ehind them joined in a mass and
came on, yelling in anger and disappointment.

"Now, Sol," said Henry, "we might let 'em have a couple of bullets. The
rest of you hold your fire!"

Henry and the shiftless one, wheeling swiftly, fired and hit their
targets. A cry of wrath came from the pursuers, but they dropped back
out of range, and stayed there awhile. Then they crept closer, until a
bullet from Silent Tom gave them a deadly warning to drop back again,
which they did with great promptness.

Then the five, summoning all their reserves of strength, sped southward
at a rate that was too great for their pursuers. Paul soon heard the
owls calling again, but they were at least a half mile behind them, and
they no longer oppressed him with that quality of cruelty and certain
triumph. Now they only denoted failure and disappointment, and, as his
high tension relaxed, he began to laugh.

"Stop it, Paul! Stop it!" said the shiftless one sharply. "It's too soon
yet to laugh! When the time comes I'll tell you!"

Paul checked himself, knowing that the laugh was partly hysterical, and
closely followed Henry who was now turning toward the west, leading them
through rolling country, clothed in the same unbroken forest and
undergrowth. It was his idea to find a creek or brook and then wade in
it for a long distance to break the trail, the simplest of devices, one
used a thousand times with success on the border, and they ran at their
utmost speed, in order to be out of sight of even the swiftest warrior
when they should come to water.

They passed several tiny brooks too small for their purpose, but, in a
half-hour, came to one two feet deep, flowing swiftly and with muddy
current. Henry uttered a sigh of satisfaction as he stepped into the
water, and began to run with the stream. He heard four splashes behind
him, as the others stepped in also, and followed.

"As little noise as you can," he said. "There may be a lurking warrior
about somewhere."

After the first hundred yards they waded slowly, in order to avoid more
splashing, and, after another hundred, stopped to listen. They heard
faint cries from the warriors, but they were very far away, at least a
mile, they thought, and the hearts of every one of the five rose with
the belief that the Indians had taken the wrong course. But they
neglected no precaution, wading in the middle of the brook for a long
distance, the water enclosed on either side with a thick and heavy
g