CHAPTER XXVn. 
FOR LIFE OR DEATH. 
|N leaving the camp at about nine o'clock — or 
an hour before sunrise — on the morning after 
Christmas, the three men had proceeded directly 
down the banks of the brook, following the route by which 
the party had come. The wolves had withdrawn to the 
depths of forest, as is their custom in the daytime, and 
were nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, the snow on the 
ground was still of only moderate depth, and the brook 
was open except in the deeper pools. Colder weather 
might now be expected at any time, Solomon knew^, and 
the reflection added speed to his powerful stride. 
Each man had in his pouch a scanty three-days supply 
of pemmican. If no game had been found by that time 
— why, Solomon reasoned that they might as well die 
in the w^oods, like wounded deer, as go back and perish 
with their friends. 
The morning was fair, and the hunters made good 
time. Unencumbered by baggage or women, they covered 
nearly the whole distance to the ravine of which Solo- 
mon had spoken in a single day. 
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