Having entered, we again closed the door and took possession of one of the rooms, in which was a large stove. Fortunately there was a small store of wood remaining, with which we lighted a fire, and had there been food we should have been perfectly comfortable.
Why our friends had deserted the fort it was difficult to determine.
Martin thought that it was on account of want of provisions. Alick held to the opinion that they were required to strengthen the garrison of some more important fort.
I suspected that Mr Meredith, having heard of the destruction of Fort Black, and believing that Fort Ross would be attacked, and that he possessed inadequate means of defending it, had thought it prudent to retire to another post.
“Surely they would not have gone away without leaving some notice for us behind them, even although they were unable to spare any provisions, should we arrive here,” I said.
“They also probably believed that we were all destroyed,” said Alick, “and would not have thought about us.”
“Whether or not, gintlemen, I’ll just take the liberty of hunting about, and seeing if I cannot ferret out some food or other,” exclaimed Pat. “If these bastes of bears haven’t broken into the pantry, maybe there will be a scrap of something or other to stay our stomachs.”
Saying this, Pat lighted the end of a piece of pinewood, and set off on his search. Though we had but little hope of finding anything eatable, we followed his example, and searched in every nook and corner of the fort.
Not a particle of food of any description could we find, which confirmed the opinion Martin had expressed that our friends had been compelled to desert the fort from the want of provisions. Indeed, when I came to think of the matter, I did not believe that Mr Meredith could have been frightened away by fear of an attack from Indians.
As I was returning to the sitting-room across the square, the light from my torch showed me a dark form creeping along near the stockade. I felt sure that it was a bear which had not succeeded in making its escape. I hurried in for my gun, which I had left in the room where Bouncer was lying down by the fire. My companions were at the time in different parts of the fort.