if they
have not done so already,--and know that we are following them. We will
take it down to yonder hollow, and leave it and the oxen. There is
pasture enough for them, and they will not stray far. Then we will
follow up the Indians' trail; and maybe some of their braves won't get
back to boast of their victory, if you will only do as I tell you.'

"Of course, we at once agreed to accompany Simon Yearsley--such was our
friend's name--and follow his directions. Quickly turning the waggon
round, we got it down to the spot he had indicated, where the oxen were
unyoked, and left to crop the grass by the side of a stream flowing from
the hill above. Then taking our rifles, with a supply of ammunition,
and some food in our wallets, we again set off, Yearsley leading the
way.

"We next descended the hill, concealing ourselves as much as possible
among the rocks and shrubs until we gained the plain. Although Simon
moved at a rapid rate, there was nothing frantic in his gestures. He
had made up his mind, should he find his loved ones destroyed, to follow
the murderers with deadly vengeance, utterly regardless of the
consequences to himself. As none of the intervening country had been
cleared except a straight road through the forest, where the trees had
been felled, and the stumps grubbed up here and there to allow of a
waggon passing between the remainder, we were able to conceal ourselves
until we got close to the settlement.

"We now saw that, though the greater number were in flames, two or three
huts on one side remained uninjured. Still, not a sound reached us,--
neither the cries of the inhabitants nor the shouts of the savages.
Nothing was heard save the sharp crackling of the flames.

"`The Indians have retreated, and the settlers are following. We shall
be in time to join them!' exclaimed Yearsley, dashing forward. `But we
must first search for any who have survived.' His previous calmness
disappeared as he spoke, and he rushed, through the burning huts,
towards one of the buildings.

"Stephen and I were about to follow, when we heard a cry proceeding from
one of the huts at hand, which, though the doorway was charred and the
burning embers lay around it, had as yet escaped destruction. Hurrying
in, I stumbled over the corpse of a man. His rifle lay on the ground,
while his hand grasped an axe, the blade covered with gore. I gazed on
his face, and recognised, after a moment's scrutiny, my own
br