o the best he can," he said briefly.

The leisurely march proceeded, and they camped the next afternoon in the
midst of a magnificent forest of beech, oak, and hickory, building a great
fire, and lounging about it in apparently careless fashion. But Paul was
enough of a woodsman to know that some of the warriors were on watch, and
he and Braxton, as usual, were compelled to sit in the center of the
group, where there was no shadow of a chance to escape.

Hunters whom they had sent out presently brought in the bodies of two
deer, and then they had a great feast. The venison was half cooked in
strips and chunks over the coals, and the warriors ate it voraciously,
chattering to each other, meanwhile, as Paul did not know that Indians
ever talked.

"What are they saying, Braxton?" he asked.

"I can't catch it very well," replied Wyatt, "but I think they are talking
about a stay near the Ohio--for hunting, I suppose. That ought to be a
good thing for us, because they certainly will not decide about our fate
until we get back to their village, and the more they are used to us the
less likely they are to put us to death."

Paul watched the warriors eating, and they were more repellent to him than
ever. Savages they were, and nothing could make them anything else. His
ways could never become their ways. But the fresh deer meat looked very
good, and the pleasant aroma filled his nostrils. Braxton Wyatt noticed
his face.

"Are you hungry, Paul?" he asked.

"No, not hungry; merely starving to death."

Wyatt laughed.

"I'm in the same condition," he said, "but I can soon change it."

He spoke to Red Eagle, and the thin-faced chief nodded. Then Braxton
picked up two sharpened sticks that the savages had used, and also two
large pieces of venison. One stick and one piece he handed to Paul.

"Now we also will cook and dine," he said.

Paul's heart warmed toward Braxton Wyatt. Certainly he had done him wrong
in his thoughts when they lived at Wareville. But he was thinking the
next moment about the pleasant odor of the deer meat as he fried it over
the coals. Then he ate hungrily, and with a full stomach came peace for
the present, and confidence in the future. He slept heavily that night,
stretched on the ground before the fire, near Braxton Wyatt, and he did
not awaken until late the next morning.

The Indians were very slow and leisurely about departing, and Paul
realized now that, vigilant and wonderful as they were