d a little,
but they had not sat down. Nevertheless they had consulted earnestly as
the footsteps were in an irregular group, showing that they had moved
about nervously as they talked. Then they walked on, but the moccasins
moved forward in a much straighter and more precise manner than the
boots, which were now veering a little from side to side. The two
British officers, not trained to it like the others, were growing weary
from the long walk through the woods. But they persevered. Although
they sagged more the trail led on, and, after a while, Henry saw a
light, which he knew to be a campfire, and which he surmised was on the
bank of the river.

The night was fairly dark and under cover of bushes he approached until
he could see. Then all his surmises were confirmed. The campfire was
large and around it sat Alloway, the younger officer, Red Eagle and
Yellow Panther, and at a little distance about twenty warriors. The two
Englishmen seemed utterly exhausted, while the others showed no signs of
weariness.

"I admit, Wyatt, that walking seven or eight miles through the primeval
wilderness is no light task," said Alloway, wiping his red, perspiring
face.

His tone was not haughty and patronizing. He felt just then, in this
particular work, that he was not the equal of the renegades and the
warriors. Henry saw a faint ironic smile upon the face of each of the
renegades, and he understood and appreciated their little triumph.

"You would do better, Colonel," said Blackstaffe suavely, "to wear
moccasins in place of those heavy boots. They carry you over the ground
much more lightly, and we have to follow the ways of the wilderness."

The irritable red of Alloway's face turned to a deeper tint, but he
controlled himself.

"Doubtless you are right, Blackstaffe," he said, "but we are here at
last."

Wyatt had been speaking in a low tone to the chiefs, and it inflamed a
choleric man like Alloway to hear anyone saying words that he could not
understand. He was not able to restrain himself wholly a second time.

"What is it, man? What is it that you're saying to the chiefs?" he
exclaimed.

"I was merely telling them," replied Wyatt, "that you and your aide,
Lieutenant Cartwright, had been made weary by the long walk through the
woods, and that we'd better let you rest a little before going down to
inspect the canoes."

A blaze of anger appeared in Alloway's eyes, but the younger officer who
had been watching his ch