t, and in case of a retreat, it would be necessary to gallop up the
naked face of the slope, and thus expose our numbers. It was decided,
therefore, after a short consultation, to leave the men where they were.

From the bend, where we stood, to the Indian camp? the river trended
almost in a straight line, and its long reach lay before our eyes like a
band of shining metal. Along its banks, the bush extended no farther.
A single step towards the camp would have exposed us to the view of its
occupants.

At this point, therefore, it was necessary for me to take to the water;
and dismounting, I made ready for the immersion.

The trappers had spoken their last words of instruction and counsel;
they had both grasped my hand, giving it a significant squeeze that
promised more than words; but to these, too, had they given utterance.

"Don't be afeerd, capt'n!" said the younger. "Rube and I won't be far
off. If we hear your pistols, we'll make a rush to'rst you, and meet
you half-way anyhow; and if onything should happen amiss,"--here Garey
spoke with emphasis--"you may depend on't we'll take a bloody revenge."

"Yees!" echoed Rube, "we'll do jest thet. Thur'll be many a nick in
Targuts afore next Krissmuss ef _you_ ur rubbed out, young fellur; thet
I swar to ye. But don't be skeeart! Keep yur eye sharp-skinned, an yur
claws steady, an thur's no fear but yu'll git clur. Oncest yur clur o'
the camp, 'ee may reck'n on us. Put straight for the timmer, an gallip
as ef Ole Scratch wur a-gruppin' at the tail o' yur critter."

I waited to hear no more, but leading Moro down the bank, at a place
where it sloped, I stepped gently into the current. My well-trained
steed followed without hesitation, and in another instant we were both
breast-deep in the flood.

The water was just the depth I desired. There was a half-yard of bank
that rose vertically above the surface; and this was sufficient to
shelter either my own head, as I stood erect, or the frontlet of my
horse. Should the channel continue of uniform depth as far as the camp,
the approach would be easy indeed: and, for certain hydrographic
reasons, I was under the belief it would.

The plumes of the Indian bonnet rose above the level of the meadow-turf;
and as the feathers--dyed of gay colours--would have formed a
conspicuous object, I took off the gaudy head-dress, and carried it in
my hand.

I also raised the robe of jaguar-skin over my shoulders, in order to