ue ones.

"Ef I wuz to steal down a bit through the bushes an' shoot that traitor
right squar' through his black heart, ez I could do easy, I'd be savin'
the lives o' innocent men, women an' children," said Shif'less Sol.

"It is likely," said Henry, "but you mustn't do it. Somehow I can't see
a man shot from ambush. Besides, it would give the alarm, an' we
mightn't be able to carry on our work."

"I didn't say I wanted to do it, but it's pow'ful temptin'."

"Yes, I know, but it's silence and waiting for us."

The four pairs of legs, three Indian and one white, passed on. Ten
minutes later they heard a long whoop from one point, and a long whoop
from another point answered. They were not war cries, merely signals,
and the five appreciated more than ever the invisibility of their little
retreat. There was not more than one chance in a hundred that a
wandering warrior would stumble upon it.

Other calls were heard through the forest, and then the faint sound of a
chant dying swiftly.

"They're merry," said Paul, with swift intuition. "Maybe they have some
scalps already to rejoice over."

It was a bitter reminder to Henry, and yet it might be true. A small
band, traveling fast, might have struck an unguarded settlement, and,
returning, might be here now with the great band, bearing their
sanguinary trophies. Five only, no matter how brave and skillful, could
not watch the whole border.

"There's nothing to do," he said, "but wait for darkness."

Not one of them had risen to his feet, and they merely sank back on
their elbows, again relying more upon ear than eye. They relaxed, but
they were ready for instant action, should the need come.

They would not have very long to wait now. The sun was so far over in
the west that it cast slanting rays and shadows were gathering at the
base of the cup. It was growing colder and the rising wind sang among
the green young leaves. A vast red sun hanging low over the western
wilderness tinged the forest, as if with fire. To an ordinary human
being it would have been an awful sun in its flaming majesty,
frightening him, lost in the forest, by its mysterious immensity, but
the five, either separately or alone were too familiar with the great
spectacle to feel fear.

"It's an uncommonly red sun," said Tom Ross.

"And they say that means battle," said Paul, who had read much for a lad
of the frontier.

"I s'pose so," said the shiftless one, "an' it may mean a storm, but I