t they, either last night or early this morning, having fallen in
with our steeds, have carried them off."

As he was not very confident of this, we continued searching about in
every direction, following the tracks which we supposed they might have
made. We had also to be cautious, lest our enemies should really be
near at hand; in which case they might suddenly attack us. Worn out
with fatigue, we were at last obliged to sit down near a wood, in a very
disconsolate condition.

Had there been any wild fruits ripe, we might have satisfied our hunger,
but there was nothing eatable we could obtain.

"Are we to continue our search for the horses, or must we give it up?"
I asked.

"It's useless, I fear, to hunt for them further," said Alick. "I feel
very sure that the Sioux have carried them off; and we too shall
probably fall into their hands, unless we beat a rapid retreat from this
part of the country."

Having duly discussed the matter, it was at last agreed that we should
at once make our way to the "cache"--that is to say, the high platform I
have described--and supply ourselves with food. We might there, if the
Indians had not left the neighbourhood, obtain horses and get some of
them to escort us.

"But if the Indians have left the neighbourhood, what are we to do?"
asked Martin.

"We must tramp it on foot," said Alick. "A couple of hundred miles is
nothing; we can accomplish it in ten days, even though we may be pretty
heavily-laden. I wish that we could get there sooner, and make more
sure of having the fort rebuilt before the winter. I am thinking not
only of ourselves, but of the poor Indians who are accustomed to obtain
assistance from us when hard pressed for food, as also of the many white
trappers who may come to the fort expecting to find shelter."

"But how shall we ever reach the `cache' without provisions?" I asked.

"We are sure to shoot something or other on the way, and we must not be
particular what it is or how we obtain it," answered Alick.

We had nothing to do but to get up and go on, with our saddles on our
backs. Had we not hoped to obtain horses from our Cree friends, we
should have left them behind us, fastened to the bough of a tree out of
the way of bears. Still we sat on for some minutes, lost in our own
reflections.

"Up, boys, up! we'll begin our tramp," said Alick, setting the example
and springing to his feet. We followed him, and he having laid the
course, we