a bed—but as Radisson firmly believed, to point us to something. And great fear came upon me when Ruth gave a little cry and showed a long, narrow cleft in the black rocks at our side.
"Said I not that he was leading us?" cried Radisson triumphantly. "It is a cave, lad! There we can stand off the Chippewas as long as need be. Forward!"