Imagining that the party would camp soon, Thirlwell determined to follow and presently came to a rough slope where the trail left the ice.  Caution was now needed, because he could not see far and might be heard if he made much noise in pushing through the bush.  The silence that brooded over the woods indicated that the others had stopped.  The pines were small and tangled, but he could see where the sledge had gone and when he reached the summit a gleam of light sprang up in the valley below.  Thirlwell thought the man who made the fire had chosen the spot well if he meant its light to be hidden.

The wood was thin on the slope he went down and it was difficult to keep in the gloom.  The glimmering moonlight was brighter and his figure would be visible against the snow as he crossed the openings.  When he was some distance from the fire he stopped and studied his line of approach.

The men were moving about on his side of the fire.  Their figures were distinct, but he could not see their faces, and if he crossed the belt of rather open ground, the light would fall on him.  If he could creep up on the other side, the fire would be between them and, shining in the men’s faces, prevent their seeing far.  The trouble was, that the wood behind the camp looked tangled and thick, and he doubted if he could get through without making a noise.  Something, however, must be risked, and stealing across the opening to the next tree, he presently reached a belt of thicker wood.

He could not be seen now, but he made a circuit round the fire before he began to approach it from the other side.  His progress was slow and he felt anxious, because it was possible that the men had moved round the fire while he struggled through the bush.  Still he thought they had not done so, because he had seen one throwing up a snow-bank behind which they meant to sleep.  They would probably cook their meal and sit down on that side in the shelter of the bank.  When he left the thick bush he saw that his reasoning was good, but he had yet to get near enough and the fire was burning well.  There was not much wind, but the red blaze leaped up and sank, throwing out clouds of sparks, while a trail of smoke drifted about the camp.  The resinous wood, however, crackled fiercely and he hoped this would drown the noise he made.

There was nothing to hide him for some distance, and then a patch of juniper scrub and some willows ran towards the camp.  If he could reach them he would be safe, and he crawled across the open space and lay behind the first juniper while he got his breath.  There was nothing to indicate that the others had heard him, and a few minutes later he stopped again at the edge of a gap where a fire had run through the scrub.  He could see the men, though he could not distinguish their faces.  One seemed to be looking in his direction, and Thirlwell felt his heart beat but did not move.  He had a background of dark bushes and it was wiser to keep still than drop into the snow.