e hand, aiding me to move
quietly over the uneven ground, but made no effort to speak. Beside
us, not unlike a shadow, strode the chief Sequitah, his stern face
uplifted, shadowed by long black hair, a rifle gripped in his sinewy
arms. We crossed the little river, De Artigny bearing me easily in his
grasp, and, on the opposite shore, waited for the others to follow.
They came, a long line of dark, shadowy forms, wading cautiously
through the shallow water, and ranged themselves just below the bank,
many still standing in the stream. What light there was flickered over
naked bodies, and revealed savage eyes gleaming from out masses of
black hair.

De Artigny stepped forward on the exposed root of a tree to where he
could see his dusky followers, and La Forest climbed the bank, and
joined him. A moment the two men conferred, turning about to question
Sequitah. As they separated I could distinguish De Artigny's final
words.

"Very well, then, if it is your wish I take command. Sequitah, a
hundred warriors will follow you along the trail--you know it well.
Have your best scouts in advance, and circle your braves so as to make
attack impossible. Your scouts will not go beyond the great rock
except on my order. M. la Forest will accompany them. This is clear?"

The Indian muttered response in his own tongue; then spoke more
sharply, and the mass of warriors below changed formation, the greater
number climbing the bank, and grouping themselves in the darker shadow
of the woods.

"Who has charge of the others?" asked De Artigny.

"Bastian Courtray," replied La Forest. "He is yonder."

"Then Courtray, listen; you follow the stream, but do not venture from
cover. Post your men below the stockade and wait to intercept
fugitives. We will do the fighting above. Are the warriors with you
armed?"

"All but ten have rifles, Monsieur, but I know not if they be of
value."

"You must make the best use of them you can. Above all things be
quiet, and do nothing to alarm the Iroquois. You may go."

I leaned forward watching them as they waded down stream, and then
climbed the bank, disappearing in the undergrowth. Sequitah had moved
past me, and I heard his voice speaking in Indian dialect. Along the
forest aisles his warriors glided by where I stood, noiselessly as
shadows. In another moment De Artigny and I were alone, the black
night all about us, and not a sound reaching our ears to tell of those
vanished allies. He took my