She cupped her chin in her hands to stare at the fire. “I don’t fear for myself,” her tone was deep and solemn. “I only fear for him. He is old, though he has the heart of a boy.
“I hear him stirring,” she said softly, springing to her feet. “I must prepare breakfast. He is always impatient of delays.”
“Listen,” said Johnny. “I promised to go with you. I’ll not turn back now. Count me in.”
The girl did not speak. She put out a hand. It was a good, strong, capable hand. Johnny gripped it heartily. And there in the dawn was sealed a compact that was to live through many a long day of wild adventure.
Noon of that day found the little party looking down upon a scene of surpassing beauty. This was one of those days of crystal-like clearness. From the promontory on which they now stood, the crest of the range, their vision stretched mile on mile, seeming never to end.
Spreading out a roughly drawn map, Gordon Duncan traced for Johnny the course they were to take. He had gotten it from Faye, who in turn had it from the Corporal. Here, down the ridge, they followed the blazed trail. There, where a huge black tamarack tree stood, they bent to the right. A short way farther, and they came to the boiling and tumultuous stream again. Following this as best they might over rock pile and ledge, through dense forest and thicket, they would come at last to a broad, tree covered valley.
“At the entrance to that valley,” the old man ended, carefully refolding his map, “unless we have gone wrong, we will find a rude shelter and close beside it an Indian dugout canoe. The canoe was left there six months ago, but the Corporal thinks it is still in condition.”
“Here’s hoping,” said Johnny. “For if it is not, our journey ends there.”
“And with its ending the fate of many human lives is sealed,” said Gordon Duncan solemnly. “It is strange that so much should depend upon so little. But we must do our part. We are enlisted in a great cause, the welfare of a vanishing race.”
As Johnny stood there looking away to the north, where even now it seemed he caught the gleam of a snow blanket, strange thoughts passed through his mind.