the Indians did not
wake, and after a little while the boys arose softly, and crept out of
the wigwam, Isaac with an Indian's gun and powder and balls. They made
their way to the meat, took it under their arms, and started upon the
run, guided on their way by the stars. On through the wilderness, amid
the tall trees, over fallen trunks, over stones, through thickets and
tangled brushwood, they travelled till morning, and then crept into a
hollow log.

Great the consternation in the camp of the Indians. Their captives gone!
a gun lost! At daybreak the Indians, with their dogs, were on the trail,
and in swift pursuit.

The boys heard the barking of the dogs, which soon came sniffing around
the log. What shall they do now? Isaac is quick-witted.

"Good fellow, Bose! good fellow! here is some breakfast for you;" and he
tosses the moose meat to them. The dogs know his voice, devour the meat,
and are as happy as dogs can be. The boys are their friends. They cease
barking, and trot around, with no further concern.

The Indians come up on the run. The boys hear their voices, as they
hasten by, followed by their dogs.

Through the day they lie hidden in the log, and when night comes, strike
out in a different direction from that taken by the Indians. All night
long they travel, nibbling at their hard corn-bread. Morning comes, and
again they conceal themselves. Once more at night they are on the march.
On the third day Isaac shoots a pigeon, but does not dare to kindle a
fire, and they eat it raw. They find a turtle, smash its shell, and eat
the meat. On, day after day, they travel, eating roots, and buds of the
trees just ready to burst into leaf. The sixth day comes, and they
suddenly find themselves close to an Indian camp. They peep through the
underbrush, and see the warriors sitting around their camp fire smoking
their pipes. They steal softly away, and then run as fast as their legs
can carry them. The morning of the eighth day comes. Joseph's strength
is failing; his courage is gone; he cries bitterly. They are in the
wilderness, they know not where, with nothing to eat, their clothes in
rags, their feet bleeding.

"Cheer up, Joseph; here are some ground-nuts. Here, drink some water,"
says Isaac.

No brave words, no act of kindness, can quicken the courage of the
fainting boy. What shall Isaac do--stay and die with him, or try to find
his own way out? Sad the parting, the younger lying down to die upon a
mossy b