absolute certainty,
and he be overtaken beyond doubt. Impeded by an unwilling captive, he
could not avoid a rapid gain upon him by his pursuers; and to escape
certain capture, he must either abandon his prey or conceal his flight
by resorting to the river.

It might be, and the pursuers themselves half believed, that the
fleeing Indian did not fear a pursuit by any of his own race, in which
case he could make a leisurely escape, as the unpracticed white men
could not have followed him for a half-mile through the wilderness. If
this were really the case, the Sioux were confident of coming up with
him before the morrow's sun should go down.

The Indians had paused but a few moments, when a great tearing and
scrambling was heard, and Teddy came panting upon them.

"What be yees waiting for?" he demanded. "Tired out?"

"Can't go furder--dark--wait till next day."

"I'm sorry that yees didn't stand it bitter. I can go some ways
further meself if yees'll be kind enough to show me the trail. But,
yees don't pant or blow a bit, so I can't think ye're too much tired."

"Too dark--can't see--wait till sun."

"Oh, begorrah! I didn't understand ye. The Injin 'l' git a good start
on us, won't he though?"

"Ain't Injin--_white man_!"

"A white man, does ye say, that run off wid Miss Cora?"

Two of the Indians replied in the affirmative.

Teddy manifested the most unbounded amazement, and for a while, could
say nothing. Then he leaped into the air, struck the sides of his
shoes with his fingers, and broke forth:

"It was that owld hunter, may purgatory take him! Him and that owld
Mahogany, what made me drunk--blast his sowl--have been hid around in
the woods, waiting for a chance to do harm, and one is so much worse
than t'other yees can't tell both from which. Och! if I but had him
under the sight of me gun."

The spot upon which the Indians and Teddy were standing was but a
short distance from the village, and yet, instead of returning to it,
they started a small fire and lay down for the night. _They were upon
the trail_, and nothing was to turn them aside from it until their
work was completed, or it was utterly lost to them.

Teddy was more loth than they to turn his face backward, but, under
the circumstances, he could not forget the sad, waiting husband at
home. So he returned to the cabin, to make him acquainted with the
result of their labors thus far.

"If the Indian only avoids the river, he may be overta