eeculties without grub. It iss followin' up his trail I
will be doin', wi' some proveesions on my back, if wan or two o' you
will go wuth me."

"I will go," said Archie Sinclair, promptly, "if some o' you will
promise to take care o' Little Bill."

A laugh greeted this offer, and half-a-dozen of the men at once agreed
to take good care of the invalid.

"Moreover," said Dechamp, "whoever goes need not go further than the
Pine Portage. The party on foot will have found out, before the canoes
reach that, whether Dan has got clear off, and they can rejoin the
canoes at the Portage. So, Fergus, I'll join your party too. Who else
will go?"

Okematan and Jacques Bourassin here stepped forward, but none of the
others seemed disposed to undertake the tramp.

"There iss enough of us--whatever," remarked the Highlander as he and
the others put some provisions into their wallets and shouldered their
guns. "You will be our leader, Antoine Dechamp. It iss yourself that
knows the outs an' ins o' the land better than any of us--except
Okematan, may be--but I dar' say he's not as weel acquaint wi' the Red
River woods as wi' the plains."

The chief bowed a dignified assent to this proposition, which, however,
he hardly understood.

Dechamp, being accustomed to lead, accepted the position at once,
stepped off on the trail of Dan, which had been made distinctly visible
when he went crashing through the underwood the day before. Fergus
followed, and Bourassin came third.

"Now, then," said Archie, looking into the chief's face, "come along,
Oke. You and I will form the rearguard, which is the position of danger
and honour in warfare o' this sort--at least if it isn't, it ought to
be. Take care o' yourself, Little Bill. We'll soon find Dan.
Good-bye."

So saying, the rearguard of the column vanished into the forest, and the
others, returning to their canoes, began to descend the river.

Archie was nearer the mark than he imagined when he said they would soon
find Dan. The distance which it had taken our hero so long to traverse
in the dark was comparatively short, and the light was only beginning to
fade when they came to the edge of the wood where Dan had spent the
night.

Dechamp, of course, was first to come upon his encampment, and the
instant he entered it he observed the open space giving a view of the
plain beyond. He also saw the wolf sitting on his haunches about two
hundred yards off.

Quick as the ligh