e is no shelter at hand which can secure us against him.

"I can not give you the reason that makes me positive a foe is behind
us; but I am so certain of it, that we must hurry forward and take
measures to hide our trail."

"Why not rejoin our friends?"

"I do not think it can be done, as there are plenty Injin between us,
and we could not avoid them."

"Do what you think best, for surely none can know better than you."

"Come on, then."

They ascended the creek until the darkening sky, booming thunder, and
constant flashing of lightning warned them that the storm was at hand.
The hunter then stooped, and, lifting his companion in his arms with
the same ease that he would have picked up an infant, stepped into the
stream, and waded nearly across, going several hundred yards further up
before stepping upon the land. By this time, the swaying of the trees,
and the pattering of several large drops of water, told them that they
had but a few minutes to spare. The hunter was perfectly acquainted
with this section, and made all haste toward a spot which, more than
once, had served him as a shelter in such storms as this. It consisted
of a number of fallen trees, evidently torn up by some tornado, whose
branches were so interlocked and matted that a slight effort of the
hand of man had turned into a comfortable security as one need wish who
was storm-stayed in the forest.

As this was reached, the storm burst upon them in all its grand fury,
but their refuge answered every purpose, and not a thread of Edith's
clothes was wetted. Darkness came on prematurely, and, as the reader
already knows, the storm continued nearly through the entire night.
Fully, and almost morbidly alive to the danger that ever menaced them,
Lewis kept his station at the mouth or entrance of their shelter until
daylight, not willing that for a moment a free entrance to any foe
should be offered.

When morning dawned, it was clear and beautiful, and the two set out
immediately upon their journey. As they had partaken of no food for a
considerable time, the Rifleman was on the alert to procure some. The
forests of Kentucky and Ohio, at that day, literally swarmed with game,
and, in less than a half-hour from starting, he had brought down a wild
turkey, which was dressed and cooked with admirable skill, and which
afforded them a nourishing and substantial meal.

Lewis was fearful that the late storm would cause such a rise in the
creek that he wo