" observed the captain. "The state of the whole
country is unsatisfactory, for the natives are often hostile, and it is
dangerous for a small party to move far from the settlement, although it
was understood that the Indians in this neighbourhood were friendly.
However, we will not anticipate evil, but hope for the best."

While the captain was below, Gilbert and Fenton talked over the
non-appearance of Vaughan and Roger, and agreed, should they not soon
arrive, to set off in search of them with as many men as they could
obtain. After some time the captain summoned them into the cabin.
Cecily had been weeping tears of joy; she was anxious to make inquiries
about Mistress Audley and Lettice. After they had replied to her many
questions, the captain proposed visiting the _Deliverance_. Lettice and
Cicely were delighted to meet each other, but their happiness would have
been greater had Vaughan and Roger been present. They had already begun
to feel anxious at their not having arrived on board. Captain Layton
tried to conceal from them his own apprehensions, but he expressed them
to the admiral and governor, who, at his request, agreed to furnish him
with a party of men to go in search of them should they not soon appear.
Gilbert, Fenton, and Oliver Dane obtained permission to join the
expedition.

The party amounted to nearly a score, and with their firearms, provided
they acted with due caution, had no need to fear any number of hostile
Indians. Captain Layton's intention was to proceed to the fort, and
should Roger and Vaughan have left it, follow their trail with the aid
of a friendly Indian who was, he said, living there with the white men.

The country was in most parts open, but at times they had to proceed by
a narrow path cut through the dense forest, where hostile natives might
have attacked them to great advantage, as they could not have been seen
till close upon them, and thus their firearms would avail them but
little. Oliver Dane kept near the captain, who remained at the head of
the main body, while Gilbert and Fenton went on some little way ahead
with Ben Tarbox and another man, peering into the forest at every step
to discover whether it harboured a foe. They had got within nearly a
mile of the fort when Gilbert, who was looking through some bushes on
the right, beyond which the forest opened out somewhat, caught sight of
a figure moving rapidly in the direction of the fort. He signed to his
com