tised eye of the Canadian
was not slow, now that his attention had been roused, to detect the
trail of footsteps that had crossed their track. "The girl is right,"
said he, after a rapid but close inspection of them, "and take my word
for it, it is the trail of our old friend of the button-tree. Yes, he
has been tracking us all the way. Now, look at that! The child came
upon it this morning, and has followed it; she has caught him up, and
has come to warn us of----"

Here Amoahmeh placed her finger on her lips, and made a gesture of
impatience.

"Right, child," said Boulanger. "To think now that a bit of a girl
like this should have to teach me to keep my tongue from wagging too
loud."

"But what are we to do?" asked Isidore, somewhat bewildered by all this.

"Do!" repeated the guide. "Well, we had better leave that to her.
Questions would only puzzle her poor brain, whereas it is clear she has
still got all the red skin's cunning, and won't let any harm befall you
at any rate."

Probably Amoahmeh understood the expression of his face better than his
words. At all events she took upon herself at once the office of
guide, and beckoning to them to follow her turned off from the
direction they had been taking and led them into the wood. In a few
minutes they found themselves on the borders of a creek, scarcely a
dozen yards from the point where it ran into a lake of great extent,
and there, to their surprise, Amoahmeh pointed out two or three canoes
which had evidently been purposely drawn up under some overhanging
bushes, so as to escape the possibility of being observed either from
the forest or the lake.

By this time a perfect understanding had been established between
Boulanger and their new guide, and they seemed to need a few signs only
to express their meaning. A good many whispers, however, were
necessary in order to make Isidore crouch down in the middle of the
largest canoe without upsetting the frail craft, but as soon as he had
done so his companions stepped lightly in, one at each end, and the
next moment they were silently paddling out into the lake.

Again Boulanger made a sign; stealthily they paddled back, and the
Canadian reached over into the other canoes in succession, and with a
few strokes of his Indian knife ripped them up after a fashion that did
away with all chance of pursuit from that quarter; this done, they once
more regained the lake.

After pausing for a few seconds to li