to do so.

He heard and saw enough to convince him that they intended to make an
attack on the camp in the mountains, but he did not feel absolutely sure
that they would not turn aside and follow in the path of the Wolf and
Wau-ko-mia-tan, until the party had advanced several miles to the
southward along the Ozark trail.

It seemed strange that the Winnebagos paid no attention to the two
missing warriors, and yet, after all, it was not singular. They knew
they were dead and it was therefore a waste of time to give heed to
them. If by any possibility they were alive, they must take care of
themselves, just as all brave Indians did: if unable to do so, the
consequences must be on their own heads.

So the ten Winnebagos, under the lead of the famous chieftain Black
Bear, moved along the trail in the direction of the camp of the Hunters
of the Ozark, and the expressions and words that had been overheard by
the watchful Shawanoe, left no doubt that by way of revenge they meant
to slay the three trappers who had located there for the winter.

The Winnebagos came from the north-east. Their lodges, villages and
hunting grounds were many moons' travel away, and the section of country
through which they were journeying was so sparsely settled that they had
no fear of pursuit. Now, when you give an American Indian the chance to
commit some vicious mischief with no fear of being made to pay
therefor, you may set it down as a truth that nine hundred and
ninety-nine out of every one thousand will commit that crime. It was a
matter of indifference, in the first place, whether they harmed the
hunters or not. Since the latter were removed some distance from their
path, it is probable that they would not at that time have taken the
trouble to go in quest of them: it was the feeling of revenge that was
the deciding weight in the scale.

Let us recall the situation as it was on the second morning after Fred
Linden and Terry Clark left their homes in Greville. The boys themselves
were the furthest advanced along the trail to the mountains, while at a
considerable distance behind, filed the ten Winnebago warriors, and
hovering in the vicinity was Deerfoot the Shawanoe, watching every
movement with the vigilance of a lynx.

Whenever he chose he could make a circuit around the Winnebagos, and
joining the boys beyond, hasten to the hunters' camp and apprise them of
their danger; but there remained an abundance of time in which to do
that