A slight sound that was not a part of the wilderness had come to him.

It was very faint, few would have noticed it, but he knew it was the report of a rifle.

He knew also that it was not a shot fired in battle.

The hunters, as he had surmised, were abroad, and they had started up a deer or a bear.
But Willet did not stir nor did his eyelids flicker.

He was used to the proximity of foes, and the distant report did not cause his heart to miss a single beat.