It was not yet dark, when, tired out by his day's hard work, Stead
sat himself down at the opening of his hut with Toby by his side.
The evening gold of the sky could hardly be seen through the hazel
and mountain-ash bushes that clothed the steep opposite bank of the
glen and gave him a feeling of security. The brook rippled along
below, plainly to be heard since all other sounds had ceased except
the purring of a night-jar and the cows chewing their cud. There was
a little green glade of short grass sloping down to the stream from
the hut where the rabbits were at play, but on each side the trees
and brushwood were thick, with only a small path through, much
overgrown, and behind the rock rose like a wall, overhung with ivy
and traveller's joy. Only one who knew the place could have found
the shed among the thicket where the cows were fastened, far less the
cavern half-way up the side of the rock where lay the treasures for
which Steadfast was a watchman. He thought for a moment of seeing if
all were safe, but then decided, like a wise boy, that to disturb the
creepers, and wear a path to the place, was the worst thing he could
do if he wished for concealment.
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