Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/83

 to look back. Nothing but hills beyond hills, forest beyond forest could be seen; the little town of Rudolm had utterly disappeared. Only a sharp glint of blue at the end of the valley and the rising bulk of the mountain to the westward showed  the familiar landmarks of Red Lake and Jasper  Peak.

He sat down here to eat his lunch and to rest a little, for his knees were beginning to weary and  the pack was heavy on his unaccustomed shoulders. When he arose at length and trudged on he found that he could no longer make such good  time; he had perhaps set too fast a pace at first  and worn himself out too soon. It was a long, long way over the next ridge and down into the valley beyond, so long that the sun had disappeared and the hollows were beginning to fill with  shadow when he came finally to the foot of the  steep incline. The long, gray northern twilight held, however, so that he had no real difficulty  in following the trail, faint as it was, that led  him to the edge of a stream, skirted its bank and  brought him, just as heavy darkness fell, within