vent the guide from making his appearance
till the morning. Having now time for thought, he recollected the
warning Greensnake had given; and he reflected that possibly at any
moment, should a party of Blackfeet have been in the neighbourhood, and
heard the reports of their rifles, guided by the light of their fire,
they might come suddenly upon them. He kept, therefore, a vigilant
watch with his ears rather than his eyes, listening for any sound which
might indicate their approach, and trusting also to the dogs, which were
on the alert, and accompanied him whenever he moved a few feet from the
camp. When he returned they went back again, and lay down near the
fire, with their noses on their paws, and ears erect, showing that they
were wide awake.

At length Loraine awoke, and insisted on Hector's lying down, who,
before he did so, mentioned the ideas which had occurred to him.

"Never mind now what you think, but go to sleep," said Loraine. "I'll
keep a bright look-out; depend upon that."

Soon after this the wolves, attracted possibly by a passing stag or some
other game, greatly to his relief, scampered off, their cries becoming
less and less distinct as they got to a distance.

The night seemed interminably long, but the morning came at length.
Loraine aroused Hector, and having made up the fire, intending to come
back for breakfast, he charged the dogs to watch over the baggage, and
then set out in search of Greensnake and the horses. Loraine
endeavoured to trace the course he had taken during the night, but the
trail was so indistinct that he could not be certain in what direction
he had gone. As he and Hector advanced, they looked round for the
horses, but they were not near the spot to which Greensnake had taken
them on the previous evening, nor were they anywhere to be seen. They
came, however, upon what Hector believed were their tracks; but as they
were scattered about over a wide space of ground, he could not be
positive as to what course they had taken. Loraine still argued that
the guide would return, and that it would be prudent to go back to camp
and wait for his appearance. This they accordingly did, shooting on
their way a couple of ducks, which served them for breakfast, the
remains being given to the dogs. After some time Loraine went to the
top of the highest point near at hand--a small knoll or hillock--that he
might take a look-out for the missing horses, but he soon came back
withou