the hopelessness of
escape, and the terrible fate that probably awaited them.

"Shall we turn and fly, Mr. Scott?" asked Tom hurriedly.

"It would be of no use, Tom. We must stay and face the music."

Upon the appearance of the two friends the Indians had sprung to their
feet, and the colloquy was scarcely over before there was an Indian at
each bridle-rein. They made signs, easily understood, for Tom and Scott
to dismount.

"Stop a minute," said Scott, with creditable coolness, considering the
great peril in which he knew himself to be. "Is there any one here who
speaks English?"

An elderly Indian stepped forward quickly, and said, "Speak, white man.
I speak English a little."

"Good," said Scott; "then I want you to tell your friends here that I
came after a horse that left our camp last night. Do you understand?"

The Indian inclined his head.

"There he is," continued Scott, pointing with his finger to Dan. "Give
him to me, and I will go away."

The interpreter turned to his companions, and repeated what Scott had
said. Evidently it was not favorably received, as Scott could see by the
menacing looks that were turned upon him. He waited, with some anxiety,
for the answer to his claim. He had to wait for some minutes, during
which the Indians appeared to be consulting. It came at last.

"The white man has lied," said the Indian sententiously. "The horse is
ours."

"That's pretty cool, eh, Tom?" said Scott, provoked; not only by the
denial of his claim, but by the charge of falsehood.

Tom did not answer, thinking silence more prudent.

The Indian interpreter looked suspiciously from one to the other. He
understood what "cool" meant, but was not familiar with the special
sense in which Scott used it.

"I will prove that the horse is ours," said Scott. "Here, Dan!"

The horse whinnied, and tried to reach Scott, upon hearing his name
pronounced.

"There," said Scott triumphantly, "you see the horse knows me. I have
not lied."

The speech was an imprudent one. Indians are not lawyers, but they
understand the familiar saying, that "possession is nine points of the
law." That the horse was a valuable one they understood; and they had no
intention of parting with him. Still more, they looked with covetous
eyes at the horses ridden by Scott and the boy, and they had already
made up their minds to seize them also.

"The white man is a magician," said the interpreter. "He has bewitched
the horse. The h