ing of the kind.

"Do not any of these Iroquois know where the place is?"

"Of course not, and there is no danger of the Mohawk finding it under
two or three days' hunt."

"You needn't tell me such stuff as that," said Captain Bagley. "There's
nothing that you can hide from him."

"This is a pretty crowd that is afraid to go forward because there
happens to be a single Indian somewhere in the woods. If you want to
stay behind, let me have the warriors, and I will take them to the spot,
and deliver the three into the hands of Colonel Butler inside of an
hour. What do you say to that?"

"You are so determined, you may lead on, and we'll follow."

"Well, let's do it, then, without any more--"

At that instant, the crack of a rifle broke the stillness, and the man
Worrell threw up his hand and fell forward on his face, dead!

CHAPTER XXX.

A MERITED FATE.

The amazement of Ned Clinton was no greater than that of Captain Bagley
and the Indians over the sudden death of Worrell. For one moment the
comrades of the deceased stood transfixed, staring at the inanimate form
stretched on the ground before them. Then the Iroquois gave out their
war whoop, and sprang to the cover of the nearest undergrowth. This
brought them much nearer the youth than was pleasant. The thought struck
him that these warriors would believe the one who fired the fatal shot
was near by, and begin a search which must result in revealing Clinton
himself. The precautionary action of the redmen served to recall Captain
Bagley to his own situation, and he raised his gaze from the prostrate
figure, and looked affrightedly around him.

"It was that Mohawk who fired that shot!" he exclaimed, making a hurried
rush for the same cover that was sheltering the half dozen Iroquois.

As fate would have it, he crouched down in the undergrowth so close to
Ned Clinton that the latter believed discovery was inevitable. He was
well hidden, however, and flattened out until it seemed he must force
himself into the ground, while he feared if the Tory escaped seeing him,
he would learn of his presence from the throbbing of his heart. But
there was one thing in favor of the youth. The shot--by whomsoever
fired--had come from exactly the opposite direction, a fact which was
perceptible to the Iroquois themselves even if unnoticed by the young
man at the time.

Perfect stillness succeeded the report, and when some ten minutes
passed, the warriors appeared to