After disposing of Gonch, Kutnar fled as fast as he could along the Pas.
Near the west shore of the river, the ice would bear his weight and so he
kept to that in preference to the high bank where his footprints in the
snow might be plainly seen. The ice left little or no trail.
He had beaten the Muskman in a fair hand-to-hand combat. The whole pack
would soon be after him and yet he felt not at all afraid. Rather his
sensations were those of buoyant self-reliance. He had vanquished a
full-grown and seasoned warrior; something of an accomplishment for a
sixteen year old lad. Such a feat gave him confidence in himself. Kutnar
was not yet fully trained to the flint-ax; the sling was his weapon. A
stern chase would afford him plenty of chance to use it. He had slain
the young Castillan throwing champion with it and might repeat the
performance if pressed too closely.
He was free. “Why did I not think to run away before?” he wondered, not
realizing that a marked change had come over him and made him in many
respects a man.
All this time he was hurrying southward along the Pas. The mountain of
Castillo still hovered upon his right flank. He ran abreast of its
southern exposure and had turned his head as though to look upon it for
the last time before he sped onward, when he caught sight of a dark spot
high upon its side. The spot was a cave.
Kutnar stopped and gazed thoughtfully at this cave. It was but a short
distance from Castillo and on the same mountain. Its proximity to the
stronghold of his enemies was what made him view it with such interest.
Who would think of looking for him there? Surely not Totan and his band.
They would expect the runaway to flee from them much farther than that.
What a lark! His enemies would search far and wide while he whom they
sought lay hidden almost within sight of their own haunt. Then, too, he
was jaded and needed rest. His previous night had been spent fire-tending
and he had passed a strenuous day. All of these considerations tempted
him. He left the river and turned to the distant slope treading only on
bare ground and stones where possible, so as to leave no snow-tracks.
After a long hard climb, he reached his goal and found only a bitter
disappointment awaiting him. It was not a real cave but a grotto or
shallow nook scooped from the rock. He could see every inch of the
interior as he stood at the entrance but no living thing was there. As a
hiding place, it had no possibilities. Kutnar now observed a hole in its
floor. “A fox’s den,” he thought. “I am glad that the place is of use
to someone.” He kneeled over the hole and peered in. A draught of air
blew in his face. He coughed and the sound was repeated in a distant
echo. This was both surprising and interesting. The hole was barely large
enough to admit his body but there might be a larger cavity beneath.
Not a fox’s den nor the home of any animal; he learned this by sniffing
carefully about the cavity. Where did it lead? He put his feet in the
hole and slid half-way in. It was a tube of solid rock. He could feel
its sides with his toes but no bottom. He lowered himself further until
head and all were in and still he found no place to set his feet. He let
himself down another yard and it was just the same. “There must be an
end sometime,” he thought as he continued to work his way downward. The
descent was a simple matter, for the tube now jogged slightly this way
and that, making it easy for him to cling to its sides with his hands and
feet. The air was warmer than that outside; although humid and musty, it
could be breathed.
The tube began to widen. The slight noise made by his feet sliding over
the rock, sounded loud and distinct. The passage gradually angled more
to the horizontal. It widened still more and the boy was able to turn
and glance behind him. All was dark but in some places the shadows were
darker than others. Kutnar heard squeaks and the flapping of bat wings.
Evidently the passage-way opened into a large room.
By this time, Kutnar felt keenly elated over his discovery. As a hiding
place, the grotto offered great possibilities after all; not the grotto
itself but the subterranean vault whose only means of access was the
stone tube. The casual observer who could see every corner of the shallow
cave, would not think of looking for a cavity beneath. Kutnar decided
to stay in the vault for a time to hide and rest. There was the hole in
the floor of the grotto however and it would be well to conceal that or
someone might learn of the underground room as he had done. He crawled
back through the tube the way he had come and stood once more in the open
air.
It was now quite dark; the deep twilight preceding dusk, for night had
settled over the mountain while Kutnar was exploring the cavity and
where it led. There were many rocks piled below the cave-threshold and
he hunted about until he found one of the right shape and size. He tried
this over the vent and it fitted nicely, effectively concealing the
opening in the floor. Anyone standing at the threshold would now gaze
upon a bare interior; bare of aught but a single stone.
“Ha-a-a, yum!” Kutnar yawned loudly and stretched his limbs. Now that
the day’s excitement was over and he had time for relaxation, a wave of
drowsiness swept over him. He would sleep in the grotto, trusting to his
sixth or slumber guarding sense to warn him of imminent danger. As a last
resort, he could lower his body into the tube, set the stone above his
head and hide as long as he pleased in the vault beneath.
He was preparing to lie down upon the floor of the grotto when he heard
something that brought him to his feet in quick time. He tiptoed to the
threshold and saw a dark figure ascending the slope. The figure was
coming toward him. It moved in an erect position but it seemed too large
and clumsy to be a man. It came nearer and although but an ebon patch
on a sable background, Kutnar recognized it as a bear and a large one.
What brought the creature there? Either the grotto was its permanent
home or it was seeking merely a night’s lodging. Kutnar could not now
safely vacate the premises, even had he chosen to do so. He tiptoed back
to the grotto and moved the stone aside from the cavity, then lowered
his body down, holding the stone in both hands high above his head as he
descended. Arms and hands sank from sight and the stone settled over the
hole. To all appearances, the grotto was now vacant.
Kutnar continued his downward journey until he reached the large room.
Here he sat listening but could hear no sounds to indicate what might
be transpiring above. Had the bear come and gone or was he now lying
upon the floor of the grotto making ready to sleep? Kutnar thought it
unnecessary for him to go up and find out. There was his own night’s rest
to consider, so he lay down and pillowed his head upon his arm. He fell
asleep without knowing when but awoke sooner than he would have wished
because of the damp mustiness which oppressed his lungs. Fresh air, that
was what he wanted, so he sought the passage-way and wriggled through it
as noiselessly as a snake. On arriving at the top, he sought and found
the stone and thrust it aside, inch by inch. After staying there for
some time with his face as close to the opening as he dared, refreshing
himself with deep breaths of outside air, he reset the stone and returned
to finish his nap. He repeated this performance several times, not
without considerable risk, for the bear was asleep in the cave-entrance
as he knew from the sound of its breathing. “Even a cave-beast and a
man can get along together sleeping in the same den,” he chuckled as he
made his fourth upward trip. As he neared the outlet of the tube, he saw
faint rays of light and knew that morning was near at hand. When he had
moved the stone partly aside, he set his ear at the opening but heard no
sounds. It would seem that his visitor had awakened and taken his leave.
However, there was only one way to be sure of this. That was to see it
with his own eyes. Slowly, noiselessly he shifted the stone farther
and farther away until the opening was entirely clear, then his head
arose almost imperceptibly through the tube and above the level of the
cave-floor, giving him a view of the entrance and the grey world beyond.