uta to leave the youth behind, while he trailed the Pawnees into the
forest.

But the death-shriek of Red Wolf was sure to bring his comrades to the
spot within the space of one or two minutes; they would quickly read the
particulars of the story, and the footprints of the Sauk would be traced
to the river's edge, where their arrival was inevitable within an almost
equally brief space of time.

Should Hay-uta head for the opposite bank, and whirl the paddle with
might and main, he and his companion would be riddled with bullets
before they could pass beyond range of the Indians on shore. There
really was but one thing to do, and that was done off-hand and without
hesitation.

The canoe, under the silent but powerful strokes of the Sauk, and with
its light load, skimmed over the surface like a swallow. Hay-uta ran as
close in as he could, without allowing the overhanging limbs to obstruct
his speed. Twenty rods were passed in this manner, when he turned the
head of the boat toward shore, refraining, however, from letting it run
against it. One bound carried him out, and Jack was at his heels. Then a
gentle shove sent it beyond the dripping branches, where it was under
full control of the current, and it resumed its downward flight, though
in the bewildered fashion which showed it was under the control of no
one.

It was fortunate for our friends that the margin of the stream was
fringed with so much vegetation, as it afforded the best kind of a
hiding place. Without entering the water, they crouched into the
smallest possible space, Jack wondering whether their good fortune would
still bear them company.

A wailing cry sounded a brief distance above, and the lad needed not the
grimace and gesture of the Sauk to know that the Pawnees had discovered
the body of Red Wolf and the theft of the boat. Within the following
minute the tread of hurrying moccasins was heard, and they passed within
a few feet of where the two lay, not daring even to look up. That was
all well enough, but when another cry made known they had found the
craft, the real peril of the two may be said to have begun.

Jack Carleton knew as well as if it had taken place under his own eyes,
that one of the Pawnees was making his way through the water to the
boat, whose gunwale was grasped, and by which it was drawn back to land.
This took place about as far below our friends as the point from which
they started the canoe was above them. If the Pawnees