ered the track made by the Indians, which led him to the spot near
to the spring where Tom had fallen. To his now fully-awakened senses
Trevor easily read the story, as far as signs could tell it.

Brixton had been all but starved to death. He had lain down under a
tree to die--the very tree under which he himself had so recently given
way to despair. While lying there he--Brixton--had scrawled his last
words on the bit of birch-bark. Then he had tried to reach the spring,
but had fainted either before reaching it or after leaving. This he
knew, because the mark of Tom's coat, part of his waist-belt and the
handle of his bowie-knife were all impressed on the softish ground with
sufficient distinctness to be discerned by a sharp eye. The moccasined
footprints told of Indians having found Brixton--still alive, for they
would not have taken the trouble to carry him off if he had been dead.
The various sizes of the moccasined feet told that the party of Indians
numbered three; and the trail of the red men, with its occasional
halting-places, pointed out clearly the direction in which they had
gone. Happily this was also the direction in which little Trevor was
going.

Of course the boy did not read this off as readily as we have written it
all down. It cost him upwards of an hour's patient research; but when
at last he did arrive at the result of his studies he wasted no time in
idle speculation. His first duty was to reach Simpson's Gully, discover
his friend Paul Bevan, and deliver to him the piece of birch-bark he had
found, and the information he had gleaned.

By the time Tolly had come to this conclusion his horse and pony had
obtained both rest and nourishment enough to enable them to raise their
drooping heads and tails an inch or two, so that when the boy mounted
the former with some of his old dash and energy, it shook its head, gave
a short snort, and went off at a fair trot.

Fortunately the ground improved just beyond this point, opening out into
park-like scenery, which, in another mile or two, ran into level prairie
land. This Trevor knew from description was close to the mountain
range, in which lay the gully he was in quest of. The hope which had
begun to rise increased, and communicating itself, probably by
sympathetic electricity, to the horse, produced a shuffling gallop,
which ere long brought them to a clump of wood. On rounding this they
came in sight of the longed-for hills.

Before n