initial commit of ebook 6906HEADmain

2 files changed, 8614 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/old/lstrl10.txt b/old/lstrl10.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02f1866
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/lstrl10.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8614 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Trail, by Edward S. Ellis
+#2 in our series by Edward S. Ellis
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
+copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
+this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
+
+This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
+Gutenberg file.  Please do not remove it.  Do not change or edit the
+header without written permission.
+
+Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
+eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file.  Included is
+important information about your specific rights and restrictions in
+how the file may be used.  You can also find out about how to make a
+donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
+
+
+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
+
+**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: The Lost Trail
+
+Author: Edward S. Ellis
+
+Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6906]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on February 10, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TRAIL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sean Pobuda
+
+
+
+
+THE LOST TRAIL
+
+By Edward S. Ellis
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+AN ENEMY IN A TREE
+
+
+One afternoon in early spring, Jack Carleton, a sturdy youth of
+seventeen years, was following a clearly-marked trail, leading
+through the western part of Kentucky toward the Mississippi river.
+For many a mile he followed the evenly spaced tracks made by a horse
+on a walk, the double impressions being a trifle more than three
+feet apart.
+
+"Helloa!" exclaimed, Jack, when he looked at the earth again and
+observed that the tracks had taken a new form, with nearly eight
+feet between them.  "Otto has forced the colt to a trot.  He must be
+in a hurry, or he thinks I am fond of traveling."
+
+Thus far the lusty young Kentuckian felt no misgiving, but within
+fifty yards the trail underwent the startling change--the footprints
+being separated by more than three yards now.
+
+"My gracious," muttered the boy, coming to a full stop, "something
+is wrong: Otto would not have put the horse on a dead run if he
+hadn't been scared."
+
+Jack Carleton proved his training by the keenness and quickness with
+which he surveyed his surroundings.  The woods were on every hand,
+but they were open and free from undergrowth, so that he gained an
+extensive view.
+
+ As he advanced with vigorous steps along the winding path, his eyes
+sometimes rested on the pendulous branches of the majestic elm, a
+small purple flower here and there still clinging to the limbs and
+resisting the budding leaves striving to force it aside; the massive
+oak and its twisted, iron limbs; the pinnated leaves of the hickory,
+whose solid trunk, when gashed by the axe, was of snowy whiteness;
+the pale green spikes and tiny flowers of the chestnut; the
+sycamore, whose spreading limbs found themselves crowded even in the
+most open spaces, with an occasional wild cherry or tulip, and now
+and then a pine, whose resinous breath brooded like a perennial balm
+over the vast solitude.
+
+Jack Carleton was arrayed in the coarse, serviceable garb of the
+border: heavy calf-skin shoes, thick trousers, leggings and coat,
+the latter short and clasped at the waist by a girdle, also of
+woolen and similar to that of the modern ulster.  The cap was of the
+same material and, like the other garments, had been fashioned and
+put together by the deft hands of the mother in Kentucky.
+Powder-horn and bullet-pouch were suspended by strings passing over
+alternate sides of the neck and a fine flint-lock rifle, the
+inseparable companion of the Western youth, rested on the right
+shoulder, the hand grasping it near the stock.
+
+ Jack's hasty survey failed to reveal any cause for fear, and he
+resumed his pursuit, as it may be termed.  The quick glances he cast
+on the ground in front showed, in every instance, that the horse he
+was following was fleeing at the same headlong pace.  His rider had
+spurred him to a dead run, at which gait he had shot underneath the
+limbs of the trees at great risk to himself as well as to his rider.
+
+The trail was broad, for loaded horses had passed in both
+directions, and wild animals availed themselves of it more than once
+in making their pilgrimages to the Mississippi, or in migrating from
+one part of the country to the other.
+
+But there were no footprints that had been made within the past few
+days, with the single exception noted--that of the horse which had
+abruptly broken into a full run.
+
+The balmy afternoon was drawing to a close, and Jack began to
+believe the chances were against overtaking his friend and
+companion, young Otto Relstaub.
+
+"If he has kept this up very long, he must be far beyond my reach,
+unless he has turned about and taken the back trail."
+
+Glancing at the sky as seen through the branches overhead, the youth
+observed that it was clear, the deep blue flecked here and there by
+patches of snowy clouds, resting motionless in the crystalline air.
+
+Comparatively young as was Jack, he had been thoroughly trained in
+woodcraft.  When beyond sight of the cabins of the straggling
+settlement, where he made his home, he was as watchful and alert as
+Daniel Boone or Simon Kenton himself.  His penetrating gray eyes not
+only scanned the sinuous path, stretching in front, but darted from
+side to side, and were frequently turned behind him.  He knew that
+if danger threatened it was as likely to come from one point as
+another.
+
+He could not avoid one conclusion: the peril which had impelled the
+young German's horse to such a burst of speed must have been in the
+form dreaded above all others--that of the wild Indians who at that
+day roamed through the vast wilderness of the West and hovered along
+the frontier, eager to use the torch, the rifle, or the tomahawk,
+whenever and wherever the way opened.
+
+The probability that such was the cause of the horseman's haste
+threw the young Kentuckian at once on his mettle.  Inasmuch as he
+was putting forth every effort to rejoin his companion, there was
+good reason for fearing a collision with the red men.  He had been
+in several desperate affrays with them, and, like a sensible person,
+he spared no exertion to escape all such encounters.
+
+"If they will let me alone I will not disturb them," was the
+principle which not only he, but many of the bravest frontiersmen
+followed daring the eventful early days of the West.
+
+The youth now dropped into the loping trot of the American Indian--a
+gait which, as in the case of the dusky warrior himself, he was able
+to maintain hour after hour, without fatigue.  The sharp glances
+thrown in every direction were not long in making a discovery,
+though not of the nature anticipated.
+
+A short distance in front a white oak, whose trunk was fully two
+feet in diameter, grew beside the trail which he was following.  Its
+shaggy limbs twisted their way across the path and among the
+branches on the other side.  The exuberant leaves offered such
+inviting concealment to man and animal that the youth subjected them
+to the keenest scrutiny.
+
+His trot dropped to a slow walk, and he instinctively glanced at the
+lock of his gun to make sure it was ready for any emergency.
+
+Something was moving among the branches of the forest monarch, but
+Jack knew it was not an Indian.  No warrior would climb into a tree
+to wait for his prey, when, he could secure better concealment on
+the ground, where he would not be compelled to yield the use of his
+legs, which play such an important part in the maneuverings of the
+red man.
+
+The lad caught several glimpses of the strange animal, and, when
+within a few rods, identified it.
+
+"It's a painter," he said to himself, with a faint smile, resuming
+his slow advance and giving a sigh of relief; "I don't know whether
+it is worth while to give him a shot or not."
+
+The name "painter," so common among American hunters, is a
+corruption of "panther," which is itself an incorrect application,
+the genuine panther being found only in Africa and India.  In South
+America the corresponding animal is the jaguar, and in North America
+the cougar or catamount, and sometimes the American lion.
+
+ Jack Carlton did not hold the brute in special fear, though he knew
+that when wounded or impelled by hunger he was a dangerous foe.
+During an unusually cold day, only a few months before, one of them
+had made an open attack on him, inflicting some severe scratches and
+tearing most of his clothes to shreds.
+
+It would have been one of the easiest things in the world for the
+young Kentuckian to settle the whole question by leaving the trail
+and making a detour that would take him safely by the treacherous
+beast, which, as a rule, is afraid to assault a person.  The lad was
+certain that at that season of the year it would not leave the tree
+to attack him.
+
+But if he took such a course, it would be a confession of timidity
+on his part against which, his nature and training rebelled.
+
+"No," Said he, after brief hesitation, "I won't leave the path for
+all the painters this side of the Mississippi.  It may not be wise
+for me to fire my gun just now and I won't do it, if he behaves
+himself, but I don't mean to put up with any nonsense."
+
+He brought his weapon in front, raised the hammer and closely
+watched the animal above, while the quadruped was equally intent in
+observing him.  It was a curious sight--the two scrutinizing each
+other with such defiant distrust.
+
+The cougar was crouching on a broad limb, just far enough from the
+trunk of the oak to be directly over the trail.  He was extended
+full length, and, as partly seen through the leaves, offered the
+best target possible for the marksman below.
+
+But Jack preferred not to fire his gun, for the reason that the
+report was likely to be heard by more dangerous enemies.  His
+purpose was to refrain from doing so, unless forced to shoot in self
+defense, and his pride would not permit him to deviate a
+hair's-breadth from the path in order to escape the necessity of
+shooting.
+
+He walked with the deliberate, noiseless tread of an Indian, looking
+steadily upward at the eyes which assumed a curious, phosphorescent
+glare, that scintillated with a greenish light, as the relative
+position of the enemies changed.
+
+The lad passed under the limbs staring unflinchingly aloft.  When
+exactly beneath, the cougar was hidden for an instant from sight,
+but, recognizing the changing conditions, he quickly lifted his head
+to the right, and the lad again saw the greenish glare, the white
+teeth, and blood red mouth.  He traced the outlines of the sinewy
+body close along the limb, and through which he could have driven a
+bullet with fatal certainty.  The "painter," whose scream is often
+mistaken for the cry of a human being, uttered an occasional
+snarling growl as he looked down on the lad.  His attitude and
+manner seemed to say: "I've got my eye on you, young man!  Walk very
+straight or you will find yourself in trouble."
+
+The probability that a cougar is gathering his muscles on a limb
+with the intention of bounding down on one's shoulders, is enough to
+make the bravest man uneasy.  Jack Carleton did feel a creeping
+chill, but the same pride which prevented him deviating a
+hair's-breadth from the trail, would not allow him to increase or
+retard his gait.
+
+"If you think you can make me run, old fellow," he muttered, with
+his gaze still fixed on the beast, "you are mistaken.  We don't meet
+wild animals in Kentucky that are able to drive us out of the woods.
+You needn't fancy, either, that I am in any hurry to walk away from
+you."
+
+And, to show the contempt in which he held the beast, the youth at
+that moment came to a full stop, turned about and faced him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+WHAT A RIFLE-SHOT DID
+
+
+The moment the young Kentuckian assumed this attitude, he became
+aware that the cougar had determined upon hostilities.
+
+With a rasping snarl he buried his claws in the shaggy bark,
+pressing his body still closer to the limb, and then shot downward
+straight toward Jack, who was too vigilant to be caught unprepared.
+Leaping backward a couple of steps, he brought his gun to his
+shoulder, like a flash, and fired almost at the moment the animal
+left his perch.  There could be no miss under the circumstances, and
+the "painter" received his death wound, as may be said, while in
+mid-air.  He struck the ground with a heavy thump, made a blind leap
+toward the youthful hunter, who recoiled several steps more, and
+then, after a brief struggle, the beast lay dead.
+
+During these moments, Jack Carleton, following the rule he was
+taught when first given his gun, occupied himself with reloading the
+weapon.  A charge of powder was poured from the hollow cow's horn,
+with its wooden stopper, into the palm of his hand, and this went
+rattling like fine sand down the barrel.  The square piece of muslin
+was hammered on top until the ramrod almost bounded from the gun;
+then the bullet which the youthful hunter had molded himself, was
+shoved gently but firmly downward, backed by another bit of muslin.
+The ramrod was pushed into its place, and the hammer, clasping the yellow,
+translucent flint, was drawn far back, like the jaw of a wild cat,
+and the black grains sprinkled into the pan.  The jaw was slowly let
+back so as to hold the priming fast, and the old fashioned rifle, such
+as our grandfathers were accustomed to use, was ready for duty.
+
+Jack surveyed the motionless figure on the ground and said:
+
+"I don't think you'll ever amount to anything again as a painter; at
+any rate, you ain't likely to drop on to a fellow's head when he is
+walking under a tree."
+
+And, without giving him any further notice, he turned about and
+resumed his walk toward the Mississippi.
+
+It was vain, however, for him to seek to suppress his anxiety.  The
+trail of the flying horse still indicated that he was going on a
+dead run, and some unusual cause must have impelled him to do so.
+Jack could not doubt that his friend Otto was driven to such severe
+effort by the appearance of Indians, but it would seem that the
+terrific gait of the Steed ought to have taken him beyond all danger
+very speedily, whereas, for more than a mile, the pace showed not
+the slightest diminution.
+
+At the most, Otto was not more than an hour in advance, and his
+friend, therefore, had good reason to fear he was in the immediate
+vicinity of the dreaded red men.
+
+The young hunter was brave, but he was not reckless.  He had refused
+to turn aside to avoid a collision with the cougar, but he did not
+hesitate to leave the trail, in the hope of escaping the savages who
+were likely to be attracted by the report of the gun.
+
+From the beginning the lad had stepped as lightly as possible,
+bringing his feet softly but squarely down on the ground, after the
+fashion of the American Indian, when threading his way through the
+trackless forest.  He now used the utmost care in leaving the trail,
+for none knew better than he the amazing keenness of the dark eyes
+that were liable to scan the ground over which he had passed.
+
+Not until he was several rods from the footprints of the flying
+horse did he advance with anything like assurance.  He then moved
+with more certainty until he reached a chestnut, whose trunk was
+broad enough to afford all the concealment he could desire.
+
+Stepping behind this, Jack assumed a position which gave him a view
+of the trail, with no likelihood of being seen, unless the suspicion
+of the Indians should be directed to the spot.
+
+"If they are coming, it is time they showed themselves."
+
+The words were yet in the mouth of the youth, when something seemed
+to twinkle and flicker among the trees, in advance of the point
+where he had turned aside from the path.  A second look allowed that
+two Indian warriors were returning along the trail.
+
+He recognized them as Shawanoes--one of the fiercest tribes that
+resisted the march of civilization a century ago.  It may be said
+that they corresponded to the Apaches of the present day.
+
+The couple were scrutinizing the ground, as they advanced with heads
+thrown forward and their serpent-like eyes flitting from side to
+side.  Manifestly they were expecting to discover certain parties
+along the trail itself.  There may have been something in the
+peculiar sound of the rifle, which raised their suspicions, though
+it is hard to understand wherein the report of two similarly made
+weapons can possess any perceptible difference.
+
+Be that as it may, that which Jack Carleton feared had taken
+place--the shot which killed the cougar brought far more dangerous
+enemies to the spot.
+
+The lad would have had no difficulty in picking off one of the
+warriors, but he had not the remotest intention of doing so.  There
+could be no justification for such a wanton act, and the consequences
+could not fail to be disastrous to himself.  He was never better
+prepared to support the creed of the frontiersmen who would willingly
+leave the red men unmolested if they in turn sought to do them no harm.
+
+The Shawanoes soon passed by, making no pause until they reached the
+carcass of the panther.  They quickly saw the bullet-wound, between
+his fore legs, and understood that his heart had been pierced while
+in the act of leaping from his perch upon the hunter beneath.  A
+brief scrutiny of the ground brought to light the impressions of the
+calf-skin shoes of him who had fired the fatal shot.
+
+They understood at once that the party was a white person, and,
+judging from the size of the footprints, he clearly was an adult-one
+who, it was safe to conclude, was able to taking good care of
+himself; but it must have been a relief to the warriors when their
+examination of the earth showed that only a single member of the
+detested race had been concerned in the death of the cougar.
+
+That which followed was precisely what the watcher expected.  The
+moment the red men were certain of the direction taken by the hunter
+they started along the same line.  The foremost looked down for an
+instant at the ground, and then seemed to dart a glance at every
+visible point around him.  The other warrior did not once look down,
+but guarded against running into any ambush for it need not be said
+that the task on which they were engaged was most delicate and
+dangerous.
+
+The American Indian cannot excel the white man in woodcraft and
+subtlety, and no Kentucky pioneer ever stood still and allowed a
+dusky foe to creep upon him.
+
+It will be conceded that a point had been reached where Jack
+Carleton had good cause for alarm.  Those Shawanoe were following
+his trail, and they had but to keep it up for a short distance when
+he was certain to be "uncovered."
+
+"I wish there was only one of them," muttered the youth, stealthily
+peering from behind the tree; "it will be hard to manage two."
+
+The coolness of Jack was extraordinary.  Though he felt the
+situation was critical in the highest degree, yet there was not a
+tremor of the muscles, nor blanching of the countenance, as it would
+seem was inevitable when such a desperate encounter impended.
+
+There was a single, shadowy hope; it was fast growing dark in the
+woods, and the eyes of the Shawanoes, keen as they were, must soon
+fail them.  The sun had set and twilight already filled the forest
+arches with gloom.
+
+Peering around the bark, Jack saw the leading Indian bend lower,
+leaving to the other the task of guarding against mishap.  He walked
+more slowly; it was plain his task was not only difficult, but was
+becoming more so every moment.
+
+Jack followed the movements with rapt attention.  Knowing the
+precise point where he had left the path, his heart throbbed faster
+than was its wont, when he saw his enemies close to the tingle in
+his course.  A half minute later they were beyond--they had overrun
+his trail.
+
+A short distance only was passed, when the warriors seemed to
+suspect the truth.  They came to a halt, and the trail-hunter sank
+upon his knees.  His head was so close to the ground that it looked
+as if he were drawing lines and figures with his curving nose, which
+slowly circled around and back and forth.  At the same time the palm
+of his right hand gently moved over the leaves, touching them as
+lightly as the falling snowflakes, and with as wonderful delicacy as
+that of the blind reader, when his fingers are groping over the
+raised letters of the Book of Life.
+
+The young Kentuckian from his place of concealment smiled to
+himself.
+
+"There are some things which even a Shawanoe, cannot do, and that's
+one of them."
+
+Such was the fact; for, with that care which the trained pioneer
+never permits himself to forget or disregard, the lad had adopted
+every artifice at his command to add to the difficulty of
+identifying his footsteps.
+
+The warrior straightened up with an impatient "Ugh!" which brought
+another smile to the face of the watcher, for it proved beyond
+question the failure of his foes.
+
+The Shawanoe, however, had established one fact--the overrunning of
+the trail.  The one for whom they were searching had left the path
+at some point behind them.  Scant chance was there of learning the
+precise spot.
+
+"Follow me if you can," was the exultant thought of Jack, who
+carefully lowered the hammer of his rifle.  "I'm glad that as the
+painter was determined on picking a quarrel with me he did not do it
+earlier in the day--helloa!"
+
+While speaking to himself, he became aware that the warriors were
+invisible.  They may have believed they were acting as oscillating
+targets for some hidden enemy, who was likely to press the trigger
+at any moment; and, unable even to approximate as they were his
+biding-place, they withdrew in their characteristic fashion.
+
+Jack thrust his head still further from behind the tree, and finally
+stepped forth that he might obtain the best view he could.  But the
+red men had vanished like the shadows of swiftly-moving clouds.
+Nothing more was to be feared from that source.
+
+But with the lifting of the peril from his own shoulders, there
+returned his distressing anxiety for his absent companion.  No doubt
+could exist that when he put his horse to his hurried flight, he had
+done so to escape the Indians.  Whether he had succeeded remained to
+be learned, but Jack felt that every probability was against it.
+
+He might well debate as to his own duty in the premises.  His one
+desire was to learn what had become of Otto, the German lad, with
+whom he left the Settlements a couple of days before.  Neither had
+ever visited this section, but they were following the instructions
+of those who had, and the young Kentuckian knew the precise point in
+their journey that had been reached.
+
+Standing as motionless as the trees beside him and amid the
+darkening shadows, Jack Carleton listened with the intentness of an
+Indian scout stealing into a hostile camp.
+
+The soft murmur which seems to reach us when a sea-shell is held to
+the ear filled the air.  It was the voice of the night--the sighing
+of the scarcely moving wind among the multitudinous branches, the
+restless movements of myriads of trees--the soft embrace of millions
+of leaves, which, like the great ocean itself, even when the air is
+pulseless, is never at rest.
+
+Jack Carleton had spent too many days and nights in the woods to be
+greatly impressed with the solemnity and grandeur of his
+surroundings.  That which would have awed his soul, if noted for the
+first time, had lost the power to do so from its familiarity; but
+while in the attitude of listening, he became conscious of another
+sound which did not belong to the vast forest, the throbbing air,
+nor the gathering darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+ON THE BANK OF THE MISSISSIPPI
+
+
+That which reached the ears of Jack Carleton, while he stood in the
+woods, silent and listening, was a peculiar swashing noise, which
+continued a few seconds, followed by the same space of silence--the
+intervals being as regular as the ticking of a huge pendulum.
+Accompanying the sound was another, a soft, almost inaudible flow,
+such as one hears when standing on the bank of a vast stream of
+water.
+
+He knew that both were caused by the sweep of the mighty Mississippi
+which was near at hand.  The reason for the first he could not
+understand, but that of the latter was apparent.  He had never
+looked upon the Father of Waters, but many a time he had rested
+along the Ohio and been lulled to sleep by its musical flow, even
+while the camp-fires of the hostile red men twinkled on the other
+shore.
+
+Manifestly nothing could be done by remaining where he was, and, in
+the same guarded manner in which he left the trail a half hour
+before, he began picking his way back.  Probably he ran greater
+personal risk in following the beaten path, yet he was controlled by
+a true hunter's instinct in every movement made.
+
+When he reached the trail, he observed that not only had the night
+descended, but the full moon was shining from an almost unclouded
+sky.  The trees, crowned with exuberant vegetation, cast deep
+shadows, like those of the electric light, and only here and there
+did the arrowy moonbeams strike the ground, redolent with the odors
+of fresh earth and moldering leaves.
+
+"Some of the warriors may be returning or groping along the trail,"
+was the thought of the youth, who glided silently forward, his
+senses on the alert.  His misgivings, however, were much less than
+when watching the two Shawanoes, for with the dense gloom of the
+forest inclosing him on every hand, he felt that the shelter was not
+only secure but was of instant avail.
+
+Less than a furlong was passed, when he caught the shimmering of
+water.  A few steps further and he stood for the first time on the
+bank of the Mississippi.
+
+The youth felt those emotions which must come to every one when he
+emerges from a vast forest at night and pauses beside one of the
+grandest streams of the globe.  At that day its real source was
+unknown, but Jack, who was unusually well informed for one of his
+years, was aware that it rose somewhere among the snowy mountains
+and unexplored regions far to the northward, and that, after its
+winding course of hundreds of leagues, during which it received the
+volume of many rivers, enormous in themselves, it debouched into the
+tropical waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+The reflection of the turbid current showed that it was flowing
+swiftly.  The dark line of the forest on the other shore appeared
+like a solid wall of blackness, while to the north and south the
+view ended in the same impenetrable gloom.
+
+Impressed and awed by the scene, the lad saw something which at
+first startled him by its resemblance to a man, standing in the
+river, with his feet braced against the bottom and his head and
+shoulders above the surface.  The current seemed to rush against his
+bared breast, from which it was cast back and aside, as though flung
+off by a granite rock.  Then the head bowed forward, as if the
+strong man sought to bathe his brain in the cooling waters, that he
+might be refreshed against the next shock.
+
+A minute's scrutiny was enough to show Jack that the object was a
+tree, which, rolling into the river at some point, perhaps hundreds
+of miles above, had grown weary of its journey, and, plunging its
+feet into the muddy bed of the stream, had, refused to go further.
+The fierce current would lift the head several feet with a splash,
+but could hold it thus only a part of a minute, when it would dip
+for a brief while, to rise again and repeat the action.
+
+The tree was what is known to-day on the Mississippi as a "sawyer,"
+and which is so dreaded by the steamers and other craft navigating
+the river.  Many a boat striking at full speed against them, have
+had their hulls pierced as if by a hundred-pound shell, and have
+gone to the bottom like stone.
+
+It was the sound made by the "sawyer" which had puzzled Jack
+Carleton before he caught sight of the great river.  He could not
+wonder that he had failed to guess the cause of the intermittent
+swash which reached him through the woods.
+
+"And we must cross that stream,"  murmured Jack, with half a
+shudder, as he looked out upon the prodigious volume rushing
+southward like myriads of wild horses; "it seems to me no one can
+swim to the other shore, nor can a raft or boat be pushed thither."
+
+The plucky boy would not have felt so distrustful and timid had the
+sun been shining overhead.
+
+"Ish dot you, Jack?"
+
+Young Carleton turned his head as if a war hoop had sounded in his
+ear.  He fairly bounded feet when he recognized his old friend at
+his elbow.  The good-natured German lad was grinning with delight,
+as he extended his chubby hand and asked:
+
+"How you vos?"
+
+"Why, Otto!" gasped Jack, slapping his palm against that of his
+friend and crushing it as if in a vise.  "I am so glad to see you."
+
+"So I vos," was the grinning response; "I'm always glad to shake
+hands mit myself"
+
+"But," said the other, looking furtively over each shoulder in turn,
+"let's move away the trail, where we cannot be seen or heard."
+
+The suggestion was a wise one, and acted upon without delay. The
+friends entered the wood, which continued quite open, and tramped
+steadily forward with the intention of finding place where they
+could start a fire and converse without danger of discovery by
+enemies.
+
+The hearts of both were too full for hold their peace while stealing
+forward among the trees.
+
+"Otto," said Jack, "where is the colt?"
+
+"I dinks he's purty near New Orleans as soon as dis time."
+
+Young Carleton looked wonderingly toward friend and asked, "What do
+you mean?"
+
+"I don't mean vot I don't say and derefore dinks I mean vot I vos."
+
+"So the colt went into the river?  Where were you?"
+
+"Mit de colt and he vos mit me, so we bot vos mit each other.  Just
+feels of me."
+
+Jack reached out his hand and pinched the clothing of his friend in
+several places.  It was saturated.
+
+"Ven I valks, de vater in my shoes squishes up to mine ears--don't
+you hear 'em?"
+
+"Why don't you pour it out?"
+
+"I hef done so, tree time already--I done so again once more."
+
+And, without ado, the young German threw himself forward on his
+hands and head and kicked his feet with a vigor that sent the
+moisture in every direction.  Indeed the performance was conducted
+with so much ardor that one of the shoes flow off with considerable
+violence.  Otto then reversed himself and assumed the upright
+posture.
+
+"Mine gracious," he exclaimed, "where didn't dot shoe of mine went?"
+
+"It just missed my face," replied Jack, with a laugh.
+
+"Dot vos lucky," said Otto, beginning to search for his property.
+
+"Yes; it might have hurt me pretty bad."
+
+"I means it vos lucky for de shoe," added Otto, who, in groping
+about, stumbled at that moment upon the missing article.  "Bime by
+de vater soaks down mine shoes agin and I stands on head and kicks
+it out."
+
+But Jack Carleton was anxious to learn what had befallen his friend
+since their voluntary separation some hours before, and so, while
+they were advancing along the shore, the story was told.
+
+Otto, as he had agreed to do, was riding at a leisurely pace, when,
+without the least warning, the sharp crack of a rifle broke the
+stillness of, the woods on his right, and the bullet zipped so close
+to his forehead that it literally grazed the skin, leaving a faint
+mark, which was visible several days afterward.
+
+The lad was never so frightened in all his life.  For a minute or so
+he was absolutely speechless, during which the horse, alarmed in a
+less degree than he, broke into a trot.  Otto, however, quickly
+regained his self-control, and fully realized his danger.  He did
+not glance behind him nor to the right or left.  No investigation
+was needed convince him of his peril.  He put the horse to a dead
+run, first throwing himself forward on his neck so as to offer the
+least possible target to his enemies.
+
+Only the single shot was fired, and Jack counted it strange that the
+report failed to reach his ears.  When the fugitive had gone a
+considerable distance, he ventured to look back.  He thought he saw
+several Indians, but it was probably fancy, for had they observed he
+was leaving them behind (as would have been the case), they surely
+would have appealed to their rifles again.
+
+Otto was in such danger from the overhanging limbs, and was so
+fearful that he was running a gauntlet of Indians, that he kept his
+head close to the mane of his steed and scarcely looked to see where
+they were going.
+
+The awakening came like an electric shock, when the terrified horse
+made a tremendous plunge straight out into the river.  The first
+notice Otto received was the chilling embrace of the waters which
+enveloped him to the ears.  He held his rifle in his right hand,
+and, in his desperate efforts to save that, was swept from the back
+of the animal, which began swimming composedly down stream,
+carrying saddle, blankets and other valuable articles that were
+strapped to him back.
+
+Encumbered with his heavy clothing and his gun, young Otto Relstaub
+had all he could do to fight his way back to land.  He escaped
+shipwreck as by a hair's-breadth, from the sawyer which had
+attracted the notice of Jack.
+
+"I vos swimming as hard as nefer vos," he explained, "and had just
+got in front of the tree, ven as true as I don't live, it banged
+right down on top mit me and nearly knocked out my brains out.  I
+grabbed hold of it, when it raised up and frowed me over its head.
+Den I gots mad and swims ashore."
+
+Jack laughed, for, though he knew his friend was prone to
+exaggeration, he could understand that his experience was similar,
+in many respects, to what he had stated.
+
+"After the shore reaches me," continued Otto, "I turns around free,
+four times to find where I ain't.  I see de colt going down stream
+as fast as if two Indians was on his back sitting and paddling him
+mit paddles.  I called to him to come back and explained dot he
+would cotch him cold if he didn't stay too long in de vater, but he
+makes belief he don't hears me, and I bothers him no more."
+
+"There will be trouble at home when your father finds out the colt
+is lost," said Jack Carleton, who knew how harsh the parent of Otto
+was; "it must be he returned to land further down."
+
+"Yes; bimeby he comes ashore."
+
+"Why didn't you recover him?"
+
+"'Cause he swims out on de oder side and he would not wait till I
+could go back mit de settlenients and got mine frens to come and
+build one boat.  I vos gone so long dot it vos night ven I comes
+back, and ven I sees you I dinks you vos an Indian or maybe some
+other loafer."
+
+Jack Carleton was about to reply to this remark when both he and his
+friend caught sight the same moment of the star-like twinkle of a
+point of light.
+
+While there was nothing specially noteworthy in this, yet both were
+impressed by the fact that the light was not only on the river, but
+was serving as a signal to some one standing on the same shore with
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE VISITOR FROM THE OTHER SHORE
+
+
+Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub saw the twinkling point of light,
+glowing like a star from the bank of darkness on the other side the
+Mississippi.  It shone for a minute with an intense brightness, and
+then, to their amazement, began revolving in a circle of a foot or
+more in diameter.  It sped round and round with such swiftness that
+it resembled a wheel of fire without the slightest break in the
+flaming periphery.
+
+"What can it mean?" asked the mystified Jack.
+
+"I vos told something apout afire dot vos to jump apout in one
+circle," was the remarkable statement of Otto.
+
+"What was it?"
+
+"I don't forgot him now," replied the German with the hesitating
+speech of one in doubt.
+
+"Well, you're the prize blockhead of the West," was the impatient
+comment of the young Kentuckian.  "How you could have heard anything
+of that signal--as it must be--and forget it is beyond my understanding."
+
+"Dot's what I dinks.  I'll remember sometime after a few days--
+helloa!"
+
+His exclamation was caused by the blotting out of the circular fire
+which had caused so much speculation.  Looking toward the western
+bank of the Mississippi all was darkness again, the light having
+vanished.
+
+Jack stooped so as to bring his head on a level with the surface of
+the river, and peered intently out over the moonlit surface.
+
+"That torch was waved by an Indian in a canoe," said he, in a low
+voice, "and he is paddling this way."
+
+Otto imitated the action of his friend, and saw that he had spoken
+the truth.  The outlines of a boat, dimly distinguishable, were
+assuming definite shape with such rapidity that there could be no
+doubt the craft was approaching them.
+
+As there was no question that the fiery ring was meant for a signal,
+Jack Carleton concluded that a party of red men were communicating
+with those from whom the boys had effected so narrow an escape.
+Such a supposition showed the necessity of great care, and the
+friends, without speaking, stepped further from the edge of the
+stream, where they were in no danger of being seen.
+
+As the boat came nearer, and its shape was more clearly marked, the
+boys discovered that only a single warrior sat within.  He was in
+the stern, manipulating his long, ashen paddle with such rare skill
+that he seemed to pay no heed to the current at all.
+
+"There's only one of them," whispered the astonished Jack.  "How
+easily we can pick him off!"
+
+Otto brought his gun to his shoulder.
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded the angry Jack.
+
+"Pick him off!"
+
+"No, you don't.  He may be a friend."
+
+"We'll found dot out, after we don't shoot him.  Let's shoot him
+first," was the suggestion of Otto, "and then ax him the question."
+
+"Even if an enemy--as he undoubtedly is--it would be cowardly to
+slay him in that fashion.  As there is only one--!"
+
+"Dere!" exclaimed the young Teuton, hardly to suppress his
+excitement over the recollection; "I knowed dat I had recumlected
+some dings."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Dot young gentleman in dot boat is a great friend of mine.  He told
+me he would meet me at the crossing, if I didn't reach him pefore
+till it was come dark.  Dot vos vat I didn't forget till de fire
+pegun to whirl apout, and then I didn't remember."
+
+"Who is he?" asked the astonished Jack.
+
+"Deerfoot, the Shawanoe," was the reply of Otto, who, with a light
+heart, stepped closer to the edge of the swiftly flowing river and
+called out:
+
+"Holloa, Deerfoot!  How you vos?"
+
+The mention of the name called up strange emotions in the breast of
+Jack Carleton.  For a year previous, stories had reached the
+settlement where he had made his home, of the wonderful Shawanoe
+youth, who was captured when a child, and while he was as untameable
+in his hatred of the whites as a spitting wildcat, but who was
+transformed by kindness into the most devoted friend of the
+pioneers.
+
+Ned Preston, who lived at Wild Oaks, nearly a hundred miles distant
+from Jack's home, visited the latter a few months before, while on a
+hunting excursion, with his colored friend Wild-blossom Brown, and
+it was from him that Jack had gained many particulars of the
+remarkable history of the young Shawanoe.
+
+Jack credited the statements of Deerfoot's amazing skill in the use
+of his bow and arrow, his wonderful fleetness of foot, and his
+chivalrous devotion to his friends; but when told that the youth
+could not only read, but could write an excellent hand, and that he
+was a true Christian, Jack felt many misgivings of the truth of the
+whole story.
+
+Jack recalled further the statement that Deerfoot was held in such
+detestation by his own race that he became convinced his presence
+was an element of weakness rather than strength to his friends, and
+it was for that reason he had migrated west of the Mississippi.
+
+The youthful warrior, seated in the stem of the canoe, gave no
+evidence that he saw the stubby figure of the German lad who stepped
+close to the water and hailed him by name.  One powerful impulse of
+the paddle sent the bark structure far up the bank, like the snout
+of some aquatic monster plunging after the lad awaiting it.
+
+Before it came to rest, Deerfoot sprang lightly ashore, and,
+grasping the front of the boat, drew it still further from the
+river, where it was not only safe against being swept away, but
+could not be seen by any one passing in the neighborhood.
+
+His next proceeding was to pick up his bow from the bottom of the
+canoe, after which he was prepared to see that others were near him.
+Turning about, he extended his hand to Otto with the smiling
+greeting: "How do you do, my brother?"
+
+The words were spoken with as perfect accentuation as Jack Carleton
+could have used.  Had the speaker been invisible, no one would have
+believed him to be an Indian.
+
+"I does vell," replied Otto, shaking his hand firmly.  "Dis ish my
+friend, Jack Carleton, dot I dinks a good deal of."
+
+Dropping the hand of the German, Deerfoot took one step forward and
+saluted the young Kentuckian in the same manner.  He pressed his
+hand warmly, and, with the same smile as before, said:
+
+"Deerfoot is glad to meet his brother."
+
+As he uttered these words the moonlight fell on his face and the
+front part of his body, so that a better view of countenance and
+features could not have been obtained.
+
+Nearly a year had passed since we last saw Deerfoot (see "Ned on the
+River").  During that period, he had almost attained the full
+stature of a warrior.  It may be said that there was no single
+person, whether of his own or the Caucasian race, whom Deerfoot held
+in personal fear.
+
+Those who have done me the honor of reading the "Young Pioneer
+Series," will recall the marked attractiveness of Deerfoot's
+countenance.  The classical regularity of his features was relieved
+from effeminacy by the slightly Roman nose, which, with the thin
+lips, gave him an expression of firmness and nerve that was true to
+his character.
+
+When he stepped in front of the great Tecumseh, with his knife
+clenched in his band, and dared the chieftain to mortal combat, the
+luminous black eyes flashed lightning, and the muscles on the
+graceful limbs were knotted like iron.  They were now in repose and
+the eyes were as soft as those of a maiden.
+
+When Deerfoot smiled it was rarely more than it faint, shadowy
+expression, just sufficient to reveal the small, even, white teeth
+and to add to the winsomeness of his expression.
+
+The love of finery and display seems natural to every human being,
+and it manifested itself in the dress of the young Shawanoe.  The
+long black hair, which streamed down his shoulders, was ornamented
+at the crown by several eagle feathers, brilliantly stained and
+thrust in place.  The fringes of the neatly fitting leggings were
+also colored, and the moccasins which incased the small shapely
+feet, were interwoven with beads of every line of the rainbow.  The
+body of the hunting shirt as well as the skirt, which descended
+almost to his knees, showed what may be called a certain subdued
+gaudiness which was not without its attractiveness.
+
+The waist of the Shawanoe was clasped by a girdle into which were
+thrust a knife and tomahawk.  Relying upon the bow, instead of the
+rifle, he carried a quiver full of arrows, just showing over the
+right shoulder, where they could be readily plucked with his deft
+left hand, whenever required.
+
+Deerfoot had tested both the rifle and the bowl and as has been
+shown gave his adherence to the latter.
+
+Jack Carleton said to himself, "He is the handsomest being I ever
+looked upon."
+
+He was perfect in build, graceful in every movement, with an
+activity and power almost incredible, an eye large, black, and
+honest, but keen and penetrating, and a command of which approached
+the marvelous.
+
+These characteristics of the young warrior struck Jack Carleton
+while pressing the warm hand of his new friend and looking into his
+pleasing countenance for the first time.
+
+"I am delighted to see you," he said, recalling the amazing stories
+told of Deerfoot by Ned Preston, and beginning to think that, after
+all, they may have contained more truth than fiction.
+
+Before Jack could add anything more, Otto Relstaub, who was staring
+at the two, heaved a great sigh, as if fearing some danger would
+come upon them.
+
+"What is the matter with my brother?" asked Deerfoot, looking
+inquiringly toward him with his old smile.
+
+"I asks mineself if we stands here till all last night, don't it?"
+
+"I suppose we may as well seek more comfortable quarters," remarked
+Jack Carleton, who turned to the young warrior and added, "When
+Deerfoot is present no one else dare lead.  What says he?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+AROUND THE CAMP-FIRE
+
+
+On a tempestuous night in midwinter the little settlement of
+Coatesville, in Kentucky, was assailed by a fierce band of Shawanoes
+and Hurons.  The pioneers were surprised, for the hour was near
+daybreak, and, accustomed as they were to the forays of the border,
+they were without the slightest warning of the danger which burst
+upon them.  They rallied, however, and made an heroic defense, but
+when with the dawning of day the warriors withdrew, they left more
+than half the hearthstones darkened with sorrow and woe, because of
+one or more of its defenders who had fallen in the strife.
+
+Among those that had perished was Abram Carleton, shot down on his
+own threshold while fighting for his wife and his boy Jack, who
+themselves were doing their utmost to beat back their merciless
+enemies.
+
+The youth, as he grew older, gradually recovered from his grief, but
+the blow was so terrible to the stricken widow that its effect
+remained with her through all the years that followed.  The
+vivacious, bright-hearted wife became the sad, thoughtful woman, who
+rarely smiled, and who walked forever in the shadow of her
+desolation.  She had only her boy Jack, and to him she gave the
+whole wealth of her attention; but she could never forget the brave
+one that had yielded his life for her and her child.
+
+Some years later a portion of the settlers became dissatisfied with
+their home, peculiarly exposed as it was to attacks from marauding
+red men, and determined to cross the Mississippi into that portion
+of Louisiana which to-day forms the great State of Missouri.
+
+To many it seemed a strange refuge, for the change, it may be said,
+took them still further from civilization; but the reader well
+knows that the settlement of no portion of the Union was marked by
+such deeds of ferocity as that of the Dark and Bloody Ground, and
+the pioneers had good grounds to hope for better things in the
+strange land toward which they turned their footsteps.
+
+The lead mines of Missouri attracted notice a early as 1720, and
+Saint Genevieve, its oldest town, was founded in 1755.  At the
+breaking out of the Revolution, St. Louis contained nearly a
+thousand inhabitants, the country at that time belonging to Spain,
+and a considerable fur trade was carried on with the Indians.
+
+Among those who crossed the Mississippi was the widow Carleton.  Her
+friends believed that if she removed forever from the scene of her
+great affliction she might recover; but if she remained she must
+soon succumb.  She suffered herself to be persuaded, and went in the
+company of those who promised to give her the tenderest attention
+and care.
+
+Her decision was not made until the little company, that had spent
+weeks in preparation, was on the eve of starting.  It thus became
+necessary for Jack to stay behind to look after certain interests of
+both, his purpose being to follow in the course of a few weeks.
+
+The long journey westward was made in safety, a thriving settlement
+begun, and young Otto Relstaub, the son of a hard-hearted, penurious
+German, was sent back over the trail, according to promise, to guide
+Jack Carleton, who was impatiently awaiting him.  The next morning
+after his arrival the two started westward, all their earthly
+effects packed upon the single horse.
+
+They took turns in riding the animal.  Accustomed as they were to
+constant activity, they would have enjoyed the journey on foot much
+more than on horseback.  At first both walked, but, after their
+animal had run away several times, his capture causing much delay,
+trouble, and roiling of temper, they concluded that a change would
+have to be made if they expected ever to reach their destination.
+
+One afternoon, when Otto was riding considerably in advance of his
+friend, he was fired upon by Indians, narrowly escaping with his
+life. The incidents immediately following have already been told the
+reader.
+
+It was yet early in the evening when Deerfoot the Shawanoe acted
+upon the request of Otto, that some more convenient spot should be
+selected in which to continue their talk.
