Mukoki overheard him and shook his head.

"Mak' heem through chasm in two day on snow-shoe," he declared,
referring to his trip of exploration to the first waterfall over the
snows of the previous winter. "No mak' in t'ree day over rock!"

"If Mukoki is satisfied, I am," said Rod. "We can pull up behind the
driftwood on the farther edge of the lake bed."

Wabi made no objection, and the camp site was chosen. Strangely
enough, with the discovery of the footprints, the fire, the picked
bones and the stones with which the mad hunter had manufactured his
golden bullets, Mukoki seemed to have lost all fear of the wild
creature of the chasm. He was confident now that he had only a man to
deal with, a man who had gone "bad dog," and his curiosity overcame
his alarm. His assurance served to dispel the apprehension of his
companions, and sleep came early to the tired adventurers. Nor did
anything occur during the night to awaken them.

Soon after dawn the trip down the chasm stream was resumed. With the
abrupt turning of the channel to the north, however, there was an
almost immediate change in the topography of the country. Within
an hour the precipitous walls of the mountains gave place to
verdure-covered slopes, and now and then the gold seekers found
themselves between plains that swept back for a mile or more on either
side. Frequent signs of game were observed along the shores of the
river and several times during the morning moose and caribou were
seen in the distance. A few months before, when they had invaded the
wilderness to hunt and trap, this country would have aroused the
wildest enthusiasm among Rod and his friends, but now they gave but