CAPTURED BY BROWN BEARS. 221 
mostly of limestone, and were full of caves, so that one 
huge precipice looked fairly like a bank filled with swal- 
lows' nests. 
" Soft ! soft ! " whispered Peeschee, motioning with 
his hand. " Much big lot Chilkat squaw ! " 
Peeschee was a little in advance, and had nimbly 
mounted to the top of one of those boulders left by the 
ice-drift of the glacial period. The other crept to his 
side, and peered over the edge of the boulder. 
About a hundred yards beyond them was the Indian 
village, in plain sight. The huts were at the base of one 
of those high and steep precipices pierced with caves. 
They were built of timber and brush, with huge, shaggy 
bear-skins thrown over them. In a little open space 
between the huts and a small lake which stretched away 
to the westward were twenty or thirty hideous-looking 
old squaws, wrapped in blankets and seated in a circle 
around a man and boy, who were lying, bound hand and 
foot, in their midst. 
A glance only was necessary to identify the captives as 
the two missing members of the expedition, Solomon and 
Hugh. 
The faces of the two presented a strange contrast. 
Solomon glared at his jailors with a look of extreme dis- 
favor, that would have made Mr. Dutton shout with 
laughter had not the situation been so serious. Hugh, on 
the contrary, was pale as death, and, while he tried his 
best to look amiable, kept glancing around for succor. 
