For a long time after that there was silence.
The next day they took up that long, long trail, and the day following saw one member of the party very near to the end of all trails.
CHAPTER V
A MAD MOOSE
Johnny Thompson was tired. He was hungry, and was feeling down on his luck. He had hunted the rugged hills since early morning, yet no game had gone into his bag save one great white owl.
“I wonder where Faye is?” he thought to himself. “Hoped I’d meet her on this ridge.”
He still hoped this. It was a long, lonely tramp back to camp, and he was a sociable being. Besides, he felt rather sure that she, like himself, had met with little luck, and misery loves company.
On the morning of that second day after the momentous decision they found themselves below the fork of the river, standing on the bank of a tumultuous stream. Beyond this ice-rimmed torrent lay Gordon Duncan’s promised land. How were they to bridge the chasm? It seemed certain that Gordon Duncan was right. Once the stream left the high, rocky hills, its mad rush must be abated. They might then cross upon the ice, or at least on a raft.
But their supply of provisions was low. The way was long. Gordon Duncan was not yet restored to his full strength. Having found a rocky shelf walled in by nature on three sides, they decided to give the day over to hunting. Gordon Duncan would make camp and prepare a supply of wood. Johnny and the girl would hunt with bow and arrow. The ground seemed suited for the chase. Here and there were treeless spots overgrown with blueberry bushes. Where the wind had swept the snow, frozen berries clung stubbornly to their stems. Ptarmigan might be feeding here. Willow bushes close to the river bank showed fresh markings done by snowshoe rabbits. Once during the previous day they had chanced upon a spot where a caribou had come gliding down a steep slope to swim the river.
“He may have recrossed lower down,” Johnny had said.
So they had gone hunting, the two of them, but not together. A narrow run led away to the left from their camp. It was agreed that Johnny should take the left slope of this run and Faye the right. They might meet on the ridge above.