good a chance of obtaining guns, powder, and shot, horses and goods,
without any trouble; so Joe made up his mind to give them the slip at
once.

A dark night was chosen for the attempt, and the Indian woman went off
with the horses to the place where firewood for the camp was usually
cut. Unfortunately the suspicion of that wily savage Mahtawa had been
awakened, and he stuck close to the hunters all day--not knowing what
was going on, but feeling convinced that something was brewing which he
resolved to watch, without mentioning his suspicions to any one.

"I think that villain's away at last," whispered Joe to his comrades;
"it's time to go, lads, the moon won't be up for an hour. Come along."

"Have ye got the big powder-horn, Joe?"

"Ay, ay, all right."

"Stop! stop! my knife, my couteau. Ah! here it be. Now, boy."

The three set off as usual, strolling carelessly to the outskirts of the
camp; then they quickened their pace, and, gaining the lake, pushed off
in a small canoe.

At the same moment Mahtawa stepped from the bushes, leaped into another
canoe and followed them.

"Hah! he must die," muttered Henri.

"Not at all," said Joe, "we'll manage him without that."

The chief landed and strode boldly up to them, for he knew well that
whatever their purpose might be, they would not venture to use their
rifles within sound of the camp at that hour of the night; as for their
knives, he could trust to his own active limbs and the woods to escape
and give the alarm if need be.

"The Pale-faces hunt very late," he said with a malicious grin. "Do
they love the dark better than the sunshine?"

"Not so," replied Joe, coolly, "but we love to walk by the light of the
moon. It will be up in less than an hour, and we mean to take a long
ramble to-night."

"The Pawnee chief loves to walk by the moon too, he will go with the
Pale-faces."

"Good," ejaculated Joe. "Come along, then."

The party immediately set forward, although the savage was a little
taken by surprise at the indifferent way in which Joe received his
proposal to accompany them. He walked on to the edge of the prairie,
however, and then stopped.

"The Pale-faces must go alone," said he; "Mahtawa will return to his
tent."

Joe replied to this intimation by seizing him suddenly by the throat and
choking back the yell that would otherwise have brought the Pawnee
warriors rushing to the scene of action in hundreds. Mahtawa's hand was
on t