long.

In order to save his breath and strength he was compelled to go yet
slower, and finally he sat on a log for a rest of five minutes. Then the
wind brought him a single Indian shout, not more than a quarter of a
mile away, and he knew its meaning. The warriors on the right flank,
coming up on a tangent of the curve, had seen his footsteps. They had
not run more than half the distance he had and so must be comparatively
fresh. His danger had increased greatly, but his command over himself
was so complete that, instead of resting five minutes, he rested ten. He
knew now that he would need all his strength, all the power of his
lungs, because the chase had closed in and for a while it would be a
test of speed. So he rested that every muscle might have its original
strength, and he was willing for the Indians to come almost within rifle
shot before he took to flight once more.

So strong was the command of his mind over his body that he saw two
warriors appear among the trees about four hundred yards away before he
rose. They saw him, too, and uttered the war whoop of triumph, but
Henry was refreshed and he ran so fast that they sank out of sight
behind him. Then he exulted, taunting them, not in words, but with his
thoughts. They could never capture him, and once more he said to himself
that he would keep on, even if his flight took him to the Great Lakes
and beyond.

But the swampy ground intervened again, and his progress of necessity
became slow. Then he heard the Indian yell once more, and he knew that
the difficult country was enabling them to close up the gap anew. The
wolves howled also, but more toward the south, a far, faint, ferocious
sound that traveled on the wind like an echo. He did not understand it,
and he had a premonition that something extraordinary was going to
happen. It was curious, uncanny, and the hair on the back of his neck
lifted a little.

He came through the swampy belt and to a considerable stretch of dry
ground, but he heard the Indian yell for a third time, and again not
more than a quarter of a mile away. The fact that this portion of the
band had not run that day more than half as far as he was telling, and
he recognized it. Perhaps the swamps had not been to his disadvantage,
because on the dry ground they could use their reserves of strength and
speed to much greater advantage.

Now he knew that his danger had become imminent and deadly and that
every resource within him would