nge occurred, the motive of which baffled the three for a
while. Timmendiquas, Braxton Wyatt, about twenty warriors, and the two
prisoners, leaving the main body of the Indians, turned toward the
Northwest, following a course which would lead them around the lower
curve of Lake Michigan. The three sitting among the bushes debated it a
long time.

"I think," said Henry, "that Timmendiquas is making a last desperate
effort to lead a great force against us. He is going into the far
Northwest to see if he can bring down the Sacs and Foxes, and even the
Ojibways, Chippewas, and Sioux to help against us."

"Then why do they take Paul and Jim along?" asked the shiftless one.

"As trophies to impress the distant Indians or maybe as a sacrifice.
Braxton Wyatt goes, too, because they are his prisoners."

"It may be so," said Tom Ross. "The more I think about it, the more I
think you're right. Anyhow it'll give us a better chance to get at Jim
and Paul."

"But we've got to play the Injuns' own game," said Shif'less Sol. "We
must follow them a long time without lettin' them know we're on their
track. Then they'll begin to go easy and won't keep much guard."

Shif'less Sol was undoubtedly right, and for many days they followed
this band deep into the Northwestern woods. August passed, September
came. Whenever the wind blew, the dead leaves fell fast, and there was a
crisp touch in the air. The nights became so cool that they were
compelled to sleep between the two blankets that everyone carried at his
back. They were thoroughly convinced now that Timmendiquas was in search
of help in the far Northwest, and that Paul and Jim would be offered as
trophies or bribes. Several times the Indians stopped at small villages,
and, after a brief and hospitable stay, passed on. It became evident,
too, that neither Timmendiquas nor Wyatt thought any longer of possible
pursuit. Both knew how the five would stand by one another but it had
been so long since the battle at Piqua, and they had traveled so many
hundreds of miles from the burned town that pursuit now seemed out of
the question. So they traveled at ease, through an extremely fertile and
beautiful region, onward and onward until they began to near the shores
of the greatest of all lakes, Superior.

The cold in the air increased but the three pursuers did not mind it.
They were inured to every hardship of the wilderness, and the colder it
grew the more pleasant was the fresh air to