for the three to climb a tree, so two stood on the
ground while Deerfoot made his way among the limbs with the nimbleness
of a monkey.

He went to the very top, and balancing himself on the swaying limb
carefully parted the branches before his face. His penetrating glance
was rewarded by a sight which caused an amazed "hooh!" to fall from his
lips.

A little ways to the westward flowed a rapid stream, a hundred yards
wide. The other shore, for a rod or two, was bare of trees and
vegetation, except some stunted grass, and in this open space was
encamped a party of Indians. The sentinel in the tree counted eleven,
and suspected there were others who just then were not in sight. Though
it lacked several hours of darkness and the air was pleasant, they had
started a fire, big enough to warm a large space. Some of them seemed to
have been fishing in the stream, for they had broiled a number of fish
on the coals, and the nostrils of the young Shawanoe detected their
appetizing odor.

Under ordinary circumstances there would have been nothing specially
interesting in the group, but Deerfoot had studied them but a minute or
two when he became convinced that they belonged to the same tribe which
held Otto Relstaub a prisoner. Their dress, looks, and general
appearance answered the description given by Hay-uta.

The heart of the youth beat faster over the thought that probably the
four warriors whom he was seeking to follow were among them, and the
fate of the German lad was about to be solved. He glanced down the trunk
of the tree, and saw Jack Carleton and the Sauk standing on the ground
and looking up at him, as though they suspected from his manner that
some important discovery had been made. Without speaking, Deerfoot
beckoned to the warrior to join him. The next instant the fellow was
climbing among the limbs with such vigor that Deerfoot felt the jar at
the very top.

Their combined weight was too great for such an elevation, and the
younger perched himself somewhat lower, so as to give Hay-uta the
advantage. A few words made known what Deerfoot had seen and that he
wished the elder to answer the questions which the Shawanoe had asked
himself.

Hay-uta was as guarded in his actions as Deerfoot could have been. He
spent several minutes in a study of the group on the other side of the
stream. Had he and the Shawanoe suspected they were so close to a camp
of red men, neither would have climbed the tree, for little, i