rmit that deadly half circle to close in, and
it would carry him toward his friends and the fleet. He reached rougher
ground, low hills with many outcroppings of stone, and he leaped lightly
from rock to rock. His moccasined feet, for a space, left no traces, and
when he came to the softer earth again he paused. They would certainly
lose the trail at the hills, and it would take them five, perhaps ten,
minutes to find it once more.

He leaned against a tree, drawing great breaths and relaxing his
muscles. He permitted everything to give way for a minute or two,
knowing that in such manner he would procure the most rest and
resiliency. Meanwhile he listened with all the powers of those
wonderful, forest-bred ears of his, but heard nothing save a far, faint
call or two.

After about five minutes he resumed his flight, going at the long, easy
frontier lope, and a little later he came to a great mass of tangled and
fallen forest where a hurricane had passed. Fortune that had failed him
with the brook served him with the trees, and he ran lightly along in
the path of the hurricane, leaping from trunk to trunk. He had turned
for the first time from his direct course, but now he could afford to do
so. It would take the shrewdest of the Wyandot warriors some time to
pick up a trail that was lost for a full quarter of a mile, and he did
not leave the windrow until fully that distance was covered.

He passed some low hills again, and just beyond them he came to a large
creek flowing between fairly high banks. This was better luck than he
had hoped. The waters felt cool and fresh, and, hot from his long run,
he drank eagerly. But the creek would serve another and better purpose,
the hiding of his trail. It flowed in the very direction in which he was
going, and he waded down stream for forty or fifty yards. Then he went
over his head. The creek had suddenly deepened, but he came up promptly
and swam easily with the current.

Swimming rested him in a way. A new set of muscles came into play, and
he swam placidly for two or three hundred yards. Then he turned over on
his back and floated as far again. Now, as he floated, he found time to
take thought. He saw that the sun was still shining brilliantly
overhead, and the forest grew in a dense green wall to the water's edge
on either side.

He had come so far. It seemed that he had made good his escape, but he
was able for the first time to take a survey of his situation. He was