d the camp-fire.

During that period, so far as he was able to see, the Indian had not
moved so much as a muscle, and Jack himself had done very little more.
Lying on his right side, with his arm doubled under him for a pillow,
the cumbrous blanket enclosing him from head to foot, an irregular
opening in front of his face allowed him to peer through the folds at
the camp-fire, the oak, and the chieftain. The last still sat leaning
slightly backward, with his shoulders against the trunk, his arms folded
over his knees, while he seemed to be gazing off into vacancy. The heels
of his moccasins remained close against the thighs, so that the form of
the Indian bore quite a resemblance to the letter N.

The flickering light from the camp-fire disclosed as it did at first,
the side and profile of the chieftain. Gradually the flames sank lower
and there came moments when the sentinel was scarcely visible. Then,
all at once, the fire would flare up for a few seconds and the figure
would be in brighter relief than before. Again the eyes of Jack would
rebel against the extreme tension to which they were subjected. The
Indian, instead of remaining with his back against the oak, would seem
to be hitching forward and upward in the most grotesque fashion. After
bumping about in the air for a time, he would sink, still bumping, to
the ground, where he would hitch backward to his place by the tree. Then
the latter, instead of standing as motionless as a rock, showed signs of
restlessness. It would begin by swaying back and forth until it too was
waltzing in an unearthly fashion around the camp-fire. Again the
surrounding gloom became studded with blinking stars, ogres and the most
grotesque figures, which performed in an indescribable fashion. Darkness
and light alternated, until the boy feared he was losing the power of
vision altogether; but it will be understood that this was the natural
protest of the eye against the painful and long continued strain to
which it was subjected.

CHAPTER XI.

THROUGH THE FOREST.

Jack Carleton occasionally gave his eyes fitful rest by holding them
closed for a few moments, but the tantalizing visions did not leave him
even then. His arm became so painfully cramped under his head that he
was compelled to shift his position; and he seized the occasion to
readjust his limbs, which were also becoming wearied because of the long
time he had held them motionless. He was prudent enough, however,