ies were not of the
most cheerful character and they served to tone down the enthusiasm
which had marked his start in the morning. They also caused him to
examine, more times than was really necessary, the revolver which had
already done him such good service, and he went through a preliminary
drill, consisting of placing it inside his waistcoat, a couple of
buttons being left carelessly unfastened; next thrusting his hand
within, in an indifferent manner, then instantly jerking out and
pointing the weapon at an imaginary foe in front of him. This maneuver
he repeated scores of times, narrowly escaping the firing of the weapon,
until he satisfied himself that he could do it to perfection.

"Now, if Lone Wolf comes at me alone, I think I can manage him. He won't
suspect that I've any weapon, and so won't be prepared for it; but I
hope he won't show himself," he added the next minute. "If there's any
way of avoiding him, I'll do it."

However, he was bent upon solving the mystery of the distant camp fire,
which he still hoped might belong to some party of white hunters, who
would take him under their protection and conduct him safely over the
wide and dangerous stretch of territory which still intervened between
him and his destination.

In spite of the careful calculation he had made, he soon learned that he
had committed an error. Although the tell-tale smoke at first seemed
scarcely a mile away, it was more than three times that distance. The
way being more obstructed by rocks and the sinuous winding of the trail,
he saw the sun sinking low in the west and found that he had still no
little traveling to do.

"It can't be that they are shifting that camp fire all the time," he
growled, as he clambered upon an elevation, and was again disappointed
to find it so far away. "Blamed if it don't look as if somebody was
playing a trick on me. I've heard of a jack-o'-lantern bobbing around in
that style, but nothing else."

He finally concluded that the laws of nature were not violated in this
case, and with renewed courage pressed ahead again. The sky was clear
and cloudless, the weather remained oppressively warm, and poor Ned was
so jaded that he felt scarcely able to drag one foot after the other,
but he was stout-hearted, and, just as the sun dipped out of sight
behind the mountains, he found himself within a hundred yards of the
mysterious camp.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE INDIAN FIGHT.

In spite of his great a