ly. "You know
how hard it will be on us waiting out here in the woods, an' if you were
captured it's not likely we could save you."

"We'll take every precaution, Paul," said Henry, "and we'll rejoin you
here in the morning."

"All right," said Paul, "we'll wait at this point."

They were in an exceedingly dense part of the forest about two miles
from the Indian village, and Tom Ross, the phlegmatic, was already
selecting a place for his blanket. The moon was not yet out and the
light over the forest was dim, but Paul, Long Jim and Silent Tom could
see very distinctly the two magnificent young Wyandots who stood near
them, bare to the waist, painted wondrously and armed with rifle,
tomahawk and knife.

"Henry," said Long Jim, "ef I didn't see your face I could swear that
you wuz Timmendiquas his very self. I see Timmendiquas--his shoulders
an' the way he carries himself."

"An' I guess you see somethin' gran' an' wonderful in me, too, don't
you, Saplin'?" said Shif'less Sol in his most ingratiating tone.

Long Jim gazed at him in his most scornful manner, before he deigned to
reply.

"No, I don't see no great chief in you, Sol Hyde," he replied. "I see
nothin' but an ornery Wyandot, who's so lazy he has to be fed by squaws,
an' who ef he saw a white man would run so fast he'd never stop until he
hit Lake Superior an' got beyond his depth."

Shif'less Sol laughed and held out his hand.

"Put 'er thar," he said. "You wouldn't abuse me ef you didn't like me,
an' ef I never come back I guess a tear or two would run down that brown
face o' yours."

Long Jim returned in kind the iron grasp of his friend.

"Them words o' yours is mighty near to the truth," he said.

Both Henry and Sol said all their good-byes, and then they slid away
through the thickets toward the town. As they came to its edge they saw
a multitude of lights, fires burning here and there, and many torches
held aloft by women and children. There was also the chatter of hundreds
of voices, melting into a pleasant river of sound and the two, not even
finding the Indian dogs suspicious, advanced boldly across the maize
fields. Henry, remembering his size, which was the chief danger, now
stooped and held himself in a shrunken position as much as possible.
Thus they came to the town, and they saw that all its inhabitants were
converging upon the common in the center.

Both Henry and Sol looked anxiously at the village, which was of a
permanent char