pe, and gets it too. Hm! if Kateegoose fired that shot he must be a
bad man. But our chief is sure to find it out--and--it is no business
of mine. Fetch me the tobacco, Slowfoot."

That same morning, Archie Sinclair was seated beside his brother, Little
Bill, in the tent that was shared by Fred Jenkins and several young
half-breeds. He was alone with his brother, Jenkins having gone out
with the blunderbuss to assist, if need be, in the defence of the camp.
He was manufacturing a small bow for his brother to amuse himself with
while he should be away "seein' the fun," as he said, with the hunters.
The instant the sailor left, however, he looked at Billie mysteriously
and said, in a low voice--

"Little Bill, although you're not good for much with your poor little
body, you've got a splendid headpiece, and are amazing at giving advice.
I want advice just now very bad. You've heard what they've all been
saying about this shot that was fired at Okematan, and some o' the men
say they think it must have been Kateegoose that did it. Now, Billie, I
am _sure_ that it was Kateegoose that did it."

"Oh!" exclaimed Little Bill, making his eyes and mouth into three round
O's. "How d'ye know that? Did you see him do it?"

"No--it's that that bothers me. If I had seen him do it I would have
gone straight and told Dechamp, but I didn't quite see him, you see. I
was in Lamartine's cart at the time, rummagin' about for a piece o' wood
to make this very bow, an' the moment I heard the shot I peeped out, an'
saw--nothing!"

"That wasn't much," remarked Little Bill, innocently.

"Ay, but I soon saw something," continued Archie, with increasing
solemnity; "I saw Kateegoose coming slinking round among the carts, as
if he wanted not to be seen. I saw him only for a moment--gliding past
like a ghost."

"It's a serious thing," said Little Bill, musing gravely, "to charge a
man with tryin' to kill another man, if that's all you've got to tell,
for you know it's a way the Red-skins have of always glidin' about as if
they was for ever after mischief."

"But that's not all, Little Bill," returned his brother, "for I'm almost
certain that I saw a little smoke comin' out o' the muzzle of his gun as
he passed--though I couldn't exactly swear to it."

Archie had overrated his brother's powers in the way of advice, for,
although they talked the matter over for some time, they failed to
arrive at any satisfactory conclusion.

Meanw