ilous a mission."

"Stay back," the lad urged her; "this is a job for one man." But the
girl would not listen, and so the two stole along the edge of the
ravine hiding themselves as best they could.

Near the trail they climbed a huge tree from which they could look down
conveniently.

In a short time they saw a horse, followed by several others. They were
loaded heavily, and Fred saw at once that this was a troop of Indians
carrying supplies.

In fact, he could not see a single warrior, for ugly women and children
followed the train.

"The Indians are marching west," Fred whispered to his sister, "this is
a troop of women and children. That means that the warriors are ahead
of them. We are lucky to be informed of their movements, because we
can now follow a definite course."

Agnes nodded, as she intently looked upon the passing horses and people.
The women and children were in a jolly mood, and did not make any
efforts to keep silence. For about half an hour the Indians were moving
along the road.

Suddenly Agnes gave a start, and nimbly as a squirrel she slid down the
huge tree, were she crept silently through the brush.

Soon Fred heard the hooting of an owl, and he perceived how at this cry
one of the Indian girls, of the age of Agnes, detached herself from the
crowd.

"It is time for me to join," he muttered to him self; "Sister cannot
attend to that alone."

In a few moments he was near enough to hear what the girls were talking
about. The girl was one of the Sunday school scholars whom Agnes had
befriended by many acts of kindness.

"Pequots---go---west," she said to Agnes; "will go around big bend
south and come back and take settlements. 'Little bird of the woods'
go to big log house, and take boat and tell white men at Hartword. But
quick, I must go."

In a few moment she was off, treading softly over the grass and joining
the other Indians, as if nothing serious had happened.

At once Agnes stood by her brother's side.

"The path is clear, Fred," she breathed to "now for the horses; we are
not far away from the trading post."

They reached the log house just as the sun was setting, but as they
approached, Matthew emitted a cry of despair.

"The Indians have burned down the log house," he said sadly. "The smoke
is still breaking through the woods."

Cautiously they made their way through the woods, and soon stood beside
the remains of their log house, where during the previous