er, do you Betty?"

"Not in the least."

"Don't see him any more, Betty. Good-night, now, I must be goin' to
supper."

"Lew, stop! or I shall run after you."

"And what good would your runnin' do?" said Lewis "You'd never ketch
me. Why, I could give you twenty paces start and beat you to yon
tree."

"You can't. Come, try it," retorted Betty, catching hold of her
skirt. She could never have allowed a challenge like that to pass.

"Ha! ha! We are in for a race, Betty. if you beat him, start or no
start, you will have accomplished something never done before," said
Col. Zane.

"Come, Silas, step off twenty paces and make them long ones," said
Betty, who was in earnest.

"We'll make it forty paces," said Silas, as he commenced taking
immense strides.

"What is Lewis looking at?" remarked Col. Zane's wife.

Wetzel, in taking his position for the race, had faced the river.
Mrs. Zane had seen him start suddenly, straighten up and for a
moment stand like a statue. Her exclamation drew he attention of the
others to the hunter.

"Look!" he cried, waving his hand toward the river.

"I declare, Wetzel, you are always seeing something. Where shall I
look? Ah, yes, there is a dark form moving along the bank. By jove!
I believe it's an Indian," said Col. Zane.

Jonathan darted into the house. When he reappeared second later he
had three rifles.

"I see horses, Lew. What do you make out?" said Jonathan. "It's a
bold manoeuvre for Indians unless they have a strong force."

"Hostile Injuns wouldn't show themselves like that. Maybe they ain't
redskins at all. We'll go down to the bluff."

"Oh, yes, let us go," cried Betty, walking down the path toward
Wetzel.

Col. Zane followed her, and presently the whole party were on their
way to the river. When they reached the bluff they saw two horses
come down the opposite bank and enter the water. Then they seemed to
fade from view. The tall trees cast a dark shadow over the water and
the horses had become lost in this obscurity. Col. Zane and Jonathan
walked up and down the bank seeking to find a place which afforded a
clearer view of the river.

"There they come," shouted Silas.

"Yes, I see them just swimming out of the shadow," said Col. Zane.
"Both horses have riders. Lewis, what can you make out?"

"It's Isaac and an Indian girl," answered Wetzel.

This startling announcement created a commotion in the little group.
It was followed by a chorus of exclamations.