t out, about the middle of the night, the cold
became so intense that they were awakened by it, so Jasper rose and blew
up the fire, and the other two sat up and filled their pipes, while
their teeth chattered in their heads. Soon the blaze and the smoke
warmed them, and again they lay down to sleep comfortably till morning.

Before daybreak, however, Arrowhead--who never slept so soundly but that
he could be wakened by the slightest unusual noise--slowly raised his
head and touched Jasper on the shoulder. The hunter was too
well-trained to the dangers of the wilderness to start up or speak. He
uttered no word, but took up his gun softly, and looked in the direction
in which the Indian's eyes gazed. A small red spot in the ashes served
to reveal a pair of glaring eye-balls among the bushes.

"A wolf," whispered Jasper, cocking his gun. "No; a man," said
Arrowhead.

At the sound of the click of the lock the object in the bushes moved.
Jasper leaped up in an instant, pointed his gun, and shouted sternly--

"Stand fast and speak, or I fire!"

At the same moment Arrowhead kicked the logs of the fire, and a bright
flame leapt up, showing that the owner of the pair of eyes was an
Indian. Seeing that he was discovered, and that if he turned to run he
would certainly be shot, the savage came forward sulkily and sat down
beside the fire. Jasper asked him why he came there in that stealthy
manner like a sly fox. The Indian said he was merely travelling by
night, and had come on the camp unexpectedly. Not knowing who was
there, he had come forward with caution.

Jasper was not satisfied with this reply. He did not like the look of
the man, and he felt sure that he had seen him somewhere before, but his
face was disfigured with war paint, and he could not feel certain on
that point until he remembered the scene in the trading store at
Jasper's House.

"What--Darkeye!" cried he, "can it be you?"

"Darkeye!" shouted Laroche, suddenly rising from his reclining position
and staring the Indian in the face with a dark scowl. "Why, Jasper,
this is the villain who insulted my daughter, and to whom I taught the
lesson that an old man could knock him down."

The surprise and indignation of Jasper on hearing this was great, but
remembering that the savage had already been punished for his offence,
and that it would be mean to take advantage of him when there were three
to one, he merely said--

"Well, well, I won't bear