owed for many days the trail of the fugitives, and had often come
upon their deserted camp-fires, but had not yet overtaken them. They
were on their return to their village, which was situated on the shores
of the Ontario, where the Niagara river, after its mighty plunge at the
Falls, empties into its frothy abyss. On a pleasant evening of
summer-time, he paused to encamp for the night in a place where a
transparent streamlet poured its crystal tribute into the bosom of the
Genessee. A dense and lofty grove of pines advanced their ranks to the
very edge of the stream, and afforded him a faithful shelter from the
dews and breezes of night.

The hunter soon enkindled a roaring fire from the decayed and fallen
branches of trees, and while his supper of venison broiled upon its
embers, he flung himself upon the turf, wearied with his march. The
Indian was a noble specimen of his race. His shapely limbs indicated the
presence of extraordinary strength and activity. He was clad in a
buckskin hunting-frock, handsomely ornamented with quills and feathers.
His deer-skin leggins were fringed with the red-stained hair of some
wild animal, and his neat moccasons were adorned in the extreme of
savage fashion. On his head was placed a bunch of eagle-feathers, which
fluttered gayly in the wind. A heavy rifle lay at his side, with its
ornamented pouch and horn. In his belt were thrust the fatal knife and
hatchet. A huge wolf-hound, the only companion of his expedition,
stretched its limbs before the blaze, watching with hungry eyes the
progress of the evening meal. But the night passed not away without
adventure. A thick darkness had now fallen upon the woods, and the ruddy
flames of the fire but partially illuminated the rough black shafts of
the pines, whose plumed branches sighed mournfully overhead. Suddenly
the hound sprang to his feet, with a fierce growl, at the same time
glaring upward into the thick recesses of a towering pine-tree. For a
moment the sharp eye of the hunter could discern no object of alarm; but
he soon heard the branches creak, as with the movements of some wild
creature. He presently heard a growl among the tree-tops, and discerned
two flaming globes of fire, which he knew to be the eyeballs of some
animal, illuminated by the flashes of his camp-fire. In an instant his
rifle was poised at his shoulder, and its glittering sight brought in
range with the shining objects of its alarm. For an instant the heavy
tub