Chiefly it was the present that he wished to dwell upon; but it was the call of the future which stirred him to action.  No idea had he of what that future had in store for Bess and him.  He began to think of improving Surprise Valley as a place to live in, for there was no telling how long they would be compelled to stay there.  Venters stubbornly resisted the entering into his mind of an insistent thought that, clearly realized, might have made it plain to him that he did not want to leave Surprise Valley at all.  But it was imperative that he consider practical matters; and whether or not he was destined to stay long there, he felt the immediate need of a change of diet.  It would be necessary for him to go farther afield for a variety of meat, and also that he soon visit Cottonwoods for a supply of food.

It occurred again to Venters that he could go to the canyon where Oldring kept his cattle, and at little risk he could pack out some beef.  He wished to do this, however, without letting Bess know of it till after he had made the trip.  Presently he hit upon the plan of going while she was asleep.

That very night he stole out of camp, climbed up under the stone bridge, and entered the outlet to the Pass.  The gorge was full of luminous gloom.  Balancing Rock loomed dark and leaned over the pale descent.  Transformed in the shadowy light, it took shape and dimensions of a spectral god waiting—­waiting for the moment to hurl himself down upon the tottering walls and close forever the outlet to Deception Pass.  At night more than by day Venters felt something fearful and fateful in that rock, and that it had leaned and waited through a thousand years to have somehow to deal with his destiny.

“Old man, if you must roll, wait till I get back to the girl, and then roll!” he said, aloud, as if the stones were indeed a god.

And those spoken words, in their grim note to his ear, as well as contents to his mind, told Venters that he was all but drifting on a current which he had not power nor wish to stem.

Venters exercised his usual care in the matter of hiding tracks from the outlet, yet it took him scarcely an hour to reach Oldring’s cattle.  Here sight of many calves changed his original intention, and instead of packing out meat he decided to take a calf out alive.  He roped one, securely tied its feet, and swung it over his shoulder.  Here was an exceedingly heavy burden, but Venters was powerful—­he could take up a sack of grain and with ease pitch it over a pack-saddle—­and he made long distance without resting.  The hardest work came in the climb up to the outlet and on through to the valley.  When he had accomplished it, he became fired with another idea that again changed his intention.  He would not kill the calf, but keep it alive.  He would go back to Oldring’s herd and pack out more calves.  Thereupon he secured the calf in the best available spot for the moment and turned to make a second trip.