The ground sloped rapidly, and soon he reached the narrow but deep little valley with a dense growth of trees and underbrush on either side.

The valley led upward, and he came into the grove just as Moore had predicted.
This forest was of much wider extent than he had supposed.

It stretched northward further than he could see, and, although it was devoid of undergrowth, it was very dark among the trees.

He rode his horse behind the trunk of a great oak, and, pausing there, examined all the forest within eyeshot.
He saw nothing but the long rows of tree trunks, white on the northern side with snow, and he heard nothing but the cold rustle of wind among boughs bare of branches.

Yet he had full confidence in the words of Seth Moore.