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All were awake, of course, but the Baby refused to be quieted for fully a quarter of an hour.

"Don't you think Baby's cries will direct the savages to us?"

"It is not at all likely. The savages have no doubt heard the cries many times. It is your imagination which is playing you tricks. Do you suppose the savages know we are here and have a captive orang?"

During the rest of the night they took sleep in snatches, and morning was long in coming. Harry had busied himself in getting a hasty breakfast while the others slept, and Baby was up leaping around nervously, and springing from branch to branch on the adjacent trees.

Having finished breakfast, the yaks were yoked, and before the sun was visible they were on their way to the north, as fast as the yaks could travel.

The whole camp partook of watchfulness now. Every hour and every mile they scanned the landscape, and, for further precaution, kept away from close proximity to the river bed. That was not a safe route, as enemies on the other side of the river would have an unobstructed view, whereas by traveling inland, but within sight of the river, they could still view the banks of the stream.

"The scout who leads the way must go a certain distance, then make observations in all quarters. He must take particular note of objects which afford places of concealment, and the eye must be alert enough to observe every undue movement in limb or leaf. Sound is one of the things he must cultivate. A noise of any kind should be analyzed. A scout once told me that on one occasion during the war, his life was saved because he saw one limb of a tree move more than an adjoining one. At another time, in trailing through a forest, he saw a leaf on the ground, differing in color from those around it. In walking along he had noticed that some of the leaves he overturned had the same color, and inferred that as no wind had been blowing, and all the trees were bare, something must have turned the leaf, and subsequent events confirmed his reasonings."

The boys quickly learned their lessons. Each knew that every step forward meant an entrance to an unknown world.

Chapter III

The Bear Fight

During the day, following the night when the mysterious lights appeared in the lowland directly to the west and beyond the river, they passed through several dense forests. George, who was in the lead at this time, emerged from the thickest wood into a rather open plain. He saw the river make a long circular sweep, and directly ahead noticed a coast line of steep hills which marked the shore of the river on the opposite side.

Harry and the Professor, who were behind with the team, had not yet reached the clearing. As George passed into the open space he saw an animal cross his path, and without waiting to inform the others, he shot. This alarmed Harry, who was out of the wagon without waiting for any word from the Professor. Immediately after George's shot was heard, they plainly heard another from the direction of the river ahead of them. The Professor, too, jumped from the wagon and followed Harry. George fired a second time, and another shot came from the river. Harry turned and looked back at the Professor in amazement.

"What can that mean? Did you hear four shots?"

"Yes; run ahead, and find George."

In a brief time both boys returned. "George says he did not hear the shots from the river."

"They were as plain as your own."

George did not know how to explain it. The Professor moved forward. "Let us get out into the opening."

As they reached the clearing beyond the wood, and the Professor saw the steep bluffs beyond, he laughed, and looking at the hills, said:

"That is where the shots came from."

His amusing smile was reassuring, although his words were not.

"That bluff over there is about 2,000 feet from here. We had better find out what he is doing there."

"Two thousand feet; and somebody there!"

"I did not say somebody was there, but that the noise of the shot came from that place."

"Do you think it was simply an echo?"

"Undoubtedly; didn't you hear Baby's cries repeated?"

"But how do you know that the hills are 2,000 feet away?"

"Sound travels at the rate of 1,040 feet per second, and I made a mental calculation that it took four seconds for Baby's cries to come back from the hills. In that case the sound had to go to the hills and back again, and it would, therefore, take two seconds to travel one way. Do you understand?"

"Oh, yes; that is perfectly clear."

The land now became more rolling, and was occasionally broken by ravines; and sometimes they had difficulty in getting their yaks and wagon across and over the rough ground.

Fallen trees were numerous; there were little mounds here and there, made by the remains of uprooted trees, which had long ago decayed, all of which made their traveling laborious and slow.

Here wild animals became more abundant, and wild game was found on every side. Several good shots by the boys replenished their larder with bird meat.

"See that bear!" cried Harry in great excitement.

The boys, as well as the Professor, were out with their guns at once. "Follow him up quickly now," and the Professor could hardly keep pace with them. The bear did not seem to be greatly frightened, and when Harry, who was ahead, stopped and aimed his gun for a shot, he was less than a hundred feet away. The shots from the two boys came close together, and bruin stopped in surprise, then, with a snarl, turned around and in a lumbering, shuffling movement started for the boys.

If either shot had taken effect it was not noticeable. The boys turned to run, one going to the right and the other to the left. This did not seem to disconcert him in the least, as he went right on. He had seen the Professor, who stopped and sprang to one side and bringing up his gun awaited the charge of the bear.

The boys, encouraged by the tactics of the bear in avoiding them, turned again, because they now appreciated that the Professor was in the bear's path.

"Don't shoot, boys; let him come nearer."

When he came within fifteen feet the Professor fired, and the boys also shot. The bear reared up, gave a terrific growl and again shambled forward, this time making a beeline for the wagon. This was too much for the yaks; they turned, almost upsetting the wagon, and Baby commenced to shriek in the most approved fashion.

Fig 3. THE BEAR

Neither George nor Harry could wait any longer. They followed and rushed past the Professor, who now had the only loaded gun.

"Take this, Harry; your guns are not loaded."

Harry turned and grasped it and without stopping went in pursuit. Before he had reached the former location of the wagon the animal ran into a tree, which threw him back on his haunches, and after several efforts to raise himself, fell over on his side.

The Professor's shot had entered his left eye, but the vitality of the animal was such that he ran nearly a hundred feet before it took effect.

The yaks were soon rounded up. It is a wonder that more damage was not done. Aside from the displacement of their bedding, and the ditching of some of the cooking utensils, everything was found intact.

"That was a rather ill-advised adventure on our part. We should have guarded our supplies; but I was as much to blame as you were. We must be more careful in the future."

On every side the rough character of the land was more apparent, and it was becoming more and more difficult to find tracks which were suitable for the team.

"This matter of going further with our wagon is now getting to be a serious problem. I think we should turn to the right and move in the direction of home, or direct our course southeast toward the mountains on the other side of South River."

"I think we have discovered enough on this trip," was Harry's conclusion.

George assented, so that on the twelfth day of their journey the yaks were directed towards home. For two days the travel was southeasterly, through the most broken and tortuous paths, crossing innumerable small streams and rivulets on their course. During this troublesome part of their journey the weather was stormy, with numerous rains, some of them so prolonged as to prevent traveling for hours, so that they made less than twenty miles during that time.

Fig. 4. DIAGRAM OF THEIR TRIP