the file of five resumed
its swift flight toward the Ohio.

CHAPTER XI

THE RACE OF THE FIVE

They followed for a while in the trail of Girty and his band, and they
inferred from all the signs that the Indian force was still moving very
fast. The element of surprise would certainly be a great aid to those
who attacked, and Henry judged that this was not alone the plan of
Girty. The master mind of Timmendiquas was somewhere back of it.

The day marched on. The skies were without a cloud, and the sun became a
hot blue dome. No air stirred in the deep forest, and every face became
wet with perspiration, but the pace was not decreased until midway
between noon and twilight, when they stopped for another half hour of
complete rest.

They had left Girty's trail, but they had crossed several other trails,
evidently of bands varying in numbers from twenty to fifty. But all
converged on the point which their map showed to be Fort Prescott, and
the dangers had thickened greatly. They were now near the Ohio, and the
savages swarmed in all the woods before them. They must not merely reach
Fort Prescott, but to do it they must pass through a cloud of their
foes.

"I'm thinkin' that we'll have to fight before we reach the river," said
Shif'less Sol to Henry.

"More than likely," replied the boy. "But remember our agreement. Some
one of us must get into Fort Prescott."

"O' course," said Shif'less Sol.

When they started again they kept carefully into the deepest of the
woods, taking the thickets by preference. Their speed was decreased, but
they had reached the point now where it was of vital importance not to
be detected.

They passed the remains of two camp fires. At both the bones of buffalo
and deer, eaten clean, had been thrown about carelessly, and at the
second the ashes were not yet cold. Moreover, they began to hear the
Indian calls in the forest, cry of bird or beast, and Henry watched
anxiously for the setting sun. Warriors might strike their trail at any
moment, and darkness would be their greatest protection.

The sun had never before been so slow to sink, but at last it went down
under the horizon, and the dusky veil was drawn over the earth. But the
moon soon came out, an uncommonly brilliant moon, that flooded the
forest with a pure white light, so intense that they could mark every
ridge in the bark of the big trees. The stars, too, sprang out in
myriads, and contributed to the phenomenal brigh