in' us to, an' what he's gwine to
do when he gits dar?"

"No, of course I don't."

"How you know den, dat he's doin' de bes' thing?"

But the conversation was terminated by a word from Sam, who said, in a
whisper,

"Joe, I'll tell you _where we're going if you keep talking_."

"Whar, Mas' Sam?"

"Into the hands of the Indians. Keep your mouth shut, if you don't want
your hair lifted off your head."

As the black boy certainly did not want his hair cut Indian fashion, he
became silent at once.

When they had travelled in this way until they could no longer hear the
yells of the Indians and the popping of guns at the fort, Sam called a
halt. It was now nearly midnight.

"Here is a good place to spend the rest of the night," he said, "and we
must be as still as we can. We can stay here till to-morrow night, and
then we must try to get to Fort Glass. It's about twelve or thirteen
miles from here."

"Le's go on now, Mas' Sam; I'se afear'd to stay here," said the black
boy.

"We can't," said Sam. "I got scratched in the foot with a stray bullet,
just as we went into the thicket there at the fort, and I can't walk. I
am a little faint and must lie down."

At this little Judie, who fairly idolized Sam, and felt perfectly safe
from Indians and everything else when he was with her, was disposed to
set up a wail of sorrow and fright. If poor Sam were wounded, he might
die, she thought, and the thought was too much for her.

Sam soothed her, however, and the poor, tired little girl was soon fast
asleep in his arms.

"Bring some moss, boys," he said to his companions, "and make a bed for
Judie here by this log."

When he had laid her down, he drew off his shoe and wrapped the wounded
foot in some of the long gray moss which hangs in great festoons from
the trees of that region. Joe, with the true negro genius for sleeping,
was already snoring at the foot of a tree. Sam quietly called Tom to his
side.

"Tom," said he, "my foot is bleeding pretty badly, and I can't see till
morning to do anything for it. I have wrapped it up in moss, stuffing
the softest parts into the wound, and that may stop it after a while.
But I may not be able to travel to-morrow night, and if I can't you must
leave me here and try to find your way to Fort Glass, with Judie. You
must remember that her life will depend on you, and try to do your duty
without flinching. Don't try to travel in the daytime. Go on to the
south as fast as you ca