+
+Inasmuch as the destination of the boys lay to the westward, it
+seemed to Jack Carleton that, the wisest thing to do was to enter
+the canoe, and allow the young Shawanoe to paddle them across; but
+he held the gifts and skill of the wonderful warrior in such high
+estimation that he feared a hint of the kind might not be received
+with favor.
+
+Deerfoot led the way through the wood until a depression was
+reached, where considerable undergrowth grew.  He came to a stop and
+seemed to be looking around in the darkness, which to the others was
+impenetrable.
+
+"Let a fire be kindled," said he.
+
+Only a few minutes were needed to gather all the fuel required.  It
+was heaped against the trunk of a tree, and as each carried a flint
+and steel, a bright roaring blaze was soon under way.
+
+Had Jack and Otto been alone, they would have been troubled by the
+fear that their campfire would be seen by prowling enemies but the
+air of unconcern on the part of the Shawanoe infused into them a
+feeling of confidence which drove away all fear.
+
+Enough branches and leaves were piled together to afford them the
+best sort of couch.  Not one had it blanket with him, and had the
+weather been cold, they must have suffered not a little.  The boys
+had lost theirs when their horse ran away the last time, and
+Deerfoot had not brought any with him, though one remained in his
+canoe.
+
+Fortunately the night was not only mild, but scarcely a breath of
+air was stirring.  The fire radiated all the heat needed to make
+each comfortable.  They assumed easy postures on the ground, and, as
+the reflection lit up each countenance, they looked curiously at one
+another, as if seeking more intimate knowledge of their appearance.
+
+Deerfoot and Jack have already been sufficiently referred to, and a
+little attention is due to the honest German youth, who has his part
+to play in the following pages.
+
+Otto was about a year younger than his friend, and bore very little
+resemblance to him.  Jack possessed a certain rugged grace, and,
+while he was not handsome, his face showed intelligence with mental
+strength, sustained by bounding youth, and a physical vigor which
+was perfect.
+
+Otto was a head shorter than Jack, and his growth seemed to run
+mostly to breadth.  His short legs bowed outward at the knees, and a
+curve seemed necessary in order to preserve the harmony of general
+expanse.
+
+His face was very wide, the small twinkling eyes fax apart, and the
+funny pug nose inclined in the same direction.  His neck was short,
+and hair long and thick.  His dress was similar to that worn by Jack
+Carleton, except that everything, even to the shoes, were of the
+coarsest possible nature.
+
+Jacob Relstaub, the father of Otto, was not merely penurious, but he
+was miserly and mean.  Jack Carleton knew him so well that he was
+certain there would be serious trouble with the lad if he showed
+himself in the little frontier town without the valuable horse which
+had run away and swam the river.
+
+There was one respect in which the dress of the German differed from
+that of the American.  Instead of wearing a cap, he was furnished
+with a hat something similar to those seen in some portions of the
+Tyrol.  It had a brim of moderate width, and the crown gradually
+tapered until it attained a height of six inches, where it ended in
+it point.  The thrifty mother possessed a secret of imparting a
+stiffness to the head gear which caused it to keep its shape, except
+when limp from moisture.
+
+Such youths as Otto and Jack are always blessed with the most
+vigorous appetites, but they had eaten during the afternoon and were
+well content to wait until the morrow.  As for Deerfoot, it made
+little difference to him whether he had partaken since the rising of
+the sun, for he had been taught from his infancy to hold every
+propensity of his nature in the sternest check.  Oft-times he went
+hungry for no other purpose than that of self-discipline.
+
+"How was it you came to meet Otto?" asked Jack of the dusky youth,
+who, assuming an easy position on the ground, was examining his bow.
+He looked up, smiled faintly, and hesitated a moment before
+answering.
+
+"Two suns ago Deerfoot came upon a log cabin.  It was raining and
+cold, and he was a long ways from home.  He saw the glimmer of a
+light and reached for the latch-string, but it was pulled in.  He
+knocked on the door and it was opened by the man who lived there.
+Deerfoot asked that he might stay till morning, but the pale face
+called him an Indian dog, and said that if he did not hasten away he
+would shoot him--"
+
+"Don't you know who dot vos?" interrupted Otto, whose face seemed to
+grow wider with its immense grin.
+
+"How should I know." asked Jack, in turn.
+
+"Dot was mine fader.  I dinks yon vosn't such a fool dot you
+wouldn't know dot right away."
+
+"I knew that he was the stingiest man in Kentucky, but I didn't
+suppose you spelled his name 'h-o-g."'
+
+"Dot's just de way to spell it," said Otto, slapping his friend on
+the shoulder and laughing as though pleased beyond measure.  "Wait
+till you don't know him as well as I don't."
+
+"Deerfoot turned to walk away," continued the young Shawanoe; "he
+had slept many times in the wood, and he was not afraid, but he had
+not taken many steps when some one called him.  It was too dark to
+see, but the voice was of a boy.  While Deerfoot waited he threw a
+heavy, blanket over his shoulders and made Deerfoot walk back to the
+cabin.  He asked him to enter the window where the father could not
+see him, and he told Deerfoot he would place him in his bed and he
+should have food."
+
+The narrator paused in his story and glanced toward Otto Relstaub.
+Jack, with a laugh, looked at the stubby youngster, who was blushing
+deeply and holding one hand over his face, the fingers spread so far
+apart that he could see the others.  Otto was also smiling, and his
+hand could not begin to hide it, so that each side of his mouth wits
+in sight.
+
+"Deerfoot was too proud to receive the offer of the boy, but he took
+the blanket."
+
+"And mine gracious!" struck in the lad again; "didn't mine fader
+whip me for dat?  He proke up three hickory sticks onto me and kept
+me dancing out of de cabin and in again, and over the roof, till I
+vos so disgusted as nefer vos."
+
+"How did you explain the absence of the blanket?" asked Jack.
+
+"I told mine fader I didn't know not any nodings apout it, and he
+whipped me 'cause I didn't know vot I did know, and, when Deerfoot
+brought pack de blanket next day, den he knows dat I lied and he
+whipped some more as nefer pefore."
+
+Jack Carleton threw back his bead and laughed, though he took care
+that he made little noise in doing so; but the face of the Shawanoe
+was grave.  His refined nature could see nothing mirthful in the
+cruel punishment inflicted upon the boy because he did a kindness to
+a stranger of another race.  The brutal father had only to thank the
+Christian restraint of Deerfoot that he was not pierced by an arrow
+from his bow for his conduct.
+
+The Shawanoe did not need explain that the little act of Otto had
+secured his lasting gratitude.  The latter was not one to seek his
+company or intrude himself upon him; but he was ready to do the
+young German any service in his power.
+
+A few days before, when Deerfoot was returning from the direction of
+the Mississippi, he met Otto on horseback.  The latter told him he
+was going to Coatesville to bring back a young friend, whose mother
+was in the new settlement.  For some reason, which the Shawanoe did
+not make known, he could not accompany Otto, or he would have done
+so; but he gave him full directions and numerous suggestions, every
+one of which Otto forgot within the following fifteen minutes.
+
+Deerfoot, however, after making some calculations as to the time the
+boys would reach the Mississippi on their return, promised to meet
+them there and to take them across in his canoe, which was hidden
+not far away.
+
+The Shawanoe particularly instructed Otto that, if the meeting
+should take place at night, he would make known his departure from
+the Louisiana side by swinging a torch in a circular manner.  It was
+this signal which recalled the agreement to the mind of Otto
+Relstaub, who remembered much more than he would have Jack Carleton
+believe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+NIGHT AND MORNING
+
+
+Deerfoot made known his purpose to take his friends across the
+Mississippi on the morrow in his canoe, after which he would keep
+them company for some distance along the trail, though he would be
+forced to leave them long before reaching their destination.
+
+Jack Carleton naturally felt a deep interest in the youthful
+warrior, and expected him to give some facts in his wonderful
+history, as well as an intimation of what his life was likely to be
+in the new country to which he had removed, but much to the young
+Kentuckian's disappointment, he carefully avoided all reference to
+himself.  His conversation being of such a nature that it is hardly
+worth recording in this place.
+
+When the evening was well along, Otto threw more wood on the flames
+which crackled and gave out a cheerful glow.  Deerfoot rose to his
+feet, and without a word passed out into the gloom.  The hour for
+retiring was close at hand, and he preferred to make a
+reconnaissance before trusting themselves to slumber.
+
+He returned as noiselessly as he went, remarking as he resumed his
+seat that no danger whatever threatened them, and they could slumber
+in peace.  While speaking, he drew from a pocket within the skirt of
+his bunting-shirt, the little Bible which had been presented to him
+months before by Mrs. Preston of Wild Oaks, after the other volume
+was destroyed by the bullet that was aimed at the heart of the
+youth, by the hostile chieftain.
+
+Adjusting himself in an easy posture on the ground, so that the
+ruddy fire-light came over his shoulders and fell upon the page with
+its minute letters, the young Shawanoe read for several minutes to
+himself.  The others held their peace, impressed with the singular
+sight.  Neither could doubt that he clearly comprehended every word
+of the sublime volume, and they felt that it was wrong to break in
+upon his meditation.
+
+All at once he raised his head and asked, "Would my brothers wish to
+hear Deerfoot read?"
+
+"We would, indeed," was the reply of Jack Carleton; "I never saw an
+Indian who could read from a, printed book, but I have been told
+that you can write an excellent hand."
+
+Deerfoot shook his head disparagingly.
+
+"My brother mistakes, but Deerfoot will try and read the words which
+the Great Spirit speaks to all his people, whether they are pale
+faces or red men."
+
+And then, in a low musical voice, tremulous with emotion and
+impressive beyond description, the Shawanoe read an entire chapter
+from the book of Revelations, his favorite portion of the blessed
+Book, the others listening spellbound.  Even Otto Relstaub, who saw
+and heard little of genuine Christian teachings in his cheerless
+home, was touched as never before by the indescribably solemn story
+of the apocalyptic vision.
+
+The silence which succeeded lasted several minutes, when Jack said
+in a low voice:
+
+"Deerfoot, I wish you would speak some sentences from the Bible in
+your own tongue."
+
+"Does my brother wish to learn the Shawanoe language?"
+
+"I have heard Shawanoes, Hurons and Miamis talk, but I can't
+understand a word; I have a curiosity to know how it will sound to
+hear some parts of the Bible with which I am familiar tittered in an
+unknown tongue."
+
+"What part of the book can my brother repeat without reading the
+words?"
+
+"Well--that is--I don't know," replied Jack, confused by the
+question of Deerfoot, who fixed his eyes inquiringly upon him; "I
+mean any sentence."
+
+"Does my brother not read the Bible every day?" asked the Indian, in
+a grieved rather than a reproving voice; "he must know the Lord's
+Prayer--"
+
+"O yes, yes," replied Jack, desperately clutching at the single
+straw.  "I meant to ask you to repeat that."
+
+In the same low, reverent voice he had used while reading, the
+warrior uttered the inspired petition, which shall last through all
+time.  When he had finished, he said:
+
+"My brother would like to remember the words as Deerfoot has spoken
+them; Deerfoot will print them for him."
+
+And drawing a species of red chalk from the same pocket which held
+the Bible, he wrote for several minutes on one of the fly-leaves of
+the bock.  When he had finished he glanced over the words, carefully
+tore out the leaf and handed it across to Jack.
+
+The latter examined the paper, and saw written in a fine, delicate
+hand the following words, which are preserved to this day, and
+which, when properly pronounced, constitute the Lord's Prayer as it
+has been uttered many a time by the dusky lips of the Shawanoe
+warrior, when his fiery nature was subdued by its blessed teachings:
+
+"Coe-thin-a, spim-i-key yea-taw-yan-ee, O wes-sa-yeg
+yey-sey-tho-yan-ae; Day-pale-i-tum-any-pay-itch tha-key,
+yea-issi-tay-hay-yon-ae, issi-nock-i-key, yoe-ma assis-key-kie
+pie-sey spin-I-key.  Me-li-na-key oe noo-ki cos-si-kie ta-wa-it-ihin
+oe yea-wap-a-ki tuck-whan-a; puck-i-tum-I-wa-loo
+kne-won-ot-i-they-way.  Yea-se-puck-I-tum-a-ma-chil-i-tow-e-ta
+thick-i na-chaw-ki tussy-neigh-puck-sin-a wa-pun-si-loo wau po won-
+ot-i-they ya key-la tay pale-i-tum-any way wis-sa kie was-
+si-sut-i-we-way thay-pay-wo-way."
+
+Jack studied the singular words several minutes, and then, with some
+hesitation, undertook to pronounce them.  He did only fairly, even
+when corrected by Deerfoot, who added the rebuke:
+
+"Let my brother say them over many times in his own language, for
+the Great Spirit knows all tongues when he who speaks the words
+speaks them with his heart."
+
+The consciousness that these words were uttered by one who belonged
+to what is generally regarded its a pagan race, brought a blush to
+the face of the sturdy youth that had listened to the same appeal
+more than once from the lips of his mother.
+
+Under the assurance of Deerfoot, the boys stretched themselves on
+the leaves and branches and soon sunk into a refreshing slumber.
+Jack recalled that his last remembrance was of Deerfoot resting his
+head on his elbow, while he seemed absorbed in his book.  He lay as
+motionless as a figure in bronze, but no matter how much he might be
+enchained by the words, he could not be insensible of what was going
+on around him.
+
+Both Jack and Otto slept until the light of morning was stealing
+through the woods.  Then, when they arose to their feet, they saw
+the Shawanoe broiling a couple of whitefish which he had managed to
+coax from the Mississippi.  He had almost finished before his
+friends suspected what was doing.
+
+After greeting the warrior, the others passed through the woods to
+the margin of the mighty river, where they bathed their faces and
+hands, took a slight swallow of the somewhat muddy water and then
+rejoined Deerfoot, who had their breakfast ready.
+
+"Did my brothers see any signs that frightened them?" asked
+Deerfoot, when the three had seated themselves on the ground and
+were partaking of their meal.
+
+"I took the best survey I could of the river," replied Jack, "but
+saw nothing of friend or foe.  I don't suppose, as a rule, there are
+many Indians in this section."
+
+"The Shawanoes often hunt to the river, but do not cross; the Miamis
+come down from the north, and Deerfoot sees their footprints in the
+Woods."
+
+"What tribes are we likely to meet on the other side of the
+Mississippi?" asked the young Kentuckian, who naturally felt much
+interest in the land wherein he expected to make his home.
+
+"There are many red men, even to the mountains which stretch far
+beyond the rivers and prairies, and raise their heads among the
+clouds."
+
+Jack Carleton was surprised at this reference, which, he believed,
+was to the Rocky Mountains, of which little more than their simple
+existence was known to the rest of the Union at that day.  But the
+words which followed astonished him still more:
+
+"Beyond the mountains opens the great sea, wider than that which the
+pale faces came across from the Old World; beyond that great sea
+lies the land where He died for you and me; all the way to the
+shore, of the great water you will find the red men; they are like
+the leaves in the woods, and Deerfoot and his friends will die
+without ever hearing their names."
+
+"But you have spent some time on the other side the Mississippi, and
+must know something of your race there."
+
+"Deerfoot has seen the Osages hunting among the mountains and in the
+forest; has seen the Miamis, and, to the northward, may be met the
+Sacs and Foxes.  Far toward the ice of the North is the land of the
+Assiniboine and the Dacotah."
+
+"I should like to know where you gathered all that information?"
+remarked the amazed Jack Carleton; "the country beyond the
+Mississippi is greater than that on this side, and one of these days
+it will overflow with population, then what a country ours will be!"
+exclaimed the young patriot, with kindling eye.  "But you and I,
+Deerfoot, can never live to see that time, which is for those that
+come after us."
+
+"Yaw," said Otto, seeming to feel it his duty to say something;
+"dere is enough land over dere, I 'spose, for that horse to hide a
+week before I don't catch him."
+
+Jack intimated that he was likely to find his search extended beyond
+that time, while Deerfoot smiled over the simplicity of the lad,
+whose information was so small compared with his opportunities.
+
+Conversing in this pleasant manner, the meal was soon finished, and
+they made ready to cross the river.
+
+When the three emerged from the woods they were close to the swiftly
+flowing current.  Jack and Otto paused, while Deerfoot walked the
+few rods necessary to find the canoe that had been drawn up the
+bank.
+
+Both the boys could swim the Mississippi if necessary, though, with
+their rifles and clothing to take care of, it was anything but a
+light task.  Had they been without any boat at command, they would
+have divested themselves of their garments and placed them and their
+"luggage" on it small float, while they swam behind and pushed it
+forward.
+
+When the emigrants moved westward they halted long enough on the
+bank to construct a raft, sufficient to carry everything in the
+course of several trips back and forth.  Otto made preparation when
+he reached the river some days before on horseback, and, forcing the
+animal into the current, slipped back, grasped his tail and allowed
+himself to be towed across.  He might have done the same on the
+preceding day had he been given a few minutes in which to make
+preparation, and had he not been unwilling to leave his friend
+behind.
+
+"But it will beat all that," remarked Jack Carleton, after they had
+discussed the different plans, "to be paddled over in the canoe of
+Deerfoot."
+
+"Yaw, but I dinks dot we should go across last, night."
+
+"What would we have gained by that?"
+
+"Then we wouldn't have to go ober agin dis mornings."
+
+"True, but there is no haste called for; if it was not that I am so
+anxious to see mother, I would as lief spend a week on the road."
+
+"Dot wouldn't do for me, for mine fader would be looking for me wid
+two big gads to him--"
+
+"Helloa!  Here comes Deerfoot.  What can be the matter?  He is
+excited over something."
+
+Such was the fact, indeed, for the sagacious Shawanoe had made an
+annoying if not alarming discovery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A SURPRISED FISHERMAN
+
+
+It may be said that Deerfoot the Shawanoe never lost his senses
+excepting when slumber stole them away.  Young as he was, he had
+been through some of the most terrific encounters the mind can
+conceive, and yet, when he stood erect in the full glare of the
+noonday sun, not a scratch or scar spoke of those fearful affrays in
+the depth of the forest, among the hills and mountains and along the
+Shores of the rivers of Kentucky and Ohio.
+
+I have said that he was so hated by his own people that he felt his
+presence near the settlements to the eastward was more to the
+disadvantage than the help of his friends, and that was one of the
+causes which led him to bid adieu forever to his friends.
+
+It has been intimated also that still another reason actuated him,
+and that reason shall appear in due time.
+
+When Deerfoot assured Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub that they
+might slumber in peace, he spoke the truth; it has been shown that
+not the first breath of danger touched them during the darkness, and
+the morning meal was partaken in the same enjoyable fashion.
+
+But before the subtle young Shawanoe reached the spot where he left
+his canoe, he was disturbed by discovering the imprint of moccasins
+along shore.  They led away from his friends and toward the canoe.
+A few minutes showed the latter had "received" some visitors since
+its owner left it.
+
+It was utterly destroyed.  The knives and tomahawks of several,
+warriors had hacked be bark structure to pieces.  Even the paddle
+had been broken into a half dozen parts.  Nothing was left of which
+use could be made, the blanket of the owner of course being absent.
+
+Deerfoot looked on the wreck with something like dismay, which
+speedily turned to anger.  The wantonness of the act roiled his
+feelings and stirred up the "old Indian" in his nature.
+
+He surveyed the destruction for a minute or two, and then made a
+careful examination of the signs the perpetrators could not avoid
+leaving behind them.
+
+There had been three Indiana engaged in the mischief, and the first
+supposition of Deerfoot was that they were the Shawanoes whom Jack
+Carleton saw the day previous; but a few minutes' study of the
+footprints betrayed a certain peculiarity (a slight turning outward
+of the left foot so slight, indeed, as almost to be imperceptible),
+which identified them as Miamis.  Deerfoot had noticed the "sign
+manual" years before, so there was no room for mistake on his part.
+
+The party had come down from the northward, most likely with other
+warriors, and had stumbled by mere chance upon the partially hidden
+canoe.  They probably investigated matters enough to learn that it
+was in charge of two white persons and one red one--enough to
+satisfy them that the single Indian was friendly to the settlers,
+and therefore one to be despised and harried in every way possible.
+
+It was that discovery which undoubtedly caused them to destroy the
+property and steal the blanket.  They were not enough interested to
+seek the lives of the others, though it may be they were restrained
+by fear from doing so.
+
+When Deerfoot came back to the boys, he purposely displayed some
+excitement in order to amuse them.  He quickly explained what he had
+learned, and then, in the most indifferent voice and manner, said
+"The Miamis shall pay Deerfoot for his canoe."
+
+"How will you make them do that?" asked Jack, who noticed the
+peculiar sparkle which the friends of the warrior always observed
+when his feelings were stirred.
+
+"I doesn't not believes dot you and dem cannot agrees mit de price,"
+said Otto; "derefore you sends for me and I tells you what de price
+ain't, and if dey don't agrees, den I knocks 'em ober de head--don't
+it?"
+
+"Deerfoot will not need his brother," said the Indian, gravely; "but
+he asks his brothers to wait till he comes back"
+
+"We'll do that," said Jack; "that is, as long as there is a prospect
+of your return.  When shall we expect you?"
+
+"Deerfoot will be with his brothers before the sun reaches yonder."
+
+He pointed to the place in the sky which the orb would touch about
+the middle of the afternoon.  Then, warning the two to be very
+careful, and to keep continual watch against detection, he moved
+away, vanishing from sight in the woods behind them, instead of
+keeping close to the shore.
+
+He wept to the southward until he once more reached the spot which
+contained the remains of his canoe.  He spent another minute in
+grimly surveying the ruins, and then, glancing down at the
+footprints, followed their direction.  He had determined to call the
+scamps to account for the injury done him.
+
+As they belonged to the Miami tribe, it was quite likely they had a
+boat with them, though their hunting-grounds were east of the
+Mississippi, and possibly they had other property upon which the
+offended Shawanoe meant to levy.
+
+He followed the trail for nearly a furlong, when it divided; two of
+the warriors turned to the left and went deeper into the woods,
+while the third continued down stream in the same general direction
+as before.
+
+The sagacious Shawanoe suspected the truth; the single Indian had
+gone to look after a canoe or something which lay close to the
+river, while the others were about to engage in a hunt of so kind.
+The discovery pleased Deerfoot; for, beside indicating that there
+was a boat for him to take it showed that he had but a single red
+man to meet.
+
+Within less than a hundred yards this solitary warrior was found.  A
+large canoe, evidently belonging to the three warriors, or possibly
+a larger party, lay against the bank, with one end on the land,
+while the other projected several yards into the river.  In the
+stern sat an Indian, after the fashion of a civilized man; he was
+astride of the end, his moccasins banging over, one on either side,
+his back toward shore, while he leaned forward and sleepily watched
+a fish-line, one end of which rested in his hand, while the other
+was far out in the Mississippi.
+
+His attitude was as lazy and contented as though he were a white
+man.  It looked as if he had chosen the sport while his companions
+were off on a hunt that required more effort and exertion.
+
+Deerfoot stood only a few seconds, when he smiled more fully than he
+had done for along time.  He saw his opportunity, and he proceeded
+straightway to "improve" it.
+
+He stole forward, as quietly as a shadow, until he had gone the few
+yards intervening.  All that he feared was that the aboriginal
+fisherman might obtain a bite before the boat was reached.  If he
+could catch a fish on his bone hook, he would be likely to fling him
+into the canoe behind him and to turn himself around.
+
+From the moment Deerfoot placed eyes on the motionless figure, he
+felt he was master of the situation; but, with his usual quickness,
+he had formed his plan and was desirous of carrying it out in spirit
+and in letter.
+
+Reaching the canoe, he laid his long bow on the ground beside it;
+then, stooping over, he seized the gunwale with both hands and,
+quickly as the blow of a panther, he jerked the craft slightly more
+than a foot further up the bank.
+
+The result was inevitable.  The astonished Miami sprawled forward
+from his seat and went down into the muddy Mississippi out of sight,
+doubtless frightening away the fish that was nibbling at his bait.
+
+"Hooh!" he groaned, ejecting the water from his mouth as he came to
+view, and following it with an expression much in the nature of an
+expletive.
+
+Only a couple of strokes were needed to bring him into the shallow
+water, when he rose to his feet and walked out upon dry land.  Up to
+that moment he did not know the cause of his mishap, for the author
+stooped down on the upper side of the craft; but as the Miami
+stepped out, Deerfoot rose to his full height, with his keen
+tomahawk grasped in his left hand--that being his best one.
+
+The dripping warrior, to put it mildly, was astonished, when he
+found himself confronted by the stranger.  He stood staring and
+speechless, while the mouth of Deerfoot again expanded.
+
+"Does my brother's heart grow weary that he seeks to urge the fish
+to bite his hook before they are ready?" asked the Shawanoe in the
+Miami tongue.
+
+It was all clear to the victim, and, when he understood the trick
+that had been played upon him, his anger showed through the paint
+daubed on his face.
+
+"The Shawanoe is a fool," he replied.  "His heart is filled with joy
+when he acts like a papoose."
+
+"But he will now act like a warrior," said Deerfoot, in a sterner
+manner.  "The dogs of the Miamis broke the canoe of the Shawanoe and
+stole his blanket."
+
+"The Shawanoe is the friend of the white man," said the other with a
+sneer, though not without some misgiving, for, to use the language
+of the West, the young warrior "had the drop on him."  He had only
+to make one movement in order to drive the glittering weapon through
+the skull of the Miami, as though it were mere card-board.
+
+It must be confessed that he looked very much as if such was his
+intention.
+
+"Deerfoot is the friend of the white man," repeated the Shawanoe;
+"he hoped to paddle them across the great river.  The Miami dogs
+have broken his canoe, so Deerfoot will take their boat."
+
+The warrior showed that he was astounded by the daring of the youth.
+Within the canoe lay the blanket of Deerfoot, beside the rifle;
+powder-horn, and bullet pouch, doubtless owned by the moist
+fisherman.  The latter looked at his property as if he could not
+believe any one would dare molest that; but Deerfoot settled the
+question in his terse fashion.
+
+"Let the dog of a Miami seat himself on the ground like a squaw, and
+watch his Shawanoe master while he takes the canoe and all that it
+holds."
+
+The Miami stared at his conqueror as if uncertain whether he had
+heard aright.  The conqueror enlightened him.
+
+"The dog of a Miami longs to go to the happy hunting-grounds of his
+fathers."
+
+As he uttered the words, he quickly feinted with the hand grasping
+the tomahawk.  The warrior made such a sudden start to obey that his
+moccasins slipped on the wetter earth, his feet spread apart, as
+though he were learning to skate, and he sat down with such a sudden
+bump that it forced a grunt from him.  He hastily scrambled up, and,
+with a frightened glance over his shoulder, sprang forward and sat
+down again, though the last time was according to instructions.
+
+It required all the self-restraint of Deerfoot to suppress his mirth
+over the ridiculous performance of his captive, if such he may be
+called.  When, the Miami seated himself with a grotesque effort at
+dignity, the Shawanoe placed his bow in the front of the canoe and
+then shoved the boat into the stream.
+
+As it shot from the shore, he leaped in, and caught up one of the
+long three paddles with which it was navigated.  Dipping it beneath
+the surface he made one prodigious sweep, which drove the craft
+swiftly ahead.
+
+While thus employed the Miami faithfully obeyed orders.  He sat
+immobile and silent, watching the daring young warrior making off
+not only with his private property, but with that which belonged to
+others.
+
+The Miami must have thought to himself more than once--"Ah, if my
+comrades would only appear at this moment!  They would make you
+change your tune very soon."
+
+All at once the warrior uttered a whoop which plainly was meant as a
+signal to his friends.  Instantly Deerfoot laid down his paddle,
+and, catching up the gun, pointed it at the redskin.  The latter, in
+the extremity of his terror, turned a somersault backwards, and
+tumbled and scrambled into the woods, desperately striving to get
+beyond sight of the terrible youth who showed such recklessness in
+handling weapons.
+
+No doubt the Miami believed his escape was a narrow one, when, the
+next instant, the rifle was discharged and the bullet cut through
+the leaves near his face.
+
+And so, in truth, his escape was very narrow, but it was just as
+narrow as Deerfoot chose to make it.  He had not the remotest
+intention of injuring the Miami.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+BEHIND THE TREE
+
+
+The report of the gun reached the ears of Otto and Jack, and
+naturally caused them alarm.  They hurriedly made their way to the
+edge of the river and peered out from cover, not forgetting the
+warnings previously given by Deerfoot.
+
+They had but to look a short distance down stream to see the
+Shawanoe paddling the large Indian canoe toward the other shore.
+
+"Well, dere!" exclaimed Otto.  "Deerfoot dinks as how I ain'ty
+forgotful, but don't he forget more than I does, when he dinks he
+has us in the canoe and we be here?"
+
+"There is no danger of that," said Jack; "he knows it would not do
+for him to come after us, for the Indians would shoot him from this
+side."'
+
+"Why would dey do dem things?"
+
+"Because it is the nature of Indians to revenge themselves that way.
+Don't you see he has taken their canoe, and I shouldn't wonder if
+he killed one or two of their warriors before he was able to get
+off with it.  That shot which we heard was probably fired at him."
+
+But in this instance the ears of the German proved more correct than
+those of the American.  He had noticed that the gun was discharged
+from the river, establishing the fact that it was fired by Deerfoot,
+though Jack Carleton could not understand the reason why it was
+done.
+
+It was manifest that the Shawanoe meant to cross to the other side
+the Mississippi, in order to throw the Miamis "off the trail "--that
+is, he would keep out of their sight until be gained a chance to
+return for his friends.
+
+It occurred at once to the young Kentuckian that such being the
+case, the situation of himself and Otto was one of considerable
+danger.
+
+The high-handed course of the Shawanoe would rouse the enmity of the
+Miamis to the highest point.  Revenge is one of the most marked
+characteristics of the American Indian, who is eager to retaliate
+upon the innocent when he cannot reach the guilty.  The three who
+had suffered the indignity could easily follow the trail of the
+boys, wheresoever it might lead, excepting through water.  What,
+therefore, was more likely than that they would seek to adjust
+matters by slaying those who had taken no hand in the capture of the
+canoe?
+
+Jack knew that there were only three Miamis directly concerned, but
+Deerfoot had spoken of others in the neighborhood, beside which the
+young Kentuckian himself had seen a couple of Shawanoes, only a few
+hours before, at no great distance from that very spot.
+
+When he made known his fears to Otto, the latter agreed they were in
+great peril, and the utmost care was necessary to keep clear of the
+red men.
+
+The precise course best to adopt was hard to determine, but they
+began a guarded departure from the spot, stepping as carefully and
+lightly as possible.
+
+Though Otto Relstaub, like his, parents, had never been able to
+handle the English language intelligently, and though he was
+afflicted with a forgetfulness all too common with most boys of his
+age, yet his life on the frontier had not been without its lessons
+to him.  At times he showed a shrewdness and knowledge of woodcraft
+which surprised Jack Carleton, who often became impatient with his
+shortsightedness.  The manner in which he seconded the efforts of
+his companion to mislead the Indians, known to be close at hand,
+certainly was deserving of high praise.
+
+The friends advanced some twenty rods or more, Otto keeping close
+behind Jack, without seeing or hearing anything of their enemies.
+Looking across the Mississippi, nothing was observed of Deerfoot or
+his canoe, so that no help was to be expected for many hours from
+him.  Indeed, Jack was confident that nothing of the kind could be
+done before night, when the matchless Shawanoe would have the
+darkness to help him.  To the young Kentuckian, the advent of
+Deerfoot was of that nature that he failed to see that it had
+accomplished any good.  If he and Otto could gain a suitable start,
+they would swim across.
+
+"Sh!" whispered the German, reaching forward and catching the arm of
+his friend; "waits one, two, dree smond."
+
+"What is the matter?" asked the alarmed Jack, as he turned hastily
+about.
+
+"Let you go dot way and me go dot way, and it leetle ways off we
+comes togedder agin once inore."
+
+Rather curiously, the leader was asking himself at that moment
+whether something could not be gained by him and Otto separating and
+afterward meeting at some point further up stream.
+
+Such, as is well known, is the practice of the Apaches when hotly
+pursued to their mountain fastnesses.  A large company will dissolve
+into its "original elements," as may be said, rendering pursuit out
+of the question.
+
+The wisdom of this course on the part of Jack and Otto might well be
+questioned, but, without giving the matter any thought, the young
+Kentuckian acted upon the suggestion.
+
+"You keep close to the river," he said, "while I turn to the right,
+and will come back to the shore a few hundred yards above.  We'll
+use our old signal if we have anything to say to each other."
+
+Otto nodded his bead to signify that he understood the arrangement,
+and, without another word, the two diverged, speedily losing sight
+of each other in the wood, which showed more under growth than that
+through which they passed the day before.
+
+"I declare," said Jack to himself, before he had gone far, "I much
+misgive myself whether this is going to help matters; it must be a
+good deal easier for the Indians to pick up one of us at a time,
+than it is to take the two together.  It may be best after all," he
+added a minute later, with the natural hopefulness of his nature,
+"for I learned long ago that if two or three hunters separate while
+in the Indian country, they can take better care of themselves than
+if they stay together."
+
+He stood still and looked and listened.  The wood, as has been said,
+was denser than that to which he had been accustomed, and, when he
+used his eyes to the utmost, he saw nothing to cause alarm.  The
+lynx-eyed Miamis could follow his trail with little trouble, no
+matter how much be sought to conceal it, and the fact that he saw
+and heard nothing could be no proof that danger itself was not near.
+
+"I am sure those were Shawanoes that I saw yesterday," he muttered,
+"and yet Deerfoot insists they were Miamis who broke up his canoe.
+Wonder whether there's a war party of both--"
+
+The bright eyes of the youth at that very moment told him a singular
+fact: only a short distance in front of him stood two red men in
+their war paint.  They were talking together and had their backs
+toward him.  Indeed, they were so motionless, that he had failed to
+see them in the first place, and would have failed again but for the
+low, guttural murmur of their voices.
+
+Jack instantly stepped behind the large trunk of a tree and peered
+out with an interest that may well be understood.  It was curious
+that the youth should have approached so close without detection,
+but it was complimentary to his woodcraft that such was the fact.
+
+Whatever the subject of conversation between the Indians, they
+speedily became absorbed in it, their arms sawed the air, and their
+voices rose to it pitch that carried the sound far beyond where he
+stood.
+
+Their interest in the discussion frequently brought the profile of
+the further one into view and showed so much of his front, that his
+tribal character was settled beyond question; he was a Shawanoe, one
+of the dreaded people who did more than any other to earn the name
+of Dark and Bloody Ground for one section of the Union.
+
+It was established, therefore, that there were two distinct parties
+in that particular section.  The Miamis and Shawanoes were natural
+allies, and there could be no question that a perfect understanding
+existed between those who gave our friends so much concern.
+
+Jack Carleton was debating with himself whether it would be a safe
+undertaking for him to withdraw, and, venturing further into the
+woods, seek to flank the warriors who had risen so unexpectedly in
+his path.  He had already been so delayed that his agreement with
+Otto was likely to be disarranged, and it would not do to stay too
+long where he had halted.
+
+Before a conclusion was formed, the interview between the couple
+ended.  They abruptly ceased talking, and one started north and the
+other south.
+
+As they did so Jack learned another significant fact--they belonged
+to different tribes.  The one who went northward looked squarely in
+the face of his friend, just before moving out, and, in doing so,
+gave the best view of his countenance that the boy had yet obtained.
+That view revealed him as a Miami beyond all question.
+
+The other wheeled about and advanced almost in a direct line toward
+Jack, who felt that his situation was becoming very delicate and
+peculiar.  There could be no mistaking the tribe of that warrior,
+who was a splendid' specimen of physical vigor and manhood.  Jack
+suspected that he was not only a Shawanoe, but was a chief or
+leader.  The hideous paint which was smeared over his repulsive
+face, was more elaborate than in the case of the two from whom the
+youth effected such a narrow escape.
+
+That which Jack saw confirmed his belief of a perfect understanding
+between the different parties.  They probably numbered a dozen
+altogether, and had determined to bring the friendly Indian and two
+white men to account for the outrage of the young Shawanoe--for,
+brief as was the time mince it had been perpetrated, it was more
+than probable that it was known to all.
+
+"I wish that heathen would take it into his head to move some other
+way," thought Jack to himself, as he drew his head back, fearful of
+being seen.  "If he comes straight on, he'll bump his forehead
+against this tree, and, if he turns out, he will pass so close to
+the trunk that I've got to be lively if he doesn't run against me."
+
+Listening intently, he was able to hear the soft footfall of the
+warrior upon the leaves, scarcely louder than the faint tipping of
+the claw of a small bird.  Had the Shawanoe suspected there was the
+slightest need for care, his tread would have been silent.
+
+A few seconds passed when the delicate sound ceased.  What could it
+mean?  Did the Indian suspect the truth?  Was he standing
+motionless, or was he advancing with that noiseless step which the
+ear of the listening Indian himself fails to note?
+
+These were the questions which the young Kentuckian asked, and which
+for the time be could not answer.  He shrank close to the bark of
+the tree, with his gun clasped and the hammer raised ready to fire
+at an instant's notice.   Knowing so well the subtlety of the red
+men, it occurred to Jack that his foe perhaps was stealthily
+flanking him.  He was moving to one side and the moment he could
+gain a shot he would fire.
+
+The suspense became more trying than disaster itself could be, and
+Jack determined to end it by learning the precise situation of the
+Shawanoe, and what he was likely to attempt to do in the way of
+hostilities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A TIMELY ARRIVAL
+
+
+One of the most convincing evidences of a Power beyond our
+comprehension, governing and directing everything for the best, is
+the marvelous degree to which the different faculties of our nature
+can be trained.  There is a skill which cannot be explained or
+understood by him who attains it; and, interwoven through the five
+senses which science assigns to us, seems to be a sixth not yet
+understood, of whose wonderful functions every one of us has seen
+proof.
+
+The Shawanoe warrior, after parting with his companion, walked
+leisurely toward the tree behind which the young Kentuckian was
+hiding, until about twenty yards separated them.  Then he stopped as
+abruptly as if stricken by a thunderbolt.  There was "something in
+the air" which whispered danger.
+
+The Indian had neither seen nor heard anything to cause this
+misgiving, but he knew that peril confronted him.  What he would
+have done in the event of Jack Carleton remaining silent and
+stationary behind the trunk can only be conjectured; but the
+impatience of the youth ended that phase of the situation.
+
+Softly removing his cap, the young Kentuckian slowly moved the side
+of his head to the right.  In doing so, he kept his face in a
+perpendicular position, so that the least possible part of his head
+was exposed.  Had he inclined it, the upper portion would have shown
+before the eye could have been brought into use.
+
+The first object on which Jack's vision rested was the Shawanoe
+warrior, standing erect, one foot slightly advanced and both hands
+grasping the rifle in front of him.  The face was daubed and
+streaked with paint, and the gleaming black eyes were looking
+straight at the startled youth.
+
+Like a flash the dusky arms brought the gun to his shoulder, and it
+is safe to say that Jack Carleton never in all his life drew back
+his head with such celerity.
+
+Quick as was the Indian, he was not quick enough to catch the lad,
+who, it will be seen, had very little to do in order to save himself
+for the moment.  With a faint whoop, the redskin bounded behind the
+nearest tree, and, with his cocked rifle at command, awaited an
+opening that would allow him to slay his foe.
+
+Thus the two occupied precisely the same, relative position; each
+was protected by a trunk of a tree large enough to shield his body,
+and each grasped a loaded and cocked rifle, eager to use it the
+instant the opportunity presented itself.
+
+Who was to win in this curious contest?  Looking at the situation
+dispassionately, it must be admitted that the chances favored the
+Indian.  He was older, stronger, more active, and possessed greater
+cunning than did the youth.  What, after all, is one of the most
+important factors in such a problem, the American race possess by
+training, and nature--patience scarcely second to that of the
+Esquimau.  The probabilities were that the Shawanoe would wait until
+the youth was led into some fatal indiscretion.
+
+All this, be it remembered, is based on the condition that no such
+thing as "foreign interference" took place.
+
+Is there any reader of mine who has not been entertained in his
+early youth by the story of the white man and the Indian, who, being
+placed in the situation of Jack and the Shawanoe, remained in hiding
+from each other, until the Caucasian drew the shot of the American,
+by placing his cap on the end of the ramrod or gun and projecting it
+far enough from behind the tree, thus leading the Indian to believe
+that the head of his foe was in range?  If such an incident ever
+took place, the warrior must have been unusually stupid to leap from
+cover, as the story makes him do, until certain he had brought the
+other down.
+
+Jack Carleton attempted the same artifice, except that, instead of
+taking the trouble to draw his ramrod or using his rifle for that
+purpose, he held his cap in hand, shoving it forward very slowly and
+with great care,
+
+The trick failed.  The Shawanoe must have suspected the truth on the
+first appearance of the head-gear.  Jack pushed it forward until
+sure it was seen, but no demonstration came from the warrior, who,
+for aught the youth knew, was essaying the same deception.
+
+Determined to learn something about his enemy, Jack threw his head
+to one side and drew it back again before the warrior could pull the
+trigger.  He knew precisely where to look, but he was unable to
+catch sight of the Shawanoe or his weapon.
+
+"I wonder whether he has shifted his quarters," said Jack to
+himself.  "If he has, he will shot at me before I can learn where he
+is.  Holloa!"
+
+The second time he thrust forward his face withdrawing it with the
+same celerity as before, he caught a passing glimpse of the
+Shawanoe, who, rather curiously, adopted exactly the same artifice.
+This "located" the savage and relieved Jack, for the moment, of his
+terrifying dread that death threatened from an unknown point.
+
+But, within the next minute, the redskin utterance to a faint whoop,
+clearly meant as a signal to a comrade not far off.
+
+"He is calling back the Miami, who left him a few minutes ago," was
+the conclusion of Jack.  "It'll go rough with me if I have two of
+them to fight.  I'll try a little of the signaling myself."
+
+Placing the thumb and forefinger of his left hand against his
+tongue, he emitted a low, tremulous whistle, such as he and Otto
+used when on hunting expeditions together.  He repeated it, and
+then, greatly to his relief, received a reply, though it was so
+guarded that he could not guess the point whence it came.
