“I never did, and that is a fact,” admitted Dick.
They settled down once more, though this time Roger changed his position so as to make sure he would not invite a repetition of the attack. Mayhew, too, had taken warning from the adventure; he proceeded to fasten their stock of dried venison to the limb of a tree in such a way that it would be safe from the depredations of any hungry animal.
That one alarm was not repeated. Throughout the balance of the night prowling wild beasts might roam the forest and seek their prey, but they gave the camp of the little party a wide berth. Perhaps they scented trouble in the blood of their kind that had already been spilled.
With the coming of dawn the boys were up and doing. Roger examined the stiffened form of the lynx with much curiosity. He seemed to be of the opinion that, since the ice had now been broken, they were apt to run across many other strange creatures, the like of which they had never before set eyes on.
Indeed, before they had been an hour on the way that morning, they began to notice that a remarkable change was taking place in the character of their surroundings. The sun’s rays, falling on the face of a hill, filled them with awe, for it seemed to reveal almost every hue of the rainbow. Here a waterfall burst upon their vision, the stream dropping fully a hundred feet, and looking like a bridal wreath as the light breeze carried the fine spray to leeward, through several rainbows.
“The Enchanted Land, of a truth, Dick!” was Roger’s comment, as they came to a full stop, to gaze upon these remarkable sights.
“Already it begins to look to me as though there might be some truth in the weird stories the Indians have been telling about this country up here,” the other boy confessed.
As for Mayhew, the guide, he could not find words to describe the mingled feelings of admiration and wonder that filled his soul. None of them dreamed of turning back, although they were beginning to encounter sights such as the eyes of white men had possibly never before beheld.
“Jasper was not dismayed by all this,” said Dick, “for we can see that he and his party kept on, following the course of this river of the cataracts and the rapids. So we, too, must march on.”
“I feel thirsty,” remarked Roger, shortly after this, “and as here runs a nice looking little stream I think I will take a drink.”