now to you. I shall not yield again to despair; you may trust me--my
friend."

The day was not yet ended when we finally retraced our way across the
narrow dyke to the mainland, prepared to resume our journey. The
passage was slow and dangerous, and we made it on foot, leading the
horses. The woods were already beginning to darken as we forded the
north branch of the creek, and came forth through a fringe of forest
trees into a country of rolling hills and narrow valleys. The two
girls were already mounted, and Tim and I were busily tightening the
straps for a night's ride, when, from behind us, back in the direction
of the peninsula we had just quitted, there sounded the sharp report of
a rifle. We straightened up, startled, and our eyes met. There could
be but one conclusion--our pursuers had found the trail.

CHAPTER XXVIII

A FIELD OF MASSACRE

To my mind, seated on that island in the morass, a map spread before
me, a hundred miles of travel had not appeared a very serious matter,
but I was destined to learn my mistake. The close proximity of the men
seeking to overtake us--as evidenced by that rifle shot--awoke within
us a sense of imminent danger and drove us forward through the fast
gathering darkness at a perilous pace, especially as our mounts were
not of the best. The fringe of trees along the bank of the stream was
sufficiently thick to securely screen our movements until we had safely
merged into the darkness beyond, nor could our trail be followed before
daylight. Yet the desire was in all of our hearts to cover as much
ground as possible. The available course lay across rough country,
along steep sidehills, and into stagnant sloughs. Twice we mired
through carelessness, and several times were obliged to skirt the edge
of marshes for considerable distances, before discovering a safe
passage beyond. The night shut about us black, and discouraging, with
scarcely a star visible in the sky, by which we could determine our
direction. I was quickly lost in this blind groping, unable to even
guess the points of the compass, but Tim apparently possessed the
mysterious instinct of the pathfinder, although what dim signs guided
him I could not decipher. To me it was all chance; while he kept
steadily moving, occasionally relieving his feelings by an oath, but
never hesitating for longer than a moment.

We became mere shadows, groping through the void, barely perceptible to
our own strained e