ad.

Once, restraining the dog with difficulty, he pointed to a little piece
of grey down caught on a thorn--pathetic reminder of the perished
gander. Then once more they went on, following unerringly the fresh
scent, until, all at once, the character of the country changed, and a
small, low, sandy hillock, almost bare of trees and underwood, thrust
itself upwards amidst the encircling forests. In a confident manner,
which Dick found vaguely annoying, Peter announced it to be the end of
their journey.

Dick looked back. They had not come far, as distance was counted in
those days, but the land was entirely strange to him. However, to the
Indian and the dog it appeared to be familiar enough; for Peter
Many-Names, after a few minutes' search, unearthed two broad discs of
thick wood from beneath the accumulation of leaf and vine which had
safely concealed them. Dick looked at him inquiringly, but he did not
seem disposed to give explanations. "Me here bin before," he remarked,
"catch fox. These hidy then."

Not thus had the English boy dreamed of the hunt. Rather had he
thought of a progress through the woods in lordly wise, killing or
sparing at his pleasure, with the Indian as an appreciative audience.
He resented the way in which Peter took the whole affair into his own
hands, competent and cunning though the said hands were.

But now the Indian's proceedings arrested his attention. After much
cautious scrambling and struggling, the dog led them to the mouth of a
burrow, where, Peter declared, the thief must now be securely and
gorgedly sleeping. At the same time, he gave Dick clearly to
understand that he, and he alone, would compass the fox's destruction.
"You sit see watch," he commanded.

Were anyone else concerned in this matter, Dick would have disputed
this order with heat. But already he had fallen under the spell of
that savage nature, so much wilder, so much stronger, than his own.
There seemed to be something in the keen, dark face, with its strange
eyes, which required obedience, and he yielded it without a word. In
the wilds, the soul and will of the savage at once became dominant, not
to be disregarded.

So Dick meekly conveyed himself to a little distance, and sat down on a
little mound from whence he could "see watch" the whole affair, which
promised to be interesting, and even peculiar. He wondered why the
Indian had brought only one dog. "I suppose he's going to smoke it
out," he