g the trees, the needed packs on their backs.

"Any sign, Henry?" asked Paul.

"None," replied the tall youth, "but they said they'd be here today."

Paul, who was lying on a great buffalo robe with his feet to the fire,
shifted himself into an easier position. His face expressed content and
he felt no anxiety about the traveling two.

"If Shif'less Sol promised to be here he'll keep his word," he said,
"and Silent Tom will come without making any promises."

"You do talk won'erful well sometimes, Paul," said Long Jim, "an' I
reckon you've put the facts jest right. I ain't goin' to be troubled in
my mind a-tall, a-tall 'bout them fellers. They'll be here. Tom loves
nice tender buffler steak best, an' I'm goin' to have it ready fur him,
while Sol dotes most on fat juicy wild turkey, an' that'll be waitin'
fur him, too."

He turned to his stores, and producing the delicacies his comrades loved
began to fry them over the coals. The pleasant odors filled their rocky
home.

"I give them two a half hour more," he said. "I ain't got any gift uv
second sight. I don't look into the future--nobody does--but I jest
figger on what they are an' what they kin do, an' then I feel shore that
a half hour more is enough."

"Henry," asked Paul, "do you think the Miamis and the Shawnees will come
back after us?"

"I reckon upon it," replied Henry, still watching the wet forest. "Red
Eagle and Yellow Panther are shrewd and thoughtful chiefs, and Braxton
Wyatt and Blackstaffe are full of cunning. They are all able to put two
and two together, and they know that it was we who destroyed their
cannon when they attempted the big attack on the settlements. They'll
look upon us as the scouts and sentinels who see everything they do."

"The eyes of the woods," said Paul.

"Yes, that expresses it, and they'll feel that they're bound to destroy
us. As soon as the warriors get over their panic they'll come back to
put out the eyes that see too much of their deeds. They know, of course,
that we hold this hollow and that we've made a home here for a while."

"But as they won't return for some time I mean to take my comfort while
I can," said Paul sleepily. "I wouldn't exchange this buffalo robe, the
leaves under it, the fire before my feet and the roof of rock over my
head for the finest house in all the provinces. The power of contrast
makes my present situation one of great luxury."

"Power uv contrast! You do use a heap uv big words, P