danger. Carefully sounding the
water, Jack found it was quite shallow close to land. He therefore waded
a full hundred yards from the canoe before leaving the stream, and then,
with his clothing saturated to his knees, he stepped ashore, took a
score of long careful steps straight away, and his flight, it may be
said, was fairly begun.

"I don't know that I have done so much after all," said he, when he had
reached a point a hundred yards from the stream, "for some one of the
Indians may strike my trail before sunrise to-morrow morning; but I have
done all I can at the start, and if I can have a few miles the lead,
it'll be no fun for them to overtake me."

There was no reason why such an advantage should not be secured, for,
although the moon was of no help to him in determining his course, he
had studied the whole thing so carefully while lying in the lodge of the
chieftain Ogallah, that he was as sure of the direction as if he held a
mariner's compass in his hand.

Jack, it will be borne in mind was in the southern portion of the
present State of Missouri, the frontier settlement of Martinsville lying
at no great distance westward from Kentucky, and north of the boundary
line of Arkansas, as it has existed since the formation of that
Territory and State. The Sauk party of Indians who made him captive had
pursued an almost westerly direction, taking him well toward the Ozark
region, if not actually within that mountainous section. It followed,
therefore, that he should pursue the easterly course, for the stream
along which he had been borne, had carried him almost due north, and it
was not necessary for him to diverge in order to leave it well behind.

The fugitive lost no time, but pushed through the wood as fast as he
could. It was hard to restrain his desire to break into a run, but he
did so, for nothing could have been gained and much was likely to be
lost by such a course. Despite the bright moon overhead, few of its rays
found their way through the dense vegetation and foliage. Though he
encountered little undergrowth, yet he was compelled to use his hands as
well as his eyes in order to escape painful accidents.

The hours of darkness were valuable to Jack, yet he longed for daylight.
He wanted to be able to see where he was going, and to use what little
woodcraft he possessed. So long as he was obliged to keep one hand
extended in front in order to save his face and neck, he could adopt no
precautions to