bly less time than before. Then, as the more shallow water
came, and the craft was quite manageable, the Mohawk stopped work, and
holding the pole motionless and motioning his friends not to speak or
move, he listened, they also using their eyes and ears to the best of
their ability.

CHAPTER XII.

FORCED BACKWARD.

Ear and eye were strained to catch sound or sight that would tell
something of their enemies. All, even the Mohawk, expected to hear the
ripple of the paddles of the Iroquois in pursuit, but the stillness of
the tomb was not more profound than that in which they were now
enfolded. Probably a half mile below them another light was seen
shining, and almost directly opposite was a similar one. It looked as if
the Iroquois were signaling to one another; and, if it so happened that
this scow, with its occupants, was the object of these communications,
the latter might well feel anxiety about their situation.

Lena-Wingo seemed puzzled to find that there was no evidence of his
enemies being immediately behind them, for he was confident that the
light which had arrested the forward movement of the boat was not only
in the hands of one of the Iroquois, but was intended as a signal to
apprise others that the fugitives had been discovered, and the time had
come to close in upon them. What, therefore, meant this profound
stillness, at a time when the sounds of the most active pursuit ought to
have been heard? Could it mean, after all, that the light was an
accident, and the redmen had seen nothing of the fugitives stealing in
upon them? While the Mohawk was revolving the matter in his mind, Rosa
Minturn uttered a suppressed exclamation:

"See there!"

It so happened, at that moment, that she was the only one of the party
gazing in the direction of the shore which they had originally left, and
she alone made the discovery that instantly turned all eyes in that
direction. Exactly at the spot where they would have been landed by the
Mohawk--allowing for the inevitable dropping down stream--was still
another light, resembling the first that had startled them.

This was complicating matters, indeed, and the alarm of the whites
became greater than at any time since starting. It looked as if they had
not only been detected, but that the Iroquois had quietly perfected
their preparations for capturing them. The Mohawk, as was his
peculiarity under all circumstances, was as cool as ever, and he looked
back and f