+
+"Now, if Otto proves sharp enough to grasp the situation, without
+running into ambush, we may settle the matter with this fellow
+before the other can take a hand--"
+
+As on the previous day, something twinkled among the trees to the
+left.  A glance in that direction and Jack saw, with dismay, that
+the Miami warrior had arrived.
+
+The worst of it, too, was that he appeared so far over from where
+the Shawanoe stood that lines connecting the three would have made
+almost a right angle.  It looked as if the youth must be exposed to
+the enfilading fire of one of his enemies.
+
+It was a frightful situation, but the brave Kentuckian did not lose
+heart.  He pressed against the bark as closely as he could,
+endeavoring to watch both points, but he was fearfully handicapped,
+and there was little hope for him, unless his friend could
+interfere.
+
+Suddenly the Miami, who, naturally enough, had taken to the shelter
+of a tree, after the manner of his comrade, made a bound of several
+feet which placed him behind a second trunk that was still further
+to the rear of Jack Carleton.  Another such leap and the youth would
+be effectually uncovered.
+
+But the anxiously prayed for deliverance came at this critical
+moment.  While the Miami was maneuvering for position, Otto Relstaub
+appeared behind him, and, in the twinkling of an eye, the merciless
+warrior was placed between two fires.
+
+"You let dot chap alone?" called out the German, with his gun to his
+shoulder, "or py gracious I'll shoot my ramrod clean through you as
+nefer vos I don't it?"
+
+The unexpected discovery of his mortal peril threw the Miami into a
+panic.  It was impossible for him to find shelter at the same moment
+from both his enemies, for, on whatever side of the tree he took
+refuge, he would be in range of one of them.  With a howl of
+consternation, he whirled on his heel and ran like a frightened
+deer.  As he did so, he ducked his head and leaped from side to
+side, after the manner of the Digger Indians of the present day,
+with a view of distracting the fire of his enemies.
+
+It would have been a feat of marksmanship had either lad brought him
+down, when so many and varying objects intervened, and neither of
+the youths made the attempt.  When the terrified fugitive vanished,
+he was without a wound or scratch to tell of the danger from which
+he had fled.
+
+During these stirring moments, the Shawanoe had taken no part and
+given no sign of interest in what was going on; but Jack, who was
+fully aroused by the venomous attempt on his life, called to his
+friend, whose position he knew commanded that of the savage:
+
+"Otto, shoot the wretch!"
+
+"Dot is vot I vos going to do," was the reply of the German, who
+took careful aim around the side of the tree.
+
+He was in plain view of Jack, who watched him with a rapidly beating
+heart, knowing as he did that the fellow carried an excellent gun
+and was it good shot.
+
+But, while glancing along the rifle-barrel, with one eye closed,
+Otto raised his head, opened both eyes and looked toward the point
+at which he had been aiming.  Then his cheery laughter rang out.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked the astonished Jack.
+
+"Now, ain't dot funny?  He Indian ain't dere!"
+
+"Yes, he is," shouted Jack, suspecting trickery.  "He will shoot
+you, if you don't bring him down!"
+
+Otto glanced affrightedly behind him, as though he heard a stealthy
+footstep, but called back once more that the Shawanoe had
+disappeared.
+
+It occurred to the other youth, just then, that if the warrior was
+in the vicinity and could be seen by Otto, he must be visible to
+him.  But a sweeping survey of the field failed to bring to light
+the painted face and feathered crown.
+
+There could be no doubt that the Shawanoe had taken advantage of the
+diversion caused by Otto's arrival, and had not stood on the order
+of his going.  Five minutes before, there seemed no chance of Jack
+Carleton preserving his life.  Now, how changed!  Toward whatever
+point of the compass he looked, he saw not the first evidence that
+peril threatened.
+
+But for all that, it was uncomfortably nigh, and it was difficult to
+find a place in which there was less safety than where they were.
+Jack resolved to leave at once.
+
+At the moment he stepped from behind the tree which had sheltered
+him, Otto strode toward him, his broad face still broader on account
+of his beaming pleasure.
+
+"Dot vos me," he said, triumphantly.  "Otto doned it."
+
+"Did what?"
+
+"Scared 'ern so dot they forgits him nefer."
+
+"You did well, beyond question. I cannot see how I would have saved
+myself if you hadn't come as you did.  I shall never forget it,
+Otto, though I think it was a mistake when we parted company it
+short while ago.  It looks as though these Miamis and Shawanoes are
+on all sides of us, and we must find some kind of shelter or make a
+hasty change of base."
+
+"Dot's vot I dinks," assented the other.  "I am waiting for you to
+show me vot's I doesn't do."
+
+"It is hard to tell what is the best course," said Jack, who, while
+talking, was moving slowly toward the Mississippi, watching,
+meanwhile, every point of the compass.  "But, somehow or other I
+feel there's less danger by the river than anywhere else."
+
+"I likes it dere better than other places, for if we finds the
+Indians are going to boder us, we can cheat 'em as easy as nefer
+vos."
+
+"How?"
+
+"We can jump in the river and drowns mit, ourselves; won't dey be
+fooled!"
+
+"Perhaps they would be disappointed; but I don't see where we are
+likely to gain anything."
+
+"I doesn't see hims mineself," grinned Otto, whose whims led him to
+be amusing during the most trying moments, as well as grave when
+others were light-hearted.
+
+"I only wish we were on the other side," said the young Kentuckian,
+who at that moment caught the gleam of the Mississippi through the
+trees in front.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+AT BAY
+
+
+While Jack and Otto were talking in guarded tones, and carefully
+picking their way through the wood, each stopped and became silent
+at the same instant.  They saw nothing, but their ears told them
+some person or animal was approaching through the undergrowth behind
+them.
+
+Within the same minute the creature revealed himself in the form of
+a large, black bear, which was lumbering along unmindful that
+enemies were near.
+
+"Mebbe he don't be an Indian," whispered Otto, who knew much of the
+cunning of the red men.
+
+The same thought had occurred to the Kentuckian, who held his gun at
+full cock, until he should be able to learn the truth.  While thus
+employed be could not help reflecting on the improbability of such a
+clumsy artifice being that time, for there was no call for the
+attempt, no prospect of deceiving two persons who displayed such
+excellent woodcraft.
+
+Jack speedily saw that the bear was a genuine one, probably on his
+way to the river.  There no occasion for shooting him, and the
+hunters stepped aside to allow him to pass.  Jack kept eye on him,
+however, for it being the spring of year, he had not been long out
+of his hibernating quarters, and was likely to be lean, hungry,
+fierce.
+
+Bruin caught sight of the hunters, while several rods off, and
+throwing up his snout, took a look at them, as though uncertain of
+the species to which they belonged.
+
+"He looks pig, don't he?" said Otto, referring to his size, and half
+inclined to give him a shot.  "One pullet would make him put up dot
+snout down."
+
+"Let him alone, so long as he doesn't disturb us.  He isn't half so
+dangerous as the Indians and they would be likely to rush upon us
+before you could reload your gun."
+
+Otto saw the prudence of his friend's words, and he not only let
+down the hammer of his rifle, but emphasized his intention by
+turning his back upon the bear.
+
+The huge beast seemed disposed to attack the boys.  It may be that
+the plump, ruddy-faced Gorman looked specially tempting to him while
+in his hungry state, for Jack fancied that it was he on whom his
+large eyes were fixed with a peculiar lodging.
+
+The bear took several steps toward the couple, and Jack cocked his
+gun, believing he would have to fire.  Otto, seeing the movement,
+turned, but at that moment the animal, if he had actually any
+purpose of opening hostilities, changed his mind, moving off to one
+side, and continued his awkward gait toward the river.
+
+The boys watched him until be reached the stream and began lapping
+the water, when they resumed their withdrawal from the spot, still
+walking in a northerly course along the right bank of the
+Mississippi.
+
+Both were anxious to get as far away as they could, in the hope that
+they would be able to keep a safe space between themselves and the
+red men, whom they held in such fear.
+
+ Their uneasiness was not lessened when the sharp crack of a rifle
+broke upon their ears, from a point not far down the stream.  It was
+followed by another report deeper in the woods, and then several
+whoops came from different parts of the forest, all being within a
+short radius.
+
+The boys could not guess the cause of the firing, unless they were
+meant as signals, but they were sure the cries referred to them.
+Most likely, as they viewed it, they were meant to direct the
+actions of the parties, who must have felt that it only needed a
+little care and energy to capture the youths that, up to that time,
+had baffled the enmity of both the Miamis and Shawanoes.
+
+The result was, that Jack and Otto, keeping as near as was prudent
+to the river, pushed on as fast as they could.  A species of running
+vine close to the ground caused them much annoyance, the more chubby
+one falling forward several times on his hands and knees.
+
+They had traveled a short distance only, when the signals that had
+so alarmed them were heard again.  The Indiana called to each other
+by means of the whoops and shouts, as intelligible to those for whom
+they were meant as if they were so many spoken words.
+
+The lads could not fail to observe that they were considerably
+nearer than before.  The red men were evidently converging in their
+pursuit, and meant to force the struggle to an issue with the least
+delay possible.
+
+"We must travel faster," said Jack Carleton, compressing his lips,
+after glancing behind him.  "This has settled down to a regular race
+between us."
+
+"Dot is so," assented Otto, sprawling forward again on his hands and
+knees, from the running vine which caught, like fine wire, around
+his ankles.  "If it Vos who falls down the most and cracks his head,
+den I would beat dem, don't it?"
+
+"We shall have to make a fight for they can travel a great deal
+faster than we--"
+
+"Let's jump mit the river; we gets so far off afore dey learns vot
+we don't do."
+
+It seemed to be the only recourse left to the fugitives, and they
+turned toward the Mississippi.  But at that very moment Jack caught
+sight of a pile of logs only a short distance ahead.
+
+It seemed a direct interference of Providence, totally unexpected by
+both.  Whether the logs were the retreat of a friend or enemy could
+only be guessed.  The probabilities were that the former was the
+case, since the structure was not of the kind made by Indians.
+
+Jack caught the arm of Otto and whirled him back.
+
+"Vot ain't de matter?" asked the German, half angrily at the check,
+when there was so much necessity for haste.
+
+"See?" asked Jack, in turn, pointing to the logs as seen through the
+trees.
+
+Otto nodded his head.  It was enough, and he made a desperate rush
+to reach the refuge, catching his foot and falling headlong again.
+
+"Dunderation!" he exclaimed; "wonder if dere ain't no blamed vines
+that I hef not fall over and proke mine nose."
+
+The whoops of the Miamis and Shawanoes sounded still closer; they
+were pressing the pursuit with utmost vigor, and were upon the heels
+of the fugitives.
+
+The Kentuckian, who continually glanced back, caught sight of more
+than one figure flitting among the trees.  Suddenly something red
+gleamed; it was the flash of a gun,  and, at the same moment the
+sharp report rang out, the bullet passed between Jack and Otto, who
+were striving desperately to get beyond reach before a fair aim
+could tempt their enemies.
+
+The second view which Jack caught of the shelter told him it was
+simply four walls of logs, a dozen feet square, half as high, and
+without any roof.  When, why, and by whom they had been put up was a
+mystery.
+
+But no oasis in the flaming desert could be more welcome to the
+traveler dying with thirst than was this simple structure to the
+panting fugitives.  Jack Carleton, with a recklessness caused by the
+imminence of his peril, flung his gun over into the enclosure,
+sprang upward so as to grasp the topmost log, and scrambled after it
+with the headlong impetuosity of a wounded animal.
+
+Otto was only a second or two behind him, and, .puffing and gasping,
+he dropped squarely on his head and shoulders, rolled over, caught
+up his gun again, and sprang to his feet.
+
+"Dot's de way I always climb down stairs," he exclaimed, raising the
+hammer of his gun and holding it ready to fire on the first
+appearance of a foe.
+
+"It's all well enough, if you ain't hurt, but look out for the red
+men; they're right on us."
+
+"Dot's vot I don't dinks," replied Otto, who, still panting from his
+exertion, seemed to have recovered his coolness; "if dey climbs up
+dot vall, den dey run agin de, pall of mine gun and one of dem gets
+hurt, and it ain't de pall-don't it?"
+
+The pursuers were so close to the fugitives that the tramp of their
+moccasins was heard at the moment the boys braced themselves for the
+shock which they were sure would come within the next few seconds.
+The sight of a flying foe intensifies the courage of the pursuer,
+and it may have been that the Shawanoe who discharged his gun at the
+lads, when they were so close to the shelter, believed he had
+wounded one at least, and that a vigorous assault could not fail to
+end the struggle speedily.  There may, in fact, have been a dozen
+causes which incited him to a bravery and personal effort greater
+than that of any of his companions.
+
+"They'll try to overwhelm us," said Jack.  "Hold your gun ready."
+
+The words were yet in his mouth, when a peculiar, soft scratching,
+which was ended the instant it began, told that one of the warriors
+had inserted the toe of his moccasin in a crevice of the logs, with
+the purpose of climbing over into the enclosure.
+
+"I'll attend to him if there's only one," added Jack, naturally
+fearful of throwing away a shot.
+
+"I dinks I 'tends him mit myself--"
+
+Suddenly the painted face of a Shawanoe Indian rose to view.  One
+hand had grasped the top log, and he was drawing himself rapidly
+upward with the purpose of leaping over.  The countenance was
+frightful beyond description--the streaks and circles in red,
+yellow, and black, from amid which glared the black eyes, with an
+expression of ferocity like that of a Bengal tiger, and the white
+teeth, gleaming between the parted lips, drawn far back at the
+corners, gave a hideous fierceness to the visage that would have
+appalled a brave man who saw it for the first time.
+
+"I dinks I 'tends him mit myself--"
+
+Just as Otto Relstaub reached that point in his remark, he pulled
+the trigger of his rifle.  A rasping howl followed, and the horrible
+face vanished a speedily as if the owner had been standing on a
+trap-door, which was sprung.
+
+"Yaw--I dinks I 'tends mit him," repeated Otto, coolly lowering his
+gun and looking at the spot where the head and shoulders were
+visible an instant before.
+
+"Load up quick!" said Jack, who held his cocked rifle in hand while
+his eye glanced hastily along the upper part of the logs, "don't
+lose a second."
+
+The thump of the body was heard as the Shawanoe--dead before he
+could fall the brief space--struck the ground on the outside.  At
+the same moment a second warrior (a Miami that time), drew himself
+upward close to the place from which the Shawanoe had dropped.  He
+rose until his tufted head, his sloping forehead and his gleaming
+eyes appeared just above the horizon of the enclosure.  Staring
+downward, he looked straight into the muzzle of a rifle, held by a
+young Kentuckian, who had just become aware of his presence.
+
+Down went the Indian, possibly with a suspicion that his bronzed
+skull was also perforated, as he fell across the limp body beneath
+him; but Jack Carleton had not fired, not because the opportunity
+was not inviting enough nor because he felt the least scruple about
+shooting one of the savages who were thirsting for his life, but he
+was afraid to discharge his piece before Otto should force another
+bullet home.
+
+Repeating and percussion rifles were unknown at that day, and it
+took much valuable time to reload musket or gun after its discharge.
+Knowing this, the infuriated redskins were likely to make a rush
+whenever they knew that the weapons within the enclosure were
+unloaded.
+
+Inasmuch as the boys possessed no other firearms, it will be seen
+that in such an event they would be helpless.  Indeed, it was
+impossible for them to hold out if their assailants determined to
+force matters.  They had but to leap over the walls, as could be
+easily done, and the contest would be decided right speedily; that
+decision must inevitably be against the daring defenders.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A PRIMITIVE FORT
+
+
+The sharp repulse of the Indians delayed rush which, as has been
+said, could ended only in the discomfiture of the defenders.  The
+occurrence proved that the first warriors to scale the walls were
+certain to share the fate of him who had already made the attempt.
+
+With such knowledge it would be unnatural to expect any Shawanoe or
+Miami to throw himself into the breach, since, as a rule, men are
+not anxious to sacrifice themselves for others.
+
+The brief respite thus afforded Jack and Otto enabled them to make a
+closer survey of the shelter which had presented itself so
+providentially to them.  They found little not apparent to their
+terrified gaze when they scrambled within.  There were the four
+walls and nothing more.  With that morbid interest in trifling
+things which often manifests itself in the most critical moments,
+Otto counted the logs on each of the four sides.
+
+"Dere be nine dere," said he, indicating the western side, "ten
+dere, and nine and ten on de other sides."
+
+"That must be right," remarked Jack, "for I make them the same."
+
+"Tis funny dat we bofe counts dem at de same tine, when each one is
+not doing it togedder."
+
+The only entrance to the enclosure, as it seems proper to call it,
+was the one used by the boys.  Nothing to suggest a door, or any
+purpose of making one, was to be seen on any side of the walls.
+
+It was not impossible that some hunters, who had encamped in the
+vicinity, had started the structure with the intention of roofing it
+over, and of providing some original means of ingress and egress
+which was not apparent to the little garrison.
+
+Convinced that they would not be disturbed for some time to come,
+Jack hastily searched for loopholes, with which it would seem the
+structure ought to have been provided, but nothing of the kind was
+discovered.
+
+Whoever had hewn and put together the logs, had done so with
+admirable skill.  The gaps in the ends had been cut with a nicety
+that made a perfect fit in every case.  Had the house been
+completed, it certainly would have been a substantial one.
+
+While the absence of loop-holes removed to a great extent the fear
+of treacherous shots from the outside, yet in another respect it was
+an annoyance.  The boys could see nothing of their assailants.  The
+sense of hearing and conjecture it lelf were all that were left to
+inform them of what was going on so near them.
+
+It was not to be supposed that the Indians, after driving the youths
+into shelter, would leave them undisturbed.  The death of one of
+their warriors was enough to rouse the passion of revenge to the
+highest point--a necessity which, as shown by the incidents already
+narrated, did not exist.
+
+When Jack and Otto were given a little time for reflection, they
+were forced to see that their situation was hopeless.  Every
+advantage was with their enemies, who, if they chose to save
+themselves the risk of a determined assault, had only to wait.
+Without food or water, with no means of leaving the place, the hour
+must surely come when exhausted nature would compel this little
+garrison to yield.
+
+The boy's were many miles from the settlements on either side of the
+river, and there was no means of sending word to their friends of
+the dire strait in which they were placed.  Even could such message
+reach Coatesville, or the cabins on the other side of the
+Mississippi, several days must necessarily elapse before assistance
+could arrive.
+
+Jack Carleton's thoughts naturally turned to Deerfoot the Shawanoe.
+He had heard so many stories of his wonderful woodcraft and skill
+that he leaned upon him, when he was present to lean upon; but,
+hopeful as was the nature of the young Kentuckian, he could gather
+no crumbs of comfort in that direction.
+
+Deerfoot had crossed the river in the Miami canoe, and could not be
+expected to return until under cover of darkness.  Even then he must
+be powerless.  There are limits to all human skill, and what greater
+folly than to expect him to release two boys, shut in a log
+enclosure, and surrounded by a score or less of vigilant Indian
+warriors.
+
+But it was not the nature of either Jack or Otto, to yield without a
+struggle.  So long as they could fight off the dread end, so long
+they would put, forth every effort to do so.
+
+For fifteen minutes after the discharge of gun absolute silence
+prevailed.  Not the slightest rustling told of the crouching savages
+without.  The boys leaned against the logs of waited and listened.
+
+During the interval, the young Kentuckian became filled with
+irresistible curiosity to learn what their enemies were doing.  It
+was certain they were plotting mischief, but he could form no idea
+of its nature.
+
+How was he to gain the coveted knowledge?  Manifestly there was but
+the one way.
+
+"Otto," he said in a low voice, "I'm going to climb up the logs and
+look over."
+
+"And got your head blown off, dot's vot you does!" exclaimed his
+horrified friend.
+
+"I'll come to that sooner or later any way," was the reply; "but I'm
+not going to be shot; I'm not such a dunce as that; I mean to take
+one glance over the logs, and will draw back so quickly that no one
+will get a chance to shoot me."
+
+Otto protested, but, seeing it was useless, gave over and made the
+sensible suggestion that, instead of climbing up the wall and
+thereby probably making known what he was doing, he should stand on
+the shoulders of Otto.  That would give him enough elevation, and
+the lad added:
+
+"If I sees any noise vot I don't like, den I drops you so quick dot
+you vill bump the ground so hard dot it bulges out mit China on de
+other side."
+
+At the very moment Jack made ready to avail himself of his friend's
+support, they heard a movement on the part of the Indians, the
+meaning of which was not understood.
+
+A number of them seemed to be moving heavily over the ground, as
+though carrying some weighty body or marching in military step.  The
+boys listened closely, but it was impossible to tell what it meant.
+
+The noise added to Jack's curiosity, and, leaning his gun against
+the logs, he said"
+
+"Help me up, Otto; I'm bound to find out what all that is about."
+
+It was an easy matter to mount the shoulders of his young friend,
+whose strength would have supported double his weight.  Jack found,
+as he anticipated, that he would be able to look over the logs
+without difficulty.  Steadying himself by placing his hand against
+the wall, he slowly raised his head until almost on a level with the
+top, when he quietly looked over.
+
+No movement of the kind was expected by the Indians, and the face
+was withdrawn before any one of them could fire.
+
+Under such circumstances, a person can see a great deal in an
+exceedingly brief space of time.  Jack Carleton learned much about
+that which had excited his curiosity.
+
+Inasmuch as the walls had been put up from material cut in the
+immediate vicinity, a number of stumps surrounded the structure,
+beside which a single unused log was lying.  It had been cut
+entirely off at the base, several of the lower limbs trimmed, but
+most of the bushy top remained.  It looked as if the builders had
+been interrupted while at work, or they had voluntarily abandoned it
+for something else.
+
+Some six or eight warriors had lifted this log from the ground and
+were laboriously hearing it In the direction of the fort (if the
+name can be permitted).  Others were moving hither and thither, as
+though they enjoyed viewing the job more than assisting with it.
+One of them caught sight of the face of the young Kentuckian and
+brought his gun to his shoulder; but, quick as he was, he was just a
+moment too late.  When he was ready to fire, the target was gone.
+
+"They're going to batter down the logs!" exclaimed Jack, dropping
+lightly to the ground, and taking possession of his gun; "they're
+carrying a log toward us, and mean to hammer these down about our
+heads."
+
+"What for they don't want to do dot?"
+
+"It seems to me it would be a good plan for them to tumble our house
+about our heads."
+
+"I don't dink they doos dots," persisted the German, and he proved
+to be right in his surmise.
+
+With great labor the warriors bore the heavy tree forward, so that
+the larger end was against the side of the fort.  Then, instead of
+using it as a battering ram, they lifted it higher until, with an
+exertion that must have been very great, it was raised even with the
+log wall.  A combined effort rested the butt on the support, the
+trunk sloping downward, until the top reached the ground, probably
+thirty feet away.
+
+As the butt was a foot in diameter, it will be seen that the work
+must have been very onerous to the American Indian, who hates
+physical labor as much as does the tramp of modern times.
+
+Having accomplished what must be admitted to be quite a feat, the
+toilers rested, while the boys looked up at the jagged end on the
+logs, suggesting the head of some monster peering down upon them,
+and speculated as to the meaning of the movement.
+
+"Dot is so to help dem climbs to de top," said Otto, "or maybe they
+will runs him across and play I see-saw.'
+
+"It is to cover up some mischief on their part."
+
+"If we only knowed when dey don't stands right under him, we would
+shove off de end off and let him drop onto dem and mash 'em all!"
+
+"It would take a good deal more strength than we have to do that,"
+said Jack.  "I would like to take another peep over the edge, but it
+won't do, because they will be on the lookout for us."
+
+"Dot's vot I didn't dink some times ago," maid Otto, meaning a
+little different from what his words implied.
+
+It was yet early in the day, and the boys could not but feel that
+the crisis was sure to come long before night.  The temperature was
+mild and pleasant, no clouds floating in the space of clear sky
+visible overhead.  The friends kept their loaded and cocked guns in
+their hands all the while and moved to and fro, in the circumscribed
+space, on the alert for the first demonstration from the red men,
+distressed by the consciousness that their cunning enemies were sure
+to do the very thing which was least expected.
+
+Jack Carleton noticed that whenever he stood with his back against
+the logs, he could see the upper portions of the trees which grew
+close to the structure.  It occurred to him that some of the daring
+warriors were liable to turn the fact to account.  It would take no
+great skill for one or two of them to climb into the limbs, from
+which they would command a portion of the interior.  No better
+opportunity could be asked--in case they were not discovered by the
+lads--to fire down upon them.
+
+"I've been dinking of dot," replied Otto, when the matter was
+mentioned; "and I dinks dot iss de tree yonder, and py gracious dere
+is an Indian 'mong de limbs!"
+
+This startling declaration was the truth.  The friends were standing
+at the eastern end of the structure, so that they looked in the
+direction of the river, where towered a bushy oak, fully twenty feet
+of the upper portion being in sight.  Something was among the
+branches, though the object could not be seen distinctly.  Fortunate
+it was that both were gazing toward the point when their suspicion
+was first awakened.
+
+"Yes, it is an Indian, as sure as I live!" added Jack, in an excited
+manner.  "Rash fool!  He has sealed his fate, for I couldn't want a
+fairer target.  Leave him to me!"
+
+"All right; I leaves him!"
+
+The young Kentuckian was sure of his man, even though he was only
+partially revealed, when the rifle was pointed.  He took careful
+aim, but while in the act of pressing the trigger, he lowered the
+weapon, with the whispered exclamation.
+
+"Great heavens!  It is Deerfoot the Shawanoe!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+AMONG THE TREE-TOPS
+
+
+Jack Carleton was astounded.  Up to that moment he was absolutely
+certain that the young Shawanoe was on the other side of the
+Mississippi, and would make no attempt to return to the Kentucky
+shore until night. Yet he had not only recrossed, but was actually
+within fifty feet of the enclosure, directly among his fiercest
+enemies, who were assailing it, and, more remarkable than all, he
+had climbed among the limbs of a tree, where he could gain a view of
+the interior.
+
+There was a minute or so during which the Kentuckian actually
+doubted his own senses.
+
+"He must be an enemy who closely resembles Deerfoot," was his
+thought; "I will shoot him before he shoots me."
+
+The probability of such being the case was increased by the fact
+that the Indian had a rifle instead of a bow and arrow, and there
+were some daubs of paint on his face; but, for all that, the warrior
+was Deerfoot, as a second scrutiny convinced Jack and Otto beyond
+all question.
+
+"It ish Deerhead! I means Deerfoot," whispered the German lad;
+"dinks a whirlwind lifs him out te boat and drops him in de tree;
+what don't he vants?"
+
+The young Shawanoe had managed to reach a place amid the foliage,
+where, if he could be seen at all by those below, the view was
+indistinct, while, by pushing the branches carefully aside in front
+of his face, he was plainly revealed to his friends.
+
+When Jack Carleton raised his gun and sighted at the object in the
+tree, the latter swept aside the curtain in front and made a signal
+with his hand, which declared his identity.  Even though the paint
+had been plentifully used by him, his regular features were
+recognized when he smiled, and kept his hand waving in front of him
+as though brushing smoke from his eyes.
+
+"Yes, it's Deerfoot!" muttered Jack, lowering his weapon, and
+staring with open mouth at the figure; "but things are getting
+mixed, and I ain't exactly understand what it is all about."  But
+the situation was too critical on every hand for the young friends
+to give way to the wonderment caused by the discovery.  It speedily
+became clear that while the Shawanoe dare not speak, he was trying
+very hard to convey some message to his friends by means of
+pantomime.  Holding the gun of the Miami in one hand, he kept the
+other going energetically, but neither Jack nor Otto could guess his
+meaning.
+
+"Speak louder!" called Otto, forgetting himself; "vot vasn't dot dot
+you didn't say?"
+
+Instantly Deerfoot drew back his head, allowing the bushes to close,
+so that he was only partly revealed.
+
+"He is going to shoot!" exclaimed Jack.
+
+Such, it was evident, was the intention of their friend, who brought
+his rifle to a level, the black barrel plainly visible as it was
+thrust among the branches.  Instead of being aimed downwards, it was
+pointed at a considerable elevation above the defenders at some
+object at the other side of the fort.
+
+Turning their beads, the boys saw, from the agitation in the
+branches of a tree, almost large as the oak, that something was
+moving among the limbs.  The truth flashed upon both.  While they
+were watching their friend, he had detected an enemy stealing into
+the tree behind them, and sought to make known the alarming truth by
+means of gesture.  Seeing they failed to catch his meaning, he
+decided to attend to the matter himself, though it can be understood
+that the shot would render his own death almost certain.
+
+"That will never do!" exclaimed the young Kentuckian; "Deerfoot is
+too valuable to be sacrificed."
+
+The savage, who was climbing, did so with great care.  Now a beaded
+moccasin would twinkle alongside the trunk, whisking out of sight
+like a frolicking squirrel; then a red feather flashed to sight and
+away again, the broad, painted face peeped from behind the tree,
+while glimpses of the clothing here and there showed the rate with
+which the warrior went upward.
+
+Deerfoot must have seen the savage at the moment he began ascending
+the trunk, and could not fail to know his purpose.  It was
+all-important that the dangerous individual should be "attended to,"
+and, observing that his friends were too much absorbed in watching
+his movements to remember their own peril, the friendly Shawanoe did
+not hesitate to take the frightful risk upon himself.
+
+It may be said that it would be utterly impossible for him to
+discharge his gun from the elevation without the other warriors
+discovering the fact, though one or two might suspect the weapon was
+fired within the enclosure; yet it was characteristic of the youth
+that, when the necessity presented itself, he did not hesitate.
+
+But Jack Carleton's presence of mind came to his assistance.  He
+began such vigorous gestures that the attention of Deerfoot was
+caught; without lowering his gun, he glanced downward.  He saw Jack
+shaking his head from side to side, swinging his hand back and forth
+and darting his finger excitedly at the tree on the other side of
+the fort.
+
+The quick-witted Shawanoe caught his meaning, and took his gun from
+his shoulder.  Again he pushed the bushes aside, so that his face
+came to view, and, looking down on his friends, smiled, nodded, and
+made several gestures toward the other redskin, who was still
+cautiously climbing the tree.  Then the curtain was drawn again, and
+Deerfoot assumed the part of spectator instead of actor.
+
+It is almost incredible that this performance could have taken place
+without detection from below; but it came about that, while it was
+going on, the attention of the red men was occupied by another
+occurrence which will be told at the proper time.  The only ones who
+showed any interest in Deerfoot and his enemy, steadily making his
+way aloft, were the boys within the enclosure.
+
+Accepting the lesson, Jack told Otto in a low voice to keep the
+closest watch on all the tree-tops within sight, for it seemed
+likely that still more of their enemies would resort to the same
+strategy.
+
+"Let there be no mistake about this," he said to his companion; "if
+you catch sight of any one else, give him a shot, but I'm to settle
+the question with this particular gentleman."
+
+"Dot ish all right," assented Otto; "dot ish, it will be all right
+if he ain't all wrong when you hits him."
+
+Jack Carleton made no reply.  He was standing with his left foot
+thrown slightly forward, his rifle, at his right shoulder, his head
+inclined and his left eye, closed.  He was following the movements
+of the Miami (as he judged him to be), who was seeking a perch from
+which to fire down on the defenders of the primitive fort.
+
+It would have been the easiest thing in the world for our friends to
+place themselves beyond danger from that particular warrior; they
+had only to step a little nearer the eastern wall, when it would
+intervene between them and the savage; but Jack grasped the
+situation well enough to understand the advantage of impressing
+their assailants with the danger of any kind of attack.  If the
+defenders should busy themselves with dodging the aim of their foes,
+the trees were likely to swarm with them, and it would become
+impossible to elude their aim.
+
+As before, the climbing Miami afforded occasional glimpses of
+himself.  Now a moccasin, then a hand, his gun, the black
+horse-hair-like covering for his crown, with the painted eagle
+feathers, then an instant gleam of the eyes, and then nothing at
+all.
+
+Remembering that a wound would be as effective its death itself,
+Jack coolly waited the opportune moment.  Suddenly he saw the rifle,
+arm and shoulder of the warrior, as he flung them partly over a limb
+to help draw himself upward.  Without a second's delay the youth
+fired, his view being much less obstructed than was the care with
+his friend in the other tree.
+
+An ear-splitting screech broke the stillness, and the wounded Miami
+came tumbling downward as though every possible support had given
+way beneath him.  To the watchful lads it looked as if he struck
+nothing at all in his descent, but fell with the swiftness of a
+cannon-ball, until the intervening logs shut him from sight.
+
+"I dinks some dings dropped," said Otto, with a grin; "mebbe he
+don't try to fool us some more agin, don't it?"
+
+Jack made no comment, but, as was his rule, reloaded his gun with
+utmost haste, dreading all the time a rush from their enemies.  It
+may be set down as singular that something of the kind did not take
+place, since the assailants must have known it could not fail to be
+effective.
+
+The sagacious Deerfoot seemed to believe that his position was no
+longer tenable, for, instead of staying where he was, he began
+descending, apparently in panic of fear, lest he should share the
+fate of the other red man.  So far as he could, he kept the trunk of
+the tree between him and the youthful marksmen until beyond all
+danger of being harmed.
+
+Jack saw just enough of the movement to understand its meaning, and
+he smiled grimly.
+
+"After doing what you have done, you ought to take the part of
+leader and draw off the warriors."
+
+The young Kentuckian stood near the middle of the enclosure glancing
+upward in different directions while reloading his piece, for he
+understood too well the necessity of unremitting vigilance whenever
+the American Indian takes a hand in proceedings.
+
+Otto was not behind him in that respect.  He walked softly around
+the fort close to the walls, attentively listening for sounds that
+would give some knowledge of what was going on outside.  At
+intervals he stopped and with his knife gouged the wood, where it
+seemed thinner than usual, but in every case found the thickness too
+great to be pierced.
+
+Just beneath the spot where the butt of the tree rested on the upper
+edge of the wall, he stopped Once more and pressed his ear against
+the logs.  He stood fully a minute, when, without moving his head,
+he looked sideways at his friend, who was watching him.  The
+expression of his face was so significant that Jack knew he had made
+a discovery of importance.
+
+"What is it?" he asked.
+
+Otto motioned for him to keep quiet.  Jack stepped forward in front
+of him.
+
+As Otto was looked at him without speaking, he also pressed his ear
+against the logs, with a view of learning what was going on.
+
+Every one knows that wood is a good conductor of sound, and, though
+in this case there were several layers of logs through which the
+noise passed, the second listener at once suspected the truth.
+
+The scratching of the bark indicated that some one was carefully
+climbing up the inclined tree.
+
+"That is to be their next move," muttered. Jack, hastily stepping
+back to the centre of the space; "if they make a rush over that
+bridge they will be down in a twinkling--"
+
+Otto kept his position, with his ear still  glued to the logs, and
+not yet certain what the noise meant.
+
+Just as Jack looked upward he saw, to his amazement, the head and
+front of the huge black bear coming up the inclined tree with the
+intent purpose of entering the interior.  It instantly occurred to
+the youth that it was the same daring bruin that came so near
+attacking them a short while before.
+
+He has used this place as his den and means to return to it; the
+Indians have seen him prowling around, and placed the tree so as to
+temp him to climb upward on it.
+
+The beast advanced until he could look downward on the couple, and
+then, gazing only a second or two, he backed out of sight and
+dropped to the ground with a strange, chuckling growl.
+
+At the same instant a feeling of unutterable chagrin came over the
+lad who witnessed the maneuver, for, just a breath too late, he
+comprehended the shrewd trick by which be had been outwitted.
+Confused by the unexpected sight, he failed to note that the
+creature was not a bear at all, but a Shawanoe warrior skillfully
+disguised as much.
+
+With the skin of one of the beasts gathered over his head and
+shoulders, he had made his way up the support, peered at the
+defenders, and then withdrawn before the watchful Jack could tumble
+him to the earth with the bullet that would have pierced his body
+had five seconds more been given in which to aim and fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A MESSAGE
+
+
+Jack's chagrin was deepened the more he reflected upon the singular
+occurrence.  Had he been outwitted by some skillfully-executed trick
+of the Indians, he would have accepted it as a mishap liable to
+overthrow the most experienced ranger of the woods; but he felt he
+ought to have known on the instant that no real bear would have
+attempted anything of the kind.
+
+There was not a phase of the artifice which was not a reproach to
+him.  Had the beast used the enclosure as a den or a retreat--a
+thing of itself incredible--the evidence of that fact would have
+been noticed the moment the boys climbed within.  Then the
+likelihood of his clambering up the inclined tree in the presence of
+a war party of Shawanoes and Miamis, who had laid it for that very
+purpose, was too grotesquely absurd to be thought of with patience.
+
+"Maybe it is as well," he said, with an effort to extract some
+consolation from the blunder; "for perhaps it will lead them to
+repeat the trick."
+
+"Mine gracious! why didn't he drop down onto mine bead?" said Otto,
+stepping hastily away from his position; "he would have mashed me
+out as flat as---as--as a big tree itself."
+
+"I don't see why they didn't form a procession of bears and walk
+right over among us?  We would have stood still and allowed them to
+hug us to death."
+
+Admitting the only explanation that presented itself, Jack and Otto
+were not yet able fully to account for the proceeding.  The labor of
+dragging the fallen trunk and lifting the butt to the wall, seemed
+too great to suppose it was to be used only to allow one of the
+Indians to climb to the top and peer over upon the boys beneath.
+The same thing could be accomplished by ascending one of the trees
+and avoiding the peril to which some of them had been exposed.
+
+But, beside all that, what in reality was gained by taking a peep at
+the youths?  The assailants knew they were there, and it could not
+matter a jot in what particular manner they were employing
+themselves.  They could do nothing that could give those on the
+outside the slightest concern.  It was the defenders whose interests
+required the anticipation of the movements of the warriors.
+
+"I can't understand it," said Jack, standing close to his friend and
+talking in a low voice.
+
+"So ain't I--harks!"
+
+They listened a full minute, but the silence could not have been
+more profound.  A gentle wind stirred the leaves overhead, and the
+tops of the trees nearest them could be seen slightly swaying
+against the clear sky beyond.  The murmur of the great forest was
+like the voice of silence itself while the almost inaudible murmur
+of the Mississippi, sweeping so near, made itself manifest the first
+time since they had turned at bay.
+
+The deep quiet was more impressive than the whoops and screeches of
+the warriors would have been.  Under such circumstances, it boded
+mischief, and the utter uncertainty of its nature almost unsettled
+the remarkable courage both up to that moment had displayed.
+
+"I hears nodings," added Otto; "I'mebbe don't go to sleep and wait
+for the night to come."
+
+"Night is a good many hours off," replied Jack, with an uneasy
+glance at the sky, which showed him the sun had not yet reached
+meridian; "they can beat any people in the world waiting, when they
+have a mind to do so, but there's been no necessity of halting at
+all.  If they had followed up over the logs it would have been all
+ended by this time."
+
+"Yaw; they would have tumbled all over us, like a pig lot of trees
+falling down, but now I dinks they waits."
+
+"Why will they do that?"
+
+"If dey climbs over like as dey didn't does, don somepody git hurt,
+but if dey holds on till night den we'll have to climb over and
+falls on 'em."
+
+This was Otto's manner of expressing what was inevitable, in case
+the besiegers should conclude to wait for the hour, which could not
+be very distant, when the defenders must lose all power of
+resistance.
+
+The two did not forget to keep a continuous guard over the
+"watch-towers" of the enemy.  Despite the repulse that had followed
+their attempts, it was by no means uncertain that they would not
+repeat them.  The success of the bear trick was likely to tempt them
+to another essay in the same direction.
+
+Otto Relstaub was leaning against the solid logs, his position such
+that the sun, which was now near meridian, shone directly upon him.
+His friend was almost immediately opposite--the two looking in each
+other's face, and exchanging words in low tones.
+
+All at once the German became sensible of something cool just behind
+his neck.
+
+"Vot ain't dot?" he said, putting up his hand as though to brush
+away some insect.  Striking nothing, he turned to look.
+
+"O-oh-oh!" he said, with a wondering expression, and an expansion of
+his big, honest eyes.
+
+"There's an opening behind you," remarked his friend, moving hastily
+across to where he stood.
+
+"Yaw; I sees him.  Where's he been hiding himself when I voon't
+looking for him not a little while ago."
+
+It certainly was curious that both boys should have made such a
+minute examination of the interior without finding the crevice
+between a couple of the logs, large enough to admit the passage of
+several bullets, and through which it would have been an easy matter
+for their enemies to shoot him who stood immediately in front.
+
+The opening was some six inches wide, and no more than an eighth of
+an inch in height, resembling the crevice through which the captain
+looks out upon the enemy from the turret of a monitor.  The fact
+that the red men had made no use of it was proof they did not
+suspect its existence, though that did not lessen the wonder of Otto
+that he had failed to find it himself, when making search.
+
+"I see!" suddenly exclaimed Jack, who was attentively examining the
+place.  "No wonder you missed it, for it was closed up.  You must
+have rubbed one of your long ears against the stick which fits it so
+closely."
+
+The piece with which it had been closed lay on the ground, at the
+feet of the boys, and made clear why they had failed to find that
+for which they had hunted so carefully.
+
+Jack cut the stick apart with his knife and reinserted one half with
+a view of rendering it less liable to attract the notice of the
+besiegers.  Then, quite sure that it was still unknown to them, he
+leaned forward with his eye to the opening.
+
+"While I'm peeping here keep a lookout elsewhere, Otto."
+
+His friend nodded, to signify he would be obeyed, and then Jack took
+a survey of his surroundings.
+
+It so happened that he stood nearly under the tree which leaned
+against the wall, and thus gained a good view.  He certainly saw
+enough to interest the most indifferent spectator.  Five painted
+Indian warriors were seen standing around what seemed to be a
+dancing bear, who was gesticulating with his fore paws.  Suddenly he
+cast off the shaggy hide and revealed the redskin who bad made the
+audacious ascent on the log in his disguise and peeped over on the
+boys below.
+
+He seemed to be talking with his friends, while the whole half dozen
+were gesticulating with great energy, though, in spite of their
+excitement, their words were spoken so low that our friends could
+hear little more than the jumbling murmur of their voices.
