owed them till he had assured himself that they really were going in
that direction. When he had done this he turned back and looked out for
me. We agreed at once that we would set off and try to rescue Noggin as
soon as we had killed a sufficient quantity of game to satisfy our
hunger.

"We calculated that the red-skins were quite far enough off by this time
not to hear the report of our rifles. Hunger, when not too long
endured, sharpens men's wits. We soon killed a couple of wild turkeys
and a deer, which we fell in with in great numbers on their way south.
We hid away our canoe in the bank of the river, and so covered her with
branches that even an Indian's sharp eyes were not likely to discover
her. Having lighted a fire, we smoked, in a hurried way, as much food
as would last us for several days, and then, taking a good meal of
toasted venison, we set off on our perilous adventure.

"We soon found our way up to the Indian camp, and we observed that they
took no pains to hide their trail, by which we judged that they did not
suppose any of their enemies to be in the neighbourhood. There were no
women or children, which showed that they had been on a hunting or war
expedition, and also that their chief camp was at no great distance.
This gave us the greatest concern, because if once they reached it we
could scarcely hope to rescue Noggin from their power. We calculated
that there were twenty warriors altogether. They were on foot. They
were dragging Noggin on, but he evidently delayed them as much as
possible. Perhaps, poor fellow, he suspected that Blount and I were
following him. We travelled faster than they did, and towards the
evening of the fifth day of our journey we saw, from the freshness of
the trail, that we were not far from them. We examined our rifles to be
ready for an emergency; but we knew that we could do nothing to help our
friend before night. We supposed that we were about half a mile or so
from our enemies, and not deeming it wiser to get much nearer, we
continued to follow at the same pace at which they were going.

"At last we came to more open ground, and several times we caught sight
of them. We were near enough indeed to count their numbers, and we
found that we had made an exact estimate of them. Evening at last came,
and we knew that they were encamped. It was now, therefore, necessary
to be more careful than ever, for some of the warriors might be prowling
about, and s