With a cry that startled the dogs Rod sprang to his feet. He was
shivering as if in a chill. Had he dreamed? Or was it something more
than a dream? He thought of the vision that had come to him weeks
before in the mysterious chasm, the vision of the dancing skeletons,
and which had revealed the secret of the old cabin and the lost gold.
In vain he tried to shake off his nervousness and his fear. Why had
Woonga reached out his hands for Minnetaki? He worked to free himself
of the weight that had fallen on him, stirred the fire until clouds of
sparks shot high up into the gloom of the trees, and added new fuel.

Then he sat down again, and for the twentieth time since leaving
Wabinosh House drew from his pocket the map that was to have led them
on their search for gold when he returned with his mother. It was a
vision that had guided him to the discovery of this precious map, and
the knowledge of it made him more uneasy now. A few moments before he
had seen Minnetaki as plainly as though she had been with him there
beside the fire; he fancied that he might almost have sent a bullet
through the Indian's chief face as he reached out his long arms toward
the girl.

He stirred the fire again, awakened one of the dogs to keep him
company, and then went in to lie down between Mukoki and Wabigoon in
an attempt at slumber. During the hours that followed he secured only
short snatches of sleep. He dreamed, dreamed constantly of Minnetaki
whenever he lost consciousness. Now he saw her before the fire, as he
had seen her in his vision; again, she was struggling in the Woonga's
powerful grasp. At one time the strife between the two--the young girl
and the powerful savage--became terrible for him to behold, and at
last he saw the Indian catch her in his arms and disappear into the
blackness of the forest.