+
+No doubt more Indians were close at hand, but Jack saw none.  He
+stealthily removed the other part of the stick, and thereby widened
+his view considerably, but he still failed to discover anything
+more.  His vision took in the tree up which Deerfoot had climbed,
+but nothing was to be observed of him, or of any others gathered
+around the base.
+
+Convinced that they were on the other side of the fort, Jack gave
+his whole attention to those before him.
+
+It looked very much as if the author of the trick described was
+regaling his friends with an account of the highly successful manner
+in which he had played his points on the unsuspecting parties within
+the enclosure.
+
+Jack was convinced that the rifle-shot which he and his friend
+heard, before rushing into the refuge, was the one that slew the
+bear.  The Indians had hastily skinned the animal, probably
+completing the task near the time they became aware of the presence
+or rather the flight of the two boys.  They had united in the
+pursuit, taking the bear-skin with them, and its use in the, manner
+described was suggested by the prostrate tree lying so close to the
+logs, though even that theory failed fully to satisfy the questions
+of the youth.
+
+Another interesting discovery was that he had seen two of the
+Shawanoes before.  He had no difficulty in recognizing them as those
+who had shown such eagerness to follow the trail of the hunter that
+had shot the panther some distance back on the path.
+
+The warrior who had masqueraded in the character of a big, black
+bear belonged to the Miami tribe, the representatives of the two
+joining hands in the crusade against the young pioneers.  Neither
+the wounded red man nor the one who was past wounding was to be seen
+anywhere.
+
+The vigorous and somewhat suppressed conversation among the group
+continued a few minutes and then abruptly stopped.  The entire party
+seemed to have become "talked out" the same instant.
+
+"Now they will hatch up some more mischief," was the thought of the
+watcher.  "I don't think it likely they will send that bear up the
+tree again. If they do he will come down a little quicker than he
+goes up."
+
+The sensations of the young Kentuckian were very peculiar, when he
+became aware that the Shawanoe who had displayed so much skill in
+hunting for his footprints in the twilight was looking directly
+toward him.  He seemed in fact to be gazing into the eyes of the
+youth, as though he was striving to stare him out of countenance.
+
+Jack would have been glad at that moment had the opening been
+hermetically sealed; but, hopeful that he was not seen, he held his
+place, not stirring in the slightest, and striving to the utmost to
+keep from winking his eyes.
+
+The singular tableau lasted much less time than the boy imagined.
+All at once the hum of conversation was renewed, every one of the
+half dozen seeming to be seized with the impulse at the same moment.
+He who had been gazing so steadily at Jack looked in the face of one
+of his comrades.  Instantly the boy moved to one side and replaced
+the rest of the stick, so that the crevice was closed once more.
+
+"There," he exclaimed, with a sigh, "I never was placed in a more
+trying situation than that."
+
+"Vot voon't dot?"
+
+Jack quickly told his experience, and his companion shuddered and
+shrugged his shoulders in sympathy.
+
+"Have you seen any of them among the trees?"
+
+"No.  They vill not go to roost, I dinks, till the sun comes down."
+
+"It won't do to calculate on that.  If they wait they will try some
+new tricks."
+
+"Vot can't them try?"
+
+"The trouble is we cannot guess.  You know the Indians are so
+cunning that they will think out something--"
+
+Zip!
+
+Both boys started and looked around.  Something had entered the
+enclosure like a bullet fired from a gun.
+
+"Look!" whispered Jack, pointing to the other side, where an Indian
+arrow was seen sticking in the logs, at a point half way between the
+ground and the top.
+
+"I dinks they used guns and not arrows," said the astonished, Otto,
+standing motionless and staring at the missile, whose barb was still
+trembling from the force with which it had been driven into the
+solid wood.
+
+"They do use guns only," said Jack.  "That arrow was fired by
+Deerfoot!"
+
+"Dere is one piece of paper tied around mit it."
+
+"It is a message from Deerfoot!" said Jack, stepping forward and,
+with considerable effort, drawing forth the arrow.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE MANEUVRES OF DEERFOOT
+
+
+Deerfoot the Shawanoe committed a serious mistake as he himself was
+the first to discover, when he upset the Miami warrior into the
+Mississippi and made off with his canoe. He had started out to help
+his friends, but his course was an injury to them, for it increased
+their danger without giving them the least assistance.
+
+What he ought to have done, when he observed the drowsy fisherman,
+was to bring the boys to the spot, so that, directly after the red
+man was dispossessed, the three could have entered the boat and
+hastened across the river.  Had he done so, all that which followed
+would have be averted.
+
+In referring to the course of the young Shawano the most incredible
+statement is that the blunder was altogether due to his waggishness,
+because in his eagerness to play a joke upon an enemy, he forgot his
+usual caution; but such was the truth.
+
+The warrior, however, was not the one to stay on the western shore
+when his friends were in danger.  Though he had told them to expect
+him back at a certain hour, early in the afternoon, his intention
+was to return much earlier.  It would have been folly for him to
+make for any point near that from which he departed when he set out
+from the Kentucky shore.  Such a proceeding would be seen by his
+enemies, and would invite them to riddle him with bullets as he
+approached.
+
+The moment he touched the Louisiana side, he ran under the
+overhanging limbs far enough to be out of sight of any who might be
+on the watch, and then pushed vigorously up stream.  He continued
+until he had gone fully a half mile and had rounded quite a bend in
+the river.  Then he paddled straight across to the other bank, down
+which he made his way with the same haste.
+
+He speedily arrived in the vicinity of the lads and prepared, in his
+characteristic fashion, to take a hand in their rescue.  Hoping that
+the chance for flight would speedily come, he carefully drew the
+canoe under cover, where he was confident it would not be seen by
+any enemies prowling in the vicinity.  Then he stealthily plunged
+into the wood to give what help he could to his friends.
+
+It took him only a little while to find they were at bay within the
+log enclosure and in much greater danger than he first supposed.
+The discovery caused a change in his plans.  He returned to the
+canoe and took out the rifle which he had captured; his bow and,
+arrows were not left within the boat, for he valued them too highly
+to incur such risk; they were hidden where he knew no one could
+possibly steal them away from him.  Then the little phial which he
+carried in the receptacle with his Bible was uncorked and the
+crimson paint applied with his forefinger to his face.  The
+ornamentation was as fantastical as the imagination of the native
+American could make it.
+
+Viewed for the first time by those who did not know him, he would
+have been classed as one of the fiercest warriors that ever went on
+the war trail.  Had he been a pagan instead of a Christian, the idea
+would have been a correct one.
+
+But Deerfoot was handicapped from the first by the fact that he was
+known to more than one of the party.  It may be said that at that
+day there was scarcely a Shawanoe east of the Mississippi who had
+not heard of the execrated friend of the white men.  They knew that
+his favorite weapons, beside his knife and tomahawk, were his bow
+and arrows; that his skill with them approached the marvelous; they
+knew that his fleetness surpassed that of any living person that he
+possessed a form and features of rare beauty; that his courage was
+surpassed by none, for, when but a stripling, he had handed a knife
+to the furious Tecumseh, and dared him to fight unto the death, and
+that his cunning and subtlety were beyond the reach of the ordinary
+warrior.
+
+Deerfoot himself was aware of his general notoriety, and, though he
+might not have been seen by the Shawanoes, yet they would identify
+him at the first glance, provided he appeared before them in his own
+proper person.
+
+It will be understood, therefore, why he disguised his appearance
+with such care.  With the shrewdness of one of our modern
+detectives, he made a change also, as may be said, in "himself"
+that is, he walked differently, and used his arms and legs in style
+altogether foreign to his custom.
+
+It must be remembered that there were several strong points in his
+favor; his was the tribe whose warriors hated him with unspeakable
+hatred, and he therefore was a master of every detail.  When he was
+assisted by the gloom of night, he was in scarcely any danger,
+though it was far different under the glare of the sun.
+
+Another advantage should be named, inasmuch as the reader is apt to
+overlook it; the separate war parties from the Shawanoe and Miami
+tribes were not only few in numbers, but they had not met until
+after arriving in the neighborhood where the youthful pioneers were
+traveling with little fear of molestation.  Thus, in a certain
+sense, the warriors, while allies, were comparative strangers.
+After disguising himself he believed his identity would not be
+discovered by the Miamis, unless, possibly, by the lone fisherman.
+There was also a fair prospect that he could avert suspicion for a
+time on the part of the Shawanoes, unless particular attention was
+directed to him.
+
+The foregoing seems necessary in order to justify what was done by
+the wonderful Deerfoot.  He managed to appear on the outer fringe of
+the ring of assailants, without drawing special notice, and he used
+all his skill in learning what the assailants intended to do.
+
+The warrior who had been shot while in the act of climbing over the
+logs after the boys, met his fate before Deerfoot arrived on the
+scene.  The Indians were in a revengeful mood, and were unanimous in
+their determination to visit the worst punishment on the youths who
+were making such a brave fight for their lives.
+
+"But for Deerfoot they would not be in this sad plight," was the
+thought of the young Shawanoe; "therefore the Great Spirit expects
+Deerfoot not to think of his own life until they are saved from the
+death which threatens them."
+
+Fortunately for this purpose the warriors were scattered to a
+considerable extent, and seemed to give their whole thoughts to
+those within the enclosure.  Deerfoot knew, when he observed the
+heavy log borne forward, and the butt placed on the wall, that it
+was meant to be used to carry out some plan not clearly settled in
+the minds of the assailants themselves.  When he saw a move to climb
+the trees which stood near the rude fort, he feared his friends
+would be caught unawares, and he took to a tree with the hope of
+being able to give them warning in time.
+
+On this point it will be seen the young warrior underrated the
+woodcraft of his friends.  With a thrill of pleasure he glanced at
+the rifle of Jack Carleton pointed at him, before he had sought to
+open communication.  It was only a natural precaution which led him
+to select a tree where he was able to use the sign language, without
+being seen by any of his enemies below.  He made sure that enough
+foliage intervened to screen him from the inquiring gaze of his
+enemies during the proceeding.
+
+Having made certain that his identity was known to his friends, it
+will be remembered that the sought to warn them of the very peril
+which threatened from the tree on the other side.  Failing to make
+himself clear, he raised his own gun with the intention of shooting
+the savage from the perch, but providentially Otto Relstaub averted
+the necessity.
+
+It is difficult to believe that had Deerfoot fired the shot he could
+have effected his own escape.  The point from which the gun was
+discharged must have made itself manifest to more than one warrior
+below, and would have involved him in a labyrinth of peril, where
+his subtlety must have failed him.
+
+But it need not be repeated that he would not have faltered on that
+account, had the need existed.  He believed it his duty to hesitate
+at no risk, because he himself was wholly to blame for the dire
+straits in which the boys found themselves.
+
+With a grim enjoyment that can hardly be understood, Deerfoot stood
+in the background and watched the antics of the warrior who had
+wrapped the bear-skin about his shoulders and body.  He could not
+avoid a feeling of admiration for the cleverness with which the
+front was arranged, so as to resemble that of the beast, but he felt
+not the slightest fear that the trick would succeed.  It was such an
+antiquated stratagem that he wondered it was attempted, especially
+after the defenders had given so convincing evidence of their
+watchfulness.
+
+His amazement, therefore, may be appreciated when he saw the
+creature slowly make his way to the edge of the fort, look down on
+the boys, and then back a few steps and drop to ground.
+
+He could not believe they had failed penetrate a disguise which
+could scarcely hope to deceive, except under very favoring
+circumstance but concluded they must have refrained good reason of
+their own.
+
+While these troublesome thoughts were in the mind of Deerfoot, he
+kept his eye on the Miami, whose scant clothing had not dried after
+his voluntary plunge into the Mississippi, from the bow of his
+canoe.  His victim acted as though he entertained some doubts as to
+the identity of the individual that did not mingle with the main
+body of the warriors.
+
+Deerfoot knew that if he did suspect the truth, his curiosity was
+likely to cause trouble.  The time had come when it was the part of
+wisdom to withdraw.
+
+At last the Miami walked toward the enclosure, where two of his own
+tribe were talking same number of the Shawanoes.   He said something
+which stirred up matters at once.  All five began talking
+vigorously, and then they turned take a look at the youthful
+warrior.
+
+He was gone, having vanished as silently as he appeared on the
+scene, and it was well that he did so, for the deception could have
+been carried no further.
+
+Within the succeeding ten minutes the report of a rifle came from
+the direction of the river.  Then a second was heard from another
+point in the wood, and again a third report awoke the echoes among
+the trees.
+
+The red men did not know what it meant.  All the surviving members
+of the two parties were together, and they could not understand who
+the new comers were.  They were probably those of their own race,
+though the discomforting possibility remained that they might be
+white men on their way to the help of the beleaguered boys.
+
+The truth was, Deerfoot was convinced that if Jack and Otto were not
+extricated from their peril long before night, no hope could remain
+for them.  It was so clearly in the power of the red men to capture
+or destroy them whenever they chose to put forth the effort, that he
+knew they would not wait until night.
+
+There were trees on every hand which would shelter the
+sharp-shooters.  If they ensconced themselves among the limbs of
+these, the lads would be shut off from the chance of protecting
+themselves, for on whichsoever side of the space they stood, they
+would be within the range of one or two of the gunners.
+
+The plan which he next proceeded to put into execution was in the
+mind of Deerfoot from the first moment be learned of the situation
+of the endangered ones.  It was impossible to succeed without a
+perfect understanding with his friends, for they necessarily had an
+important part to play in the programme.
+
+"Deerfoot will send them a message," he said to himself, with a
+throb of pride over the facility at his command; "that will tell
+everything."
+
+Making his way to a safe point in the forest, he sat down on the
+ground, tore off a piece from the paper which he carried with his
+Bible, and with red chalk, sharpened to a point, he proceeded to
+write the words intended only for the eyes of his friends within the
+enclosure.  The paper was twisted around the arrow, just back of the
+bead, and he then was ready to adopt the means which he had employed
+more than once in somewhat similar situations.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+"TALL OAKS FROM LITTLE ACORNS GROW"
+
+
+Jack Carleton walked across the slight space that separated him from
+the arrow, quivering in the log on the opposite side of the
+enclosure.  He knew that it had come from the bow of the young
+Shawanoe, who displayed his extraordinary skill by sending it at
+such an elevation that it passed over the heads of his friends.
+
+"It is a message from Deerfoot," repeated the Kentuckian, as he drew
+out the missile and unwrapped the paper wound around it.  "Let us
+see what he has to say."
+
+The paper being unfolded, showed the following words in the small
+but graceful hand of the Shawanoe:
+
+"Let my brothers listen!  They will hear one gun; they will hear
+another, and then will sound a third!  Let them listen closer, for
+they are meant for their ears!  Then will come shouts and the sound
+of a gun the fourth time!  Let my brothers climb over the logs and
+run as fast as they can to the river.  Close by the ash that lies
+with its limbs in the water, they will find the canoe; they must
+make haste to paddle across or it will be too late.  They must not
+wait for Deerfoot.  He will take care of himself.  Let my brothers
+listen and be not slow."
+
+"There's no trouble to understand what he means," said Jack, after
+reading the words aloud.
+
+"What ish it dot he does?" asked Otto, not quite certain as to the
+purpose of their dusky ally.
+
+"He means to start a panic.  He is going to try to scare the red men
+so that they will scatter and give us a chance to get away."
+
+The German lad shook his bead.
+
+"Nix.  He can't do dot."
+
+"It looks to me like a wild scheme, but as it is the last hope, we
+must be ready to give all the help we can, for I don't know of any
+one who ought to be more interested than we.  Sh!  What was that?"
+
+Just then it was so still that the slightest noise made by a falling
+fragment of a stick reached their ears.  Looking quickly around they
+saw that the bit of wood which had been used to close the orifice
+between the logs had fallen or had been pushed out and lay on the
+ground.  The narrow slit would have shown daylight through it had it
+not been closed by altogether a different object or rather series of
+objects; for when the astonished boys contemplated the spot they
+caught the gleam of two pairs of eyes peering at them.
+
+The Indians had found the opening and were scrutinizing the
+interior.  The glitter of the four orbs which filled the crevice
+caused most peculiar sensations on the part of the boys who saw
+them.
+
+"Ain't you not ashamed mit yourselves!" exclaimed Otto, quickly
+bringing his gun to his shoulder and firing directly through the
+opening.
+
+"I teaches you mit better manners."
+
+But, quick as he was, the warriors were quicker, and the darkened
+slit became light with the noiseless speed of a twinkling sunbeam.
+The Indians needed no second intimation of what was coming.
+
+The crisis which followed this shot was more imminent than the
+defenders supposed.  The assailants had become convinced that they
+were throwing away valuable time, and they assembled in a group to
+consider the best means of forcing matters to an issue.
+
+It was at that moment that the report of the gun was heard from the
+direction of the river.  Shawanoe and Miami suspended conversation
+and, looking inquiringly at each other, listened.
+
+A brief while after, the second shot was heard from another point,
+followed by a third from still another direction.
+
+"There are strangers in the woods," remarked one of the warriors, in
+a guarded voice.
+
+"Our brothers have come to look for us."
+
+As suddenly as the crash of a thunderbolt, the Shawanoe war-whoop
+broke on the air, followed by what seemed to be the shouts of white
+men.
+
+Then a voice of mortal terror shouted in the same tongue:
+
+"The white men are coming!  The white men are coming!"
+
+The sound of hurrying feet was heard, as though a dozen warriors
+were fleeing in hot haste from a dreaded foe.  The effect intended
+by this diversion of Deerfoot promised the brilliant success he
+hoped rather than expected.  One of the savages standing close to
+the fallen tree, started with an exclamation and dashed off in an
+opposite direction from the point whence came the alarming sounds.
+The effect was contagious: the others followed pell-mell, every one
+plunging forward with the frantic desperation which the bravest man
+will show in moments of panic.
+
+It need not be said that Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub listened to
+these favorable sounds with breathless interest.  They understood
+the stratagem of Deerfoot, and could not feel very hopeful of its
+success; but the noise of hastily departing warriors thrilled them
+with delight.
+
+"They are running!" exclaimed the young Kentuckian, with beaming
+face; "who would have thought it?"
+
+"I dinks it time dot we vasn't doing the same," said Otto, who,
+catching the top of the wall with both hands, drew himself upward
+and peered over.  He was gratified with the sight of the two
+hindmost warriors just vanishing from sight.  The whole party were
+panic-stricken.
+
+Otto turned his head to tell the joyful news to his companion, when
+he saw that he had also drawn himself up beside him.  The fourth
+report of a gun was heard.
+
+"Now is your time," said Jack: "over with you; I'll hand you your
+gun."
+
+Otto lost no time in scrambling over, and his feet scarcely touched
+the ground when his rifle whizzed end over end after him.  It
+required all his activity to dodge it, and, while doing so, he
+received a sound thump from the gun of his friend, who seemed to be
+flinging weapons around with wild recklessness.
+
+One important fact was clear to the boys: the panic of the Indians
+was certain to be short-lived.  Before fleeing far, they would
+suspect the trick played on them, and would return with tenfold more
+fierceness than before.
+
+The hearts of the boys throbbed high with hope when they found
+themselves outside the enclosure which had served them as a prison,
+and they knew the irrevocable step had been taken; they must now go
+forward at all hazards.
+
+The Mississippi was near, and thither they made all haste,
+remembering the instructions of Deerfoot as conveyed through the
+note borne to them on the wings of the arrow.  Jack, who was the
+fleeter of foot, kept slightly in advance, though he had no purpose
+of leaving his friend behind.
+
+"Dot ish one good things as nefer vos," Otto took occasion to say,
+while panting close behind him: "dere ish not so many of demi
+blagued vines dot cotches me all de times ven I vos--oh mine
+gracious!"
+
+As is too often the case, the lad rejoiced too soon, for the words
+were yet in his mouth when the very mishap he referred to overtook
+him.  A running vine became entangled around his ankles, and he went
+forward on his hands and knees; but he was not injured, and speedily
+rose again.
+
+In spite of their imminent peril, the young Kentuckian could not
+repress a smile when he glanced back and saw Otto picking himself
+up; but the smile was gone instantly, for the situation was anything
+but a mirthful one.
+
+"Here we are!" called out Jack, halting on the bank of the river and
+glancing around him.  "But where is the canoe?"
+
+"I dinks the first things ish to find the ash tree what ish not
+laying up but standing down," suggested Otto, moving along the
+stream.
+
+It was manifest that the boat could not be found until after
+locating the landmark named by the young Shawanoe; for it was
+certain Deerfoot had taken care to hide the canoe where some search
+would be necessary to find it.
+
+But in specifying the fallen tree, Deerfoot gave no idea of where it
+was to be found.  He must have believed it was so conspicuous that
+no direction was required.
+
+During the few seconds that the friends stood irresolute, they used
+ears as well as eyes.  Suddenly the whoop of an Indian was heard a
+brief distance away.
+
+"My gracious!" whispered Jack; "they're coming back!  They have
+discovered the trick."
+
+"Dot ish so; let's jump on to de water and swim to de oder side."
+
+The situation was enough to make the bravest nervous, and the sturdy
+German could not repress his impatience.  Every second was of
+incalculable worth, and yet, knowing they were close to the means
+which was to take them to safety, they could not seize it.
+
+"No; that won't do," replied Jack, resolutely; they will stand on
+the bank and pick us off without trouble to themselves; we must find
+the boat."
+
+"But how can't we do dot?"
+
+"You move up the bank and I will hurry down it the canoe cannot be
+far off; the instant you catch sight of it, whistle, and I'll do the
+same if I see it before you."
+
+Otto sprang away with a more anxious expression on his broad, honest
+face than it wore when he was crouching behind the logs, and the
+young Kentuckian was scarcely less agitated.  His feelings were
+similar to those which come to us in sleep, when we see some grisly
+terror approaching and have no power to flee before it.  Somewhere,
+almost within reach, was the vehicle to carry them out of peril, and
+yet they could not lay their hands on it.
+
+Jack was resolved, in case the canoe was not speedily found, to do
+as Otto advised--leap into the Mississippi and swim boldly for the
+other shore.  If they could gain a fair start, they would have cause
+to hope; but such an attempt, desperate as it was, must be
+undertaken very soon or not at all.
+
+Again the dreaded whoop reached them from the woods, and the leader
+started as though he had caught the click of a gun-lock from behind
+a tree.
+
+The cry was not a loud one, and was no doubt meant as a signal to
+some one not far off.
+
+"I wonder where Deerfoot can be," muttered Jack, pushing his way
+hurriedly through the underbrush, and glancing in every direction
+for the fallen tree which was to show them the craft.  "He told us
+not to wait for him, but it seems to me he ought to have given us
+help in finding the boat."
+
+Again, and for the third time, the frightful signal trembled among
+the trees close behind him.
+
+"He shan't catch me unprepared, at any rate," muttered the young
+Kentuckian, raising the hammer of his gun and looking defiantly
+toward the point whence came the cry.
+
+The Indian did not show himself, and conscious that he was throwing
+away precious seconds, Jack pushed forward once more, keeping watch
+of his flank as well as his front, for a treacherous shot from the
+forest would render a canoe altogether useless, so far, at least, as
+Master Jack Carleton was concerned.
+
+He was impatient and desperate.  There is often a perverseness in
+inanimate things which is beyond endurance.  He had started with the
+highest hopes a few minutes before, confident of finding the Indian
+canoe without trouble, and now he was baffled and held back when on
+the very threshold of safety.
+
+"It is useless to wait," he finally said, coming to an abrupt halt.
+"I will call to Otto and we will swim for it."
+
+But, before he could emit the whistle that had been agreed upon, his
+ears were set tingling by the identical signal coming from a point
+up the bank.
+
+"Thank heaven!" was his exclamation, as he wheeled about and,
+forgetful of the other signal that had told him of peril, dashed
+along the bank of the stream with furious haste.
+
+"Otto has been more fortunate than I," he added, as he bounded
+forward; "he has found the canoe, and I pray that he has not been
+too late for us to use it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+ON THE RIVER
+
+
+The experience of Otto was somewhat similar to that which befell
+Jack Carleton in his search for the Indian canoe.  Strong,
+self-possessed, and courageous by nature as was the German lad, he
+fretted over his forced restraint more than did the other.
+
+He pushed forward with grim recklessness.  He caught the signal of
+the warrior which caused Jack so much disquiet, but he did not
+permit it to interfere with his purpose.
+
+"Let him boot all dot he doesn't vant to," muttered the angry lad;
+"he don't drive me away from looking for dot canoe, don't it?"
+
+Several minutes passed, during which he failed to discover the first
+sign of the missing boat.  Finally, realizing that a considerable
+distance must intervene between him and Jack, he came to a pause,
+and, sitting on a fallen tree, took off his cap, mopped his
+forehead, and heaved a great sigh:
+
+"Dot ish queerer as efer vos; Deerfoot, he tells me dot we find his
+boat and we don't finds him; he says we must jump into the boat and
+paddles out mitdle Mississippi, but we finds the Mississippi, but
+vere ain't dot canoe?  Dot ishn't the question.  Vere isn't Jack?
+He ish looking for de canoe also mit likevise, and I don't bear him
+vistle for me--mine gracious!"
+
+Otto spoke slowly, giving utterance only to a few of the thoughts
+which stirred his brain.  He was on the point of signaling to his
+friend to return, and, insisting that they should swim the river
+together, when he became aware that the undergrowth in front of him
+and close to the water, partially screened some object whose
+outlines could be faintly trace from where he sat.
+
+With the exclamation, he straightened up and stared in blank
+astonishment.  The contour of what he saw was so distinct that there
+could be no mistake; he was staring straight at the canoe for which
+he had been hunting so long.
+
+Otto softly rose to his feet and looked behind him.  He had been
+sitting on the very ash which Deerfoot had named as the guide that
+would direct them in finding the craft.  Otto threw back his head
+and laughed, overcome by the reaction from the tense strain to which
+his nerves had been subjected.
+
+"Ven somepody axes for de biggest fool dot efer vos, he looks at
+Otto Relstaub and says, 'I Dot ish him,' and dot will be him."
+
+But he, shivered at the thought of the minutes that had slipped by,
+and, without indulging in any more soliloquy, placed his finger and
+thumb in his mouth and emitted the whistle which thrilled Jack
+Carleton down the river and brought him hurrying to the spot.
+
+Satisfied that no repetition of the call was required, Otto gave his
+attention to the boat.  It was a fine Indian canoe, buoyant enough
+to carry six or eight warriors, and furnished with three long
+paddles which, in skillful hands, could drive it with great speed
+through the water.  It was made of bark, bow and stern being
+similar, curving inward toward the middle of the boat, and painted
+with rude designs outside, which showed more taste than did the
+ornamentation of the aboriginal countenances.
+
+Deerfoot had displayed no little ingenuity in screening the craft
+from sight.  Inasmuch as Otto had forgotten himself so far as to sit
+down on the very tree for which he was searching without once
+suspecting his forgetfulness, it is not to be supposed he would have
+discovered the boat at all but for the accident named.
+
+Grasping one end, he began vigorously pushing it into the current.
+It was heavy, and he wondered at the strength of the young Shawanoe,
+who had drawn it clear of the water, overlooking the fact that
+moderate strength, skillfully applied, succeeds more frequently than
+does simple physical power.
+
+After much effort, he shoved it clear of the land and held it
+floating on the surface.
+
+"I wonder if Jack didn't hear me," he thought, looking around; "I
+thinks I calls him agin once more."
+
+He did not utter the signal, however, for just then he heard
+approaching footsteps, and, a minute later, the flushed and panting
+Jack Carleton was beside him.
+
+"Thank heaven!" he exclaimed; "I was in despair when your signal
+reached me; we haven't a second to lose."
+
+"We ishet going to lose him, not at all.  Hark!"
+
+They heard just then, not only the faint whoop that had caused them
+so much disquiet, but caught sight of the warrior who uttered the
+alarming call.
+
+He whisked between the trees with such bewildering quickness of
+movement that Jack, who had turned with his rifle half raised, saw
+no chance of firing with effect.  Fortunately, the necessity for
+doing so did not exist, for the boys at the same moment recognized
+the red man as their friend Deerfoot, who walked forward smiling and
+pleased, carrying his bow and gun.
+
+"My brothers did well," he said in his quiet way; "but they did not
+hasten as does the deer when the hounds are on his trail."
+
+"We could not have hurried more than we did," replied Jack Carleton,
+taking the hand of the youthful warrior; "a little more haste and
+both of us would have broken our necks."
+
+"Dot ish so," added Otto, emphatically; "I sot down on dis log to
+dinks if I couldn't run fitstery but I couldn't.  What for you keep
+whooping all the time like a crazy person?"
+
+"Deerfoot wished to see his brothers run, for the red men are
+looking for them."
+
+"I've no doubt of that, and the wonder to me is how you managed to
+give them such a scare that they scattered and left us a chance to
+dig out."
+
+"The wicked flee when no man pursueth," was the apt quotation of the
+extraordinary youth, who was so fond of studying his Bible.  "But
+their fright will not last long."
+
+"Such being the case we must not tarry."
+
+The Shawanoe acted as though he did not intend to enter the canoe
+with them, seemingly having some object in remaining on the Kentucky
+side; but he changed his mind, probably concluding that his services
+were still needed by his friends.
+
+He motioned to Jack, who stepped into the boat and picked up one of
+the paddles, Otto having done the same.  Deerfoot leaped lightly
+after them, the impulse carrying the craft fully a rod from shore.
+He laid down his gun and bow, and, seizing the third paddle, made
+such a powerful sweep through the water that the others almost lost
+their balance.  They essayed to help him, but he asked them with a
+smile to cease and leave the management of the boat entirely to him.
+
+"We might as well," said Jack, "for we shall only hinder you."
+
+"Dot ish de same as I doesn't dinks."
+
+A few strokes sent the canoe well out from the land, and the
+Shawanoe still plied the paddle with extraordinary skill; but, as he
+left the shore, he knew that in one respect the danger of himself
+and companions was increased.  If their enemies were anywhere along
+the Mississippi, with a suspicion of the truth, they could not fail
+to detect them.
+
+It proved as he suspected.  Several whoops echoed from a point a
+short distance below, and the quick eye of the leader caught sight
+of the Miamis and Shawanoes on the bank.
+
+"Down!  Down!" he said, excitedly; "let my brothers lower their
+heads or they will be killed."
+
+Both Jack and Otto extended themselves flat on the bottom of the
+boat, but Deerfoot remained upright, plying the paddle with might
+and main.  He headed out in the stream, and used every effort to get
+beyond reach of the rifles of his enemies.
+
+"Why don't you duck your head, too?" demanded the alarmed Jack;
+"they can hit you as easily as us."
+
+But Deerfoot had his eyes on the party and did not mean to throw
+away his life.  He saw there were four red men who stood together on
+the very edge of the wood.  When two of them raised their guns and
+sighted at him, he dropped like the loon, which dodges the bullet of
+the hunter by the flash of his gun.
+
+A couple of reports sounded like one, and the three on the bottom of
+the canoe heard the bark fly.  Both balls had pierced it, entering
+one side and passing out on the other.  The weight of the occupants
+caused the boat to sink sufficiently to protect them, so long as
+they remained flat on the bottom.  One of the bullets was aimed so
+low that it struck the water, ricocheting through the bark and
+bounding off in space.  The other went within an inch of Deerfoot's
+figure, he being slightly higher than either of the others.
+
+The echoes of the guns were ringing through the wood, when the
+Shawanoe straightened up and dipped the paddle into the waters
+again; but he had time for only one sweeping stroke when down he
+went once more, barely in time to escape the third shot.
+
+Before using the paddles, he raised his head just enough to peep
+over the gunwale.  He saw the three warriors deliberately reloading
+their weapons, while the other was waiting for his target to present
+itself.  There were two others, who had been drawn thither by the
+calls of the first party.
+
+"I dinks maybe I can does somedings to help," said Otto, timidly
+looking over the side of the craft; "mebbe I sees--mine gracious!"
+
+The gun which was fired just then sent the bullet, as may be said,
+directly under the nose of the German, who lowered his face with
+such quickness that the whole boat jarred from the bump against the
+bottom.
+
+"Deerfoot, won't it be a good thing to send a shot at them?" asked
+Jack; "it seems to me they would not be quite so ready with their
+guns."
+
+The Shawanoe was evidently of the same mind.  He had the choice of
+two weapons, and need it be said which was the one selected?
+
+Standing erect in the canoe, he fitted an arrow to the string with
+incredible dexterity and launched it with a speed that rendered it
+almost invisible.  The distance caused him to elevate the missile
+slightly, but the aim of Simon Kenton or Daniel Boone, with his
+long, trusty rifle, could not have been more unerring.
+
+The red men on shore were well aware of his amazing skill, and they
+lost no time in adopting the dodging tactics.  The instant the form
+of the graceful young warrior was thrown in relief against the sky
+and wooded shore, they bounded behind the nearest trees, peering
+forth like frightened children.
+
+The movement saved one life at least, for the winged missile which,
+a second later, whizzed over the spot where they had been standing,
+was driven with a force that would have caused it to plunge clean
+through the body of any one in its path.
+
+Deerfoot remained erect in the canoe until the shaft had landed,
+when he gave utterance to a defiant shout; sat down, and
+deliberately took up the paddle again.
+
+It will be borne in mind that the yellow current of the Mississippi
+was swollen by freshets near its headwaters, and the canoe not only
+danced about a great deal, but was borne swiftly downward, seeing
+which the Indians hastened in a parallel course, with the purpose of
+holding it within range.  Furthermore, other red men continually
+appeared at a lower point.  It is within bounds to say that there
+was not one who did not understand the stratagem by which the young
+Shawanoe had outwitted them, and there was no means within their
+reach which they would not have put forth to revenge themselves upon
+him.
+
+Within a brief space of time the guns of the warriors began popping
+from so many different points that Deerfoot dare not attempt to use
+the paddle.  The blue puffs of smoke were so near that it would have
+been fatal to expose himself to the aim of his enemies, but, unless
+the canoe could be propelled still further from them, it was likely
+to be riddled by the converging fires.
+
+"Things are in a bad shape," remarked Jack Carleton, afraid to raise
+his head a single inch, for the boat rode most uncomfortably high;
+"we must do something, and yet what can we do?"
+
+Deerfoot made no answer; his fertile brain had extricated other
+parties from more critical situations than the one in which he was
+now placed, and he was quick to decide upon an expedient for doing
+the same in the present instance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE LOUISIANA SHORE
+
+
+Deerfoot threw himself over the side of the canoe into the river,
+holding fast to the gunwale with one hand and keeping the boat
+between him and the Indians on shore.  With the arm which was free,
+he swam toward the Louisiana side, towing the craft after him.
+
+While it seemed absolutely necessary that something of the kind
+should be done, yet the reader will perceive that the course of the
+Shawanoe was extremely perilous, not only for himself, but for his
+friends whom he was so anxious to benefit.  His removal from the
+canoe caused it to ride higher, and thereby exposed them to the
+bullets that were continually skipping about it.  Deerfoot himself
+was forced to keep his shoulders at such an elevation that he was
+liable to be perforated by some flying missiles, but he increased
+the distance between himself and enemies with greater speed than
+would be supposed.
+
+"I dinks dis ish good style," said Otto to Jack, who moved his head
+so as to see what he was doing.  The sagacious German had gathered
+the three paddles so they were added to that side of the craft which
+served as a partial shield against the shots from the shore.  The
+implements were so arranged that the lad felt safe against harm,
+unless the boat should turn half way round before he could
+accommodate himself to the changed condition of things.
+
+"It is a good idea," said Jack, admiringly, as he hastened to avail
+himself of the defense; "I don't believe one of their bullets can
+pierce our shield."
+
+Something cold made itself felt through the clothing of the young
+Kentuckian, where his hip pressed the bottom of the canoe.  Groping
+with his hand he found it was water, which he saw bubbling through a
+bullet-hole that was forced below the surface by the vigor of
+Deerfoot's arm.  The opposite side of the boat was lifted
+correspondingly high, so that the sunlight shone through.
+
+It will be understood that the conditions prevented the Shawanoe
+from towing the boat directly across the Mississippi.  The swift
+current rendered a diagonal course necessary, and even that could
+not be pushed with enough power to prevent the party drifting down
+stream.
+
+The red men kept up a desultory fire, but it was less frequent and
+manifestly less hopeful than at first.  They could not but see that
+the craft was steadily passing beyond range, and the chances of
+inflicting injury grew less every moment.  Soon the firing ceased
+altogether.
+
+A moment later, the dripping form of Deerfoot flipped over the
+gunwale again, diffusing moisture in every direction.  Without a
+word, he seized the paddle and plied it with his old-time skill and
+vigor.  He looked keenly toward Kentucky, but saw nothing of his
+enemies: they must have concluded to withdraw and bestow their
+attention elsewhere.
+
+But, convinced that they were still watching the course of the
+canoe, he again rose to his feet, and, circling the paddle over his
+head, gave utterance to a number of tantalizing whoops.  His enemies
+had been outwitted with such cleverness that the youth could not
+deny himself the pleasure of expressing his exultation in that
+characteristic fashion.
+
+When Jack Carleton discovered the water bubbling through the
+bullet-hole in the side of the canoe, as though it was a tiny spring
+that had just burst forth, he was afraid it would sink the craft.
+He inserted the end of his finger to check, in some measure, the
+flow; but Deerfoot, observing the act, shook his head to signify it
+was unnecessary.
+
+"My brothers shall reach land," he said.
+
+"I have no doubt we shall, since you are using the paddle again, but
+a little while ago it looked as though the land we were going to
+reach was at the bottom of the river.  Deerfoot," added Jack, with a
+smile, "they have punctured this boat pretty thoroughly.  I cannot
+understand how it was we all escaped when the bullets seemed to be
+everywhere."
+
+"The Great Spirit turned aside the bullets," said the Shawanoe.
+
+"No he didn't," was the sturdy response of Jack; "I acknowledge His
+mercies, which have followed us all the days of our lives, but that
+is not the way He works.  You know as well as do I, that if yon get
+in the way of a Shawanoe or Miami rifle, you will be hit unless yon
+are very quick to get out of the way again; but for all that," the
+Kentuckian hastened to add, noticing a reproving expression on the
+countenance of his dusky friend, "my heart overflows with gratitude
+because we have been saved, when there seemed not the first ray of
+hope for us.  The bullets came near, but none touched us."
+
+"I dinks different," was the unexpected remark of Otto, who,
+assuming the sitting position, took off his cap, and, after fumbling
+awhile through his shock of yellow hair, actually found a ball,
+which he held up between his fingers.
+
+"Vot don't you dinks ob him, eh?" he asked, triumphantly.
+
+The amazed Jack took the object and examined it.  No need was there
+of doing so; it was a rifle ball beyond question.
+
+"How in the name of all that's wonderful did that get into your
+hair?" asked his friend.
+
+"I 'spose he was shot dere, and my head was too hard for it to pass
+through, so he stops, don't it?"
+
+The canoe was so close to shore that Deerfoot stopped paddling for
+the moment and extended his band for the missile.  He simply held it
+up, glanced at it, and then tossed it back to Otto with the remark:
+
+"The head of my brother is thick like the rock, but the ball was not
+fired from a gun."
+
+With a bewildered expression, as though some forgotten fact was
+beginning to dawn upon him, Otto laid his cap in his lap and began
+searching through his hair with both hands.  A moment later, his
+face beamed with one of his most expansive smiles, and he showed two
+more rifle-bullets that had been fished from the capillary depths.
+
+"Yaw, I forgots him; I puts dem pullets in mine hat yesterday and I
+dinks dey was lost; dat is looky, ain't it?"
+
+"I don't see anything particularly lucky about it," said Jack, who
+suspected that much of the lad's stupidity was assumed.  A healthy
+youngster never fails to have the organ of mirth well forward in
+development, and the promptings of Otto's innate love of fun seemed
+to have little regard for time, place or circumstances.
+
+The American Indian is probably the most melancholy of the five
+races of men; but even he is not lacking in the element of mirth
+which it is maintained is often displayed by dumb animals.
+
+When Deerfoot heard the explanation of Otto, he did not smile, but
+with a grave expression of countenance gave his entire attention to
+the paddle in his hand.  The German sat with his back toward the
+front of the canoe, the other two facing him, the Shawanoe being at
+the rear.  The shore was only a few rods away, the Mississippi being
+much less agitated at the side than in the middle.
+
+Without any display of effort, the warrior used the long paddle with
+all the power he could put forth.  Very soon the craft attained a
+speed greater than either of the pale faces suspected.
+
+"No," repeated Jack Carleton, "I can't see where there is any
+special luck in finding the bullets in your hair; I shouldn't be
+surprised if they had been there for a week.  You must use a very
+coarse-toothed comb."
+
+"My brother uses no comb at all," suggested Deerfoot, in a solemn
+voice, from the rear of the boat, which was speeding like an arrow
+over the water.
+
+"Now you have struck the truth," laughed Jack.
+
+Otto rose to a stooping position, steadying himself as best he
+could, and extended his hand to shake that of the Shawanoe, as proof
+that he indorsed his remark.  He placed a hand on the shoulder of
+the Kentuckian to steady himself, for he knew that it is a difficult
+matter for one to keep his balance in such a delicate structure as
+an Indian canoe.
+
+"Deerfoot ish not such a pig fool as he don't look to be, somedimes
+I dinks he knows more nodins dan nopody; den van he h'ists sail in
+his canoe and sails off mitout saying nodings to nopody, den I don't
+dinks."
+
+Otto Relstaub had reached that point in his remark, when the bow of
+the canoe arrived in Louisiana.  It struck the shore with a violence
+that started the seams through the entire structure.  The author of
+all this of course kept his seat, for he had braced himself for the
+shook.  At the same time he caught the shoulder of Jack Carleton, as
+if to hold him quiet, but it was all pretense on his part.  There
+was no "grip" to his fingers, and Jack immediately plunged forward,
+his head bumping the bottom of the boat with a crash.
+
+As for Otto Relstaub, the consequences took away his breath.  As he
+was trying to stand on his feet, he had a great deal more of falling
+to do it than his friend.  He did it most thoroughly, sitting down
+with such emphasis that the side of the canoe gave way, and he
+continued the act on dry land, being stopped by a small sapling in
+his path.
