hat his only escape from the Pawnees, who
seemed to spring from the ground all around him, was by placing himself
on the other side the creek, turned and made for it, as I have already
told, with all the speed he possessed. The stream was of a width varying
from twenty to forty feet or more. Where he had crossed it before, it
was too wide for him to think of leaping. In fact, his hasty search
along shore failed to show a spot across which he could jump, and he did
not expect to do so in the present instance.

But the extremity of good fortune attended the fleet-footed Deerfoot,
who struck one of the narrowest portions. He anticipated falling into
the water, quite close to the other side, whence he meant to crawl
hastily out and continue his flight. Gathering his muscles, he made one
of the most terrific efforts of his life, and, rising in air, described
a parabola, which carried him fully six feet past the water, striking
the ground beyond a clump of bushes. There, as I have said, when the
search was made, his footprints were seen too plainly to leave any doubt
as to the exploit he had performed.

At the instant of alighting, he whirled around, stepped close to the
water, and struck it a sharp blow with his long bow. It was his
quickness of resource which led him to do this without a second's delay.
Well aware of the great leap he had made, he caused the splash, so as to
lead his pursuers to think he had dropped into the current. It has been
shown how he succeeded.

Crouching low, so as to keep his body hidden so far as it was possible
to do so, he ran along the stream, sometimes almost on his hands and
knees, until a point was reached where he was able to straighten up
without detection. His keen vision showed him the Pawnees advancing from
the side on which he had taken refuge, but he easily avoided discovery,
and had not far to go, when he felt that all danger was over.

It will be admitted that, from the moment when he entered the Pawnee
camp and fell into a dispute with Lone Bear, he had been given little
time to rest. It may be said that the sweep of incident kept him on the
jump, from the opening to the close. He was given no time to think of
Hay-uta nor of Jack Carleton, from whom he was separated by still
another stream of water, across which he was forced to swim, in order to
reach the war party. He had done his utmost to gather some information
respecting Otto Relstaub, for whom the three were searching, b