which now and
then adorns the pages of savage history, Oscar Parton listened with
wonderment and strange emotions. It is true that Parquatoc's words, as
he advanced, prepared him for the finale, but his transition from
thoughts of doom to freedom was yet swift and startling. He found
himself initiated into a cabal of Indians who had sworn to make war
against certain white people--himself the sole white member of the
organization.

There was a something about the young Parquatoc that made the settler
admire him; and now that he knew that Jim Girty had basely slain his
brother, he saw a motive for the boy-warrior's intense hatred.

He resolved to cultivate his friendship; but he did not know how soon
the bonds sealed that night were to be broken.

"Come!" said Parquatoc, breaking in upon his thoughts. "The light is not
very far away, and we must not be here when the white arrows fall upon
the river."

"But white man no gun," said the Shawnee, speaking for the first time
since the landing.

"Never mind; gun come soon enough," was the Seneca's reply.

A moment later the tree and concealed boat were left behind, and the
trio hurried from the river.

Oscar Parton walked beside the boy, never dreaming of escape, though his
freedom had been restored, for his new brethren had promised to aid him
in his search for Kate.

He was thinking about his thrilling initiation, and wondering what would
come of it.

CHAPTER XIII.

A LOVERS' MEETING.

The reader will recollect that we left Harvey Catlett, the young scout,
searching for John Darknight's trail on the banks of the Maumee. We will
now return to him.

For a long time the youth prosecuted his search with vigor, confident
that he would soon be enabled to strike the trail and start in pursuit
of the treacherous guide, whose hands had, he doubted not, taken Kate
Merriweather from the camp. But the minutes passed without bringing him
success, and he at last began to fear that the abductor had not landed
at any point opposite the bivouac.

With this idea gaining strength in his mind, he resolved to rejoin his
companion and suggest new operations. But Oscar Parton did not respond
to his oft-repeated signals, and the young scout sought him in turn
until the gray streaks of light announced the dawn of another day. He
did not hear the boat that drifted past him in the night, nor catch a
sound of the struggle between the living and the dead which was taking
place