Wabi was silent and thoughtful and Rod could see that his suggestion had at least made a deep impression upon him.

Mukoki's eyes began to gleam again with the old fire with which he had searched the cabin for gold.
The skeletons were buried only a few inches deep in the frozen earth in the edge of the cedar forest, and Mukoki soon exposed them to view.
Almost the first object that met their eyes was the skeleton hand clutching its roll of birch-bark.

It was Rod who dropped upon his knees to the gruesome task.
With a shudder at the touch of the cold bones he broke the fingers back.
One of them snapped with a sharp sound, and as he rose with the bark in his hand his face was bloodlessly white.

The bones were covered again and the three returned to the cabin.
Still silent, they gathered about the table.

With age the bark of the birch hardens and rolls itself tightly, and the piece Rod held was almost like thin steel.