es from the different marks that
had come under his view; "we know that the rampaging Huron has passed,
and the dark-hair, and the singer, but where is she of the yellow locks
and blue eyes? Though little, and far from being as bold as her sister,
she is fair to the view, and pleasant in discourse. Has she no friend,
that none care for her?"

"God forbid she should ever want hundreds! Are we not now in her
pursuit? For one, I will never cease the search till she be found."

"In that case we may have to journey by different paths; for here she
has not passed, light and little as her footsteps would be."

Heyward drew back, all his ardor to proceed seeming to vanish on the
instant. Without attending to this sudden change in the other's humor,
the scout after musing a moment continued:

"There is no woman in this wilderness could leave such a print as that,
but the dark-hair or her sister. We know that the first has been here,
but where are the signs of the other? Let us push deeper on the trail,
and if nothing offers, we must go back to the plain and strike another
scent. Move on, Uncas, and keep your eyes on the dried leaves. I will
watch the bushes, while your father shall run with a low nose to the
ground. Move on, friends; the sun is getting behind the hills."

"Is there nothing that I can do?" demanded the anxious Heyward.

"You?" repeated the scout, who, with his red friends, was already
advancing in the order he had prescribed; "yes, you can keep in our rear
and be careful not to cross the trail."

Before they had proceeded many rods, the Indians stopped, and appeared
to gaze at some signs on the earth with more than their usual keenness.
Both father and son spoke quick and loud, now looking at the object
of their mutual admiration, and now regarding each other with the most
unequivocal pleasure.

"They have found the little foot!" exclaimed the scout, moving forward,
without attending further to his own portion of the duty. "What have
we here? An ambushment has been planted in the spot! No, by the truest
rifle on the frontiers, here have been them one-sided horses again! Now
the whole secret is out, and all is plain as the north star at midnight.
Yes, here they have mounted. There the beasts have been bound to a
sapling, in waiting; and yonder runs the broad path away to the north,
in full sweep for the Canadas."

"But still there are no signs of Alice, of the younger Miss Munro," said
Duncan.

"Unless