no need to hurry and that to hurry was
dangerous, they lay a long time in the woods, and some of them slept a
little, while the others watched. But those who slept awoke when they
heard the haunting cry of the owl. The five sat up as another owl far to
the left hooted in answer. Not one of them was deceived for an instant,
as the signals were exchanged three times. Indian, they knew, was
talking to Indian.

"What do you think it means, Henry?" asked the shiftless one.

"I've a notion that a small band has struck our trail and that it's
signaling to a bigger one."

"I'm sorry o' that."

"So am I, because it will put the great band on guard against us. Our
best weapon would have been the ignorance of the Indians that we were
near."

"Ef troubles git in our way we kin shoot 'em out uv it," said Long Jim
philosophically.

"So we can," said Henry, "but there goes one of the owls again, and it's
much nearer to us than it was before."

"An' thar's the other answerin' from the other side," said Shif'less
Sol, "an' it, too, is much nearer."

"'Pears ez ef they knowed more about us than we thought they did, an'
are tryin' to surround us," said Long Jim.

"An' we jest won't be surrounded," said Shif'less Sol. "We ain't trained
to that sort o' thing an' it ain't a habit that we'd like."

"Come on," said Henry, and, rifle on shoulder, he flitted through the
thickets. The others followed him in single file, and they advanced
toward a point mid-way between the opposing bands. Their line formed
according to its invariable custom, Henry leading, the shiftless one
next, followed by Paul, with Long Jim following, and Silent Tom covering
the rear.

They traveled now at high speed, and Henry felt that the need was great.
He was sure that the bands, besides signaling to each other, were also
calling up wandering hunters. The circle about them might be more nearly
complete than they had thought. They kept to the darkest of the forest
and fled on like a file of phantoms. A rifle suddenly cracked in the
thicket and a bullet whistled by. Henry's rifle flashed in reply and no
further sound came from the bushes. Then the phantoms sped on faster
than ever.

Henry reloaded his rifle, and all of them listened to the chorus of the
owls, as they cried to one another in a circle the diameter of which
might have been a third of a mile. The heart of every one beat faster,
not alone because they were running, but because of that demon choru