satisfy their sense of duty by placing their garments and
weapons on a light raft, and swimming behind it while it floated down
stream. In this way they left no trace of whither they had gone, and a
bloodhound would have been baffled in attempting pursuit.

The only mishap of this novel voyage was that while making it, the gun
of Otto rolled off and went like a stone to the bottom, but the
clearness of the current revealed where it lay, ten feet deep, and it
was easy to dive and recover it.

When at last they emerged, a long distance below the point of entrance,
a branch was bent and broken as Deerfoot had told them to do in case
they crossed a river, and donning their garments, they turned the light
raft adrift, and resumed their journey toward the ridge which still lay
a long distance away.

By this time the sun was well down in the sky, and it was clear that if
the elevation was to be reached before going into camp, several miles
would have to be traveled by night, when the moon would give them scant
light indeed; but both had done a good deal of that kind of traveling,
and the prospect caused no uneasiness. The sight of some game or any
thing which could be utilized as food would have been most welcome to
the hungry lads.

Lest it may strike my reader that both were showing a degree of
recklessness inconsistent with their training and character, it should
be said that they kept their ears open for sounds from the rear. It was
not considered possible for the Pawnees to press the pursuit with any
vigor without the discharge of more than one firearm. The instant such
report reached the youths, such tardiness would end.

That report came just before the sun sank from sight. Faint but distant
as it floated to them from across the miles of wilderness, it told (like
the sound of Otto's gun when heard by Deerfoot) an important truth; the
Pawnees were on the southern side of the further ridge, and were pushing
the pursuit of the boys with a persistency that left no doubt of their
earnestness.

"I dinks we petter goes fast," said Otto, breaking into a trot, which
Jack imitated in order to prevent himself from falling behind. They kept
it up until the gathering darkness forced them to moderate their pace. A
couple of miles still remained to be passed over, but their training
rendered that an easy matter, and, but for the craving hunger, there
would have been little choice between that and stopping short where they
were.