handful of jerked venison. So, making answer at last to the call of
hunger--sons of Ebony are not wont to be tardy in answering such
calls--he drew out his prog, and without abating his speed, lest time be
lost, ministered to the inner man as he walked along. Nor did his
four-footed comrade-in-arms--who had an inner man also, or rather inner
dog, to be ministered to likewise--fail to receive a liberal share of
the store in hand. What was offered him, Grumbo took and ate grimly,
without any show of relish or satisfaction--merely, so it would seem, as
something not to be well dispensed with under the circumstances; perhaps
as a valuable means to the end they jointly had in view.

Our two adventurers had not finished their pedestrian supper till the
sun was set and twilight stealing on apace, deepening with its
glimmering shades the dusky shadows of the wilderness. Soon it was too
dark for the trail to be seen; nevertheless, they pushed on with
unabated speed, the hunter following his dog, the dog following his
nose. A dog's nose may be followed, and nobody made the victim of
misplaced confidence; and this is more than can be said of a man's nose,
which is always sure to be at fault from a cold, or out of joint in some
way, when the owner has nothing better to guide him.

The black hunter now moved with greater circumspection--lest stumbling
upon the enemy unawares, thus warning them of their danger, he should
cheat himself of the chances of war, which he could hope to hold in his
favor so long as he had concealment and secrecy on his side. So, while
the dog followed the invisible trail, he followed the scarcely visible
dog--kept a sharp lookout about him, expecting every moment to catch the
gleam of the Indian camp-fire from among the trees. But, as if to render
security doubly secure, the savages seemed bent on making a long day's
tramp of it, before allowing themselves to halt for refreshment and
repose.

At length the night was full upon them, with no light to guide them
through those trackless solitudes save the feeble glimmer of the stars
through the openings in the tree-tops; still not a sign of the flying
foe, whose unseen trail went evermore winding wearily on through the
tangled wilds. Now and then, from some distant quarter of the forest,
were to be heard the howling of wolves, abroad on their nightly hunt.
Then from an opposite quarter, but nearer, the dismal whoopings of the
horned owl would send their quave