But Jed Hawkins' cabin was untouched! The fire had crept up to its very door and there it had died.
He went on the remaining hundred yards and before the closed door of Nada's old home he found Peter standing stiff-legged and strange.

He opened the door and a damp chill touched his face.

The cabin was empty.
And the gloom and desolation of a grave filled the place.
He stepped in, a moaning whisper of the truth coming to his lips.

He heard the scurrying flight of a starved wood-rat, a flutter of loose papers, and then the silence of death fell about him.

The door of Nada's little room was open and he entered through it.