urka hurried up on the other side of Stephen. "It is true!" he exclaimed;
"he knows me also."

The Indian brought a gourd, and poured some liquor into Stephen's mouth.
"Do not talk," he said; "we shall have plenty of time for that later on."

Stephen closed his eyes obediently. Even now he was not certain but that
he was still in a dream. So many times of late he had had a vague fancy
that his Indian guides were still with him that he doubted the evidence
both of eye and ear. However, he soon went off to sleep again. When he
awoke, Hurka was at hand, and ready to pour some hot broth down his
throat. It was long before he was strong enough to ask questions, and the
Indian positively refused to talk. At last the time came when he was able
to be propped up into a sitting position on his bed, which was composed of
leaves covered with blankets.

"I am strong enough to hear about it now, Pita. Tell me where I am and how
you come to be here."

"Hurka will tell," the Indian replied; "it is a long talk."

Stephen looked to Hurka, who at once began.

"When you did not return that evening, senor, Pita and I went out to
search for you. We knew where you generally sat, but you were gone. We
went to the mission, got some torches, and searching in the sand between
the rocks we found traces of Indians' feet, and were able to follow them
up to a point nearly a mile below the falls. There they ceased, and we
were sure that you had been carried off in a canoe. As we found no sign
whatever of blood or marks of a struggle we felt sure that you had not
been wounded, but concluded that you had been suddenly seized, bound, and
carried off. We roused some of the mission Indians, and I with three of
them took to our canoe and paddled down the river for twelve hours. As we
had no weight to carry and had four paddles, we felt sure that by that
time we should have overtaken you had they held on down the river, for we
concluded by the footmarks that there were but three of them, and they had
your weight in the boat.

"They could hardly have counted on being pursued so closely, and would
not, therefore, have made any special effort. Then we turned and paddled
back, keeping close to the trees in hopes of getting some sign of where
the canoe had entered the forest. We found none, and as soon as we got to
the mission, I set out to follow Pita, who had started inland. We thought
it likely that the Indians had come across the inundations, and that h