ntil in the obscured moonlight
they vanished from sight.

"Guess dar ain't nobody dar," was his conclusion, as his spirits revived
again; "anyway, I won't try to rout 'em out if dar is."

The uncertainty caused him to change his intention and decide to advance
toward the wood near where Kenton had withdrawn the canoe from under the
nose of the sleeping Shawanoe. A vague feeling of security hung around
the flatboat. The youth was accustomed to that, having spent so much
time on it, and if he were driven to it as a refuge, was confident of
making a good defence with the aid of his rifle.

With that peculiar sensitiveness to little things which a man often
displays in moments of danger, Jethro paused after reaching the outside,
and, making sure that the latch-string was drawn inward, carefully
closed the door behind him. Thus it was securely locked, and he
reflected with a start that he had now burned his bridge behind him. If
any enemies at that moment should charge upon him, he could not make use
of the cabin, even though he stood near enough to it to reach it with
his outstretched hand.

So far as he saw, no danger confronted him, and he resolutely struck off
in the direction he had in mind, instantly discovering that the pains he
had taken to protect his feet and ankles seriously interfered with his
locomotion. He could take only very short steps, and naturally became
impatient with his slow progress.

The figure that he cut was certainly grotesque to the last degree. His
ample proportions were made much more ample by the many thicknesses of
spotless linen in which they were arrayed. The folds, extended above his
head, naturally added to his height, so that he suggested a ghostly
giant mincing across the clearing to the river.

The strangely good fortune which had accompanied the dusky youth did not
desert him now when entering upon the most remarkable experience of his
career. We have shown how he entered the cabin unchallenged, when, had
he made the attempt a little earlier or later, assuredly he could not
have escaped the bullet of one of the two Indians in the vicinity.

From what was afterward learned, the theory of Kenton and Boone was
probably reasonably correct, though it did not fully explain all that
took place.

When Kenton returned to the clearing toward the close of that day, there
were two Shawanoes lurking in the vicinity. It may have been that The
Panther, arranging the ambuscade further away a