if you had made the
attempt. Sandy has a long head on his shoulders, and a brave heart; and
if any man can circumvent the Redskins, he can. He has a good drop of
their blood in his veins, with the brains of a white man, and knows all
their ways."

These assurances somewhat relieved my mind. The exertions I had made,
however, had brought on the pain in my foot; and after having eaten some
food which Samson gave me, I was thankful, by his advice, to lie down in
Sandy's bunk. I slept, but not soundly, for I fancied that I heard the
voices of the Indians consulting as to our fate; and then, in my dreams,
I saw them approaching with their scalping-knives to take the hair off
my head. Such being the character of my dreams, I was glad to awake and
find myself in comparative safety.

Old Samson was listening at the entrance of the cave. He had, I found,
the means of barricading it with stout timbers, so that no foes could
force their way in without paying dearly for the attempt. I rose from
the bunk, intending to join him, but he told me to lie quiet. I obeyed,
and was soon asleep; and when I again awoke daylight was streaming
through the entrance. I looked round, but Samson was not to be seen.

On attempting to get up, I found that my ankle was much swollen, and
that I could not walk. With a groan I sank back again on the bunk, and
waited anxiously for Samson, wondering what had become of him. The
horses were still there, munching their fodder, so he was not likely to
have gone far. At last I saw him at the entrance.

"Well, lad, you may get up now, and have some breakfast," he said.

I told him that I could not walk, as I was suffering severely from my
ankle.

"That's a bad job," he observed; "I intended to have moved away from
this. There are more Redskins in the neighbourhood than I like, as no
game can be got while they are here."

I asked if Sandy had appeared, and brought any tidings of Reuben and
Mike.

"No," he answered; "for the reason I have given, they could not make
their way across the country in daylight. But that is no reason why
Sandy should not have succeeded. He may have set them at liberty, and
concealed them and himself in some other place. There are several caves
like this in different directions, which seem to be made by nature as
refuges from the Indians. The only difficulty is to get to them without
being tracked, as it is always a hard job to escape the keen eyes of the
Redsk