ack.
They did so, he following on their heels until not the faintest glimmer
of the fire could be seen. Then he led them by a round-about course to
the trail beyond the camp, and explained his wishes.

He was now free to admit that there was reason to believe the Winnebagos
intended an assault upon the three hunters among the foothills of the
Ozark, and who were unsuspicious of such danger. Of course the Shawanoe
had no direct knowledge that such was their purpose, but he was so
convinced that he meant to take the utmost precautions against it.

He therefore proposed that he should linger near the camp until he could
learn of a verity what their intentions were. If they meant to attack
the Hunters of the Ozark, then he would hasten to give warning to
Linden, Hardin and Bowlby, who, re-enforced by the three youths, would
be strong enough to beat off an Indian party twice as strong.

In the meantime, Deerfoot wished Terry and Fred to push toward the camp
with all the speed of which they were capable, he promising to follow as
soon as he could. They had walked almost the entire day with scarcely a
halt on the road, but he wished them to keep on into the night so long
as they could. They would need nothing to eat before morning and between
sundown and sunup they ought to make a long advance on their journey.

You will probably wonder why (the situation being such as was explained
by Deerfoot), he did not keep company with the lads and help them in
their forced march to the mountains. One reason was that he was
convinced in the first place that a demonstration would be made by the
Winnebagos against the Hunters of the Ozark, and he wanted to get both
boys--especially Terry--out of the neighborhood as soon as he could; for
their presence hampered his own actions. The safest place for them was
in the strong cabin to the southward, and they could not get there too
soon.

Yet they would certainly travel as fast in his company as by themselves,
and Fred and Terry, therefore, could not see why he should stay behind
instead of going with them; yet Deerfoot the Shawanoe never took a step
of that kind without the best reason for it, as you will admit when it
is made clear to you. To give this explanation would require such a long
diversion from the thread of my story that you would be impatient.
Before I am through with the history of Deerfoot, you shall know not
only the reason for his course but for several other things that ha