fighting among themselves!"

The Indians were paying no attention to their captives. They were in
the thick of the fight now, the sound of blows echoing loudly in the
still air. Clubs, dog whips, chunks of ice, shovels and picks, the
implements being taken from the sleds, were used as weapons. Callack was
unable to control his men. In fact he was in considerable danger.

But the colored man never stirred. He looked up at Mr. Baxter, smiled
stupidly and mumbled:

"It suah am a warm day. Landy, but dis coon has got t' take off some ob
his clothes!"

"His mind is wandering," spoke Mr. Baxter sadly. "Come, Johnson," he
said. "We will help you to escape. Get up and walk. You must, or we'll
have to leave you. We haven't a minute to spare."

But the unfortunate negro could not understand.

"It's no use," murmured Mr. Baxter. "We'll have to leave him to save
ourselves. We can't carry him, he's too heavy."

"But what will Callack do to him, when he finds us gone?" asked Fred,
for it seemed that they could easily escape during the excitement, which
had not ceased.

"I don't believe Callack will harm him," replied Jerry's father. "He
knows Johnson can't tell where the treasure is in his present state, and
he'll look after him carefully, in the hope that his mind will come
back, so he can point out the hiding place of the gold. So he'll not
harm him, and if we make good our escape, we can come back with a strong
party, and free him. But we must hurry. Callack seems to be getting his
men under some kind of submission."

This was so. Though the Indians were still fighting, Callack's use of
the heavy whip and his vigorous commands appeared to be having some
effect. The captives waited no longer. Bidding Johnson farewell, though
the negro probably did not understand what they said, Mr. Baxter and the
boys fled down the side of the hummock, away from the camp.

Over the ice and snow they ran as fast as they could, but they welcomed
the exertion, since, as they were not as warmly dressed as usual, the
terrible cold was numbing them. The fierce fall of snow, which increased
rather than diminished, served in a measure to conceal their movements.

"Come on, boys!" called Mr. Baxter cautiously, as he led the way. "We
may escape that villain and his savages! Are you all right?"

"All right, but it's terrible cold," answered Jerry.

"Indeed it is, though it's not so bad as it was up on that hummock.
Let's stop a minute, and see