+
+Otto whirled over on his face, and scrambling to his feet, stared
+around to learn the extent of the calamity.  He gathered up his gun
+and hat, and then, stooping, passed his hands over the bark and
+attentively examined it.
+
+"I dinks it ish split a good deal mit my head," he remarked, with a
+grave countenance.
+
+Meanwhile, Jack Carleton had regained his upright position and
+shaken himself together.  When he saw Otto in an inverted position,
+he broke into hearty laughter, hastened, no doubt, by the fact that
+Deerfoot was shaking from head to foot with mirth.  His black eyes
+glistened with tears, caused by his amusement over the performance
+of the German.  He was laughing all over, though he gave out not the
+slightest sound.
+
+As for Jack Carleton, he chuckled and gurgled with a noise like that
+of water running out of a bottle, while the main victim of all this
+merriment was as solemn as an owl.  After rubbing and adjusting
+himself, as may be said, he turned slowly about and gazed inquiringly
+at his friends in the boat, as if puzzled to understand the cause of
+their emotions.
+
+"Vot ish dot you seem to laugh mit?" he demanded, in an injured
+voice; "I see nodings."
+
+When the others had somewhat recovered from their mirth, Otto began
+laughing with scarcely less heartiness than they showed.  The absurd
+occurrence seemed slow to impress itself upon his consciousness.
+
+Deerfoot did not allow himself to remain idle many minutes.  The
+fractured front of the craft being immovably fixed in the bank, he
+leaned his head over the side and washed the paint from his face.
+He disliked to disfigure himself in that fashion, though he always
+carried the stuff with him, to be used in such an emergency as has
+been described.
+
+The blanket stolen from him had been carried away by one of the
+warriors, so that Deerfoot held only the rifle and ammunition in the
+way of a reprisal; but they were more than sufficient to replace the
+property he had lost, and he had no cause for complaint.
+
+Stepping on solid land again, with the water dripping from his
+clothing, the handsome warrior stood erect, and looked at Kentucky
+across the "Father of Waters."  Instead of the villages and towns
+which now grace the locality, he saw only the lonely woods
+stretching north and south until lost to view.
+
+But he knew enemies were there, and the keen vision of the youth was
+searching for them.  They must have become discouraged over what had
+taken place, for not the first sign of the red men could be discerned.
+They seemed to have "folded their tents," and stolen off as silently
+as the Arabs.
+
+But far down the Mississippi, a canoe put out from the Kentucky side
+and approached the opposite bank.  It kept out of sight until
+Deerfoot the Shawanoe had withdrawn, and then it advanced with the
+care and stealth of the trained Indian on the war-path.
+
+The craft was full of Miamis and Shawanoes, armed to the teeth, and
+impelled by the greatest incentive that can inflame the passions of
+the American Indian--revenge.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+ON THE LOUISIANA SHORE
+
+
+At last the little party were across the Mississippi.  The Indian
+canoe, so injured that it was useless until repaired, was pushed
+back into the turbid current and went spinning down the river,
+sometimes bumping against the bank and then dancing further from
+shore, until striking broadside against a nodding "sawyer," it
+overturned, and thereafter resembled an ordinary log, on its way
+toward the Gulf.
+
+It was the first time that Jack Carleton had placed foot on
+Louisiana soil, and be stood for a moment gazing backward at
+Kentucky, amid whose confines he was born and beyond which he never
+strayed, except when on an occasional hunting excursion into Ohio.
+
+"I wonder whether I shall ever tread those forests again," he said
+to himself; "I can't say that I'm anxious to do so, for there have
+always been too many Indians for comfort.  They killed my father and
+broke the heart of my mother.  No, Kentucky, good bye," he added,
+turning his face toward the west, with a feeling that in that
+direction lay his future home.
+
+Meanwhile Deerfoot and Otto took but a few minutes to prepare for
+their journey.  The Indian having lost his blanket, held only the,
+rifle and ammunition by way of superfluous luggage, and it could not
+be said that his companions were unduly burdened, since the runaway
+colt had relieved them in that respect.
+
+Deerfoot slung his long bow back of his shoulders, as he was
+accustomed to do when he wished the unrestrained use of both arms,
+and carried the rifle as the others did theirs.
+
+The belief obtained with all three that in leaving Kentucky they
+bade good-bye to most of the personal peril to which they bad been
+subjected.  The reader knows that that section was ravaged by the
+fierce Shawanoes, Miamis, Hurons and other tribes who were
+implacable in their hostility to the white men, and who did so much
+to give it the name of the Dark and Bloody Ground by which it was so
+long known.  There were thousands of red men ranging through the
+immense province known as Louisiana, and the crack of the hostile
+rifle, the war-cry of the dusky chieftain, and the shock, of mortal
+combat marked the meeting of the races, whether on the clearing, in
+the forest, or in the lonely defile in the mountain.
+
+In that section to which I have referred more than once, as now
+bearing the name of Missouri, the fighting between the whites and
+Indians was much less than on the eastern bank of the Mississippi.
+It will be understood, therefore, why, when the little company of
+friends stood on the western shore, they felt much less concern than
+while on the other side.
+
+Less than two days' tramp to the westward lay the young settlement
+where dwelt the mother of Jack Carleton, the parents of Otto
+Relstaub and a dozen other families who had emigrated thither from
+Kentucky.  Far beyond and to the southward among the wildest
+fastnesses of the Ozark mountains the young Shawanoe had taken
+refuge, where he felt secure against those of his race who hated him
+with irrestrainable ferocity.
+
+As it would require no great digression on the part of Deerfoot, and
+as it was not to be supposed that time was very valuable to him,
+Jack and Otto supposed he would go with them the entire distance to
+the log cabin of Jacob Relstaub.  To their surprise, however, he
+quietly said be could keep them company only a short time longer.
+
+"I had no doubt you would be with us to the end," said the
+disappointed Jack.
+
+"It would make the heart of Deerfoot glad if he could go with his
+brothers whom he loves; but he cannot."
+
+"Vot ain't de reason?" asked Otto, unrestrained by the sense of
+propriety which held the tongue of Jack silent.
+
+"Deerfoot is called yonder," was the reply, pointing south of the
+path which lay before the others.
+
+They were silent a minute or so, in the hope that, he would explain
+his meaning, but he did not, and even Otto saw that he had no right
+to question him further.
+
+Aware that his friends were waiting for him to add something,
+Deerfoot continued:
+
+"The path of my brothers is straight, and they will not get down on
+their knees to look for the trail.  There are no Shawanoes among the
+trees to fire when they are not looking, and Deerfoot can may no
+words that will do good."
+
+"It is not that which causes us to hope for your company," replied
+Jack, who was standing several feet away from the youthful warrior
+and looking in his serious countenance; "but it is because we like
+you, not only for what we have heard from others, but for what we
+have seen with our own eyes, and for what you have done for us, that
+we are loath to part with you."
+
+"Deerfoot will go part of the way," the Indian hastened to say,
+perceiving the feeling of his friends, "but it cannot be long."
+
+"Far be it from me to question what you do; no right belongs to me,
+but I could not let you go without telling bow much we appreciate
+what you have done for us, and how much we admire your noble
+character."
+
+It was one of the peculiarities of Deerfoot that he never accepted
+the most pointed compliment.  When forced to reply to a direct one,
+he turned it aside with an indifference which showed he placed no
+value upon it.  As Jack Carleton remarked later on, praise ran from
+Deerfoot like water from a duck's back.
+
+But another matter forced itself upon the attention of the boys, who
+were on their way to the settlement.  It has been stated already
+that the father of Otto Relstaub was penurious, miserly, and cruel.
+The colt on which the boy had ridden to Coatesville, Kentucky, and
+part of the way back again, was the better of the two horses owned
+by him.  Its loss was certain to throw him into a great rage, and
+doubtless would bring down the severest punishment on the back and
+shoulders of the son.
+
+Jack Carleton understood this prospect as well as did Otto himself,
+and he was of the belief that a resolute effort should be put forth
+to recover the horse.  When the matter was stated to Deerfoot, his
+own knowledge of the ill-tempered German caused him to urge the
+attempt.  In fact he would have done so, had the case been otherwise,
+for the value of the animal was considerable.  Furthermore, Deerfoot
+was of the opinion that the colt could be regained without serious
+difficulty, and he told them they had little to fear from hostile
+Indians.
+
+Had the Shawanoe seen the canoe, loaded to the gunwales with red men
+in their war paint, which at that very moment was stealing close
+under the Louisiana shore, be would have modified his remarks to a
+very considerable extent.
+
+The peculiarly original manner in which the boys crossed the
+Mississippi had resulted in carrying them some distance below the
+trail that trended to the westward.  As the runaway horse had
+undergone the same experience, and as Otto had descried him when he
+emerged from the river, it was easy to locate quite closely the
+point where he entered Louisiana.
+
+"It ish below vere we don't stands not dis moment," he said, when
+they were ready to move off.
+
+"My gracious, Otto," exclaimed Jack, "can't you handle English a
+little better than that?  I thought your father was the crookedest
+of speech of any person I ever heard, but he can't be any worse than
+you."
+
+"Yaw-don't it?" grinned Otto.
+
+"Try to improve yourself!  You ain't much of a fool on other
+matters, and you may as well learn to talk like a civilized being.
+I have seen Deerfoot shocked more than once at the horrible style in
+which you mangle the king's English.  I want you to promise to make
+an effort to do better; will you?"
+
+"Yaw; I dinks not efery dimes dot I does much better as nefer vos;
+vot doesn't you dinks not apout it, eh-don't it?  Yaw!"
+
+Deerfoot had taken a couple of steps along the bank with the purpose
+of hunting the hoof-prints of the missing horse, but he paused and
+half turned about, looking with an amused expression at his friends
+who were holding their characteristic conversation.
+
+There was something noteworthy in the fact that while Otto had heard
+the English tongue spoken quite correctly, from the hour he was able
+to toddle out doors, he could not compare in his lingual skill to
+Deerfoot, who had never attempted a word of the language until
+wounded and taken prisoner by the whites.  What caused all this
+difference?
+
+The same thing which distinguishes one man from another, and crowns
+failure with success, or reverses it, as the case may be--brains.
+
+The three youths moved down the bank in an irregular Indian file,
+for no one saw the need of extra precaution.  Deerfoot was about a
+rod in advance, walking with a brisk step, for his searching eyes
+took in everything in the field of vision, and the trail for which
+he was searching was sure to be marked with a distinctness that
+could permit no mistake.
+
+It was the same apparently endless forest which met their eyes when
+they looked across from Kentucky, and which seemed to encroach on
+the borders of the river itself, as though envious of its space.
+There was little undergrowth, and they advanced without difficulty.
+
+"I dinks be ish close to vere de colt goomes owet", said Otto, his
+words uttered with such deliberation that it was manifest he was
+doing his best to heed the appeal of the young Kentuckian.
+
+"That is a decided improvement," Jack hastened to say, with an
+approving smile.  You don't pronounce very well, but you built up
+that sentence better than usual."
+
+"Dot's vot I dinks no times, yaw--I means dot ish vot I dinks mine
+Belf."
+
+"Good!" said Jack, reaching out and patting his shoulder; "if you
+will devote a few minutes to hard thought before speaking a single
+word, you will improve until one of these days you will be able to
+speak as well as Deerfoot."
+
+"Yaw, dot ish nodings--yaw, holds on I dinks hard!" exclaimed Otto,
+resolutely checking himself until he could gain time to frame the
+expression he had in mind.  But before he succeeded, a slight
+exclamation from Deerfoot made own his discovery of the trail for
+which they were hunting.
+
+The others hastened to his side, and looking at the ground, saw the
+hoof-prints of the horse that had run away with Otto Relstaub.  As
+the animal was well shod, there could be no mistaking the trail,
+differing from that of the Indian ponies, which, as a matter of
+course, were without such protection for their feet.
+
+"Yaw, dot ish him," remarked the German, his effort being to surprise
+Deerfoot as well as to please Jack Carleton by the correctness of his
+diction.
+
+A brief examination of the foot-prints showed that the colt had
+taken matters leisurely after emerging from the Mississippi.
+Instead of breaking into a gallop and plunging straight into the
+woods, he had halted long enough to eat what little grass grew
+within reach, after which he wandered off for more.
+
+The trail was followed several hundred yards, until a rising ground
+was reached.  It was observed that for the distance named, the colt
+was following a course slightly north of west-the very one which, if
+persevered in long enough, would take him to the log cabin of his
+owner.
+
+Deerfoot said it was likely that the animal had set out of his own
+accord to go home, and, provided he was not secured by some
+wandering Indians, it was more than likely he would arrive at that
+point in advance of the boys themselves.
+
+Jack Carleton held the same views, and Otto, after taking a full
+minute to shape up his ideas, said with great impressiveness:
+
+"Dot ish vot I dinks as--yaw, I dinks dot."
+
+"Hold on," interrupted Jack, raising his hand with a laugh; "you
+have it straight now; don't spoil it by trying to improve it."
+
+Otto nodded his head and held his peace.  He was wise when he did
+so.
+
+Deerfoot was on the point of adding an encouraging remark, when his
+keen vision detected something a short distance in advance which
+claimed his attention.  Without a word, he motioned for them to hold
+their peace, and then ran rapidly several paces toward that which
+had caught his eye.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE SMOKE OF A CAMPFIRE
+
+
+Deerfoot identified the object before reaching it.  His friends
+followed him doubtingly, and while a rod to the rear, saw him gather
+it up and hold it aloft.
+
+"It is your blanket," said Jack Carleton to his companion.
+
+"Dot ish what it be."
+
+It was easy to understand why the piece of coarse cloth lay on the
+ground.  Instead of rolling it up with the smaller one belonging to
+Jack Carleton, Otto had made a separate bundle and strapped it
+behind the other effects on the back of the horse.  The latter in
+moving among the trees had displaced it.
+
+It was saturated with water, which dripped from the folds when
+raised from the ground.  Jack and Otto twisted it between them until
+all the moisture it was possible to wring out left it in a dozen
+tiny rills.  "Deerfoot," said the German, wheeling about, "dot ish
+de blanket vot--vot I don't--vot I put on your shoulders ven it
+rained."
+
+The Shawanoe bowed his head, smiled and said:
+
+"Deerfoot knows his brother speaks truth."
+
+"I gives him to you--be ish yours."
+
+The Indian made no move to take it, and Jack added:
+
+"We shall soon find the colt and with him my blanket and the other
+articles he has with him.  We do not need this; you have none, and
+you have many miles to traverse before you reach your home; we shall
+be glad if you will take it from us."
+
+Deerfoot partly raised his hand to accept the gift, but stepped back
+with a shake of his head.
+
+"When my brother goes to the cabin of his father, and, he asks him
+for the blanket, what will he say?"
+
+"I vill tells him dot I gives him mit you."
+
+"Then the father of my brother will strike him."
+
+"I dinks dot ish so," said Otto with a grin and shrug of his
+shoulders, "but I be glad to take a flogging for him dot does so
+much for me--don't it?"
+
+The youth compressed his thin lips and made a single shake of his
+head, so positive in its character that nothing more was needed.
+
+"But," added Jack Carleton, convinced from the hesitancy shown at
+first by Deerfoot, that he really wished the blanket, "if you are so
+desirous of saving Otto from a flogging, it can be easily done.  When
+we take back the colt and Mr. Relstaub asks for the blanket, we can
+tell him that an Indian took it before we found the horse.  That
+will be the truth."
+
+Deerfoot looked straight in the face of the young Kentuckian, and
+his lips parted as if on the point of speaking, but he refrained,
+and with his shadowy smile, again shook his head.  The gesture said
+as plainly as the words could have done:
+
+"What you propose is as much a falsehood as anything can be."
+
+"But I will give Otto my blanket," persisted Jack Carleton, determined
+to overcome the scruples of the remarkable Indian, "that will make
+things right."
+
+"Where is my brother's blanket?" asked Deerfoot with a grave
+countenance.
+
+"I shall soon find it: the horse can't be far off."
+
+"Deerfoot will wait till my brother finds it."
+
+"Well! well", said Jack, with a wondering sigh, "you are the
+strangest person I ever saw.  It isn't worth while to argue any
+question with you.  So we'll let it pass."
+
+Such seemed to be the wish of Deerfoot, for, with his silent step,
+he moved along the elevated ground, until he arrived at a spot where
+the trees were so few and stunted that an extended view was obtained.
+There the three halted side by side, and spent several minutes gazing
+over the surrounding country.
+
+Looking toward Kentucky, the majestic Mississippi was in plain sight
+as it swept southward, while beyond stretched the undulating forest,
+until it met the dim horizon in the distance.  Far to the southward
+was seen the smoke of a campfire.  It was unusually murky, and, as
+it ascended in a wavy line through the clear atmosphere, it looked
+as if the soiled finger of some great ogre had been drawn against
+the clear blue sky.
+
+But it was a sight which every one of the party had seen before, and
+it excited little interest.  It was no concern of theirs what took
+place in Kentucky, and Jack and Otto turned to survey the "promised
+land," which opened out to the westward.
+
+Woods, patches of natural clearing, hills and misty mountains many
+miles away: these were the general features of the immense area
+which expanded before their sight.  Ordinarily there was nothing
+among these of special account, but the eye of Deerfoot, which never
+seemed to lose anything, detected almost instantly a "sign" that
+signified a great deal to him and his companions.
+
+In a depression, no more than a furlong distant, could be observed
+the faintest possible tinge of smoke, slowly ascending from a mass
+of dense forest.  It was so faint, in fact, that neither Jack nor
+Otto noticed it, until Deerfoot pointed his finger in that
+direction, and said "The camp of red men!"
+
+The vapor was of a light blue, just above the tree-top's, and it
+rose only a few feet more, when it dissolved in the clear atmosphere.
+But it showed that a camp-fire was burning beneath, though it may
+have been kindled many hours before, and those who started it
+possibly were miles away in the depths of the forest.
+
+"Suppose they are Shawanoes or Miamis?" remarked Jack.
+
+"They are not Shawanoes," said Deerfoot quietly.
+
+"Miamis then?"
+
+"Deerfoot thinks they are not Miamis, but he cannot be sure till he
+sees the camp."
+
+And without further remark, he went down the slope with a rapid
+step, which, it is hardly necessary to say, gave out no noise at
+all.  Jack concluded he could not feel much misgiving or he would
+not have allowed him and Otto to follow so close on his heels.  But
+they were some distance off, when he turned about and motioned them
+to halt.
+
+"Let my brothers wait for Deerfoot," he said softly.
+
+Knowing he would be obeyed without question, Deerfoot continued his
+advance, speedily disappearing from sight among the trees and
+undergrowth, while the others did as he requested.
+
+The discovery of the camp-fire not only caused some misgivings about
+the personal safety of the little company, but it suggested that the
+missing horse was lost beyond recovery.  Horse-flesh is the most
+"sensitive capital" on the frontier, and he who pilfers it runs more
+danger of lynching than does the man who takes the life of a fellow
+being.  To the Indian, the noble animal is as indispensable as to
+the settler, and, if the party who had made the halt in that
+neighborhood learned that an unusually fine steed was wandering near
+them, they would lose no time in making him captive.
+
+But from the moment our young friends left their elevated position,
+they followed a different route from that of the colt.
+
+"Mine gracious!" whispered the disturbed German lad: "I dinks dot if
+they don't got de golt then the golt don't got dem, and fader he
+won't be as bleased as nefer vos."
+
+"There isn't any hurry, Otto, in putting your words together, and it
+is a good time for you to try to string them so they will make a
+little sense."
+
+"Yaw; I vill tries."
+
+"Sh!  There comes some one!"
+
+It was Deerfoot, who appeared a moment later, and beckoned his
+friends to join him.  His manner, while not careless, was so
+manifestly free from solicitude, that Jack knew there was no ground
+for alarm.  He and Otto overtook the Shawanoe at the moment he
+stepped into the open space where a camp-fire had been burning some
+time before.
+
+In fact it was still burning, else the smoke would not have caught
+the eye of the Indian youth; but it must have been smoldering for
+hours, judging from the thinness of the vapor, and the fact that
+little more than a pile of ashes and decaying embers met the sight.
+
+There is naught to be said in the way of description.  The fire,
+when kindled, had been a large one, and all the burning sticks were
+in one pile instead of two or three, as is often the case.  The
+charred ends protruded irregularly from the white, feathery ashes,
+and one solitary brand, smothered almost from sight, sent up the
+faint bluish vapor which, creeping through the foliage overhead,
+told the vigilant Shawanoe where to look for the camp of his
+enemies.
+
+"How long have they been gone?" asked Jack, gazing carefully around
+and assuring himself that no strangers were near.
+
+"They went away when the sun first came up from the woods; many
+hours have passed since they left."
+
+"Which course did they take?"
+
+Deerfoot pointed toward the south.
+
+"Were you right in saying they were not Shawanoes?"
+
+"They did not belong to my tribe."
+
+"Ah, then they were Miamis.  I made up my mind to that."
+
+"My brother is wrong," replied Deerfoot, with a flitting smile;
+"they were Osage Indians."
+
+"How don't you know dot?"
+
+"My other brother is wrong: Deerfoot said not he did not know it; he
+does know they were Osages."
+
+Jack Carleton poked Otto in the side.
+
+"Even Deerfoot corrects your language."
+
+"All rights," said Otto, bristling up; "I'ven I don't haf a mind to,
+I talks mebbe better nor you does; but ven I does, den I don't; so I
+shets up my mouth up, mebbe--don't it?"
+
+Deerfoot stepped to a fallen tree, which no doubt had served as a
+seat for most of the party, and picked up a strip of blanket, hardly
+a foot long and no more than an inch wide.  It was not only
+cunningly woven, but showed brilliant blue and yellow colors on a
+background of black.
+
+"This was the blanket of an Osage warrior," said the Shawanoe,
+flinging it to Otto, who turned it over several times in silence,
+Jack looking over his shoulder.
+
+"I suppose he caught sight of that before we came up and learned the
+truth; don't you think so?"
+
+"I don't dink nodings more," replied Otto, still pouting from the
+offence given a few minutes previous.
+
+Bending over, Deerfoot carefully drew some leaves aside and revealed
+the upper bone of a deer's foreleg, to which a good quantity of
+partially broiled venison was clinging.  Judging from this discovery
+and the number of bones scattered about, the Osages had more food
+than they needed.
+
+"We--that is, you and I, Deerfoot--are hungry.  Is the meat in shape
+for us to eat?"
+
+The Shawanoe had satisfied himself by examination that it was ready
+for the palate, and he so expressed himself.
+
+"That is good; there is just enough to make as a good dinner.  Otto
+doesn't look as though he cared about any, and he can wait till
+tomorrow."
+
+This statement of the situation quickly loosened the tongue of the
+sturdy German, whose hunger had reached a ravenous point.
+
+"I speaks mit myself luf ven I vishes," he hastened to say; "I vos
+as hungry as nefer could be, and what for you dinks I ain't, eh?"
+
+Jack laughed, and, sitting on the same tree which had served the red
+men, all three used their keen hunting-knives upon the rarely-cooked
+meat.  They could have enjoyed much more had it been at their
+disposal; but as it was, they made a substantial meal, receiving
+enough nourishment to last them till the morrow.
+
+"How many warriors were here?" asked Jack of their leader.
+
+"Seven," was the prompt reply.
+
+"What brought them to this place?"
+
+"They were hunting; an Osage village is not many miles off yonder,"
+said Deerfoot, pointing to the southwest; "and they have gone there.
+They spent the night here."
+
+"Did they get my horse?" asked Otto, whose face was aglow with good
+nature and grease.
+
+"My brother shall soon know."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"GOOD-BYE!"
+
+
+Deerfoot directed his course toward the elevation where he and his
+friends stood when they first caught sight of the smoke of the
+camp-fire.  It was an easy matter to determine, whether the Osages
+had discovered the horse while in that section.  If they had not
+done so, the probabilities were against their finding him at all.
+
+An interesting question had already been answered by Deerfoot,
+respecting the degree of hostility of the Osage Indians.  There was
+comfort in the thought that they were not active and malignant in
+their enmity.  They were not likely to trail a white man for the
+sake of taking his life, as their fierce brethren across the
+Mississippi loved to do, nor did they possess the courage of the
+warlike Shawanoes, whose encounters with the early pioneers of the
+West form the most thrilling episodes in its history.
+
+But, like the vagabond red men of to-day, the Osages were of that
+character that a white man would much prefer not to meet them in a
+lonely place, unless help was present or within call.  If they
+should come across the two boys, their treatment of them would
+depend very much on the mood in which they happened to be.  They
+would be inclined to rob them of everything worth taking, and might
+end the matter by shooting both or turning them adrift without guns
+or ammunition.
+
+Had Deerfoot been alone, he would have given them no thought.  He
+had visited their villages more than once, and though the questions
+of several of their warriors showed that they regarded him with
+suspicion, they offered no indignity, and made no objection to his
+departure.
+
+Had the Osages found the wandering they would refuse to give him up
+on the demand of the owner.  In that case, as in one already
+related, he could be regained only by strategy, in which the boys
+were sure to need the help of Deerfoot.
+
+But all this speculation speedily ended.  An examination revealed
+the fact that the trail of the steed and that of the warriors
+crossed, but the latter was fully two hours older than the former,
+and from the point of intersection they diverged.  Thus it was
+proven that the colt had been grazing for a considerable time close
+to the Indians without them suspecting it.
+
+The Osages had continued traveling in a southwesterly direction,
+while the stray horse had kept on in a course slightly to the north
+of west.  There could be no doubt that the warriors were making
+their way homeward, while the animal seemed guided by an instinct
+that promised to place him in the possession of his owner, without
+any assistance from the son.
+
+The discovery was most gratifying to all parties, Deerfoot
+expressing his pleasure that Otto was not likely to suffer at the
+hands of his irate parent for the disaster which was unavoidable on
+his part.
+
+"Good fortune awaits my brother," said he; "he may not meet any red
+men on his way home, where Deerfoot hopes the horse will greet him
+when he arrives."
+
+"Did you see any Indians on this side the Mississippi when you were
+riding him?" asked Jack.
+
+Otto shook his head, as he was sure that style of answer could not
+be criticized by either of his companions.
+
+"The outlook is a good one indeed," said Jack, heartily; "and what
+you have done, Deerfoot, is more than we can ever repay.  You need
+not be, told that if it ever comes within our power to give you
+help, it will not be denied."
+
+To their surprise the young Shawanoe extended his hand to Otto.
+
+"Good-bye, brother."
+
+The lad shook it warmly, and said:
+
+"Ish you going not--I means, will you leave us?"
+
+"Deerfoot must go; good-bye, brother."
+
+The second farewell was addressed to Jack Carleton, who fervently
+pressed the soft hand, an said with much feeling:
+
+"Sorry are we to part company, but you your own master.  I hope we
+shall soon meet again!"
+
+"We shall," was all that the Shawanoe said as he released his hand
+and moved off, vanishing almost instantly among the trees.
+
+The boys stood several minutes, silent and thoughtful, looking
+toward the point where the Shawanoe was last seen, as though they
+expected him to return; but the silence around them continued as
+profound as at "creation's morn."  They knew that when the young
+warrior took such a step, he was in earnest.
+
+He would have been glad to keep them company, but some good reason
+took him in another direction.
+
+"We shall meet him again," said Jack Carleton, with a slight sigh of
+regret, recalling the last words of Deerfoot; "from all that was
+told me about him in Kentucky, he is such a friend to the whites
+that he was never away from their settlements for a very long time.
+I have been anxious to know him."
+
+"They used to dell von great shtories apout him," said Otto,
+speaking with great care.
+
+"And I never believed one half of them.  The idea of a young Shawanoe
+reading his Bible every day, and being able to write the prettiest
+kind of a band, was something that made us laugh, but every word of
+it was true, as he proved to us."
+
+"Den vot pig dings be doos in de woods!"
+
+"I should say so.  Just think of it, Otto!  There we were among a
+pile of logs, surrounded as you may say by Indian warriors, bent on
+having our scalps, and yet he delivered a letter to us, explaining
+the plan he had formed, and then alone scared away the whole lot, so
+we could out.  When you get back home and tell parents this story,
+what will they say?"
+
+"Mine fader will say nodings, but he vill cut pig stick and bang me
+as bard as nefer vos lying."
+
+"And I can't wonder much at it," said Jack with a laugh, "but it
+will be truth, nevertheless, and it is no more wonderful than many
+things he has done."
+
+"Vy doesn't dey calls him Deerfoot--dot ish, why does dey?"
+
+"On account of his fleetness; he is the swiftest runner ever known
+in Kentucky.  A year or two ago, he was captured by the Wyandots,
+who hate him worse than poison.  He pretended he was lame, which put
+the idea in the head of his capture to have some fun with him.  They
+took him out  on a long clearing and placed him in front of the
+swiftest warriors, and then told him to run for his life.  Well, he
+ran."
+
+"Did they cotch him and kill him, or didn't he get away?"
+
+"Those Indians," said Jack, ignoring the absurdity of Otto's
+question, "saw such running as they never looked upon before.
+Deerfoot just scooted away from them, as though he had wings.  One
+of the Hurons had treated him very bad and Deerfoot paid him."
+
+"How vosn't dot?"
+
+"He drove his tomahawk through his skull."
+
+"Yaw; I dinks he doesn't bodder Deerfoot not much more."
+
+"I never heard that he did, but you can't understand why the Indians
+hate him as they do.  I've heard that Tecumseh offered a dozen
+horses, and I don't know how much wampum and other presents, to the
+warrior who would bring back his scalp.  But I've no doubt he had to
+send out a proclamation taking back the offer."
+
+"Vy vosn't dot?"
+
+"I've been told that the rule was when a Huron or Shawanoe went out
+to hunt for Deerfoot, that was the last heard of him.  He never came
+back, and you see that Deerfoot still wears his scalp."
+
+"Vere didn't them goes to vot didn't comes back?"
+
+"To their happy hunting-grounds.  Sometimes, their bodies were found
+moldering in the woods.  And sometimes no one ever knew where they
+perished.  Deerfoot is a Christian (and, Otto, made me feel ashamed
+of myself), but he isn't the kind to sit down and allow any one to
+walk off with his scalp.  Tecumseh is a young chief, who's is ambitious
+to make war upon the whites.  He must have concluded that if he didn't
+stop his warriors hunting Deerfoot there would be none left for him!
+I can't understand, Otto, how it was your father turned him away from
+his door, when he stopped there at night in a storm."
+
+"Ah, Jack, you doesn't know how mean mine fader ish," said the
+German with a grin though proud of his parent.
+
+"He couldn't have known that it was Deerfoot," said Jack,
+reflectively.
+
+"Dot wouldn't make no difference; he treat all Indians de same.  One
+dimes they stole a pig vot didn't pelongs to him and he whipped me
+as hard as nefer vos, and he hates all Indians for dot."
+
+"It is a great mistake," added Jack thoughtfully, "for you know how
+revengeful they are, and one of these days some trumping redskin
+that he has abused will steal up to his house and shoot him dead."
+
+"Dot is vot I tolds him," said Otto; "and he will be as sorry as
+dunderation ven it afift too late."
+
+"Well," added Jack, looking around him, "it isn't worth while to
+stand here, when we have such a long ways to travel, and there is no
+certainty the colt hasn't changed his course and gone away from the
+settlement instead of toward it."
+
+Otto agreed with his friend, and, picking up his damp blanket, he
+threw it over his shoulder, and each with his gun in his hand,
+resumed the pursuit of the stray, which they hoped was at no great
+distance.
+
+The hoof-prints showed that the horse continued to take matters very
+philosophically.  His fastest gait was a leisurely walk, and often
+he stood still and nibbled the buds of the vegetation not yet fully
+developed.
+
+It was gratifying to find that in spite of an occasional digression,
+his general course was as named.  It is pleasant to discover that
+the missing wanderer is steadily making his ward, even though he is
+a long time in arriving at his destination.
+
+It was comparatively early in the afternoon when Deerfoot the
+Shawanoe bade them good-bye, and for two hours the route underwent
+little change; but at time, Jack Carleton was forced to admit that
+the course they were following was not the one to take them to the
+settlement.
+
+Shortly after the departure of their friend, they crossed the trail
+over which Otto had ridden some days before, and then the hoof-prints
+tended more to the north, so that, in a general way, the boys took
+the direction of the Mississippi itself.  It could not be expected
+that while keeping a considerable distance from water, would follow
+its amazing tortuosity, probably surpasses that of any river on the
+globe.  Thus it came about that sometimes Jack and Otto found
+themselves close to the immense stream and then again they were a
+long ways inland.
+
+"It seems to me," said Jack, when the afternoon was drawing to a
+close, "that we ought be quite near the colt; we have gone steadily
+forward, while he has often stopped, and as yet has not traveled
+faster than a walk."
+
+"But he starts a long time pefore we starts," said Otto.
+
+"Not so very long.  There's one thing quite certain: he doesn't care
+whether he finds his way to the settlement or not, for he isn't
+trying to do so."
+
+"He changes agin, don't he?"
+
+"Likely enough, and he may turn still further off from the right
+course.  It is getting so late that we shall have hard work to reach
+home with him to-morrow."
+
+"When we fluds him we gots on him and makes him go like he nefer
+goes mit pefore."
+
+"We won't be able to travel fast until we get him back to the
+regular path, where the trees and limbs won't interfere with us."
+
+"If Deerfoot vos mit us he tells us how close he be to us," said
+Otto, alluding to the skill of the Shawanoe in interpreting the age
+of a trail.
+
+"He would do so at a glance.  Helloa!"
+
+Just then Jack, who was slightly in advance of his friend, caught
+sight of a bundle similar that which the Shawanoe found several
+hours before.
+
+Hurrying forward, it was seen to be the blanket of Jack Carleton,
+which, like the other, had come displaced and fallen from the back
+of the wandering horse.  Like that, too, it was saturated with
+Mississippi water, which, as far as could, the boys wrung from it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE NEIGH OF A HORSE
+
+
+The stray horse appeared to be distributing the property of the boys
+in a promiscuous fashion.  So far as they knew, he still retained
+his equipments and a roll of personal effects, fastened in front of
+the saddle instead of behind it, as was the case with the blankets.
+
+"Seems to me," remarked Otto, who began to feel some weariness and
+impatience, "dot the animal ish not a good vile getting tired so as
+he vants to sot down and rest."
+
+"He is likely to do so when it begins to grow dark, which will be
+before long," added Jack Carleton, noting the closing day.
+
+The friends had been hopeful from the first that they would overtake
+the missing horse before sunset.  They had been cheered by the
+belief that they were not far behind him at the start, and it was
+certain they had made much better progress than he, but it now
+looked as if they were to be disappointed.
+
+When they arrived on the edge of a natural clearing, several acres
+in extent and covered with a luxuriant growth of grass, they were
+sure the horse was there, but a careful scrutiny showed no signs of
+him, though his tracks indicated that he had cropped some of the
+grass before passing on.
+
+It was comparatively easy traveling for the boys, the woods being
+notably clear of the vines and undergrowth, which often added to the
+labor of journeying through them.  They had not yet seen bird,
+animal or living person after parting company with Deerfoot, and
+Jack was conscious more than once of a strange feeling of
+loneliness, such as comes over the traveler when wandering in a vast
+and desolate land.
+
+"Is this so different from Ohio and Kentucky?" he asked himself;
+"are there no Shawanoes because there is no game for them to hunt?"
+
+He smiled when he asked himself the latter question, for his own
+knowledge rendered it pointless.  He knew that the game was as
+limitless on one side of the Mississippi as on the other.
+
+The sun-had gone down behind the rim of forest, when they found
+themselves on the edge of a clearing more extensive than the former,
+and intersected by a small, winding stream of water.
+
+"Here, we will camp," said Jack, throwing down his moist bundle and
+leaning his rifle against a tree; "it will soon be so dark that we
+can't see the tracks of the horse, and, if we push on, we'll only
+have to do our work over again."
+
+"Dot ish vot I dinks," said Otto, imitating the action.  It must not
+be forgotten that the German, since the reproof received from the
+young Shawanoe, had resolved to improve his manner of expressing
+himself.  He was of the age that he could do so rapidly, and he had
+(what he never possessed before) an earnest wish to succeed.
+
+Something in the way of food would have been appreciated by both the
+sturdy youths, but nothing of the kind presented itself, and it was
+no great hardship for them to wait until the morrow.
+
+"Vill a fire we kindle?" asked Otto.
+
+"We may as well do so, for we shall need it to help dry our
+blankets, which have enough moisture, even after wringing them, to
+last a week."
+
+The night was more chilly than the preceding one, and the warmth of
+the blankets would have been pleasant to both.  As it was, their
+only resource was the extra fire, for which they began preparations.
+
+They were plentifully supplied in the way of fuel, which they
+gathered, throwing it down in a pile near where they intended to
+start the blaze.  The stream was small, but the water was clear,
+cool and refreshing.  Whoever has been burned with consuming fever,
+or tormented by a torturing thirst, can never forget the ecstasy
+which thrilled every nerve, when he quaffed his full of the
+colorless, odorless and tasteless fluid, more exquisite in the
+delight it imparted than can be the "nectar of the gods."
+
+"Ali!" said Otto, with a long-drawn sigh of happiness, "I could live
+on dot."
+
+"It's certain you couldn't live very long without it," remarked his
+friend, as be drew down another armful of dry and decayed wood.  "I
+don't think there is much to fear in the way of thirst in this part
+of the world.  There may be deserts further west toward the Pacific,
+such as they have in other parts of the world, but I don't believe
+we can reach them in a week's journey."
+
+"Ish not looking for them," said Otto, with a grin, "'cause I does
+not see vot I does with them ven I finds 'em."
+
+"Our country is too rich in its natural resources to make it
+probable that it has much in the way of waste land--"
+
+"Mine gracious!" exclaimed Otto, with a start, "didn't you hear
+dot?"
+
+"Of course I did," replied Jack, turning his head like a flash and
+gazing across the clearing.
+
+Indeed it would have been impossible for either to avoid noting the
+sound, which was the unmistakable neigh of a horse at no great
+distance from them.
+
+"Dot vos de golt," said Otto, with a beaming countenance.  "He vos
+near by and not far off."
+
+Night was closing in so rapidly that the vision of the two was
+necessarily shortened.  They could not see entirely across the
+clearing or opening, but in the dim, uncertain light, Otto Relstaub
+was positive he detected the animal they were so anxious to find.
+
+"Dot ish he," he insisted, leveling his arm with the extended finger
+pointed at a certain spot.  "He ish looking mit dis way; he has seen
+us and he dinks he don't know us, and he sings out mit dot way to ax
+us who we ain't; dot ish his style."
+
+Jack Carleton was naturally strong of vision, and he believed his
+companion was right.  He was able to discern some object, which,
+through the gloom, resembled a horse that seemed to have become
+aware of the presence of strangers, and, throwing up his head, had
+challenged them in the manner named.
+
+"I think you are right," said Jack, still going across the
+intervening space, "though we can't make sure without getting closer
+to him.  It is barely possible that he may be a horse of another
+color."
+
+Otto shook his head by way of dissent.  He could not be convinced be
+was not looking upon the very animal for which they had been hunting
+ever since they reached the western bank of the Mississippi.
+
+The only way to settle the doubt was at their command.  Nothing was
+to prevent a closer inspection of the quadruped that had awakened
+such interest.
+
+They felt the necessity of great care.  The horse was high-spirited
+and wild, and the taste gained of freedom had undoubtedly increased
+the difficulty of his capture.  Great caution would be necessary to
+avoid scaring him away altogether.
+
+It will be seen also that if they frightened the colt into dashing
+into the woods, it would be hard, under any circumstances, to secure
+him.  He would run a good distance, and the morrow would compel
+another long and laborious search.
+
+A simple plan suggested itself: one would make a cautious advance
+across the clearing, while the other worked his way around to the
+other side, so that the two would close in upon the animal, as may
+be said, and if he fled from the first he would run into the custody
+of the second.
+
+As Jack was quicker in his movements, beside being a better
+horseman, than Otto, it was agreed that he should pass through the
+woods until beyond the animal; when he arrived at the proper point
+be was to notify Otto by means of the whistle which had served them
+so often as a signal.  Then the young German would use the most
+seductive methods of which he was master soothe the colt into
+submission.
+
+What was to be feared was that in the gloom the animal would fail to
+recognize his master an would be unusually timid on that account.
+The moon would shed no light on the scene for an hour or two, and
+from what has been said it will be admitted that the friends had
+undertaken a delicate and difficult task.
+
+But the anxiety of both to obtain the animal was too great for them
+to throw away an opportunity, however slight.  Jack, therefore,
+passed the few paces necessary to reach the cover of the wood, and
+with the promise that he should soon be heard from, disappeared.
+
+The fire had not yet been started, and Otto, stood leaning on his
+gun and looking off in the gloom toward the colt that had led him on
+such a long chase.  The darkness had increased since the first sight
+of the animal, so that he was no longer visible; but the lad was
+confident he had not changed his position, nor was he likely to do
+so for some time to come.  The trail showed that he had been on the
+move almost continuously since morning, and he must feel a certain
+degree of fatigue that would make such a rest acceptable.
+
+Otto held his position until Jack bad time to reach a point beyond
+the colt, when he laid down his gun and began his cautious advance.
+He walked straight across the clearing, until once more he was able
+to trace the outlines that caught his eye some time before.
+
+"I doesn't knows vot he don't change mit, he stands where he stood a
+few minutes after awhile," said Otto to himself, relapsing into his
+old unintelligible style of expression, now that no one was at his
+elbow to criticize him.  "Mebbe he don't do dot and mebbe he does,
+don't it?"
+
+What the lad meant to express was his doubt whether the colt had
+moved during the preceding few minutes.  If he had done so, it was
+to so slight extent, that it was hardly noticeable.
+
+So soon as the boy's eyes rested on him again he was satisfied the
+colt was asleep in the standing position.  His head was down, and
+his whole demeanor was that of rest, and consequently ignorance of
+what was going on near him.
+
+"Dot ish goot," was the thought of Otto, "for he don't hear me ven I
+creeps up to him, and perfore he don't knows it he don't know
+nodings and I have him."
