Then the dogs grew uneasy, and presently wandered away into the fog and darkness.

I thought that perhaps they heard some game stirring, and did not wonder at them.
Now I was just sleeping, when I heard the sharp yelp of a dog in pain, and sat up suddenly.

Then came a second, and after that the distant sound of voices that rose for a moment and hushed again.
"We must be close to the village after all," I said, for my comrades were listening also; "but why did the hounds yell like that ?" "Some old dame has taken the broomstick to them," said Kolgrim.
"They are hungry, and have put their noses into her milk pails." "It is too late for open doors," I said; "unless they have found our own lodging, where some are waiting for us.

But there they would not be beaten." "Ho!" said Kolgrim, in another minute or so, "yonder is a fire." The wind had come round the hillside and swept the mist away for a moment, and below us in the valley was a speck of red light that made a wide glow in the denser fog that hung there.

One could hardly say how far off it was, for fog of any sort confuses distance; but the brook seemed to run in the direction of the fire, and it was likely that any house stood near its banks.
"Let us follow the brook and see what we can find," I said therefore.