little
smoke, and cooked the noontide meal, that was for that day his
breakfast as well. Before it was finished he had decided to remain in
his present place of concealment until nightfall, in order to have the
aid of darkness in avoiding such Indians as might be travelling up or
down the coast. Having satisfied his hunger, and extinguished his
modest fire, he stationed himself at the foot of a great oak on the
shore, where he commanded a good view of the lake and was at the same
time well hidden from it. Here he reflected upon all that had
happened, wondered if Cuyler had reached Presque Isle, if so, whether
Edith and Christie had met, and tried to imagine the meeting, until at
length he fell asleep and dreamed that Presque Isle was destroyed and
that he was searching for traces of Edith in its ashes.

When he awoke, the sound of voices was in his ears, and for a moment it
seemed as though his waking was but a continuation of his dream.
Within a stone's-throw of where he lay barely hidden by a slight screen
of leaves, a fleet of canoes was moving to the eastward, the very
direction he must take if he adhered to his original plan. He counted
ten, twenty, thirty, and believed that some had already passed when he
awoke. They were filled with warriors, all armed and decked with
war-paint of vermilion and black. There were a few squaws; but no
children, no dogs, and but slight camp equipage. It was evidently a
war-party, and a strong one.

Donald lay motionless, hardly daring to breathe, and watched them out
of sight. Were they in pursuit of Cuyler and his handful of fugitives?
were they on their way to attack Christie in his little fort? or were
they in search of him to avenge his looting of the Wyandot lodges?
This last thought was dismissed as quickly as formed; for, of course,
no party of that size would be in pursuit of an individual, no matter
how important he was or what he had done. No; they must be bound for
Presque Isle, with the hope of picking up Cuyler on the way.

As the youth was in the very act of rising to go to the beach for a
parting glimpse of the fleet, a movement on the water warned him to
sink back just in time to escape the keen glances of the occupants of a
single canoe, that seemed to have been left behind and to be in haste
to overtake the main body. Besides the four Indians who paddled it,
this canoe held a fifth, seated luxuriously in an object so unusual and
startling that Donald