"Oh! that was only a cub, and a wolf ain't anything to be scared of!" remarked the big prospector; though he turned his head even while speaking, as though he fancied that he heard something moving in the bushes back of him, with visions of a red-eyed furious wolf mother coming to demand satisfaction for the killing of her offspring. "Whar d'ye reckon the critter kim from now?" demanded Dickey Bird. "Oh!" whispered Aleck, as though something warned him the danger point was getting very close now. "First thing I see, he was acomin' away from the rock yonder," remarked Waffles, pointing straight at the hanging vines that screened the fissure so completely. "Then it looks like he might a come out of them vines?" suggested Kracker, carelessly. "Reckon, now, he did," replied the other. "Go and take a look, Waffles," added the big man. "If so be we expect to sleep right here, we want to know if there's any wolf around. I ain't so fond of the ugly critters that I want to have one crawlin' all over me when I'm trying to get some rest. Look behind the vines, I say, Waffles, and make sure." Waffles did not seem any too anxious to obey. Possibly, if he had gripped some sort of firearm in his hand, he might not have shown the same timidity. Perhaps he too had an animosity toward ferocious and maddened wolves; and besides, it had been his hand that had given the finishing blow to that nasty little spitting cub, just now, and the mother wolf might have it in for him on that account. But then he feared the scorn of the big prospector even more than he did the possibility of danger from a she wolf bereft of her whelps. And so, rather hesitatingly to be sure, the man started toward the cliff, with the intention of lifting the screen of vines, and peering behind the same. Of course he would immediately learn of the fact that there was a fissure in the rock; and curiosity was apt to induce the men to make an attempt to explore the cavity, since they were all experienced miners, and eager to discover signs of a "find" in some unexpected place. Closer came Waffles. He was now within a few feet of the vines, and indeed, had one hand stretched out, as with the intention of clutching the mass of vegetation, and drawing it aside; while the other gripped that stout cudgel, with which he expected to defend himself desperately, should he be attacked. Aleck was quivering with suspense, and Thad could easily understand that he must be handling his gun, as though tempted to discharge this, and frighten the man off. But that would be giving the secret away, for these men were cunning; and after they had come to figure things out, they would arrive at something like the truth. If discovery were to be averted other means must be employed in order to keep Waffles from raising that curtain, or at least daring to venture into the fissure as much as one foot. Finding the ear of his companion Thad managed to whisper in it the few words: "Don't shout."