aught, except Joe, who made no preparation whatever.

"Get ready, Joe," said Glenn; "your redoubtable musket will do good
service."

"I'd rather not," said Joe; "I'm hardly well enough to walk so far.
I'll take care of Miss Mary. I wonder what's become of her? Mr.
Roughgrove, Miss Mary hasn't come back yet!"

"Yes she has," replied the old ferryman; "I saw her bring this frozen
flower up, while we were standing on the cliff, and she has only
returned for the other pots, I hear her singing down the valley now,"
he added, after stepping to the gate and listening a moment.

"Have you any gum fetid?" asked Boone, addressing Glenn.

"I've got lots of it," interposed Joe, "that I brought along for the
horses, because an old man at St. Louis told me they would never die
so long as I kept a lump of it in the rack."

"What use do you make of it?" asked Glenn.

"The scent of it will at any time collect the wolves," said Boone,
directing Joe to bring it along.

The party set out at a brisk pace, Joe with the rest, for it was
necessary to station the men at as many points as possible. Boone,
Roughgrove, and Glenn, when they reached the upper valley, descended
to the river, while Sneak and Joe were directed to station themselves
on the main-land opposite the upper and lower ends of the island. The
party of three advanced towards the island on the ice, and Sneak and
Joe pursued their way in a parallel direction through the narrow skirt
of woods that bordered the range of bluffs.

Ere long the two on land descended from their high position and
entered a densely-timbered bottom, the upper part of which (a half
mile distant) was only separated from the island by a very narrow
channel.

Here, for the first time that day, the thought that the island he was
approaching was the haunted one of Glenn's dream occurred to Joe, and
he paused suddenly.

"What are you stopping for?" asked Sneak.

"Because"--Joe hesitated, positively ashamed to tell the reason; and
after a moment's reflection he was impressed with a thorough
conviction that his apprehensions and scruples were ridiculous.

"Don't you hear me?" continued Sneak.

"I was thinking about going back for the dogs," said Joe.

"Yes, and they would be torn to bits in a little less than no time,"
said Sneak.

"Come on, then," said Joe, setting forward again, and dismissing all
fears of the fire-wizard from his mind.

"Let me see how much asafoetida you've got," said Snea