Mayhew, as though feeling that he ought to have a share in the labor, this time followed the boy out of the cave, and also picked up a load of the scattered wood. The tree must have been struck by lightning at some time in the past, since the branches covered so much ground.
Dick had the fire well started by the time the others returned. They could see the light plainly after passing the mouth of the cave, although there seemed so little chance of it betraying their presence that it was hardly worth considering.
How different things looked, with that cheery blaze going! The gloom seemed much further removed than before. And, like the careful boy that he was, Dick had extinguished his precious candle-end as soon as its faint light was no longer needed. Time might yet make that worth its weight in gold to him, since its like could only be obtained in some settlement.
An hour later Dick, wishing to find out how the wind-storm might be progressing, made his way to the opening and passed out. When he returned he reported that the stars were still shining, and it was getting very cold; as for the wind, it continued to roar across the open country furiously, now coming out of the north.
“And let me tell you,” he wound up by saying, “I builded better than I knew at the time I happened to notice this cave mouth. In here it is so comfortable one finds it hard to believe the cold is so intense outside.”
“For folks who have no blankets a cave is a very fine thing, I must say,” was Roger’s comment.
Of course, almost all of their conversation was connected with the immediate past, and the hope they entertained concerning a successful termination of their hunt for Jasper Williams.
“You did not see anything to tell you the Indians might be camped near here, I suppose, Dick?” Roger asked, as the other took his place once more near the fire.
“No, although I looked in every direction,” was the reply. “There is a strange light over toward the west. You can see it in the sky. I do not know how to describe it, except that once, when the forest was afire down on the Missouri, we saw the same reflection. It may be there is a prairie burning somewhere down that way. It would be a fearful sight, I should think.”