e
trusted him.

This frank avowal of Black Hawk fully satisfied the commandant and
Captain Norton of his honesty; and as they considered that he would be
of great service to us, they asked him whether he would join our
expedition. He appeared to hesitate, observing that should any of his
countrymen capture him, his death would be certain.

Captain Norton replied that we would protect him to the best of our
power, and he finally accepted our offer.

Besides those I have mentioned, we had only fifteen men--a small party
to venture through the country in its present state. More, however,
could not be spared. We on horseback would be detained by those on
foot; but they were active fellows, well inured to fatigue, and would
get rapidly over the ground, and we expected to make rapid marches,
absolutely necessary in an expedition of the nature we had undertaken.

Carlos was in high spirits, and seemed not to have a doubt as to his
father's safety. It was proposed to place Black Hawk on horseback, but
he declined the offer, saying that he could march faster and with less
fatigue than any of the Palefaces, and that he would accompany us on
foot.

For the first two days we pushed on at a rapid rate, not meeting with
any recent Indian trails. Black Hawk, indeed, declared his belief that
the red men had retired to the north-west, and that we should not fall
in with them. At length, however, at the end of the third day, we came
upon the remains of recent campfires and trails, which showed that a
considerable body of Indians had lately been in that part of the
country. We kept very close together, although the direction which the
trails took showed that Black Hawk was right in his conjecture as to the
insurgents having moved to the north-west, and we hoped therefore to
avoid them. In case, however, any should have remained in the
neighbourhood, we moved to the right, and chose as eligible a spot as we
could find for our camp, with a thick wood to the west, which would
conceal our fires, and an impassable marsh on the opposite side. To
prevent the risk of a surprise, scouts were sent out to examine the
country, to ascertain that no enemy was near at hand. Carlos and two
men, accompanied by Black Hawk, went in one direction, Tim and I in
another, intending to separate, while Lejoillie remained with Captain
Norton in the camp. We were charged not to go far, and to return before
darkness came on. My companion and I each