n the grass, and began to
retreat, as far as I could judge, by the way we had come. The sky,
however, which had hitherto been clear, had, unfortunately for us,
become obscured, and it was difficult to decide which was the right
direction. We pushed forward as fast as we could; but the old wrecker,
our guide, seemed, as we thought, somewhat uncertain of the path we
ought to take. We frequently looked back, and, as long as we could see
the island, it assisted to guide us. Nothing of the Indians could be
discovered; but that was no proof that they were not near, as they would
keep concealed in the tall grass, and wait until they had a favourable
opportunity of pouncing suddenly upon us. I must say that we felt
rather ashamed of ourselves for running away from what, after all, might
prove an imaginary danger. Still, it was better to run than to be
overpowered and scalped,--our probable fate should the Indians prove to
be hostile; and, from Tim's account, they were certainly on the
war-path. The sun had sunk beyond the vast plain of grass stretched out
behind us, when we emerged from the Everglades, and found ourselves in
the forest-belt which separates that region from the sea. We now called
a halt, to consider what course to pursue. It was evident that we had
not returned by the same way we had come, for we could discover no signs
of having been on the spot before.

"We cannot be more than a couple of miles from the shore, and when we
reach it, we shall know which direction to take," said our guide. "We
may still, if we push on, keep ahead of the Redskins."

Though tired and hungry, we agreed that it would be more prudent to push
on than to halt longer. Scarcely, however, had we got among the
palmetto-scrub, than looking back, to ascertain if we were followed, I
caught sight, amid the thickening gloom, of a number of dark figures
following up our trail. I pointed them out to Tim.

"Do you advise that we should halt and face them, or continue our
course?" I asked.

"No use halting unless we are prepared to fight it out to the last," he
answered; "better to keep moving on, while we can see our way. And
maybe they don't intend to attack us at all until we have encamped, in
the hope to find most of us asleep."

Lejoillie and Carlos agreed with Tim. We spoke in undertones, so that
our voices might not reach our pursuers. They, probably, were well
aware that there were only five of us; but they knew that fiv