Whatever had taken place during his hours of
unconsciousness, it was evident that he had not been robbed.
It seemed to the boy, as he stood looking through the opening which
gave a view of the forest to the north, that he had lain on the
hard floor of the cavern for countless aeons. He did not remember
what had caused the wound on his head. He only knew that he had
been seized with a sudden dizziness and had fallen, after hearing
pistol shots.
Standing before the fire with the cheerful light of the blaze on
one side and the dazzling light of the sun on the snow on the other
side, the uncanny incidents of the night before seemed like a dream
to the boy.
He even found himself wondering whether he had actually caught
sight of the Little Brass God, leering down upon the watcher from
the wall.
Then he recollected that Thede had first called his attention to
the ugly image whose evil eyes seemed to take on malevolent
expressions in the light of the dancing flames.
"It must be all true, then," he concluded. "The man by the fire,
the Little Brass God on the shelf, the pistol shots, and then a
blank."
He wondered where Thede had gone, and why he had deserted him.
"That's the strangest part of it all," the lad mused.
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