The guns were lowered from Negore's breast and Ivan gave the order
for his men to go forward. Ivan was silent, lost in thought. For
an hour he marched, as though puzzled, and then, through Karduk's
mouth, he said to Negore:
"How didst thou know the way was clear when thou didst look so
briefly upon it?"
Negore thought of the little birds he had seen perched among the
rocks and upon the bushes, and smiled, it was so simple; but he
shrugged his shoulders and made no answer. For he was thinking,
likewise, of another passage up the rocks, to which they would soon
come, and where the little birds would all be gone. And he was
glad that Karduk came from the Great Fog Sea, where there were no
trees or bushes, and where men learned water-craft instead of land-
craft and wood-craft.
Three hours later, when the sun rode overhead, they came to another
passage up the rocks, and Karduk said:
"Look with all thine eyes, strange brother, and see if the way be
clear, for Ivan is not minded this time to wait while men go up
before."
Negore looked, and he looked with two men by his side, their guns
resting against his breast.
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