n to retrieve their own slip. And so, in full hearing of the leader
of the fugitives, they discussed their different schemes. Lena-Wingo was
not long in learning that there were plenty of his enemies watching both
sides of the river, and that it was to be an undertaking of extreme
difficulty for him to cross with his friends. This did not lessen his
determination, but rather strengthened it, and he inwardly resolved that
he himself would place his three companions on the southeastern shore,
if Colonel Butler had his whole force of Indians and Tories arranged
along the bank to prevent it!

The consultation between the Iroquois lasted all of half an hour, by
which time they had decided what to do. They would all land and scatter
up and down the river's margin, thus covering as much ground as
possible, and watch for the moment when the whites would come out of
their cover again. In other words, they meant to patrol the beach so
vigilantly that it would be out of the power of the fugitives to leave
their hiding-place without detection and capture.

CHAPTER XIV.

DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND.

All that could be done for a time by the fugitives was to maintain their
position and remain as quiet as the grave until the Indians moved from
their immediate vicinity. The prowling Iroquois were keen-witted, and
although they may have been careless at first, yet they were on the
lookout for the slightest indication of their enemies. Consequently, the
least movement at that time would have been pretty sure to tell them
that the whites, whom they would suppose were hiding somewhere in the
woods, were really close at hand, and within their power. Every one of
the fugitives realized this, and did not stir while the consultation was
going on.

By some means or other--Ned could never explain how--he had reached out
his hand, at the moment they took these positions, and grasped that of
Rosa Minturn. It seemed to have been one of those instinctive actions
that are natural under certain peculiar circumstances. And so, during
the better part of an hour, he enjoyed the sweet pleasure of feeling
that delicate little hand nestling within his own.

At last, when the council of war was finished, the soft rustling among
the leaves and undergrowth showed that the Iroquois were engaged in
carrying out the programme they had just arranged among themselves. They
were separating, and the danger now was that in leaving the spot they
would stumble up