"I think it's the last direct attack they'll make upon us.

Now they'll try the slow methods of siege and our exhaustion by thirst, and how it would make their venom rise if they knew anything about that glorious fountain of ours! Since it's to be a test of patience, we'd better make things easy for ourselves.

I'll sit here and watch the slope, and, as the night is turning cold, you and Tayoga, Robert, can build a fire." There was a dip in the center of the crest, and in this they heaped the fallen wood, which here as elsewhere in the wilderness was abundant.

Wood and water, two great requisites of primitive man, they had in plenty, and had it not been for their eagerness to go forward with their work they would have been content to stay indefinitely on the peak.
The fire was soon blazing cheerfully.

Warriors on the opposing peaks or crest might see it, but they did not care.