ring sound, such as we notice when a
sea-shell is held to the ear crept through the solitude like the voice
of silence itself.

Jack was impressed by the scene, but when he saw a shadowy figure flit
between two of the wigwams, and was certain he heard a movement in the
lodge behind him, he hastily concluded it was the time for action and
not meditation. With a start that might have betrayed him, he quickly
left his position and hastened away.

It was natural that the many hours devoted by Jack during his
convalescence, to forming his plan of procedure, should have fixed the
plan he meant to follow. Thus it was that the few minutes spent in front
of the chieftain's lodge were not occupied in debating the proper course
to take, and, when he once made a start, he went straight ahead without
turning to the right or left.

The reader will readily see how great were the advantages on the side of
the fugitive. He was certain of a fair start, which ought to have made
his position absolutely safe, for if the American Indian is
phenomenally skillful in following the trail of an enemy through the
wilderness, that enemy, if he suspects such pursuit, ought to be able to
throw him irrecoverably from the scent.

Furthermore, it is scarcely conceivable that the trail of Jack Carleton
could be taken at the door of Ogallah's wigwam and followed as the
warriors trailed a fugitive through the woods; for the ground whereon he
walked had been tramped hard by multitudinous feet, and the faint
impressions of the boy's shoes could not be individualized among the
thousand footprints. It was far different from fleeing from a camp in
the woods, where his trail crossed and was interfered with by no other,
and where the slightest depression or overturning of the leaves was like
the impression on the dusty highway.

The fugitive's first intention was to take to the woods, and guiding his
course by the moon and sun, travel with all the speed and push at his
command. Fortunately he was enabled to see that such a course was almost
certain to bring disaster. Instead of doing that, he went directly to
the river side, where he had seen the Indians frolicking in the water,
and he himself had so often sighed for the same delicious privilege.

There were five canoes partly drawn up the bank and waiting the will of
their owner. They were made of bark with curved ends, fantastically
painted, and each was capable of carrying, at least, six or eight
able-b