“Here’s a dandy place, Ray.”
In the face of the ledge was a narrow fissure which was just wide enough, with some squeezing, to admit the boys. Once inside, however, the opening proved to be a good-sized cave. The ceiling was high enough for the boys to stand upright, and there was plenty of room for them to spread their beds comfortably. Moreover, it was absolutely dry, and there was a thick coating of fine soil on the floor which would make a soft bed.
“This is swell, Sid,” exclaimed Raymond, when they were inside. “Jiminy! it’s good to be out of the rain. Just see how it’s coming down now.”
“Yes,” replied Sidney, “it’s raining so hard that we shan’t be able to get any wood for a fire.”
“Oh, well, it’s warm in here, and we have nothing to cook anyway. I think there’s a little meat left, and there’s always that horrid bread.”
Raymond had succeeded in keeping them supplied with small game. The day before he had shot two fine grouse, and there was still some of that meat. The boys ate their cold supper and spread their beds before it became dark, then sat in the gloom talking. Night fell rapidly, and with the heavy downpour of rain it soon became very dark. The boys were just about to roll up in their blankets for the night when they heard strange noises outside. There was a low, muttered grumbling, mingled with a strange whimpering.
The boys sat breathless, listening intently. At first they thought it must be some large animal, though they had seen no animals larger than rabbits. In a moment, however, the voice whimpered complainingly, and the boys thought it was surely a person in distress. The storm was turning colder, and the rain and sleet were coming down in such volumes that any one caught in it, perhaps insufficiently clothed, would suffer greatly.
Raymond was about to step to the opening and call out that there was shelter near, when the whimpering ceased and the growling began again, in a heavier, gruffer tone than at first. It was plain that it could not be a human being that made such noises, and it seemed to the frightened boys that it must be a very large animal.
“What can it be, Sid?” whispered Raymond.
“I don’t know, unless it’s a wolf. We’ve read of the terrible Russian wolves.”