rail fast enough,
in the wood, and to overtake us before we had gone many miles.

"Now, you see, we have doubled on them. The varmint in the woods will
search the edge of the lake in the morning, but it's a good long
stretch to go over, and, if we have luck, they mayn't strike on our
landing place for some hours after daylight. In course, they may hit on
it earlier; still, it gives us a chance, anyhow. Another thing is, we
have twenty miles less to travel through the woods than if we had to
start up there, and that makes all the difference when you've got
redskins at your heels. If we don't have the bad luck to come across
some of the varmint in the woods, I expect we shall carry our scalps
back to Fort William Henry.

"Now you had best sleep till daybreak. We sha'n't get another chance
till we get into the fort again."

With the first dawn of morning, they were on their way. Striking
straight back into the woods, they walked fast, but with the greatest
care and caution, occasionally making bends and detours, to prevent the
redskins following their traces at a run, which they would have been
able to do, had they walked in a straight line. Whenever the ground was
soft, they walked without trying to conceal their tracks, for Nat knew
that, however carefully they progressed, the Indians would be able to
make out their trail here. When, however, they came to rocky and broken
ground, they walked with the greatest caution, avoiding bruising any of
the plants growing between the rocks. After walking ten miles in this
direction, they turned to the south.

"We ought to be pretty safe, now," Nat said. "They may be three or four
hours before they hit on our landing place, and find the canoe. I don't
say as they won't be able to follow our trail--there ain't no saying
what redskin eyes can do--but it 'ull take them a long time, anyway.
There ain't much risk of running against any of them in the forest,
now. I guess that most of them followed the canoe down the lake last
night.

"Anyway, we are well out from Lake Champlain now. When we have gone
another fifteen mile, we sha'n't be far from the upper arm. There's a
canoe been lying hidden there for the last two years, unless some
tramping redskin has found it, which ain't likely."

Twenty miles further walking brought them to the shore of the lake.
Following this for another hour, they came upon the spot, where a
little stream ran into the lake.

"Here we are," Nat said. "Fi