Snowbirds flitted about, and, as if rejoicing in the weather, the redbirds uttered their cheerful notes, and occasionally darted like a flash of flame against the darker background. Chattering squirrels leaped lightly from branch to branch, and rabbits, disturbed by the intrusion, quickly disappeared in the friendly shelter of tangled thickets.
"Hey! Where are you bound for, Hacky?" asked Nat, as the slim boy ambled slowly ahead.
"Just going to look around a bit. Say, Somers, want to come along?—good!"
"Don't stay long, cap'n," interposed Yardsley; "an' by the time yer git back, we'll have a good blaze a-goin'."
"Let's go around the point," suggested Hackett, with a move of his hand, indicating a part of the hill which jutted out for a considerable distance.
Keeping a careful watch for game, the hunters glided ahead with long, swinging strides, soon passing and skirting around the point. The rocks rose rather abruptly for a short distance, then sloped upward in a gentle curve.
Bob, who was several yards distant from his companion, suddenly stopped and gazed earnestly toward the rocks. Hackett, puzzled at his action, followed suit, without seeing anything more than a mass of underbrush.
"There's a cave over there," declared Bob.
"I don't see anything."
"You will from here."