+
+There was promise of such an issue of the attempt be proposed to
+make, provided he should succeed in stealing up to the animal
+without detection.
+
+Otto stood motionless a moment, hoping to hear some signal from Jack
+Carleton, but none came, and it was only simple prudence on his part
+to move forward without delay.
+
+"I dinks I does it," he muttered, hopefully, when he found himself
+within a couple of rods of the colt without having disturbed it in
+the slightest degree.  "It ish as easy as nefer vos, and I will grab
+him in one two dree minute, and den I whips him 'cause he runs mit
+away, and den--mine gracious!"
+
+It seems as if the vines which had tormented him so much during the
+day were not yet through with the honest German.  Even on the tract
+of open-forest or clearing they intruded themselves, and he suddenly
+felt the familiar rasping vegetable wire twisting about his ankles.
+Impatient that such an obstruction should be encountered, he made a
+spiteful kick of the foot, meant to snap the vine asunder and to
+free himself; but he miscalculated the strength of the resistant.
+
+His foot was more inextricably entangled than before, and a second
+fierce effort sent him forward on his hands and knees.  Had his
+rifle been in hand it is more than likely it would have been
+discharged.
+
+Otto was angered, because he was sure he had frightened the colt
+into dashing off at full speed.  He sprang to his feet and made for
+the horse, resolved to secure him at all hazards.
+
+He was spurred on by observing that the animal was slumbering so
+soundly that he had not yet taken the alarm.  The distance was
+short, and he was very hopeful.
+
+"Whoa, whoa dere," called out Otto, in a soothing voice, "don't you
+runs away agin dimes more, or py gracious I vill whip you so dot you
+vill want to die--"
+
+While uttering the words he was advancing with the utmost haste.
+Feeling himself nigh enough to make the leap, he did so, and threw
+both arms around what he supposed to be he head of his colt.  And as
+he did so he discovered that it was not the colt at all!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A STRANGER
+
+
+No boy could feel more chagrin and humiliation than did Otto
+Relstaub, when he sprang forward, and, seizing what he supposed to
+be the stray colt, found instead that he had grasped the stump of a
+tree.
+
+He was speechless for a full minute, and could only stand still and
+wonder how it was possible for him to make such a blunder.  A tree
+close to the edge of the clearing had been stricken by lightning,
+and partly breaking off some three or four feet above ground, a
+couple of yards of length lay with the top on the earth.  In the
+gloom of the evening it could be readily mistaken for a different
+object, though Otto might well wonder where the resemblance to a
+horse could be figured out.  But for the neigh which reached the
+ears of the young pioneers, they never would have made the mistake.
+
+Still the fact remained that a short time before a horse was within
+call, and Otto was quite sure it was the one he was seeking.  Night,
+however, had fully descended, and it was useless to hunt further
+before the morrow.
+
+"Dot ish too bad," he said to himself, "but ishn't I glad dot Jack
+didn't come up and sees me, for he vould laugh till he went dead--
+mine gracious!"
+
+It seemed indeed as if the youth had arrived in a strange latitude,
+for while he remained communing with himself, he caught the
+unmistakable odor of tobacco-smoke in the air.  Some one was smoking
+a pipe whose fumes were too rank to permit any mistake on his part.
+
+The discovery was startling enough to cause a shiver of fear, for it
+was manifest he was close to a stranger, since Jack Carleton did not
+use the noxious weed in any form.  Otto bitterly reproached himself
+for leaving his rifle beyond reach, for his was the situation of the
+individual who may not have needed such a weapon often, but when he
+did, he wanted it with an emphasis beyond question.
+
+"Dis ish de spot where I doesn't vant to be," was his truthful
+conclusion, "so I dinks I goes somewhere else."
+
+He felt a strong yearning to break into a run, but dared not do so.
+Though filled with fear, his right policy was to conceal all
+evidence of it.  He therefore turned about with the purpose of
+walking off with a dignified air; but he had taken only the first
+step, when a shock like that from an electric battery went through
+him, caused by the single exclamation:
+
+"Oof!"
+
+It was the hail of an Indian.  Otto was riveted to the spot by the
+sight of a brawny savage striding toward him.  He came from the
+darkness of the wood, and, when he moved into the clearing, was just
+in time to catch the first beams of the moon rising above the
+forest.
+
+The warrior was large, and his size was magnified by the blanket,
+which, wrapped like a shawl about him, reached below his knees.  The
+long, black hair dangling around his shoulders, was ornamented at
+the crown by a number of eagle feathers; but the countenance, when
+shown by the moonlight, was devoid of paint, which, it may be said,
+was not needed to add to its ugliness.
+
+His forehead was low and broad, the eyes small, black and restless,
+while the cheek-bones were not only protuberant, but were unusually
+far apart.  Instead of the aquiline nose, which is so often a
+feature of the American Indian, his was as broad as that of the
+African, badly disfigured by a scar across the bridge, probably made
+by a knife or tomahawk.
+
+When it is stated that his mouth was wider than that of Otto, enough
+has been said on that score.  In one corner, the warrior held a pipe
+made of red clay, whose stem was a foot in length.  He must have
+stood placidly puffing this during the entire time the boy was
+stealing upon the supposed horse.  In the increasing moonlight, the
+strong vapor rose in blue puffs from both sides of his face and
+poisoned the air above and around him.
+
+The position of the Indian was such that the blanket covered both
+arms, and Otto could not see whether or not he grasped a rifle
+beneath.
+
+The entire manner of the red man showed that he knew he was master
+of the situation.  He could not have felt otherwise, when he saw a
+partly grown boy standing before him, without any firearms with
+which to defend himself.
+
+"Howdy, brudder?" he asked, in a gruff, guttural voice, extending
+his huge hand to Otto, who dared not refuse it.
+
+"I isb--ish--dot be--ish well," stammered the poor fellow, vainly
+trying to speak in a steady voice.
+
+The Indian gave a fervency to his grip of Otto's fingers which made
+him wince with pain, though he dared utter no protest.
+
+The act of the warrior in advancing and saluting, caused his blanket
+to open in front, so as to disclose an untidy sash around his waist.
+The view was not clear, as the rays of the moon came over his
+shoulder, but the lad saw enough to satisfy him that the Indian
+carried a tomahawk and hunting-knife.  However, as the other hand
+removed the pipe from between the leathern lips and held it, there
+was no instant intention of using either weapon.
+
+It is only justice to the young German to say that, had he possessed
+his gun, he would not have permitted the Indian to take his hand.
+He knew the treacherous character of the race too well to give them
+the least advantage; but his belief was that the best, and indeed
+the only thing to do, was to avoid, so far as he could, giving any
+offence to his captor.
+
+"Ven he don't be looking at me," was Otto's thought, "then I gives
+him the slip, and runs and gots mine gun, and shoots him afore heban
+do nodings."
+
+The programme was a good one, provided it could be carried out, but
+it cannot be admitted that it offered much chance of success.  Otto
+was never fleet of foot, and as his rifle was fully a hundred yards
+distant, there was no way of recovering it except by permission of
+the red man.
+
+"Where brudder's home?" was the query, as he allowed the hand of the
+lad to fall from his grasp.
+
+Otto felt authorized to answer that question at least truthfully.
+
+"Good ways from dish place--a way off yonder."
+
+The boy meant to locate his home correctly, but when he pointed
+toward the north, he unconsciously made a great error.  However, it
+was unimportant.
+
+The Indian slowly shoved the stem of the pipe in the comer of his
+immense mouth, sent out several pungent puffs towards the face of
+Otto, who, accustomed as he was to the sickening odor of his
+father's tobacco, was forced to recoil a step and cough the
+strangling vapor from him.
+
+Then the warrior solemnly turned his head and looked behind in the
+gloomy depths of the wood, as though he expected to see the home of
+the boy.  It isn't necessary to say that, if such was his
+expectation, he was disappointed.
+
+When Otto observed the face of his dreaded captor turned away, he
+was thrilled by the sudden belief that the chance for which he had
+been praying had come at last.  This was his time to make a sudden
+dash, regain his gun, and become master of the situation.
+
+Was it possible?  Beyond question, it was literally life or death
+with the lad.  The red man would pursue and show him no mercy.  If
+Otto failed to reach his rifle in time, a second trial would never
+be given him.
+
+Absurd! he saw there was not an earthly chance of success; he could
+only wait and hope.
+
+Failing to discern the log cabin in which Otto made his home, the
+Indian turned back his head, swinging it as on a pivot, so that the
+end of the pipe-stem, which, for the moment, he had been holding
+stationary in his hand, resumed its former place in the comer of his
+mouth.
+
+"Where brudder's gun?"
+
+"I--I don't not have him mit me," was the awkward reply of Otto,
+nervously anxious to escape saying anything which would give his
+captor a clue to his property.
+
+The warrior did not press the question, as he might easily have
+done, but he smoked his pipe another minute in dignified silence,
+while Otto stood trembling and wondering how many more breathe he
+would be permitted to draw before the savage would leap upon him
+with upraised knife.
+
+"Brudder go with Osage chief--he big warrior--oof!"
+
+This was the first announcement the Indian made of his tribe, and
+the declaration that he was a chief astonished Otto Relstaub, who
+held no suspicion that he was in the presence of such a dignitary.
+
+But he had been commanded to go with him, and the youth could only
+await more pointed instructions.  The Osage motioned him to turn
+about and he did so, hopeful that his captor meant to drive him
+across the clearing toward the spot he and Jack Carleton had fixed
+upon for their camp.  If such was the intention of the chief, it
+would be extremely favorable to the lad, but, unfortunately, the
+opposite course was the one fixed upon.
+
+While Otto's face was away from his master, the latter stalked
+around in his front, where, taking the pipe from his dusky lips, he
+repeated his order, by means of gesture.
+
+"I vonder if he don't make a top mit me," muttered Otto; "vy don't
+he tie von string round me and spin me dot way?"
+
+But the boy was not in a situation to refuse, and, when ordered to
+walk, he did so.  While seeking to obey the Osage, Otto unwittingly
+turned too far to the right.
+
+"Oof!  Dog!" grunted the Indian, catching him by the shoulder and
+wrenching him part way around; "go--go--go!"
+
+The lad was startled, for the grip was of that violent nature that
+it pained him severely.  It effectually dissipated his purpose of
+making a break for liberty, at least until a much more promising
+opening presented itself.
+
+He began timidly feeling his way through the darkness, dreading
+every moment that he would take a misstep, that would bring down the
+anger of the Indian in a more dangerous form than before.  He was
+enveloped in gloom, so that he kept both hands extended in front to
+protect his face.
+
+"I goes as right as I can," he observed, seeking to avert the wrath
+of the terrible being that was at his heels: "when I doesn't goes
+right dot ish, 'cause I goes wrong--mine gracious!"
+
+It was only a twig which just then collided with his eye.  It
+inflicted no injury, and he still pushed forward as obediently as if
+it was his father who was driving him.  The Indian said nothing, but
+he rustled the leaves with his moccasins, as if to prevent the lad
+forgetting his presence.
+
+Here and there the arrowy moonlight pierced the foliage and afforded
+Otto a glimpse of his surroundings, but most of the time the gloom
+was so dense as to be absolutely impenetrable.  Passing across a
+dimly-lit space, he could not avoid turning his head and looking
+back at the Osage chief as he stepped into the feeble light.
+
+The figure of the Indian was striking.  He was striding slowly
+along, as if impressed with his own importance, his arms folded
+beneath the blanket in front, so as to hold it together and keep
+them out of sight.  His teeth were still closed on the red
+pipe-stem, and the blue puffs passed over his head as if it were
+steam which was working the machinery of his legs.
+
+The thought which constantly remained with Otto Relstaub, and which
+caused him the keenest suffering, was that the Indian was likely at
+any moment to leap upon him with uplifted knife.  It is a characteristic
+of the American race that its representatives often add to the distress
+of their captives by toying with them as a cat does with a mouse before
+crunching it in its jaws.
+
+The lad was almost certain his captor meant to slay him, after first
+torturing him in this manner, but the poor boy could see no possible
+way in which to help himself.  If the savage should spring upon him,
+it would be like the leap of the panther-quick, crushing, and
+resistless in its fury.
+
+With a faint hope that he might be able to do something for himself
+when the worst should come, Otto stealthily drew out his hunting-knife,
+and held it tightly grasped.  One thing was certain, that, weak and
+almost helpless as he was, he would not submit without making a good
+fight for himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+AN ABORIGINAL HOME
+
+
+The terrifying walk of Otto Relstaub ended sooner and more agreeably
+than he anticipated.  He had in fact gone but a short ways when he
+became aware that the Osage had a definite destination before him.
+A light flashed out from the gloom in front, vanishing before the
+boy could locate it.  A few steps further and it reappeared, again
+dropping from sight.
+
+Otto was walking slowly, intently peering in the direction and
+naturally wondering what it all meant, when, as he moved slightly to
+the left, it once more came to view.  This showed that it was
+visible only when approached along a certain line.  It was not an
+ordinary camp-fire, but the light flitted in and out of sight, on
+account of the objects intervening between it and the spectator;
+there was absolutely but a single line of advance which would keep
+it in view.
+
+The Indian gave no expression to his views, but the rustling leaves
+told that he was still treading on the heels of the lad, who knew
+that so long as he walked straight toward the light, he was
+following the wishes of his master.
+
+Suddenly something flitted in front of the blaze, as though a person
+had stepped quickly past.  But Otto had secured the range, so to
+speak, and so far as the trees and undergrowth permit, he advanced
+in a direct line.  The distance being short, the whole thing
+speedily became clear to him.
+
+The fire was burning within and at the further side of a wigwam, and
+was first seen through the opening which served as an entrance.
+Thus it was that when he diverged to the right or left it was shut
+from sight.
+
+"It ish, de vigvam of him," thought Otto, "ish going to takes me mit
+dere, and pieces to makes de childrens laugh."
+
+The boy softly returned the knife to its place, for he was anxious
+that the chieftain should see no signs of fear on his part.  A few
+steps further and he stopped in front of the door of the lodge,
+afraid to enter until something more was said by his master.
+
+The entrance of Otto into the aboriginal home was anything but
+dignified.  The proprietor observing that he had halted, gave him
+such a powerful shove that he sprawled headlong in the middle of the
+"apartment."
+
+"Oof!" grunted the sachem, bending his head so as to push his body
+through the opening, which was not closed after him; "lazy dog!"
+
+Otto did not think it wise to dispute the question.  He was not hurt
+by the fall, and rising, stepped back against the side of the lodge
+and took a good view of his surroundings.
+
+The wigwam of the Osage chieftain was similar to those which may be
+found to-day on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, in the depths of
+the wilderness along the Assiniboine, on the shores of Athabasca
+Lake in the far North, and beyond the Llano Estacado of the South.
+It was modeled in the same style that was fashionable when Columbus
+saw the lights of the New World twinkling through the gloom of the
+night across the unknown sea, and which will prevail so long as the
+American Indian roams the woods and wields the tomahawk.
+
+A half dozen poles were pushed into the ground in a rude circle, so
+as to include a space between four and five yards in diameter.  The
+tops of the poles joined, as do the bayonets of muskets when stacked.
+This framework was covered with the skins of bison and deer, sewed
+together with the sinews of the latter.  At the peak of the roof was
+an opening a foot in diameter, partly filled by the network of poles
+there locked together. This answered for a chimney to the fire
+kindled at one side of the lodge.
+
+Directly opposite the fireplace (if it may be called that), was the
+opening which served as a door, there being no other outlet except
+the one named.  The deer-skin could be flung back or allowed to hang
+down.  If the wind set it to flapping, it was pinned fast with a
+knife or sharp stick.
+
+The ground in most places was covered with bison-skins, so that in
+moderately cold weather they were comfortable and pleasant to sit
+and recline upon.  The skins composing the sides of the wigwam were
+soiled with smoke, grease and dirt for alas! nearly all the romance
+and charm enveloping the American Indian is dissipated at first
+sight by his frightful lack of cleanliness.
+
+But Otto Relstaub had viewed the interior of Indian wigwams before,
+and his interest was fixed upon the occupants, of whom there were
+three beside himself.  The squaw or wife of the chief was at the
+further end, or rather the side opposite the door, busy broiling two
+slices of venison on the coals.  She had no kettle, pan, knife or
+fork in the lodge, her sole implement being a sharpened stick,
+scarcely a foot in length, which she used in turning and handling
+the meat.
+
+When Otto came tumbling through the door, the mistress was in the
+act of lifting one of the slices from the coals.  She was on her
+knees, and paused for a second with the meat in air, while she
+glanced around to see whether her lord and master had been imbibing
+too much fire-water.  One glance was enough, and she turned back and
+gave her attention to the culinary operations.
+
+She wore moccasins, leggings, and a species of loose hunting-shirt,
+tied with a cord about the waist, and which protected her-body quite
+well, though the deer-skin composing it looked as if it had served
+as a part of the wigwam for a number of years.  Her long, black hair
+dangled about her shoulders, as did that of her husband, and she
+was no more cleanly in her person than was he.
+
+Perhaps the most interesting object in the place was an Indian
+infant, less than a year old, which lay on a bison-robe not far from
+the fire.  It was a male, too young to walk, though it had been
+freed from the coffin-like cradle in which the aboriginal babies are
+strapped and carried on the backs of their mothers.
+
+The little fellow was covered to his arm-pits, the bare arms lying
+outside on the bison-robe.  He kept these going in an awkward,
+spasmodic fashion, which caused the infantile fist now and then to
+land in his eye.  On such occasions the organ winked very suddenly,
+and the boy seemed to start with a gasp of surprise, but he did not
+cry.  Young as he was, he had been trained in the iron school which
+makes the American Indian indifferent to suffering and torture.
+
+This aboriginal youth showed more interest in the new arrival than
+did any one else.  His fists became motionless, his head flapped
+over on one side, and the twinkling black eyes were fixed upon Otto
+as though they would read him through.  If we could recall the
+fancies that flitted through our brains at that early stage of
+existence, what a wonderful kaleidoscope it would present!
+
+The limits of the wigwam were so moderate that the sachem was
+compelled to lay aside most of his dignity. Seating himself on a
+robe, just across from their guest, he said something to his squaw,
+and then, leaning back, with his legs crossed and his arms folded,
+he placidly smoked his pipe and awaited supper.  The wife answered
+with what sounded like a half dozen grunts, but did not look around
+or cease giving her full attention to the broiling venison.
+
+The prisoner observed a long, fine-looking rifle leaning against one
+side of the wigwam, the powder-horn and bullet-pouch on the ground
+near the stock.  Beside them, a bow as long and powerful as that of
+Deerfoot; and a quiver half full of arrows also lay on the earth.
+Like the Shawanoe, the Osage was an adept in the use of both
+weapons.
+
+In addition to the furniture referred to, a few cast-off garments of
+the owners were flung on one side, while some additional pieces of
+venison lay upon, or rather among, a mass of leaves, where they
+could be found when needed.  The smoke from the fire found its way
+through the opening in the roof, and the vapor from the pipe of the
+Osage, after slowly winding above his head, seemed to lean off to
+one side and grope its way toward the same vent.  A partial draught
+was created through the door of the wigwam, by which the impure air
+was carried away, and the interior rendered much more pleasant than
+would be supposed.
+
+Like a true native American gentleman, the chieftain sat calmly
+enjoying his pipe, while his wife did the work of the household, and
+she, in accordance with universal law, accepted the drudgery as one
+of the necessities of existence.
+
+There were some facts respecting the Indian wigwam and its owner
+which may as well be stated in this place.  The red man had been a
+chief of the Osage tribe, but a violent quarrel with his people
+caused him to withdraw, and he was living entirely alone in the
+woods with his family.  The village where he had reigned so long was
+miles distant.  He had a number of partisans who occasionally called
+at his "residence" to see and urge him to return, but he continued
+sulking in his tent, smoked his awful pipe, and shook his head to
+all their appeals.
+
+The wigwam, while similar in shape to the hundreds still to be found
+in the wilderness of the North American continent differed in some
+respects, while retaining the same general form.  Many a lodge
+contains but the single ridge-pole, standing in the centre of the
+structure, which, in the shape of a cone, is gathered at the top and
+spreads out at the bottom, where it is fastened in place by pegs,
+similar to those of the ordinary army tent.
+
+Otto Relstaub, being relieved from his fear of instant death, became
+sensitive to the appetizing odor of the broiling deer-steaks, and
+looked longingly toward the unattractive cook, whose only redeeming
+feature was the beauty of her teeth, which were as regular and
+almost as white as those of Deerfoot.
+
+When, a few minutes later, the slices of meat were ready, the squaw
+flung one to her master, who dextrously caught it with his right
+hand while he removed the pipe with the other.  Laying the latter on
+the ground beside him, he began eating his supper, using both hands,
+much as a bear employs his paws.
+
+The wife devoured her share in the same manner, the two forming a
+striking, but by no means attractive, picture.  The meat was
+obviously tough, but their teeth were equal to the work, and plates,
+knives and forks would have been only an encumbrance.
+
+While the mother was thus occupied, she kept looking across at her
+baby, who seemed to be watching her with comical wishfulness.
+By-and-by, the parent gave a flirt of her hand, and a piece of the
+venison, which she bad bitten off, went flying toward the head of
+the youngster.  He made an awkward grab with both hands, but it
+landed on his pug nose.  He quickly found it, and shoving it between
+his lips, began fiercely sucking and tugging, as though it afforded
+the most delicious nourishment, which undoubtedly was fact.
+
+"I dinks they have forgot me," Otto said himself, with a sigh; "I
+vish dot she would fro me a piece of dot, and see whedder she could
+hit mine nose; yaw--Id just open mine mouth and cotch him on de
+fly."
+
+The lad had seated himself with his back against the side of the
+wigwam, and no one could have looked at his face and failed to know
+he was as hungry as one of his years could well be.  Had the people
+possessed more food than they wished, and had it been cooked, it is
+possible they would have tossed him a piece, but, as it was, they
+had no intention of doing anything of the kind, as Otto plainly saw.
+
+"They am pigs," he said, taking care that the huge chief did not
+overhear his muttered words; "if I starve, dey will sot dere and
+laugh at me till they dies."
+
+The meat soon vanished, and then the squaw began fumbling among the
+leaves where the uncooked venison lay.  Otto's eyes sparkled with
+hope.
+
+"She is going to cook mit a piece for meawh!"
+
+Instead of food, she fished out a pipe, similar to that of her
+master.  Walking to him she held out her hand, and he passed over a
+pouch of tobacco, from which she filled the bowl of her pipe,
+punching in and compressing the stuff with her forefinger.  Then it
+was lighted, with a coal of fire which she deftly scooped up, and
+sitting, so that she faced her guest, she crossed her feet, and
+leaning her elbows on her knees, stared at him, the picture of
+enjoyment, as she puffed her pipe.  At the same time, the baby
+eagerly sucked and chewed his bit of meat, and, no doubt, was as
+happy as its parents.
+
+But this had continued only a few minutes, when all the adults
+started, for footsteps on the outside showed that some one was
+approaching the wigwam.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+DEERFOOT
+
+
+When Deerfoot the Shawanoe bade good-by to Jack Carleton and Otto
+Relstaub, it was with the declaration that they would soon see each
+other again.  Precisely what he meant would be hard to say; but
+probably it implied that he would take pains in the near future to
+make them a visit when they should be settled in their own
+log-cabins at home.
+
+He left them, as has been intimated, because he believed there was
+no further need of bearing them company, and because business of
+great importance to himself demanded that he should take another
+course, and travel many long miles toward that wild region in the
+southern part of Missouri, which is broken and crossed by the Ozark
+range of mountains.
+
+For fully an hour after he turned away from his friends he pushed
+through the forest in a south-western direction.  He advanced at a
+leisurely pace, for there was no call for haste, and he loved to be
+alone in the vast solitude, where be often held sweet communion with
+the Great Spirit, whom he worshiped and adored with a fervency of
+devotion scarcely known except by those who have died for His sake.
+
+The sun had descended but a brief way in the western sky when the
+youthful warrior found himself steadily climbing an elevation of
+several hundred feet.  He had been over the ground before, and he
+knew that, after passing the ridge, the surface sloped downward for
+many miles, shutting the Mississippi out of sight altogether.
+
+For some time a suspicion had been steadily taking shape in the mind
+of Deerfoot, and it was that which led him to hasten his footsteps
+until he reached the crest of the elevation, where he paused to make
+an investigation.
+
+The thought which ran through his mind was the probability that all
+danger from the Miamis and Shawanoes (especially the latter) was not
+yet at an end.  He reasoned from well established facts; they knew
+beyond question that it was he who had outwitted them in his efforts
+to save the boys when they were placed in such extreme peril.  The
+Shawanoes hated him with an intensity beyond description, and,
+despite the repeated disasters which had overtaken those who sought,
+his ruin, they would strive by every means to revenge themselves
+upon him.
+
+What more likely, therefore, than that they had crossed the
+Mississippi in pursuit? The certainty that they had done so would
+have caused Deerfoot no misgiving, so far as he was concerned, but
+his fear was for the boys.  He reasoned that the Shawanoes would
+follow the trail of the three, including also that of the stray
+horse.  When they reached the point where Deerfoot left them they
+would read its meaning at a glance.  They would know the whites were
+following the animal, while the Shawanoe had gone about his own
+business.
+
+Deprived of his matchless guidance and skill, the destruction of
+Jack and Otto would seem so easy that two or three would hasten
+after them.  The action of their guide would naturally imply that he
+had no thought of any such attempt on the part of his enemies, who,
+therefore, would be the more strongly tempted to go in quest of his
+scalp.
+
+As I have said, Deerfoot could laugh at all such strategy when
+directed against himself, but he was uneasy about the others, who
+would never think of their danger until too late.  Ordinarily they
+were not likely to encounter any red men, except the half friendly
+Osages, and would be without protection against a stealthy shot from
+the woods behind them.
+
+If such an issue threatened, Deerfoot felt that his duty was clear:
+he must spare no effort to protect the boys to the last extremity,
+and it was the hope that he would be able to catch sight of some
+almost invisible sign which would tell the truth that led him to
+halt on the crest of the elevation and gaze long and searchingly
+toward the Dark and Bloody Ground, which had been the scene of so
+many fearful encounters between the pioneers and untamable red men.
+
+The great river was several miles distant, the almost unbroken
+forest stretching between.  Deerfoot narrowly scrutinized the yellow
+surface as far as the eye could follow the winding course, but not
+the first evidence of life was to be seen.  Not a solitary canoe or
+wild animal breasted the swift current which is now laden with
+thousands of crafts of almost every description.
+
+The searcher after truth hardly expected to discover anything on the
+river itself, for if the Shawanoes were hunting for him they had
+crossed long before; but away beyond, in the solemn depths of the
+Kentucky wilderness, burned a camp-fire, whose faint smoke could be
+traced as it rose above the tree-tops.  A careful study of the vapor
+led Deerfoot to suspect that it had served as a signal, but it was
+beyond his ken to determine its nature.
+
+There was nothing on the other side of the Mississippi which could
+afford the faintest clew, and he began the study of Louisiana, so
+far as it was open to his vision.  His altitude gave him an extended
+survey toward every point of the compass.  As it was impossible that
+any of his enemies should be to the west of him, he did not bestow
+so much as a glance in that direction.
+
+Again and again the keen eyes roved over the space between him and
+the great stream, but nothing rewarded the visual search.  It was
+not to be expected that if the Shawanoes were stealing along his
+trail they would stop to build a fire--at least not before night
+closed in.  The only circumstances under which they would attempt
+anything of the kind would be in the event of their wishing to
+signal some message to those left on the other shore.  Possibly they
+wanted reinforcements, or wished those who were in waiting to make
+some movement of their own, and, if so they would be sure to
+telegraph.
+
+If such was the case, the telegrams had been sent and the
+instrument--that is, the camp-fire had been destroyed.  Nothing of
+the sort was now to be seen.
+
+But Deerfoot did discover something to the northward.  A long
+distance away could be detected another column of vapor--slight, but
+dark, and with a wavy, shuddering motion, such as is observed when
+the first smoke from the fire under an engine rises through the
+tall, brick chimney.
+
+He watched it fixedly for several minute and then smiled, for he
+rightly interpreted its meaning.
+
+"There is the wigwam of the Osage chief, Wish-o-wa-tum, the
+Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, who lives alone with his family in the
+woods, and smokes his pipe.  He cares not for Miami or Huron or
+Shawanoe, but smokes in peace."
+
+Inasmuch, as no other vapor met the eye, the sagacious Shawanoe
+adopted a very different line of investigation, or rather research.
+He was able to tell where the lesser elevation stood, on which he
+had bidden good-by to the boys, and could form a tolerably correct
+idea of the line he had followed since then.
+
+If the Shawanoes were pushing the search for him, several must be
+somewhere along that line.  Most of the time they would be effectually
+hidden from sight by the foliage of the trees, but there were open
+places here and there (very slight in extent), where they would be
+visible for the moment to one who fixed his eyes on that particular
+spot.  On the site of the encampment, where the little party had
+eaten their meal, and where not the slightest ember remained, the
+pursuers would halt for a brief consultation.  If they divided into
+two companies of pursuit, it was there the division had taken or
+would take place.
+
+Unfortunately the vegetation was so abundant just there, that he
+could not hope to catch sight of any of his enemies, until after
+they should reach a point a considerable distance away.  It would
+therefore seem impossible for him to tell whether a portion of the
+war party turned to the northward in quest of the boys, or whether
+they all concentrated in the search for Deerfoot himself.
+
+It would appear beyond his power, I say, for the extraordinary youth
+to settle the question, while standing carefully hidden behind the
+trunk of a tree, but a single slight chance presented itself, and to
+that he appealed.
+
+He knew the general direction of the horse's trail after it had left
+the spot where Deerfoot parted company with his friends.  Unless it
+turned abruptly to the right or left, it led across an open space,
+which was in plain view of the Shawanoe, and provided the crossing
+had not already been made, he would be able to observe it.
+
+He therefore watched this opening with a keenness which would permit
+nothing to elude it.  His brain had handled the problem with the
+certainty of intuition.  Following a process of reasoning which
+cannot be fully explained, he convinced himself that the redskins
+had not yet fled across the narrow space.  Whether they were to do
+so or not would be determined in a brief while.
+
+If the savages hunting Jack and Otto had gone beyond the point
+named, before Deerfoot fixed his attention on it, then it followed
+of necessity that those who were  so eager to suspend the scalp of
+the youth from the ridge-pole of their wigwams were at that moment
+close upon him.  In any event, he was morally certain the whole
+question would be settled within the coming hour, for, if no sign
+appeared, it would be a sign of itself that nothing was to be
+feared.
+
+Fully aware of the woodcraft of his own people, Deerfoot threw away
+no chances.  He kept closely hidden behind the tree which served as
+a screen, as though an enemy was in ambush within bowshot.
+
+He waited a briefer time than he anticipated.  His eyes were flitting
+hither and thither, when a couple of warriors deliberately walked
+across the opening on which his attention was fixed.  Though only two,
+they moved in Indian file, one directly behind the other.
+
+There could be no doubt they were after the scalps of Jack Carleton
+and Otto Relstaub.
+
+It was equally certain that a larger number were hunting for Deerfoot.
+The fact would not have caused him an additional throb of the pulse,
+could he have been assured that no harm, would befall his friends.
+True, they had displayed much courage and brilliancy a few hours
+before in their contest on the other side of the Mississippi, and
+it would seem that, with their training from earliest youth, they
+ought to be able to protect themselves against an equal number of
+red men.  But, reason on the matter as he chose, Deerfoot could not
+drive away the feeling that it was his duty to go to their help.
+
+"The Great Spirit wills that Deerfoot shall be the friend of the
+white people who are his friends.  The Shawanoes and Miamis have no
+right on these hunting-grounds," he added, with a dangerous flash of
+his black eyes; "if they follow Deerfoot here, he will teach them
+they do wrong."
+
+Clearly it would not do for him to take the back trail and retrace
+his steps, for that would insure a collision with those who were so
+anxious to meet him.  Much as he detested them, and little as he
+feared the issue of such a meeting, it would be certain to delay his
+good offices for those who caused him so much anxiety, and such
+delay was dangerous.
+
+His purpose was to "cut across lots," that is, to hasten by the
+nearest route to a point which would place him in advance of the
+couple that were giving their attention to Jack and Otto, and to
+carry out that plan necessitated his making no mistake in his
+judgment as to the trail of his friends.
+
+"The warriors will have to walk until the sun goes down," he said to
+himself, "before they will come up with them; if they run, or if my
+friends have paused to rest, then they will find them sooner.
+Deerfoot must not wait, for he is needed."
+
+He had not yet left his place behind the tree, for he was convinced
+that some of the Shawanoes were close to him, even though he had
+received no proof that such was the fact, but that proof came within
+the following few minutes and before he had yet stirred from his
+position.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+AT BAY
+
+
+The "old Indian" asserted itself in Deerfoot the Shawanoe.  While
+every act, and in deed every thought, of the wonderful young warrior
+was prompted by conscience, yet his views of duty under certain
+circumstances, were fitted to bring a smile to the face of an
+impartial judge.
+
+While standing behind the tree on the crest of the elevation, he was
+sure of two things: he had little time to lose in going to the help
+of Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub, and the Shawanoes who were
+trailing him were close at hand.  He settled the dispute by deciding
+to stay where he was a few minutes longer.  If his enemies did not
+appear within that brief period, he would hasten from the spot.
+
+This conclusion on the part of the young Shawanoe presaged a
+desperate encounter between him and his foes, and he made preparation
+for it.  He set his rifle on the ground, with the muzzle leaning
+against the tree which served to screen his body, and brought his
+long bow to the front.  Drawing an arrow from its quiver, he glanced
+at it as if looking for some defect, but he knew none was there, nor
+was a single shaft of the score and a half in the quiver imperfect
+in any respect.  The youth always made his own weapons.  He glued on
+the feather which guided and steadied the missile in its flight, and
+he fastened the heads with metal obtained from the whites.  Every one
+of his possessions had been tested and proven.
+
+Deerfoot grasped the bow loosely in the centre, one finger of the
+same band also holding the arrow in place, with the notch against
+the deer sinew, not yet drawn backward.  The amateur archer will
+understand that he was in form to bring the shaft to a head on the
+instant it should become necessary.
+
+It was some five minutes after he had assumed this position, and
+while looking back over his own trail, that two Shawanoe warriors
+silently emerged from the bushes fifty yards off, and stealthily
+approached him.  They moved absolutely without noise, for their
+woodcraft told them they were close upon the most dangerous being
+they had ever undertaken to hunt.
+
+The foremost lifted his foot just clear of the ground and placed it
+squarely down again.  His head and shoulders were thrown forward, so
+that most of his long, coarse, black hair dangled on both sides of
+his neck and over his chest.  It hung in front of his face also,
+and, as his forehead was very low, he had the appearance, while
+continually glancing from side to side and in front, of a wild beast
+glaring from behind a hedge.  He trailed his rifle in his right
+hand, the left resting on the handle of a knife, which, with that of
+a tomahawk, protruded from his girdle.  He wore the usual hunting-shirt,
+leggings and moccasins, his body and limbs being well protected.  His
+blanket would have been only an encumbrance, and while he was engaged
+in such delicate business, it was left with the canoe on the bank of
+the Mississippi.  The ears when visible through the dangling hair, were
+seen to hold enormous rings of bone, while the nose hooked over and
+dipped in a fashion that showed that the organ had at some time held a
+pendant in the way of an ornament.
+
+The countenance was blackened and disfigured with paint, in the
+style already made familiar to the reader, and the protuberant nose
+was rendered more striking by the retreating chin.  The Shawanoe was
+crafty, cunning, treacherous and revengeful, which characteristics
+it may be said belong to the entire American race.
+
+The second warrior, with the exception of his features, was the
+counterpart of the leader.  Dress, paint, and ornaments, even to the
+strings of wampum around the neck, were similar.  He carried his
+rifle in the same style, and his left hand rested on the weapons in
+his girdle.  Both were strong and sinewy, and their sight lost not
+the slightest object in their field of vision.
+
+It was this precaution which apprised them, at the same instant,
+that they were confronted by the most terrifying picture on which
+their eyes had ever rested.  They halted as if transfixed by a
+lightning stroke.
+
+Deerfoot the Shawanoe stood behind the trunk of an oak, a foot in
+diameter, with his arrow drawn to a head and pointed at the heart of
+the foremost warrior.  The matchless youth was at bay, and in the
+exact posture for launching his deadly weapon--right foot forward,
+bow grasped in the centre, arrow held by the fingers of the left
+hand, which were drawn backward of the shoulder, while the bow
+itself, on account of its great length, was held diagonally in
+front.
+
+The two Shawanoes who suddenly became aware of their danger, did not
+see all that has been described, for Deerfoot utilized the shelter
+so far as he could.  Most of his body was carefully protected, and,
+though the bow was slanted, the lowermost point scarcely showed on
+the opposite side of the tree from the top of the weapon.
+
+The warriors saw the head, left shoulder and hands of Deerfoot and
+the upper part of the bow, whose arrow was on the very point of
+speeding toward them.  Directly over the shaft, with head slightly
+inclined, like that of a hunter sighting over his gun, were the
+gleaming eyes and face of the young Shawanoe.  It looked as if he
+had turned his head to one side that he might catch the music made
+by the twang of the string when it should dart forward with the
+speed of the rattlesnake striking from its coil.
+
+No more startling sight can be imagined than that of a gun aimed
+straight at us, with the finger of the marksman pressing the
+trigger.  The first proof the pursuers received that they were
+within sight of the youth they were seeking was of that nature.
+Both stood for a second or more unable to stir.  But their training
+prevented the spell lasting more than the briefest while.
+
+The second warrior made a tremendous bound directly backward,
+dropping to a squatting posture as he landed, and then scrambling to
+cover with a quickness the eye could hardly follow.   While employed
+in doing so, his companion emitted an ear-splitting screech which
+made the woods echo.  He caught a shadowy glimpse of him as he
+leaped high in the air and fell backward, carrying with him the
+arrow of the marvelous archer, which had gone clear and clean
+through his body, and remained projecting both from the breast and
+back.  A defiant shout rang from the elevation, and, peeping timidly
+forth, the crouching red man saw Deerfoot holding his bow aloft with
+one hand, while he swung the gun with the other and strode off, his
+face toward his pursuers.
+
+"Where are the Shawanoes?  Do they love to follow Deerfoot across
+the great river?  His heart was sad for them because so many bowed
+to his bow and arrow--so he left them that his eyes might not look
+on their warriors who fell by his hand; the Shawanoes are fools,
+because they follow Deerfoot.  They cannot harm him, for he is the
+friend of the white man, and the Great Spirit gives him his care;
+let the Shawanoes send Tecumseh and the Hurons send Waughtauk;
+Deerfoot stayed his hand when the time had come for Waughtauk to
+sing his death-song, but if the chief trails him across the great
+river, Deerfoot will not spare him."
+
+The young warrior doubtless would have indulged in further annoying
+remarks, had he not kept moving all the time, so that his last words
+were uttered while he was beyond sight of the terrified Shawanoe
+crouching on the ground; but the voice of  Deerfoot was raised to a
+key which prevented any observation being lost.
+
+The declaration, following the act of the youth, showed that in his
+mind his relations toward his enemies changed when they followed him
+beyond the Mississippi.  In Kentucky all stood on the same footing,
+and he often showed mercy, but if they pursued him into Louisiana
+they became his persecutors, and whoever crossed his path or sought
+to molest him, did so at his peril.  He had voluntarily withdrawn
+from their chosen hunting-grounds, and they would be wise if they
+left him alone.  He would not flee from them like a hunted deer, but
+would teach them severer lessons than they had ever yet learned.
+
+The death-yell of the stricken Shawanoe was certain to bring others
+to the spot, but Deerfoot cared nothing for that.  It mattered not
+if there were a score, for, if he chose to flee, he could out-speed
+the swiftest runner on either side the Mississippi.  With the
+thousands upon thousands of miles of mountain, prairie, river, and
+wilderness at his back, he could laugh to scorn the rage of his
+enemies.
+
+Though he had lived several months in this section, it was the first
+time his deadly foes had attempted to molest him.  Self-defense
+demanded that they should be shown it would not pay to repeat the
+attempt.
+
+Still retaining gun and bow, he passed rapidly down the slope, and,
+having previously fixed in his mind the course to pursue, pushed
+forward at an easy pace, which was much swifter than would be
+supposed.
+
+Fast as he journeyed, he had not gone far when five Shawanoes
+(including him who had so narrowly escaped his bow), hurried to the
+spot where the smitten warrior lay.  They had heard agonized cry in
+battle and knew what it meant.  The second survivor was given but a
+minute to flee, when he encountered the others rushing thither, and
+he turned about and joined them.  They would have been less arduous
+had they not known that the terrible Deerfoot was gone, as was shown
+by his defiant shout, which came from distant point in the woods.
+
+Precisely eight Shawanoes (not a Miami among them) paddled over the
+Mississippi to hunt the youth: the only two absent from this party
+were pursuing Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub, while they journeyed
+toward the northwest, after the stray horse.  The occasion,
+therefore, was a fitting one in which to consult as to the line of
+policy to be followed.
+
+It may seem incredible, but it is an unquestioned fact, that five of
+the best warriors of the most formidable tribe in the West decided
+to give up the attempt to capture or kill a single one of their race
+whose years were considerably less than those of the youngest member
+of the party, and that, too, on the ground that the undertaking was
+too dangerous.  One of those five Shawanoes, became converted to
+Christianity after the war of 1812, and settled in Kentucky, near
+the home of Ned Preston, to whom he gave the particulars of the
+council held by him and his comrades more than twenty years before.
+
+Of course no one of the five admitted that personally he was afraid
+of Deerfoot.  All expressed the greatest eagerness to meet him,
+where a chance to engage in fatal combat could be gained.
+Apparently no greater boon could befall them than such extreme good
+fortune.
+
+But they could not shut their eyes to one or two discouraging facts:
+they had entered a country entirely strange to them, but which was
+familiar in a great measure to the fleet-footed traitor, who could
+never find himself lacking for some hole in which to hide himself.
