He looked back and saw the flashes growing fainter and heard the scattering rifle shots, deadened somewhat by the distance.

Around him was the beat of the rain on the leaves and the sodden earth, and he looked up at a sky, wholly hidden by black clouds.

He would need all his forest lore, and all the primitive instincts, handed down from far-off ancestors.

But never were they more keenly alive than on this night.
The boy did not veer from the way, but merely by the sense of direction took a straight path toward the fallen log that he remembered.

The din of battle still rolled slowly off toward the south, and, for the moment, he forgot it.