paniard was about to reach the edge of the wood, but another jump
would bring the raging buffalo upon him. His foot caught among some roots
and with a despairing cry he fell upon his face. But as he struck the
ground there was a sharp, lashing report, far different from the dull boom
of a musket, and the great animal suddenly ploughed forward on his head.
So violent was his plunge, as he was stricken in mid-charge, that his neck
was broken, and, after his crashing fall, he lay quite still.

The young Spaniard, Luiz, sprang to his feet unharmed, and he was
confronted by a figure that startled him, the figure of a very tall and
powerful youth, clad wholly in deerskin, leaning on a long, slender
barreled Kentucky rifle, and looking at him contemplatively. So sudden was
his appearance and so fixed his gaze that Luiz, although joyful over his
escape from death, was startled and awed. His adventure of a few nights
before when he was seized, bound, and gagged by unseen but powerful hands
had left him shaken, and now his brain was whirling.

The young Spaniard stared at the figure, which neither moved nor spoke,
but which returned his gaze with a fixed look. Was it a spirit, or was it
really one of the Americans? But whatever it was, it had, beyond a doubt,
saved his life, and deep down in his Spanish heart he was not ungrateful.

"Thanks, Senor!" he stammered. "Your shot--it came just in time!"

The apparition spoke, but only a few words.

"We are your friends, not your enemies, don't forget," it said, and the
startled Luiz rubbed his eyes. The figure of the great youth was gone. It
had been there and then it was not there, and only some bushes, waving
slightly, told where it had been. He regained his musket, and, still
bewildered, rejoined his comrades to tell them a story that they did not
more than half believe.

Henry, laughing a little, returned to Paul. It had been a simple trick. He
had merely darted away among the bushes, while Luiz was still in a daze.

"I did not want to see the man killed," he said, "and maybe we have sowed
a good seed, that will grow up in time, and produce something."

"It may be," added Paul.

They went a little farther into the forest and watched the Spaniards
finish their hunt, gather up as much of their game as they could carry,
and depart. When they were well out of sight, Henry and Paul went to a
slain cow that the soldiers had neglected, cut out some of the choicest
portions, and to