n, but of
five, each stepping on tiptoe, as if to tread lightly and look well
before him,--each with a moccasin on,--each with a toe turned in; each--"

"Enough,--they were Indians!" said Roland, with a shudder, "and they must
have been close behind us!"

"Now, friend," said Nathan, "thee will have more respect for Peter; for,
truly, it was Peter told me of these things, when I was peaceably hunting
my game in the forest. He showed me the track of five ignorant persons
rambling through the wood, as the hawk flies in the air,--round, round,
round, all the time,--or like an ox that has been browsing on the leaves
of the buck-eye;[7] and he showed me that five evil-minded Shawnees were
pursuing in their trail. So thinks I to myself, 'these poor creatures
will come to mischief, if no one gives them warning of their danger;' and
therefore I started to follow, Peter showing me the way. And truly, if
there can any good come of me finding thee in this hard ease, thee must
give all the thanks and all the praise to poor Peter!"

[Footnote 7: The buck-eye, or American horse-chestnut, seems to be
universally considered, in the West, a mortal poison, both fruit and
leaves. Cattle affected by it are said to play many remarkable antics, as
if intoxicated--turning, twisting, and rolling about and around, until
death closes their agonies]

"I will never more speak ill of a dog as long as I live," said Roland.
"But let us away. I thought our best course was to the Lower Ford; but, I
find, I am mistaken. We must away in the opposite direction."

"Not so," said Nathan, coolly; "Peter is of opinion that we must run the
track over again; and, truly, so am I. We must follow these, same five
Injuns: it is as much as our lives are worth."

"You are mad!" said Roland. "This will be to bring us right upon the
skulking cut-throats. Let us fly in another direction: the forest is open
before us."

"And how long does thee think it will keep open? Friend, I tell thee,
thee is surrounded by Injuns. On the south, they lie at the Ford; on the
west, is the river rolling along in a flood; and at the east, are the
roads full of Shawnees on the scout. Verily, friend, there is but little
comfort to think of proceeding in any direction, even to the north, where
there are five murdering creatures full before us. But this is my
thought, and, I rather think, it is Peter's: if we go to the north, we
know pretty much all the evil that lies before us, and how