re as the
crow flies, an' the Blackfeet came from the opposite airt o' the
compass."

The young hunter's prolonged silence after this, as well as the
expression of his face, showed that he was not quite as easy in his mind
as his words implied.

"Did the cry seem to be far off?" he asked at last quickly.

"Not far," returned his wife.

Without speaking, Big Tim began to buckle on the cavalry sabre, not in
the loosely-swinging cavalry fashion, but closely and firmly to his
side, with his broad waistbelt, so that it might not impede his
movements. He then selected from the arms a short double-barrelled gun,
and, slinging a powder-horn and shot-pouch over his shoulders, prepared
to depart.

"Now listen, my soft one," he said, on completing his arrangements. "I
feel a'most sartin sure that the cry ye heard was _not_ daddy's;
nevertheless, the bare possibility o' such a thing makes it my dooty to
go an' see if it was the old man. I think the Blackfeet have drawed off
to have a palaver, an' won't be back for a bit, so I'll jist slip down
the precipice by our secret path; an' if they do come back when I'm
away, pepper them well wi' slugs. I'll hear the shots, an' be back to
you afore they can git up the hill. But if they should make a
determined rush, don't you make too bold a stand agin 'em. Just let fly
with the big-bore when they're half-way up the track, an' then slip into
the cave. I'll soon meet ye there, an we'll give the reptiles a
surprise. Now, you'll be careful, soft one?"

Soft one promised to be careful, and Big Tim, entering the hut, passed
out at a back door, and descended the cliff to the torrent below by a
concealed path which even a climbing monkey might have shuddered to
attempt.

Meanwhile Softswan, re-arranging and re-examining her firearm, sat down
behind the breastwork to guard the fort.

The sun was still high in the heavens, illuming a magnificent prospect
of hill and dale and virgin forest, and glittering in the lakelets,
pools, and rivers, which brightened the scene as far as the distant
horizon, where the snow-clad peaks of the Rocky Mountains rose grandly
into the azure sky.

The girl sat there almost motionless for a long time, exhibiting in her
face and figure at once the keen watchfulness of the savage and the
endurance of the pale-face.

Unlike many girls of her class, she had at one period been brought for a
short time under the influence of men who loved the Lord Jesus C