+It was very much like hunting in an endless forest for the fawn that
+leaves no scent for the dog to follow.
+
+But worse than all, the Shawanoes could not doubt that the execrated
+Deerfoot had formed alliance with the Osages, who would give him
+help whenever wanted.  Such being their theory followed that they
+were not fleeing from a despised foe, but from a whole tribe of
+Indians.  For five warriors to withdraw in the face of such
+overwhelming odds, could not be construed as cowardice, but only as
+wise discretion.
+
+Such were the grounds on which the party based their decision, which
+was accompanied fierce lamentations that the fates had interposed to
+save Deerfoot from their vengeance.
+
+"We talk that way," said the old Indian, long years afterward, while
+telling the story in broken English, "and," he added with a laugh
+twinkle in his dark eyes, "we much brave--we want to meet Deerfoot
+but we looked to see he did not come; if he came, then we wouldn't
+be so much brave; we turn, and run like buffalo, we much afraid of
+Deerfoot; we no want to see him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+AN UNEXPECTED INTERVIEW
+
+
+Having turned his back on his pursuers, Deerfoot gave them no
+further attention.  His purpose now was to defend Jack Carleton and
+Otto Relstaub from the two red men in pursuit.
+
+It will be remembered that the youthful warrior had fixed in his own
+mind the course taken by the others, and he hastened to a point
+where he was hopeful of finding the trail.  But the calculation
+which led him thither was drawn too fine.  Like the detective who
+spins a theory, perfect in every part and bristling with proof, he
+found that a slight hitch at the beginning destroyed it all.
+Neither the pursuers nor pursued had crossed the spot where he was
+so certain he would discover their footprints.
+
+This was a disappointment to Deerfoot, who stood several minutes
+debating what to do.  It would require considerable time to return
+point where he separated from the boys follow them thence, beside
+placing him well to the rear of the red men from whom the harm was
+dreaded.  It was this fact which disturbed Deerfoot, but there
+seemed no other course open.  He could easily speculate as to the
+routes by which to head off the warriors, but the mistake just made
+warned him that he had no time guesses of that character.
+
+Clearly the only thing to do was to follow the course named, and
+with his usual promptitude, he moved through the wood toward the
+point where he was more than likely to come into collision with the
+larger party of Shawanoes.  He turned aside from his own trail, as
+he invariably did under circumstances, but had not gone far when he
+found that which was lost.
+
+The Shawanoe halted and looked at the ground with a grim smile, for
+he saw the print of the horse's hoof, the tracks made by Jack and
+Otto, and the lighter impressions of two pain of moccasins.
+
+Having caught sight of the warriors not long previous, he knew they
+were at no great distance.  They were walking at such a leisurely
+pace that unless it was increased, they were not likely to overtake
+the unconscious fugitives before they halted for the night.
+
+The Shawanoe wheeled and hurried along the trail, with the loping,
+noiseless trot which could be maintained without distress from rise
+of morn till set of sun.  He did not scrutinize the earth directly
+at his feet, but glanced several rods in front.  He could readily
+detect the trail that far, and was thus enabled to keep keen watch
+of his surroundings, without retarding his own gait.
+
+He occasionally flung a glance over his shoulder, but he was well
+satisfied that none of the larger party was after him: they had
+become impressed with the fact that it wouldn't pay.
+
+A quarter of a mile off and he leaped lightly over a small stream,
+which crossed his path.  He paused long enough to learn that the
+home had stopped to drink, doing so with some difficulty, for the
+water was so shallow that his lips must have stirred the mud on the
+bottom.
+
+The boys did not halt, but one of the warriors had got down on his
+knees and hands, the latter spread apart like the fore legs of a
+camelopard, as to touch his dusky lips to the water, of which he
+drank his fill.  All this Deerfoot noted, with only a few moments'
+pause, then he was off again.
+
+But he had gone only a little way, when he observed other facts that
+were more disquieting.  The Shawanoes had changed pace similar to
+his own, and beyond question were gaining upon the boys, who could
+not know peril.  Deerfoot was convinced that the red men had
+hastened through fear of losing the trail in the coming darkness.
+It followed, therefore, that he himself must advance faster or lose
+the scent.
+
+While able to follow the tracks of a horse, entirely by the sense of
+feeling, the progress must necessarily be too slow to be effective
+under circumstances like those which now confronted him.
+
+The youth made a tremendous bound and struck a gait which rendered
+it unnecessary to look behind him, for no pursuer could equal his
+speed.  He watched only the forest in front, through which he was
+hurrying with a velocity that raised a gale about his ears and kept
+him dodging and ducking his head to avoid unpleasant consequences.
+
+All at once, he leaped sideways behind the nearest large tree, set
+down his rifle and bow and drew his tomahawk.  He had discovered
+through the gathering twilight one of the Shawanoes returning over
+the trail.  It was a fortunate accident which prevented him
+detecting his pursuer, since he was on the watch against that very
+danger, but Deerfoot was an instant quicker, and awaited him as
+grimly as he confronted the two warriors who followed him to the
+base of the hill, where one was pierced by his unerring arrow.
+
+Deerfoot at first believed both were coming back, having been
+summoned thither perhaps by some signal from the larger party, but
+he saw there was only one.  The youth could have picked him off
+without difficulty, but he was too chivalrous to do so, inasmuch as
+the red man was actually retreating instead of advancing, and had
+not as yet made the first move against him.
+
+A guarded peep from his hiding-place showed the warrior approaching
+on a loping trot, similar to his own, his long rifle in his right
+band, while a glimpse was obtained of his blanket rolled and
+strapped like a knapsack behind his shoulders.
+
+He held his head well forward, his restless eyes scanning the wood
+as it opened before him, but evidently with no thought of the danger
+which really menaced him.  All at once, the figure of Deerfoot
+glided softly from behind the tree and confronted him with his
+tomahawk drawn back and ready to throw.
+
+The Indian checked himself as abruptly as if an unfathomable chasm
+had opened at his feet, but quick as he was, Deerfoot was so close
+that the latter could have touched him with his extended bow.
+
+The warrior, old enough to be the father of the other, saw that he
+was helpless.  He was without the power to raise a finger to save
+himself, even though he held a loaded rifle in one hand and carried
+the regulation knife and tomahawk in his girdle.  Had he made the
+first motion toward using his weapons, the upraised tomahawk would
+have left the grasp of Deerfoot with the swiftness of lightning, and
+the skull of his foe would have been cloven as though made of tissue
+paper.
+
+"Let the Shawanoe obey the words of Deerfoot," said the youth, "and
+he shall not be harmed."
+
+The other made no answer, but his frightened looks showed he was
+ready to follow any orders received from such high authority.
+
+"He carries a blanket on his back which Deerfoot would love to have,
+that he may sleep upon it when the night is cold and he has no
+camp-fire to warm him."
+
+The elder Shawanoe dropped his gun to the ground beside him, that he
+might use both bands more readily to unfasten the bundle for his
+master.  Flinging it at his feet, he looked inquiringly up and
+awaited the next command.
+
+Deerfoot did not stoop to take the article, for that would have
+invited a treacherous attack.  He merely glanced downward and then
+asked, "Whither is my brother going?"
+
+"He seeks those who sent him here; they are not far and we heard the
+shout of one of our warriors, which we did not understand."
+
+"'Twas his cry when the arrow of Deerfoot pierced his heart," said
+the youth with flashing eye.  "Deerfoot has crossed the great river
+and means never to visit the other shore; he has left Kentucky and
+Ohio, and the Shawanoes must look for his footprints on this side.
+They cannot find him, and he will shoot them from behind the trees
+and rocks.  He will flee from them no more."
+
+The red man to whom these words were addressed could not fail to
+understand their meaning.  They gave distinct notice that the youth
+would strike back, whenever harm was offered him, while west of the
+Mississippi.  He had located there for life and was prepared to
+defend himself against one and all of his enemies.
+
+Beyond question, the elder Indian would have given much could he
+have been in Kentucky at that moment.  He was watching for some
+chance to turn with panther-like quickness on his youthful
+conqueror, but the latter took care that no such opportunity was
+given him.
+
+Deerfoot could not know that the group whom he left behind had
+resolved to withdraw from the dangerous country, and while their
+agreement would have been interesting and possibly gratifying news
+to him, yet he was not particularly concerned, since he was
+determined to force them sooner or later to that conclusion.
+
+"Deerfoot took a gun that belonged to one of those who stole his
+blanket and broke his canoe; his blanket has been restored to him
+and he will now give the gun to his brother."
+
+This statement was not understood by the other, which fact is not to
+be wondered at, since it was not only in violation of what may be
+called common sense, but the gun itself was not in sight.
+
+It was within reach, however, and the youth had but to take a single
+step backward, when he grasped it with his right hand and proffered
+it to the other, whose very amazement caused him to take it with
+much awkwardness.  Thus it came about that Deerfoot allowed the
+warrior to have two rifles, both loaded, while he stood guard over
+himself, with only his tomahawk in hand.
+
+The transfer being made, the elder was at liberty to go, so soon as
+he answered a few questions.  He knew much of Deerfoot from
+reputation, and, therefore, was not so dumfounded as otherwise he
+would have been, when informed that no harm would be done him.
+
+"When my brother left his comrades, he took a warrior with him,"
+said Deerfoot in his native tongue.  "Where is he?"
+
+Daring as the young Shawanoe was, he was guarded to give up the gun,
+until satisfied the second foe was not likely to appear on the
+scene.  While he would have made his usual brilliant stand against
+two of his enemies, he would have needed all the means which he
+possessed to combat them.
+
+"My brother waits my return; he sits on fallen tree and listens for
+my footsteps that may learn what ill has befallen our brothers
+nearer the great river."
+
+"When my brother has learned and tells them what then will they do?"
+
+"They will hasten across the great river and never come back."
+
+Deerfoot smiled faintly, for he saw the purpose of this remark; the
+warrior was seeking to propitiate his conqueror.  The latter might
+well have added that, inasmuch as he had already given him the fact,
+the elder was in duty bound to turn about and hasten to his waiting
+friend with the news; but it was too much to ask him to accept the
+word of an enemy, and the youth preferred that he should make the
+slight journey and ascertain the truth for himself.
+
+What followed was unique and curious.  Deerfoot stepped aside, just
+enough to allow the other to pass.  The elder held a gun in each
+hand and stood motionless a moment, as if uncertain what to do; but
+his conqueror was waiting, and he, therefore, advanced three steps,
+enough to bring him opposite Deerfoot, while the fourth carried him
+beyond.  It was at that juncture he caught sight of the long bow
+leaning against the tree where the gun had been standing.  He longed
+to seize it, but he knew instant death would follow the attempt.
+
+Without turning to the right or left, the released Shawanoe strode
+by with deliberate and dignified step.  He held his own gun in his
+right hand, and with no evidence of what he was doing, he stealthily
+drew back the hammer which clasped the flint.  He then noted
+carefully the number of paces he took.
+
+When he had counted nearly fifty, he felt safe from the crash of the
+tomahawk.  Dropping the strange rifle to the ground, he wheeled like
+a flash and sighted quickly at the spot where he last saw his
+conqueror, but he had vanished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+A FAILURE
+
+
+The task which Jack Carleton took upon himself, when he parted
+company with Otto Relstaub on the clearing, was of the simplest
+nature, and one which he was confident could be accomplished without
+trouble; it was to reach by a circuitous course a point directly
+opposite to his friend, and on a line with the horse, so that if the
+latter fled from one, he could be secured by the other.
+
+The experience of the young Kentuckian averted some mistakes into
+which others might have fallen.  One of the hardest things for a
+hunter to do, while tramping the forest, is to keep his bearings.
+There are few who have shouldered a gun that have not learned this
+fact, and, without a compass, landmarks, the bark of trees, or some
+other artificial aid, it may be set down as impossible for any one
+to escape bewilderment.  If his wanderings are extended he will find
+himself traveling in a circle, and instances are known in which a
+person has followed his own trail for hours, without suspecting the
+grotesque truth.
+
+Jack Carleton therefore took every precaution against going astray.
+He had in fact but one landmark, so to speak, and that was the moon,
+then well up in the sky.  He located the luminary with such exactness,
+that he knew it would be directly over his right shoulder when he
+arrived at a point precisely opposite his friend, and, as he hoped,
+in a straight line with the colt between them.
+
+"That means good luck," said he to himself, with a smile; "I always
+like to see the moon over my right shoulder, though it can't mean
+anything after all, as mother has told me many a time.  She said
+that she and father, a few nights before he was killed by the
+Shawanoes, watched the new moon, which shone through the window,
+over his right shoulder and on my bare head.  Father was in good
+spirits, for he believed in signs, and I think mother, though she
+chided him, had a sly belief in them, too; but," added the boy with
+a sigh, "she shudders now at the mere mention of such a thing."
+
+While Jack was indulging in this sad reminiscence, he was carefully
+picking his way among the trees, making sure that he did not get the
+points of the compass confused.  There was no call for haste, and it
+may be said he felt every step of the way.
+
+"Otto is an odd fellow," he muttered, allowing his fancy to stray
+whither it chose, "and I hope he won't become bewildered.  He is so
+anxious to get the colt, that he will run into trouble if there's
+any into which he can run.  He is shrewd, brave, and somewhat
+stupid, and it is never certain what be will do or say.  Let me
+see."
+
+He stood still, and, peeping at the moon, as beat he could through
+the foliage overhead, studied its position in the heavens, with
+particular reference to his own.
+
+"I haven't reached the right spot yet; it must be a hundred yards
+further."
+
+His aim was to halt some twenty or thirty rods beyond the clearing.
+Then, when assured he had gone far enough, he would walk directly
+toward Otto, the two keeping the horse between them.
+
+"I do so hope we will get him," muttered Jack, beginning to feel a
+misgiving now that the decisive moment was at hand, "for if we fail
+it will end the business.  If he goes home without the colt, his
+father will beat him, and more than likely will drive him into the
+woods and forbid him to come back till he brings the horse with him.
+He is such a hard-hearted, miserly old fellow, that he will accept
+no excuse from Otto, and his mother doesn't seem to be much better."
+
+After a time Jack reached the point where he found the moonlight
+streaming over his right shoulder.  Of course, he could have secured
+that lucky omen at any time, but it resulted now from the systematic
+course he had followed, and he was sure no mistake had been made.
+
+He had no more than formed the conclusion that everything was as it
+should be, when he was surprised to hear the neigh of a horse within
+bowshot of where he stood.  As it came from the direction of the
+clearing, no doubt remained that it was the animal for which he was
+hunting.
+
+"It looks as if it is to be my fortune after all to recover the
+colt," thought the pleased lad.  "It will be a surprise to Otto, but
+I hope we shall not have to wait any longer, for we have lost a good
+deal of time."
+
+He moved through the wood, stepping softly, so as not to frighten
+the animal, which probably had had enough of liberty to be unwilling
+to go back to bondage.
+
+A brief distance was passed, when the young Kentuckian caught sight
+of the stray steed.  In an opening, less than a tenth of an acre,
+where there was an abundance of grass, stood the identical colt
+which ran away the day before.  Saddle and bridle were still in
+place, though even the moonlight was sufficient to show they had
+suffered much from the journey of the horse.  The latter, evidently
+was suspicious that something was amiss.  He was cropping the grass,
+when the sound of Jack's footsteps alarmed him.  He stood with his
+head up, the grass dripping like water from his mouth, while he
+listened for the cause of alarm.
+
+Jack Carleton was well aware of the difficulty that faced him when
+on the very threshold of success.  Though he was close to the
+animal, he was not yet secured.
+
+"Ah!  If Deerfoot was here," sighed the boy, "then there would be no
+doubt of the result, for he would dart forward and catch him.  If
+the horse wanted to run away, he would let him do it, and then the
+Shawanoe would chase him down, just as easily as he would me or
+Otto; but it is going to be hard work for me."
+
+It was difficult to decide on the best course of procedure.  The
+sagacious creature would not only be quick to recognize Jack, but
+equally quick to understand his purpose in approaching him.  It was
+too much to expect him to submit quietly to recapture.
+
+Jack softly plucked a handful of grass, and, stepping out from the
+cover of the woods began moving gently toward the colt.  The latter
+turned his head and uttered a sniff of inquiry, at the same time
+showing an inclination to whirl about and gallop off.  The boy stood
+still and, holding out the grass, deftly manipulated it so that a
+part dropped loosely to the ground: this insured its notice by his
+victim.  Jack also addressed him in his most soothing tones.  He
+called him all the pet names at his command, and, as the steed still
+held his ground, the youth resumed his stealthy advance.
+
+Jack Carleton's heart throbbed with hope.  The animal threw his head
+higher, snuffed louder, and manifestly was hesitating whether to
+permit a closer approach before fleeing, or whether to turn his face
+at once from temptation.
+
+"A few steps more and he is mine," was the thought of Jack, who
+repeated the pet names with greater ardor, interspersing them with a
+variation of cluckings and chirpings that would have charmed a
+prattling baby.  He increased his pace, for he was almost within
+reach, while the beast snorted with excitement.
+
+All at once Jack dropped the gun in his other hand, and made a
+desperate plunge, meaning to grasp the forelock of the horse.  It
+may be said that he succeeded, for he felt the coarse, cool hair as
+it was swept through his fingers by the flirt of the animal's head.
+Jack missed success, by what may be truly said to have been a hair's
+breadth.
+
+"Whoa! confound you!"
+
+This command was uttered in a very different tone from that in which
+he had been addressing the colt a minute before.  There was nothing
+soothing in it, and the animal showed his contempt by whirling
+about, kicking up his heels and dashing into the woods.
+
+Jack snatched his gun from the ground and bounded after him at the
+imminent risk of breaking his neck.  He was too far from Otto and
+his captor to attract attention, but the noise may have reached the
+ears of the Indian.  The angered pursuer did not coax or order the
+colt, for what he had done in that line was sufficient to show the
+effort was thrown away.
+
+He listened: the animal was still going at a rate which showed he
+believed the danger was at his heels.  The sound he made, while
+galloping over the leaves and through the bushes, grew fainter and
+fainter until it died out altogether.
+
+"I suppose he will keep it up for several hours.  If he faces toward
+the settlement, he will reach it to-morrow, but if he veers to the
+right or left, Otto may as well give up the job."
+
+Jack was keenly disappointed, for he had been confident of success,
+and now he was forced to admit there was scarcely a hope of ever
+seeing the colt again.
+
+"It's a bad go," he said, turning about and moving toward the
+clearing, where he had left his friend; "we'll keep up the hunt
+to-morrow, but if he isn't caught before sundown, I shall insist
+that we go home.  Mother's anxious to see me," he added, in a softer
+voice, "but no more than I am to see her.  It has been weeks since
+we parted, and if anything should happen to her while I am loitering
+by the way, I can never forgive myself."
+
+He did not reflect that he was exposed to tenfold more harm than his
+parent.  He reproached himself that he had tarried in Coatesville
+until Otto came for him.  He was ready and waiting several days,
+during which he could have made the journey on foot, without the
+guidance of his friend.
+
+However, it was too late now for regrets, and he tried to take
+matters philosophically.
+
+The young Kentuckian made certain he was steadily pursuing the right
+course, and, when he thought he had advanced far enough, he emitted
+the whistle agreed upon.  Of course no reply came back, for, as the
+reader knows, the young Teuton for whom the signal was meant was not
+in a situation to make suitable answer.  In fact it did not reach
+his ears at all.
+
+Without losing any more minutes, Jack Carleton pushed forward, until
+he was brought to a stand-still by catching the unmistakable glimmer
+of a light a short distance ahead among the trees.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE EAVESDROPPER
+
+
+Naturally the first impression of Jack Carleton, on seeing the
+light, was that it proceeded from the fire kindled by Otto.  It
+struck him as curious that he should do so before be could be
+certain the horse was captured; but, in accordance with his
+training, Jack took nothing for granted.  A few guarded steps, and
+he discovered the truth; the light was much closer than he
+suspected, and came through a slight rent in the side of an Indian
+wigwam.
+
+The young Kentuckian was astounded, for he had never dreamed of
+anything of the kind.  He concluded he must be on the confines of an
+Indian village, and made a further investigation; but it did not
+take long to learn that the lodge stood alone in the great forest.
+
+"I suppose some chieftain or warrior has quarreled with his people
+and lives by himself," was the remarkably accurate guess of the boy;
+"I don't know how he feels toward white folks, but I'll take a
+little further look and then hunt up Otto."
+
+He could not fail to note that the lodge stood close to the clearing
+where he had agreed to meet his friend, and he was unable to free
+himself of a dread, while stealing forward for the purpose of
+peeping through the rent in the side of the aboriginal structure.
+Otto must have seen the wigwam before reaching it, though the
+proprietor might have been quicker in detecting the approach of a
+stranger.
+
+Fully sensible of the care required, Jack advanced slowly, without
+noise, feeling every inch of the way.  At last he was able to bend
+forward and peep through the slight opening, which first told him of
+the location of the wigwam.  It required some delicate maneuvering
+to gain a good view of the interior, and it need not be said that
+the result was of the most interesting nature.
+
+His eyes, or rather eye (inasmuch as he used only one), first rested
+on the dusky baby, that had managed to kick off the blanket, and was
+fiercely tugging at the piece of cooked venison which his dusky
+mother bad tossed him.  He held it between his scant teeth, grasping
+it with his chubby hands, while his feet beat the air, occasionally
+catching under his chin, as though he was using hands and feet to
+force the meat apart.  He worked his legs with such a vigor that at
+times he seemed in danger of making a back somersault and bumping
+through the side of the lodge.
+
+Under other circumstances Jack Carleton would have laughed outright
+at the comical figure of the bright-eyed infant; but the sight of
+Otto Relstaub checked all such feeling, and deepened the alarm which
+came with the first sight of the wigwam.
+
+It so happened that Jack was much closer to his friend than he was
+to any of the other three figures.  No more than two feet separated
+the boys, and in peering into the lodge, the eavesdropper looked
+directly over the head and shoulders of Otto.  The familiar peaked
+hat, which had not been removed, the rather long, curling hair, the
+round, rosy check, broad shoulders, the tip of the pug nose, the
+plump chin, the feet, and the arms resting idly on the drawn-up
+knees--all these made the young German look like an exaggerated
+fairy, that had dropped in on some superstitious mortals and was
+regaling them with tales of wonderland.  But Otto was not
+discoursing to listeners; he was looking from one to the other,
+sometimes smiling at the snuffing, kicking, clawing infant, and then
+assuming an anxious expression, when his eyes rested on the face of
+the others who shared the lodge with him.
+
+The squaw was slowly drawing in and exhaling the vapor from her
+pipe, with the deliberate enjoyment of an old smoker.  With her
+elbows on her knees, she stared fixedly at Otto, who must have been
+annoyed by her persistency.
+
+Wish-o-wa-tum, the Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, occupied his throne of
+bison skin on the other side of the wigwam, and, having tired of
+sitting erect as became a monarch, was lounging on his right elbow,
+leaving his left hand free to manipulate his pipe, which was
+occasionally taken from his lips, after the cheeks were filled to
+overflowing with pungent vapor.  Then, forming his immense mouth
+into a contracted circle, be ejected the smoke with his doubled
+tongue, sending forth ring after ring, in any direction he chose.
+Looking up at the opening in the top of the lodge, he started a
+regular procession of blue circles, twisting inward and slowly
+expanding as they climbed toward the fresh air, where they were
+suddenly caught and whirled into nothingness.
+
+Jack had the best view of the chieftain he could wish, and fearful
+of being detected, drew his head back a few inches so as to be in
+entire darkness, and studied the ugly countenance.  He observed the
+small, piggish eyes far apart, the big cheek bones, the disfigured
+nose, the enormous mouth, the slouchy, untidy dress, and even the
+half dozen straggling hairs that sprouted here and there over his
+massive chin.
+
+He noticed the flitting glances of the black eyes, and knew that the
+unattractive Indian had, in some way or other, made a prisoner of
+Otto Relstaub, whose rifle was missing.  Standing on the outside
+with his loaded gun in hand, the young Kentuckian could have done as
+he pleased with the red man, who had no suspicions of danger; but
+the thought of shooting him was unspeakably shocking to Jack, who
+could not have been persuaded to the step unless forced to do so, in
+order to save the life of Otto or himself.
+
+Cruel indeed must any one be who could look on the picture of
+domestic happiness, the stolid father, the contented mother, and the
+lusty youngster, without feeling his heart stirred by that deep,
+inborn sympathy which makes the whole world akin.
+
+"He isn't a Shawanoe or Miami," was the conclusion of Jack, after a
+careful study of the warrior's face and general appearance; "I have
+never seen an Osage, but have heard much of them, and I'm quite sure
+he is one.  If that is so, he isn't as fierce as his race on the
+other side the Mississippi, and I think we can get Otto out of there
+without harm to any one.  If we are going to live in this part of
+the world, we must keep on good terms with the Indians.  Helloa!
+what is the old fellow going to do?"
+
+Jack noticed that the head of the family had stopped glancing from
+one part of the lodge to another, and was looking steadily at Otto,
+as if he meditated some design against him.
+
+And so he did.  Drawing in an enormous quantity of smoke, he removed
+the stem from his leathern lips, contracted them into another O, and
+suddenly shot out a vapory ring, followed instantly by a second,
+third and fourth, and then by so many that they stumbled over each
+other's heels, as may be said.  Indeed, the mouth of Wish-a-wa-tum
+seemed to have become a mitrailleue for the moment, that sent a
+continuous volley across the wigwam.
+
+When the bombardment opened, Otto was looking thoughtfully at the
+ground in the middle of the lodge, so that his face was turned
+toward the chieftain.  The latter aimed with such skill that, as he
+intended, the first ring passed directly over the end of Otto's pug
+nose, which for the instant looked as though some painter had
+enclosed the organ in a delicately tinted circle.
+
+The latter was no more than in place, when it was followed by
+several others.  The series, however, was blown into nothingness by
+a resounding sneeze from Otto, which started the vapor toward the
+opening above, that seemed to exert a greater power as the distance
+from the ground increased.  When within a few inches of the outlet,
+the smoke flew apart, spun around and whisked out of sight, with the
+current that was borne upward from every part of the lodge.
+
+"Donderation!" exclaimed Otto as best he could, through the
+strangling vapor; "what for you don't do dot?  Don't you vants to
+kill somepodys mit your smoke--don't it?  Yaw I oogh!"
+
+Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder did not stir.  Still holding his pipe
+suspended in his left hand, he looked at the discomfited youth and
+smiled.
+
+The smile was the most prodigious on which Jack Carleton had ever
+looked.  He saw the corners of the mouth move back on the cheeks
+until it seemed they must touch the ears.  Perhaps the chief smiled
+so seldom that the few served to bring up the "general average" of
+those that were lacking.
+
+Wish-o-wa-tum could have added to the distress of Otto by continuing
+his vapory cannonade, but he refrained, and amused himself by
+sending the rings once more toward the chimney.
+
+While this little episode was going on, the squaw, with her chin on
+her hands and her elbows on her knees, continued to stare at Otto;
+but she showed no disposition to smile even in the slightest degree.
+In her the element of mirth appeared to be totally lacking.
+
+It is more than probable that she had not acquired the art of
+ejecting the circles of smoke, or she would have followed up the
+exhibition of her husband with a similar one, inspired thereto by
+the innate ugliness of her nature.
+
+The incident described did much to dissipate the alarm of Jack
+Carleton for his friend.  The overwhelming smile on the countenance
+of the chieftain made it attractive, for it was free from the
+disfigurement of hate.
+
+"Yes, he is an Osage, with his wife and little one.  He may not be a
+pleasant neighbor, but he would not dare to live away from his
+tribe, if he was as cruel as the Shawanoes or Hurons.  Some of the
+settlers would shoot him and his squaw and papoose."
+
+This theory was reasonable, but from the nature of the case it could
+not be complete in the assurance it brought to the mind of the young
+Kentuckian, inasmuch as it failed to explain several alarming facts.
+
+In the first place, Otto, manifestly, was a prisoner in the lodge.
+He had no gun with which to defend himself, nor could the guarded
+peeping of the eavesdropper discover the weapon within the wigwam.
+In what manner the German had fallen into the power of the Osage was
+beyond conjecture, nor could Jack guess the ultimate intentions of
+the captor.
+
+"I have my loaded gun," was the thought of the youth, "and I ought
+to be able to get Otto out of this scrape.  I shall be sorry, indeed,
+to harm any one in the wigwam, and so long as it is possible to avoid
+it, I will.  If the warrior receives injury it will be his own fault."
+
+At such times, the most curious fancies often take possession of a
+person.  Jack Carleton had convinced himself that the Indian, wigwam
+was the only one in the neighborhood; but he had scarcely decided
+what his course should be, when he began to fear he had made a
+mistake.  It seemed unlikely that a single Osage should dwell apart
+from his tribe in that fashion.
+
+"There must be other lodges near me," he thought, stepping softly
+back and peering around in the gloom.
+
+It mattered not that he saw no lights from any of them, for he
+reasoned that they might be hidden by the intervening trees.  So
+strong was the feeling, that he moved further off and repeated the
+very reconnaissance made a short time previous.
+
+He would not have done so, had he not known that Otto was in no
+immediate danger from his captor.  Had the latter offered him harm,
+the struggle would have been heard in the stillness of the night,
+and Jack would have rushed to the relief of his friend.
+
+Finally, the eavesdropper became satisfied that whatever the issue
+of the strange situation, he had but the single family to face.
+Then he was distressed by the doubt as to what the squaw would do,
+it he carried out his scheme.  It is well, known that the Indian
+women are as brave, and frequently more cruel, toward their captives
+than are the warriors themselves.  If the one before him became
+violent, Jack would be likely to find he had undertaken a task
+beyond his power.
+
+His determination was to walk directly into the lodge and act as if
+he believed the occupants were his friends.  He therefore strode
+forward toward the entrance, purposely kicking the leaves with his
+feet; and it was that noise which apprised those within of his
+approach.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+WITHIN THE WIGWAM
+
+
+Jack Carleton walked to the flapping deerskin which closed the
+entrance to the wigwam, flung it aside, and, stooping slightly,
+stepped within.  Looking into the face of Wish-o-wa-tum, he made a
+half military salute and, straightening up, called out:
+
+"How do you do, brother?"
+
+The etiquette of the visitor required him to advance and offer his
+hand, but he was afraid to do so while in doubt as to the sentiments
+of the chief.  The young Kentuckian recalled an instance somewhat
+similar to the present, wherein a Huron warrior, grasping the hand
+of the white man who offered it, suddenly drew him forward and
+plunged his hunting-knife into his side.
+
+The unexpected visit of Jack produced a sensation amounting, for the
+moment, almost to consternation.  For the first time the squaw showed
+genuine surprise.  Snapping the pipe from her mouth, she threw up her
+head with a grunt, and stared at the athletic youth.  The kicking baby
+on the hearth appeared to understand that something unusual was going
+on, and held arms and legs still, while he stared, with his round
+black eyes, toward the figure at the other end of the lodge.
+
+Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder turned his head, holding his pipe in hand,
+and looked inquiringly at the visitor.  He showed no signs of fear,
+but, manifestly, he was astonished.  His fragmentary conversation
+with the other boy had given him no cause to look for such a call,
+though he saw at a glance that the two were friends.
+
+Otto Relstaub beamed with delight.  With an expanse of smile second
+only to that of which the sachem was capable, he rose partly to his
+feet and, looking at Jack, called out:
+
+"Mine gracious!  Jack, I didn't look for nodings of you pefore, as
+dot ish--"
+
+"Hold on!" interposed the lad at the door, with a laugh and wave of
+the hand, "sit down and compose yourself till you can talk
+straighter than that."
+
+"I dinks I does--yaw," muttered the happy fellow, willing to do
+anything suggested by his companion; "but come in and sot down."
+
+While addressing Otto, Jack kept his eyes on Wish-o-wa-tum, for it
+may be said he was the key of the situation.  If he showed hostility,
+trouble was sure to follow.  Jack half expected to see him make a
+leap for his bow or rifle, or attempt to draw his tomahawk.
+
+If he does thought the boy, "I'll raise my gun first, and he will
+understand what that means."
+
+But the looks and manner of the host (if such he may be called) were
+neither hostile nor friendly; they were indifferent, as though the
+whole business possessed no interest to him.  After his first
+surprised stare, he swung his head back to its former position and
+slowly smoked his pipe as before.
+
+Jack Carleton made up his mind on the moment that his true course
+was to carry out his first idea that is, to act as though there was
+no doubt of the friendship of the Osage.
+
+Stepping to the left, he set his gun on the ground with the muzzle
+leaning against the side of the lodge.  No more expressive sign of
+comity could have been given than this simple act.  He then advanced
+to the beefy, stolid chieftain, to whom he offered his hand,
+repeating the words:
+
+"How do you do, brother?"
+
+Wish-o-wa-tum took the fingers in his own immense palm, and gave
+them a moderate pressure.  Though it might have been called a warm
+salute, it sent a shiver through the youth, who unconsciously braced
+himself against any sudden pull of the savage, his other hand, at
+the same time, vaguely seeking the handle of his knife.
+
+But, whatever thoughts or intentions may have stirred the massive
+chieftain, they gave no evidence of their nature in his face.  He
+looked up at the boy, and, as he slightly wabbled the hand within
+his own, said:
+
+"How do, brudder?"
+
+Jack then turned about and greeted Otto, who could scarcely contain
+himself.  The movement, it will be noticed, placed the back of the
+former toward the chief, and he was conscious of another chill
+running up and down his spine; for no better opportunity could be
+given the Indian to strike one of those treacherous, lightning-like
+blows peculiar to the savage races.
+
+"Keep your eye on him," said Jack, in an undertone, while shaking
+the hand of Otto, and both were talking loud and effusively.
+
+Otto nodded his head and winked, to signify he caught on, and did
+not check, for a single moment, his rattling flow of talk.  Jack, in
+the most natural manner, shifted his position to one side, so he was
+able to look upon every one in the wigwam without the appearance of
+any special object in doing so.
+
+The great point with the callers was to secure the good-will of the
+savages.  It may seem shrewd on their part, but any boy, no matter
+what his age, knows that the surest way to win the friendship of a
+household is to magnify the importance of the baby.
+
+The thought occurred to Otto long before, and more than once he
+explored his garments in search of some present for the youngster;
+but he possessed nothing that would answer.  His pockets were empty
+of anything in the shape of coin, bright medals, buttons, or
+playthings of any sort likely to attract the eye of the aboriginal
+American infant.
+
+He might have handed his hunting-knife to him, but more than likely,
+in his blind striking and kicking, he would gouge out an eye or
+attempt to scalp himself, and then the mother would turn upon the
+donor in her wrath.  Otto considered the project of borrowing the
+tomahawk of the chief and passing it over to the heir, but feared he
+would knock out his own brains or do something desperate, by which
+retribution would be visited on the head of Otto.
+
+But Jack Carleton was more fortunate, for in the pocket of his
+trousers was an English shilling, worn smooth and shining with the
+friction to which it had been long subjected.  It was just the thing
+to catch the eye of any baby, no matter what its nativity, and he
+stepped hastily forward and handed it to the one before him.
+
+The movement interested the parents scarcely less than the child.
+They watched Jack closely.  The little fellow snatched the bright
+coin in his snuffling, awkward fashion, and, when it was clutched in
+his fingers, made a furious shove, intending to drive it into his
+mouth.
+
+"Hold on," called Jack, in alarm; "I didn't give it to you to eat; I
+don't believe you can digest it."
+
+Just then the little fellow began to kick, cough, and fling himself
+harder than ever.  The mother sprang forward with an exclamation in
+her native tongue, and, catching her baby in her arms, began
+manipulating him in the most original fashion.  Standing upright in
+the middle of the wigwam, she inverted him, and, holding him by the
+heels, worked him up and down, as though he were the dasher of a
+chum.
+
+"If she don't do dot a leedle harder his head vill bounce off,"
+remarked Otto.
+
+The shilling flew from the throat of the baby, and Jack, thinking it
+had done enough harm, scooped over to pick it up; but, before he
+could lay hands on it, the mother snatched it from the ground and
+shoved it into one of the capacious receptacles of her dress.
+Evidently she identified the coin and knew its value.
+
+"All right," laughed Jack; "I'll be glad to have you keep it, if it
+will help to buy your friendship for us."
+
+During this stirring episode, and when the boys feared the heir of
+the wigwam was likely to choke himself to death, the father never
+ceased smoking, his pipe.  His piggish eyes were turned sideways, as
+though he thought the performance worth looking at; but, beyond
+that, he did not disturb himself.
+
+The infant, after his unpleasant experience, seemed to be as well as
+ever, and being tumbled back on the bison skin resumed his kicking
+and, crowing, as though seeking to make up for lost time.
+
+The occurrence produced an effect on Jack Carleton similar to that
+caused by the sight of the expansive smile of the Osage chieftain:
+he felt that no dangerous ill-will could exist wigwam which was the
+scene of the incident.
+
+The boys resumed their seats beside each other, where the other
+occupants of the lodge were in sight all the time, and then spoke
+with freedom.
+
+"I don't think they will, offer any harm," Jack, alluding, of
+course, to the squaw and the warrior.  I suspect he is an Osage."
+
+"Yaw--dot ish vot he tolds me," said Otto carefully weighing his
+words.
+
+"What else did he tell you?  But, first of all, let me know how you
+came to be his guest."
+
+Thereupon the German related, in his own fashion, the story which
+long since became familiar to the reader.  Jack Carleton listened
+with much interest, glancing from the husband to the wife and back
+again, with an occasional look at the baby, that had become so
+motionless as to show that he was asleep.
+
+"So you didn't get anything to eat?" remarked the young Kentuckian;
+"when I first saw you here I thought you were after food.  I am
+hungry, but I think the best thing we can do is to leave the lodge."
+
+"Vy not stays till mornings?"
+
+"It might do; but I'm a little too nervous to sleep, for there can
+be no certainty about them.  I hunted around for other lodges, but
+found none, and yet there may be plenty not far off.  He may have
+visitors, and, if they find us here, there's no telling what they
+will do."
+
+"What for you leave your gun ober dere just as I does mit mine?"
+
+"It struck me that that was the best way to show the old fellow that
+not only was I friendly myself, but that I took him to be a friend."
+
+"Dot ish so; but it would be as nice as nefet vos if bofe of our
+guns had us."
+
+"I will get mine."
+
+"Mebbe he won't lets you."
+
+"I'm almost as close to it as he; I can take a step or two before he
+will see what I mean to do, and then, if he undertakes to stop me,
+he will be too late."
+
+"Vot musn't I does?"
+
+"Attend to the squaw: if she makes a dive after me, you grab and
+hold her."
+
+"Yaw," was the hesitating response of Otto, who saw what unpleasant
+phases the situation was likely to assume.
+
+Before Jack Carleton rose to his feet, he discovered that something
+extraordinary was going on in the lodge.  Although the chief was
+sitting in his lazy attitude, yet his senses were on the alert and
+some sort of telegraphy was passing between him and his wife.  Both
+continued smoking their pipes and did not speak nor move their
+bodies.  Any one unable to see their faces would not suspect they
+were looking at each other.
+
+But they were not only doing so, but, singular as it may seem, were
+sending messages mainly by means of the smoke issuing from their
+dusky lips.  It was puffed forth, in every variety of manner,
+sometimes with little short jets, then with longer ones, then from
+one corner of the mouth and again from the other, all being
+accompanied by a contortion of the flexible lips which doubtless
+suggested some of the words in the minds of the two.
+
+"That's very strange," said Jack, in an undertone, after he and Otto
+had watched the performance several minutes.
+
+"Yaw, dot ish vot I dinks."
+
+"Why do they affect all that mystery?  If they want to say anything
+to each other, why not speak in their own tongue?  Neither of us can
+understand the first word."
+
+"But they doesn't knows dot."
+
+"They ought to know it.  However, we can't guess what they're
+talking about, though I would give much to know."
+
+Husband and wife were quick to observe they were under scrutiny, but
+they continued the curious interchange of thoughts for some time
+longer.  By and by they ceased and seemed be doing nothing beside
+smoking; Carleton was right in his belief that the sachem had heard
+something on the outside wigwam which greatly interested them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+AN UNWELCOME VISITOR
+
+
+Both Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub were disturbed by the singular
+behavior of the squaw and chief.
+
+"They're talking about something outdoors," whispered Jack; "keep
+quiet and listen."
+
+The faint rustling of the leaves, the gentle breathing of the
+sleeping infant, and the soft purring of the fire (caused by the
+sudden flaring up of one of the brands), were the only sounds that
+came to their ears.  Wish-o-wa-tum held the stem of his pipe between
+his lips, without ejecting any smoke, while his eyes were fixed on
+the ground in front of his feet, with that absent expression which
+showed he was listening intently to something not visible to the
+eye.  The attitude of the wife was similar, except that she looked
+steadily in the face of Jack Carleton, as though seeking to read his
+thoughts.
+
+Hark! both the boys caught a stirring of the leaves, precisely as if
+made by the foot of an animal prowling around the wigwam.
+
+"Sh!" warned Jack; "it's a man or beast!"
+
+The words had no more than left his lips, when the flapping deerskin
+was silently drawn backward and an Indian warrior entered.
+
+He was powerful and well formed in his war paint, and with his long
+rifle in his right hand.  He had no blanket thrown over his
+shoulders, but he was fully dressed in other respects, with knife
+and tomahawk thrust in the girdle around his waist.
+
+The first glance showed that he not only belonged to the Shawanoe
+tribe, but he was one of the most dreaded members of the same.  Both
+Otto and Jack had seen him before, his forehead and cheeks being so
+curiously marked as to identify him wherever no one else was
+similarly ornamented.
+
+When the boys were making their desperate run for the shelter of the
+logs on the other side, of the Mississippi, Otto threw back an
+affrighted look, which gave him such a vivid picture of that
+particular savage that he felt the memory would remain with him
+through life.  A few minutes after, as my reader will recall, Jack
+deliberately held fast to the upper edge of the rude fort and looked
+over upon the fierce warriors outside.  The one who particularly
+impressed him was the Shawanoe with the hideously painted
+countenance.  It was this same Indian that flung the bear skin about
+his shoulders and, creeping up the inclined tree trunk, surveyed the
+astonished youths below, and it was he who now entered the lodge of
+Wish-o-wa-tum and confronted the inmates.
