The flutter of
wings in the underbrush, the scamper of squirrels, the mad lope of a
fox, kept the eye busy. A deer broke out of a hazel thicket, stared at
the horsemen in wide-eyed amazement, then plunged into the wood and
disappeared.
"There are deer, and of foxes a great plenty," remarked Oscar.
He turned toward Armitage and added with lowered voice:
"It is different from our old hills and forests--yes? but sometimes I
have been homesick."
"But this is not so bad, Oscar; and some day you shall go back!"
"Here," said the soldier, as they swung out of the wood and into the
open, "is what they call the Port of Missing Men."
There was a broad park-like area that tended downward almost
imperceptibly to a deep defile. They dismounted and walked to the edge
and looked down the steep sides. A little creek flowed out of the wood
and emptied itself with a silvery rush into the vale, caught its breath
below, and became a creek again. A slight suspension bridge flung across
the defile had once afforded a short cut to Storm Springs, but it was now
in disrepair, and at either end was posted "No Thoroughfare.
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