+
+The truth flashed upon the boys: he was one of a party that had
+followed them across the Mississippi, and had traced them to this
+lodge.  It was natural the youths should believe that others were
+not far off.
+
+It will be remembered that Otto had left his gun on the edge of the
+clearing some distance away, while the weapon of Jack stood near the
+entrance of the lodge.  The instant the Shawanoe stepped inside, his
+eye rested on it, and, as if divining the truth, he extended his
+hand and picked it up.  The act gave him two guns, while neither of
+the boys possessed a fire-arm.
+
+Having performed this clever exploit, the Shawanoe, still standing
+erect, just within the lodge, turned to the chief and addressed him
+in what may be termed a mixture of the Shawanoe and Osage tongues.
+He paid no attention to the squaw at the other end of the wigwam,
+for to an American Indian the native woman is of little account
+under any circumstances.
+
+Nor did his face indicate that he was aware of the presence of the
+boys, who looked at him with dismay; but it was morally certain that
+the conversation which opened immediately related almost solely to
+them.
+
+"My gracious!" said Jack, when able to recover himself, "this is bad
+for us.  I never dreamed of anything of the kind."
+
+He spoke very guardedly, with his head close to his friend's though
+both narrowly watched the warriors, while giving expression to their
+own fears.
+
+"Vie didn't we start sooner don he comes?" whispered Otto, his jaw
+trembling with fear; "I don't see vot we doted does."
+
+An absurd scheme of escape suggested itself to Jack.
+
+"I wonder whether we can't dash through the side of the lodge and
+get away."
+
+"Wait till I sees."
+
+Otto carefully leaned back with a view of learning bow much
+resistance the deerskins would offer.  While they were quite strong,
+they were not taut, and yielded so much that the boy tipped over
+backwards, with his feet in the air, somewhat after the style of the
+baby when frolicking on the blanket.
+
+The two warriors, including the squaw, looked stolidly at him, and
+there was not the trace of a smile on any countenance.  Agitated as
+was Jack, he could not repress a slight laugh when he witnessed the
+discomfiture of his companion.
+
+"Mine gracious!" muttered Otto, clambering to the sitting position
+again; "I dinks dot some one have pulls de lodge away van I don't
+leans against him."
+
+Jack shook his head.
+
+"There's no use of trying that; before we could get through they
+could catch us both.  If they attack us, we'll have to make the beat
+fight we can."
+
+"And dot won't be good for nodding," was the truthful remark of
+Otto, who looked toward the two warriors again.
+
+The Shawanoe must have felt he was entire master of the situation.
+As if to remove any doubt on that point in the minds of the youths,
+he now set down the gun he had picked up, leaned his own against the
+side of the lodge, close to it, and then seated himself about half
+way between the door and the sleeping baby.  This placed him
+opposite Wish-o-wa-tum and closer to the entrance where were Otto
+and Jack.  For the latter to pass out, they must rush by both
+warriors, a feat utterly impossible, should the Indians object.  It
+was equally beyond their power to secure the guns, which would have
+proven potent factors in settling the question.
+
+"I believe he has left the rifles there on purpose to tempt us to
+make a dash for them," said Jack, half inclined to accept the
+challenge, hopeless as it was.
+
+"Dot ish vot they does him for," assented Otto.
+
+Jack was strongly of the belief that other Shawanoes were near.  It
+was unreasonable to suppose that a single warrior would have crossed
+the Mississippi alone, when a dozen of them had proven unable to
+bring the boys to terms.
+
+"They have found we are in here," was the thought of the boy, "and
+becoming tired of waiting for us, have sent this one to talk with
+the Osage and to hurry us out.  Ah, why did Deerfoot leave us so
+soon?  If we ever needed him, now is the time."
+
+The name of the wonderful youth gave a new turn to the thoughts of
+the lad.  He asked himself whether it was probable that the
+Shawanoes and Miamis had sent a party over to pursue the boys alone,
+or to revenge themselves upon Deerfoot.  Their enmity against the
+latter must be tenfold greater than it could be against any one
+else.
+
+The most natural decision to which the lad could come was that the
+hostiles were numerous enough to divide and follow both trails.  At
+any rate it was improbable, as has already been said, that the task
+of running the youths to earth was entrusted to a single warrior.
+
+While Wish-o-wa-tum and his latest visitor were talking in their
+odd, granting fashion, the boys carefully studied their
+countenances, in the vain effort to read the meaning of the words
+that passed their lips.  They occasionally glanced at the squaw, who
+manifested more interest than was expected.  Sometimes she held the
+pipe for a minute or two motionless, her eyes on the warriors, as if
+anxious to catch every word.  Then she would give a snuff or grunt,
+lean forward and stir the fire and smoke with great vigor.
+
+To the amazement of the listening boys, the red men all at once
+changed their language to the English--or rather they attempted to
+do so, for they made sorry work of it.
+
+"Dog Deerfoot--he dog," was the somewhat obscure remark of the
+latest arrival.
+
+"Him so," nodded Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, who probably had never
+beard of the individual until within the last few minutes.
+
+"Deerfoot dog--coward--shoot Injin no more."
+
+Wish-o-wa-tum started a reply in English, but the difficulty was
+such that he slid back into his own lingo.  Consequently, the
+purport of what he said was lost upon the youths.  Jack Carleton,
+however, was quick enough to suspect the meaning, of the proceeding
+which troubled him so much at first.  The words in broken English
+were intended for the friends of Deerfoot.  It was characteristic of
+the Shawanoe visitor that he should attempt to play upon the
+feelings of the hapless boys.
+
+"Deerfoot dead," he added, with a sidelong glance toward the latter,
+which confirmed the suspicion of the young Kentuckian.
+
+Otto started on hearing the words, but whispered, as he hitched
+closer to his friend:
+
+"I don't dinks so."
+
+"Nor do I--hark!"
+
+"How die?" asked Wish-o-wa-tum again struggling with the tongue to
+which he was a subject rather than of which he was master.
+
+"Arorara threw him down," replied the visitor, striking his fist
+against his breast to signify the name was his own; "jump on
+him--take scalp.  Deerfoot dog!"
+
+"I know how deceitful the Indians are," said Jack in the same low
+tone, "but that fellow don't know bow to lie in English.  I should
+like to see the warrior that can throw Deerfoot down and take his
+scalp."
+
+The Shawanoe seemed to have overheard the expression, or at least
+suspected its meaning, guarded though the words were in their
+utterance, for he leaped to his feet and again striking his fist
+against his chest, exclaimed in hot anger:
+
+"Deerfoot dog--Deerfoot dead!  Arorara take scalp."
+
+To the amazement of Jack Carleton, Otto also sprang to his feet, and
+struck his chest a resounding thump.
+
+"Arorara ish one pig liar!" he shouted; "he is a liar as never vos!
+He says dot Deerfoot is dead, and dere stands Deerfoot now!"
+
+And as the German lad thundered the words, he pointed toward the
+deerskin, which had been flung back once more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+PURSUER AND PURSUED
+
+
+When Deerfoot the Shawanoe encountered his enemy in the path and
+turned over the rifle to him, he knew that his leniency toward his
+implacable foe had not softened his heart in the least.  He only
+awaited the opportunity to turn like a rattlesnake on his
+magnanimous master, and the youth therefore took particular care
+that such opportunity should not be given him.
+
+Deerfoot held his tomahawk tightly grasped and poised, determined to
+hurl it with resistless and unerring aim on the very first move of
+the warrior against him.  He remained as rigid as bronze until the
+other was a couple of rods distant.  Then he noiselessly shoved back
+the tomahawk in his girdle, picked up his bow and vanished like a
+shadow.  When the warrior turned, as the reader will recall, he saw
+no one.
+
+Deerfoot was confident that after such a meeting, the one whom he
+had spared would not follow him.  He would be glad enough to escape
+altogether without arousing the wrath of him who would not show
+mercy a second time.  Nevertheless, the matchless youth sped along
+the path in the gathering gloom, with that swiftness which earned
+him his expressive name while he was yet a mere boy.  No man,
+American or Caucasian, could hold his own against him in his
+phenomenal fleetness.  He swept through the forest, never pausing,
+but darting forward like a bird on the wing, that eludes by the
+marvelous quickness of eye the labyrinth of limbs and obstructions
+which interpose almost every second across his line of flight.
+
+Not until he had sped fully a half mile did slacken in the slightest
+his astonishing pace, and then there was not the least quickening of
+the pulse or hastening of the gentle breath.  Had chose, he could
+have maintained the same for hours without discomfort or fatigue.
+
+While, in one sense, Deerfoot was fleeing a Shawanoe, he was, in the
+same sense, pursue another, in whom his chief interest centered.
+The night deepened, and the moon, climbing above the tree tops,
+penetrated the gloomy recesses in few places with its silvery beams.
+When a mile had been passed, the young warrior paused and listened.
+
+"He cannot follow me when his eyes see no trail," he said to
+himself, alluding to the Shawanoe whom he had spared.
+
+It followed as a corollary that the same difficulty confronted him
+in pursuing his friends and the enemy who clung so close to their
+footprints.  He stopped and softly passed his hand over the leafy
+ground.  Not the slightest artificial depression was there; he had
+lost the trail of the party.
+
+As it was utterly out of the question to learn how far he had
+diverged from the path, it was also beyond his power to return to
+it--that is, so long as the night lasted.  The hoof-prints of the
+horse were cut so deep in the yielding earth that, with considerable
+trouble, he could have traced them among the trees; but even then he
+would lack the great help which the scout is generally able to
+command.  In following a trail at night, he needs to possess a
+thorough knowledge of the country, so as to reason out the probable
+destination of his enemies, and consequently the general route they
+will take.  More than likely they will aim for some crossing or
+camping ground, many miles in advance.  The knowledge of the hunter
+may enable him to take a shorter course and, by putting his horse to
+his best, reach of them.  About all he does, when engaged in this
+hot chase, is to take his observations at widely separated points,
+with a view of learning he is going astray.
+
+It was precisely in this manner that the greatest scout of modern
+days, Kit Carson, led a party on the heels of a party of Mexican
+horse-thieves, with his steeds on a fall gallop the night thoroughly
+overtook the criminals at daylight, chastised them and recaptured
+the stolen property.
+
+Deerfoot was lacking in that one requisite--familiarity with the
+country.  He had journeyed up and down the shores of the Mississippi,
+had visited the settlement further west, and had gain much knowledge
+of the southwestern portion of the present State of Missouri; but
+this member of our Union occupies an immense area, and years would
+be needed to enable him to act as guide through every section of it.
+He had never traveled in many parts, and it will be perceived,
+therefore, that it was out of his power to theorize in the wonderfully
+brilliant manner which often made his successes due to an intuitive
+inspiration that at times seemed to hover on the verge of the
+unknowable sixth sense.
+
+But strange must be the occasion in which Deerfoot would feel
+compelled to fold his, arms and say, "I can do no more."
+
+He had stood less than three minutes in the attitude of deep
+attention, when he emitted a peculiar fluttering whistle, such as a
+timid night bird sometimes makes from its perch in the up most
+branches, while calling to its mate.  It was still trembling on the
+air, when a response came from a point not far away and to the
+right.  Could any one have seen the face of the youthful Shawanoe,
+he would have observed a faint but grim smile playing around his
+mouth.
+
+He had uttered the signal which the Shawanoes rarely used.  When
+members of their scouts became temporarily lost from each other,
+while in the immediate neighborhood of an enemy, and it was
+necessary they should locate themselves, they did so by means of the
+signal described.  They refrained from appealing to it except in
+cases of the utmost urgency, for if used too often it was likely to
+become known to their enemies and its usefulness thus destroyed.
+
+Deerfoot had secured a reply from the Shawanoe for whom he was
+hunting, and thus learned his precise whereabouts.  He instantly
+began stealing his way toward him.
+
+The usage among this remarkable tribe of Indians required him to
+repeat the peculiar cry after hearing it, and the party of the
+second should respond similarly.  When the call had been wafted back
+and forth in this fashion, Shawanoe law forbade its repetition,
+except after a considerable interval, and then only under the most
+urgent necessity.
+
+Deerfoot held his peace, though he knew warrior was awaiting his
+answer.  Failing to call the response, the other would conclude that
+the signal was in truth the call of a bird; but to guard against any
+error, he repeated the tremulous whistle, when the stealthy Deerfoot
+was within a few rods.
+
+The latter could have taken his life with suddenness almost of the
+lightning bolt, but he had no wish to do so.  If Jack Carleton and
+Otto Relstaub were in danger it would be from this warrior alone,
+and so long as Deerfoot could keep him "in hand" no such danger
+existed.
+
+In the open forest, where the moonlight penetrated, a shadowy figure
+assumed shape, and the pursuer recognized it as that of the Indian
+whom he was so anxious to find.  He had concluded to wait no longer,
+and was advancing in a blind way along the trail of the lads.
+
+Deerfoot stooped and passed his hand over the ground.  One sweep was
+enough to, identify the prints of the horse's hoofs, and the more
+delicate impressions made by shoes and moccasins.  The young Shawanoe,
+by a careful examination of the trail, did that which will scarcely
+be believed: he ascertained that one pair of moccasins went forward
+and the other took the opposite course.  Consequently, the Shawanoes
+had parted company at a point slightly in advance (it could not be
+far), and the warrior whom he saw must have waited where he was
+while the night was closing in.
+
+A few rods further and a second examination revealed the trail of a
+single pair of moccasins, the line of demarcation had been passed.
+
+All this time the elder was pushing among trees, Deerfoot catching a
+glimpse of him now and then, so as to be able to regulate his own
+pace that of his enemy.  It was needful also that much
+circumspection should be used, for when one person can trace the
+movements of another, it follows that the possibilities are
+reciprocal and the law vice versa obtains.  The youth therefore held
+resolutely back, and so guarded his movements that he was assured
+against detection by any glance the warrior might cast behind him.
+
+The trees in front diminished in number and soon ceased altogether.
+The Shawanoe had reached the edge of a natural opening or clearing.
+Pausing a moment, he stepped out where the moon shone full upon him,
+and then halted again.  Having the advantage of cover, Deerfoot
+slipped carefully forward, until he stood within a few yards of the
+red man, who little dreamed of the dreaded one that was within the
+throw of a tomahawk.
+
+The elder Indian seemed to be speculating the probable course of the
+unconscious fugitives.  It could not be supposed that he was familiar
+with the country (since his home was on the other side of the
+Mississippi), but like the majority of mankind when in difficulty, he
+was able to form a theory, but unlike that majority, he proved his
+faith in it by his works.  Instead of following the footprints, he
+diverged to the right and coursed along the edge of the clearing,
+where he was almost entirely concealed by the shadow of the trees.
+
+He had not gone far, when Deerfoot silently emerged from the wood.
+His keen eye revealed what must have been noticed by the other: on
+that spot the boys had stopped with the intention of encamping for
+the night.  Had they remained, beyond all doubt one or both would
+have been slain, but from some cause (long since explained to the
+reader) they passed on.
+
+Deerfoot hurried on with a speed that was almost reckless, for that
+marvelous intuition seemed to whisper that the crisis was near.  His
+friends could not be far off, and the question of safety or danger
+must be speedily settled.
+
+Just beyond the clearing, while hastening forward, he caught, the
+glow of the fire shining through the rents and crevices of the shabby
+skin of the Osage wigwam.  He heard the of voices within, and a few
+seconds later he was peeping through the same orifice that had a
+similar purpose for jack Carleton when played the part of eavesdropper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+TURNING THE TABLES
+
+
+Although Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub understood nothing of the
+conversation (excepting the few words of mangled English) between
+Wish-o-wa-tum, the Osage chieftain, and the Shawanoe who entered his
+lodge, little was lost upon Deerfoot.
+
+Without quoting the language, it may be said that Arorara declared
+the two boys to be thieves and wretches of the worst imaginable
+degree.  They had stolen the horses of the Shawanoes and Miamis, and
+had treacherously shot, not only the warriors, but the squaws and
+papooses, when they lay asleep by their camp-fires.
+
+Arorara said he had been sent by his people to follow across the
+river, and punish them for their many crimes.  His purpose in
+placing the guns as he had done, near the entrance of the lodge, was
+to tempt the boys to make a rush to escape.
+
+When they did so, Arorara proposed that he and Wish-o-wa-tum should
+leap upon them with knives.
+
+When this plan was fully explained to the chief, he nodded his head
+and signified that he would willingly lend his hand.  It was a
+matter of indifference to him, and, but for the coming of the
+Shawanoe, he probably would have allow the boys to depart without
+harm.  With Wish-o-wa-tum the whole question resolved itself into
+one of policy.  He lived alone and had never been disturbed by the
+white settlers, who were locating in different parts of the territory.
+If he should help in the taking off of youngsters, their friends
+would not be likely to suspect him, and there was little probability
+of the truth ever reaching their ears.
+
+But, if he refused the request of the guest, the fierce tribe to
+which he belonged would be sure to go out of their way to punish
+him.  He therefore gave his assent, and added that he was ready do
+his part whenever Arorara wished.
+
+It was at that juncture that the two red men essayed expression in
+English, and Deerfoot saw that he must interfere at once.  While
+moving to the front of the lodge, he scanned his immediate surroundings,
+so far as he could, but neither saw nor heard anything of the other
+Shawanoe.  In short, from what has already been told, it will be seen
+that it was impossible for him to be in that vicinity.
+
+Throwing back the deerskin, the youthful warrior stepped quickly
+within the wigwam.  His bow was flung over his back, and, being
+perfectly familiar with the interior, he extended his hand and
+caught up the weapon nearest him, standing erect and facing all the
+occupants as did Arorara a short time before.  This movement and the
+entrance itself were made with such deftness that no one observed
+his presence, with the exception of Otto Relstaub, who by accident
+happened to look toward him just as he entered.
+
+But the startling words of the German lad, accompanied by the
+extension of his arm and finger toward the door, turned every eye
+like a flash in that direction.  They were just in time to catch a
+glimpse of the arms of Deerfoot, as they were raised like the
+flitting of the wings of a bird, and almost in the same breath the
+youth was seen to be looking along the gleaming barrel pointed the
+breast of the astounded warrior.
+
+"Dog of a Shawanoe!" exclaimed Deerfoot, his voice as firm and
+unwavering as his nerves; "coward!  Serpent that creeps in the grass
+and strikes the heel of the hunter; Arorara speaks with a double
+tongue; he says he took the scalp of Deerfoot, but the scalp of
+Deerfoot is here, and he dares Arorara and Waughtauk and Tecumseh
+and all the chiefs and sachems and warriors of the Shawanoes, to
+take it!"
+
+The rifle, with the hammer drawn back, was flung to the ground, and
+whipping out his hunting knife, the youth grasped the handle with
+fingers of steel and assumed a defiant attitude. His face was aflame
+with passion, and his breast became a raging volcano of wrath.
+
+In truth, Deerfoot had lost control of himself for the moment.  An
+overwhelming sense of his persecution caused his nature to revolt,
+and he longed for the excuse to leap upon the Shawanoe who had
+followed him across the Mississippi.  There was a single moment when
+he gathered his muscles for a tiger-like bound at his enemy, he was
+restrained only by the pitiful expression on the terrified
+countenance.
+
+The youth addressed his words to Arorara and his blazing eyes were
+fixed on him.  He had no quarrel with Wish-o-wa-tum and understood
+his position, but he would not have shrunk from an attack by both.
+Deerfoot knew that either was more powerful than he, but in cat-like
+agility there could be no comparison between them.
+
+Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, however, showed very plainly that he held
+the invader of his lodge in great fear.  He displayed visible emotion,
+when listening to the ringing words of defiance; but he possessed
+sense enough to perceive they were not addressed to him, and he
+continued to smoke his pipe in silence.
+
+The squaw at the further end of the wigwam started, and with the
+pipe in her grasp, stared with a dazed expression at the daring
+intruder; then, like the true mother the world over, she leaned
+forward, caught up her sleeping infant and held him to her breast,
+ready to defend him with her life.
+
+Arorara looked in turn straight into the burning countenance of
+Deerfoot.  The elder warrior had unconsciously assumed an admirable
+pose, his left foot forward, his hand resting on the handle of his
+tomahawk, his whole position that of a gathering his strength for a
+tremendous leap.  But though his fingers toyed with the weapon at
+his waist, they did not draw it forth; it was for that precise
+signal the youth was waiting.
+
+While in this attitude, which might have been accepted as indicating
+the most heroic courage, Deerfoot saw the lump or Adam's apple rise
+sink in his throat, precisely as if he were to swallow something.
+It was done twice, and was a sign of weakness on the part of
+Arorara.
+
+The consuming anger of Deerfoot burned out like a flash of powder.
+Hatred became contempt; enmity turned to scorn, and the mortal peril
+of the warrior vanished.
+
+"Who now is the dog?" asked Deerfoot in English, with a curl of his
+lip.  "Arorara is brave when he stands before the youths who have no
+weapons; he then speaks with the double tongue; he cannot utter the
+truth.  Arorara has his tomahawk and knife, Deerfoot has his; let
+them fight and see whose scalp shall remain."
+
+"Don't you do dot, old Roarer," exclaimed Otto Relstaub, stepping
+forward in much excitement; "if you does, den you won't be old
+Roarer not any more, as nefer vose-yaw!  Dunderation!"
+
+"Let them alone," commanded Jack Carleton, catching his arm and
+drawing him back; "don't interfere."
+
+"Don't you sees?" asked Otto, turning his head and speaking in a
+whisper; "I want to scare old Roarer."
+
+"There's no call for doing that, for he's so seared now he can't
+speak; he won't fight Deerfoot."
+
+Arorara possessed less courage than Tecumseh, who, when challenged
+by Deerfoot in almost the same manner, would have fought him to the
+death had not others interposed.  The Shawanoe was now in mortal
+terror of such an encounter.
+
+"Deerfoot and Arorara are brothers," said he, swallowing again the
+lump that rose in his throat; "they belong to the same totem; they
+are Shawanoes; the Great Spirit would frown to see them harm each
+other."
+
+The words were spoken in Shawanoe, but Jack and Otto saw, from the
+looks and manner of the elder warrior, that he was subdued and could
+not be forced into a struggle with the lithe and willowy youth.
+
+It was not flattering to the pride of the young Kentuckian and his
+companion that while Arorara felt no fear of them jointly, he was
+terrified by the bearing of Deerfoot, who voluntarily relinquished
+the advantage he possessed in the hope that it would induce the
+other to fight.
+
+The abject words of Arorara caused a reaction in the feelings of
+Deerfoot.  His conscience condemned him for his outburst of passion,
+and had the situation permitted, he would have prostrated himself in
+prayer and begged the forgiveness of  the Great Spirit whom he had
+offended.
+
+But nothing in his face or voice or manner betrayed the change.
+
+He remained standing in front of the deerskin, which was thrown
+back, so that the light from the camp-fire shone against the gloom
+beyond; his left hand held the knife with the same rigid grasp, and
+the limbs, which in the American Indian rarely show much muscular
+development, were as drawn as steel.
+
+The squaw clasped the sleeping infant to her husky bosom and glared
+at Deerfoot, like a lioness at bay.  Had he advanced to do harm to
+her offspring, she would have sprang upon him with the fierceness of
+that beast and defended the little one to the death.  Had the youth
+assailed Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, probably she would have sat an
+interested spectator of the scene until it became clear which way it
+was going, when she might have wrapped her baby in bison-skin,
+placed him carefully away, and taken a part in the struggle.
+
+The Osage resumed the deliberate puffing of his pipe, but glanced
+from one face to the other of the two Shawanoes.  Stolid and lazy as
+he was, by nature and training, he could not help feeling stirred by
+the curious scene.
+
+Jack Carleton and Otto were on their feet, studying the two
+countenances with equal intentness.  Both were cheered by the
+consciousness that danger no longer threatened them, and that
+whatever followed must accord with the fact that Deerfoot the
+Shawanoe was master of the situation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+"My brother speaks with a single tongue," said Deerfoot, replying to
+the cringing words of Arorara: "the Great Spirit will frown when be
+sees two brothers fighting each other.  Deerfoot has slain more than
+one Shawanoe and has spared others; he will spare Arorara; he may
+sit down beside the Osage warrior and smoke pipe with him."
+
+Immediately the youth shoved his knife in place, and for the first
+time seemed to become aware that he stood in the presence of others.
+He bestowed no attention on Wish-o-wa-tum or his squaw, but
+addressed his young friends.
+
+"Let my brothers go from this lodge and make their way homeward;
+Arorara will not pursue them."
+
+"Arorara will do them no harm," said the individual in as cringing
+manner as before.
+
+ "No, he will not, for Deerfoot will watch and slay Arorara if he
+seeks to do so," quietly remarked the youth, who, in every sense of
+the word, continued master of the situation.
+
+"Let us do vot he tells us," suggested Otto, moving awkwardly toward
+the door.
+
+Deerfoot stepped slightly aside, to make room for them, and Jack
+accepted the movement as an invitation for them to pass out.  Otto
+held back so as to permit the other to go first, and he followed
+close behind him.  Otto did not glance at or speak to either.  He
+had his misgivings concerning not only Arorara, but the Osage, who
+might resent this invasion of his castle.  Like the finely trained
+Indian, he "took no chances."
+
+Jack and Otto were intensely interested in the situation, but they
+did not forget themselves.  The former, as be passed out, picked up
+his own rifle, while Otto took the one belonging to the Indian, who
+was left at liberty to hunt the gun left on the clearing by the
+German lad when he prepared to start his camp-fire for the evening.
+Thus each boy was furnished with the weapon which is indispensable
+to the ranger of the woods.
+
+Every one can understand the reluctance of the two to walk from the
+lodge with their turned upon their foe.  With all their confidence
+in the prowess of Deerfoot, they felt a misgiving which was sure to
+distress them, so long as the enemies were in sight.  On reaching
+the outside, therefore, they turned about, walked slowly backwards,
+and watched the wigwam.
+
+The deerskin being drawn aside, they could the figure of the young
+Shawanoe, who had stepped back in front of it.  Just beyond was partly
+visible the subdued Shawanoe, he and his conqueror obscuring
+the squaw, still further away, while Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder was
+out of range.
+
+"I think that little place saw more surprises, this evening than it
+will ever see again," said Jack Carleton, bending his head with the
+purpose of gaining a better view; "in fact it has been a series of
+surprise parties from the beginning."
+
+"Yaw, dot ish vot I dinks all a'while, but mine gracious!"
+
+Hitherto it had been the running vines, growing close to the ground,
+which caused overturnings of Otto, but now it was another obstruction
+in the shape of a tree trunk, over which Jack stepped, taking care
+however, to say nothing to his companion concerning it.  The smaller
+sticks lying near made it look as if the trunk served to help the
+squaw of Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, when she was breaking or cutting
+wood for the wigwam.
+
+Be that as it may, the heels of Otto struck it and he went over on
+his back, with hat and gun flying and shoes pointed upward.
+
+"I dinks dot vos a pig vine," he said, clambering to his feet and
+shaking himself together again.
+
+"You're getting to be the best fellow at tumbling I ever saw," said
+Jack, suppressing, as well as he could, his laughter.
+
+"Dot ish so," assented the victim, too good-natured to find fault
+after his fortunate escape.
+
+By this time, they were so far from the Osage lodge that very little
+could be seen of the interior, and they turned round and walked side
+by side.
+
+"It seems like a dream," remarked the young Kentuckian; "a few
+minutes ago, there was no escape for us, and now I cannot think we
+are in the least danger."
+
+"Who dinks dot de Shawanoes comes over der river after us?" asked
+Otto.
+
+"Nobody besides Deerfoot: there isn't anything that he doesn't think
+of that is worth thinking about."
+
+"Den vy he leaves us, when we leaves him?"
+
+"I've asked myself that question, Otto;  it must be that, after we
+parted, he learned something which told him the Shawanoes had
+crossed the Mississippi after us.  He changed his course and came to
+our help, and it's mighty fortunate he did so."
+
+"I guess dot ish so; we will asks him when we don't see him."
+
+"I have my doubt about seeing him again."
+
+"How ish dot?"
+
+"You remember he said more than once he had reason to take another
+course, and he did do so.  He could not have been blamed for
+believing we were able to get along without him, after entering
+Louisiana.  At any rate, he will think so now."
+
+This was a reasonable conclusion, and Otto agreed with his friend
+that they were not likely to meet the extraordinary youth for some
+time to come.  He would probably take another direction, for, after
+the threat he uttered to Arorara, and the panic into which he had
+thrown him, that warrior would be glad to hasten back to his
+friends, who were equally eager to reach Kentucky without loss of
+time.
+
+The moon was high in the heavens and the woods open.  Much to the
+relief of Otto, the vines gave him no further trouble, and they
+progressed without difficulty.  The neighborhood was strange to
+them, but they had tramped the wilderness too often to care.  They
+were sure of the general direction they were following, and were
+confident now of reaching home, which could be no great distance
+away.
+
+Such a buoyancy of spirits came over the boys that it was hard to
+restrain themselves from shouting and leaping with joy.  But for the
+mishaps attending such sport they would have run at full speed and
+flung their hats in air.  Several miles were passed before they
+became thoughtful and quiet.
+
+"Mine gracious!" abruptly exclaimed Otto, stopping short and
+striking his knee a resounding whack; "vere ain't dot hoss?"
+
+"Had you forgotten about him?" asked companion with a smile.
+
+"I nefer dinks apout him since we comes the lodge."
+
+"I have, more than once; I made up my mind, when I found you in the
+wigwam, that if you got out alive, I would insist that we go
+straight home and think no more about the animal; but matters are in
+a better shape, and we'll wait till to-morrow before we decide."
+
+"Dot suits me," assented Otto, nodding his head several times.
+
+As nearly as they could conjecture, they were some six miles from
+the residence of Wish-o-wa-tum or Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, when
+they decided to stop for the night.  They were fully warranted in
+believing that all danger from red men was ended; and, as they had
+no means of finding a good camping site, they stopped at once and
+began gathering fuel.  The task was soon over, and the flint and
+steel gave the speedily grew into a roaring blaze, the boys sat and
+looked in each other's face.
+
+The night was cool, but pleasant.  Clouds, however, were continually
+drifting across the face of the moon, and a certain restlessness of
+feeling, of which even the rugged youngsters were sensible, told
+that a change was coming.
+
+The hour spent in the Osage wigwam was redolent of smoking venison,
+and the boys smacked their lips and shook their heads, after the
+manner of youngsters, with healthful appetites but there was no way
+of procuring food, and they philosophically accepted the situation,
+refraining from reference to eatables until there was a prospect of
+obtaining them.
+
+Through all the eventful experience of the evening, Jack and Otto
+had retained their blankets.  The circumstances were such that
+neither of the Indians with whom they were brought in contact cared
+to secure them, though it may be suspected that, Wish-o-wa-tum would
+have laid claim to that of the German, except for the visit of
+Arorara and Deerfoot.
+
+Seated by the cheerful fire, the friends talked in rambling fashion
+until drowsy, when they wrapped their blankets around them and lay
+down to sleep.  Some risk was involved in the proceeding, inasmuch
+as the fire was likely to attract wild animals to the spot, but
+providentially none disturbed the young pioneers, who slept quiet
+and security until the sun was in the sky.
+
+The first step was a hunt for breakfast, for Jack and Otto were in a
+state of ravenous hunger.  They separated and were gone a half hour,
+when the rifle of the young Kentuckian rang out and he soon
+reappeared by the renewed camp-fire with a fine wild turkey, which,
+it need not be said, afforded a nourishing and delightful meal for
+them both.
+
+"Otto," said Jack, springing to his feet like a refreshed giant, "we
+must hunt again for the horse."
+
+"Dot ishn't vot I don't dinks too--dot ish I does dinks so."
+
+"And you must now try to straighten out your English, so that
+Deerfoot and I may not be ashamed of you."
+
+Otto nodded his head by way of assent, while he thought hard about
+the proper manner of expressing himself.
+
+But an almost insurmountable difficulty confronted the boys from the
+first.  It was impossible to make search for the missing animal
+until his footprints should be found, and the only way in which that
+could be done was by retracing, to a considerable extent, their own
+footsteps.  Though somewhat disappointed, Jack Carleton was not
+surprised, when taking his bearings by the sun, he learned they had
+wandered from the proper path.  They had turned to the left, until
+the course was south of southwest.  They had gone far astray indeed.
+
+The weather became more threatening.  The sun had been above the
+horizon less than an hour when its light was obscured by clouds, and
+the windows of heaven were certain to be opened long before the orb
+should sink in the west.
+
+Two miles were traveled, when the boys found themselves so close to
+a large clearing, that they wondered how it escaped their notice the
+preceding night.  It covered more than an acre, and at one time was
+the site of an Indian village.  As a matter of course a small stream
+ran near, and the red men who at no remote day made their dwelling
+places there must have numbered fully a hundred.
+
+While wandering over the tract and looking about them, their eyes
+rested on an elevation no more than a third of a mile distant.  It
+was thickly wooded, but a prodigious rock near the crest resembled a
+spot that had been burned clear.
+
+"Helloa!" suddenly called out Jack Carleton, while gazing in the
+direction, "there's someone on that rock."
+
+"I guess it ish a crow or bear--no, it ishn't."
+
+"My gracious! it's Deerfoot."
+
+A moment's scrutiny proved that the individual, beyond all question
+was an Indian.  Furthermore, he was making signals, probably having
+descried them before they saw him.
+
+"I guess he only means to salute us," said Jack.
+
+Such seemed to be the case.  The red man who was Deerfoot, waved his
+hand in friendly salutation several minutes, then leaped from the
+rock and vanished.  It looked as if he had taken several hours to
+assure himself the boys were in no danger from the Shawanoes; and,
+having done so, he now bade them good-bye in his characteristic
+fashion, giving his whole thought and energy to the business which
+carried him far into the southwestern portion of the present State
+of Missouri.
+
+Jack and Otto gazed in the direction of the rock a considerable
+while, hoping their friend would reappear, or that he had started to
+join them; but they were compelled to believe he had left, and for a
+time at least, would be seen no more.
+
+The boys followed the back trail some distance further, when to
+their delight they came upon the footprints of the missing horse,
+marked so distinctly in the yielding earth that there could be no
+mistake as to their identity.
+
+"Now, that's what I call good luck," exclaimed Jack, slapping his
+friend on the back.
+
+"Dot ish vot I dinks--how ish dot?" asked Otto with a beaming face,
+alluding to his own diction.
+
+"Capital!--think twice before you speak once, and before long you
+won't be the worst bungler with your tongue that lives west of the
+Alleghenies."
+
+'The German gazed at his companion as if on the point of reproving
+him, but concluded to take time to put his words in proper shape.
+
+An interesting fact was noticed by both: the trail verged toward the
+elevation where they last saw Deerfoot.  Jack Carleton was set to
+thinking and speculating over the situation.  He asked himself
+whether, when Deerfoot was about to pass out of their sight, his
+gesticulations did not signify more than his friends supposed.
+
+"I wonder if he did not mean to tell us the horse was not far off: I
+believe he did."
+
+"I--dinks--ot--ish-likely--vot--he--does," assented Otto, speaking
+with such deliberation that Jack looked in his face, laughed and
+nodded his head, approvingly.
+
+"We shall soon find out, for the trail is plain and must be new."
+
+But an unpleasant truth forced itself on their notice.  Rain drops
+were pattering upon the leaves, and the darkening sky presaged a
+storm.
+
+As the best and indeed the only way to protect themselves against a
+good drenching, the boys selected a tree whose foliage was
+particularly abundant, and seated themselves on the ground with
+their backs against it.  Then the blankets were gathered over their
+heads and around their shoulders, and they felt as secure as if in
+their own log cabins, miles distant.
+
+The rain fell steadily for nearly two hours, when it gradually
+ceased, and Jack and Otto quickly made ready to resume their
+journey.  The leaves, twigs and limbs were dripping with moisture,
+so that, with the utmost care, it was impossible to advance far
+without their garments becoming saturated.  That, however, was not a
+serious matter, and caused little remark.
+
+For some rods the, hoof-prints of the horse were followed, but then
+came the trouble.  The rain had beaten down the leaves on the ground
+with such force that even the keen eyes of the young Kentuckian
+began to doubt.  Finally the two paused, and Otto, having carefully
+prepared himself, said:
+
+"I dinks dot ish no use for us to hunt the horse."
+
+"I am sorry to give it up and own we are beaten, but that is what we
+shall have to do."
+
+"Vy do we does dot?"
+
+"We are trying to follow a Lost Trail."
+
+"If we does dot den we gots lost ourselves."
+
+"More than likely we shall, but I am afraid that if we go home
+without the colt, your father will punish you."
+
+Otto shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"It vill not be the first times dot he does dot.  I can stand it, I
+dinks."
+
+"It will be a great pity, nevertheless, and shall do my best to
+shame him if he should be mean enough to hold any such purpose."
+
+"Mebbe after we gots home and stays one while, we start out agin
+some times more and look for the golt."
+
+"I have been thinking of the same thing," said Jack, who now changed
+their course with the view of reaching home with the least possible
+delay.
+
+The boys pushed forward with so much energy that on the next day,
+before the sun had reached the meridian, they arrived home, where
+for present we must bid them good-bye.
+
+But what befell them and Deerfoot in the eventful journey which they
+speedily ventured upon in search of the LOST TRAIL, will be told in
+Number Two of the Log Cabin Series, entitled "CAMP-FIRE AND
+WIGWAM."
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Trail, by Edward S. Ellis
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TRAIL ***
+
+This file should be named lstrl10.txt or lstrl10.zip
+Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, lstrl11.txt
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, lstrl10a.txt
+
+Produced by Sean Pobuda
+
+Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we usually do not
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance
+of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
+Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections,
+even years after the official publication date.
+
+Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til
+midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
+The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at
+Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
+preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
+and editing by those who wish to do so.
+
+Most people start at our Web sites at:
+http://gutenberg.net or
+http://promo.net/pg
+
+These Web sites include award-winning information about Project
+Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new
+eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!).
+
+
+Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement
+can get to them as follows, and just download by date.  This is
+also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the
+indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an
+announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter.
+
+http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or
+ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03
+
+Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90
+
+Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want,
+as it appears in our Newsletters.
+
+
+Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
+
+We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
+time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
+to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
+searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.   Our
+projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If the value
+per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
+million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text
+files per month:  1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+
+We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002
+If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total
+will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end.
+
+The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks!
+This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
+which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users.
+
+Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated):
+
+eBooks Year Month
+
+    1  1971 July
+   10  1991 January
+  100  1994 January
+ 1000  1997 August
+ 1500  1998 October
+ 2000  1999 December
+ 2500  2000 December
+ 3000  2001 November
+ 4000  2001 October/November
+ 6000  2002 December*
+ 9000  2003 November*
+10000  2004 January*
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created
+to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people
+and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut,
+Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois,
+Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts,
+Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New
+Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
+Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South
+Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West
+Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
+
+We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones
+that have responded.
+
+As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list
+will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states.
+Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state.
+
+In answer to various questions we have received on this:
+
+We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally
+request donations in all 50 states.  If your state is not listed and
+you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have,
+just ask.
+
+While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are
+not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting
+donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to
+donate.
+
+International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about
+how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made
+deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are
+ways.
+
+Donations by check or money order may be sent to:
+
+Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+PMB 113
+1739 University Ave.
+Oxford, MS 38655-4109
+
+Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment
+method other than by check or money order.
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by
+the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN
+[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154.  Donations are
+tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law.  As fund-raising
+requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be
+made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+You can get up to date donation information online at:
+
+http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html
+
+
+***
+
+If you can't reach Project Gutenberg,
+you can always email directly to:
+
+Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com>
+
+Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message.
+
+We would prefer to send you information by email.
+
+
+**The Legal Small Print**
+
+
+(Three Pages)
+
+***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START***
+Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers.
+They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
+your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from
+someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
+fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
+disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how
+you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to.
+
+*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK
+By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
+this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive
+a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by
+sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
+you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical
+medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
+
+ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS
+This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks,
+is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart
+through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project").
+Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
+on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
+distribute it in the United States without permission and
+without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth
+below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook
+under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
+
+Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market
+any commercial products without permission.
+
+To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable
+efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
+works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any
+medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other
+things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
+disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer
+codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
+But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
+[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may
+receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims
+all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
+legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
+UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
+INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
+OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of
+receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
+you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
+time to the person you received it from. If you received it
+on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
+such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
+copy. If you received it electronically, such person may
+choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
+receive it electronically.
+
+THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
+TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
+the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
+above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
+may have other legal rights.
+
+INDEMNITY
+You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation,
+and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated
+with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including
+legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
+following that you do or cause:  [1] distribution of this eBook,
+[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook,
+or [3] any Defect.
+
+DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
+You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by
+disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
+"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
+or:
+
+[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
+     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
+     eBook or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
+     if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable
+     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
+     including any form resulting from conversion by word
+     processing or hypertext software, but only so long as
+     *EITHER*:
+
+     [*]  The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
+          does *not* contain characters other than those
+          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
+          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
+          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
+          author, and additional characters may be used to
+          indicate hypertext links; OR
+
+     [*]  The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at
+          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
+          form by the program that displays the eBook (as is
+          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
+          OR
+
+     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
+          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
+          eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
+          or other equivalent proprietary form).
+
+[2]  Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this
+     "Small Print!" statement.
+
+[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the
+     gross profits you derive calculated using the method you
+     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
+     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
+     payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation"
+     the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were
+     legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent
+     periodic) tax return.  Please contact us beforehand to
+     let us know your plans and to work out the details.
+
+WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
+Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of
+public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed
+in machine readable form.
+
+The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time,
+public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses.
+Money should be paid to the:
+"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or
+software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at:
+hart@pobox.com
+
+[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only
+when distributed free of all fees.  Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by
+Michael S. Hart.  Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be
+used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be
+they hardware or software or any other related product without
+express permission.]
+
+*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END*
+
diff --git a/old/lstrl10.zip b/old/lstrl10.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65f7a40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/lstrl10.zip