vered a hole full of leaves, I
threw myself into it; I listened with intense anxiety for any sounds
made by my pursuers. I could hear none. Exhausted nature at length
gave way, and I slept. Whether I slept more than a whole day, or only a
few hours, I cannot tell. My first impulse was to spring up and
continue my flight. But before I left the wood I remembered that I must
have more food, so I dug up a further supply of nuts, and then dashed
away as before across the plain. I looked hastily around me, but could
see no pursuers. Still I knew too well their pertinacity and their
devices, to suppose that they would desist from following me, till I was
actually in a place of safety. On I went, therefore, rejoicing in the
darkness.

"Suddenly as I went along I heard some strange sounds. These were human
voices. I became aware that I was passing near a large body of Indians.
They were not my pursuers, but, till I could ascertain who they were, I
would on no account intrust myself with them. To turn back was as
hazardous as to proceed, so on I went. They heard me, and came after
me. I expected to lose my scalp after all, when you, my friends, came
to my rescue, and here I am; rather battered, I own, but still able and
willing to pull a trigger for our mutual defence."

"Spoken like an honest backwoodsman," cried Obed and his brothers.
"Friend Short, if you like to join your fortunes to ours, you are
welcome."

The old man owned that he had no fancy to hunt by himself, and that
after the adventures he had gone through he would gladly leave that part
of the country, for, as he said, Indian vengeance never slumbers, and
never dies, as if in exact contradiction to the Christian law of love.

Knowing that we were surrounded by vindictive enemies, none of us felt
inclined for sleep, and I therefore asked Obed to continue the account
of his adventures. "Ay, friend, that I will," he answered promptly. "I
left the honest Delaware and the bear and her cubs all rolling away into
the river together. The cold water somewhat astonished Mistress Bruin,
and made her for an instant let go her gripe. The Delaware took the
opportunity of striking his knife with all his force into her neck, and
before she could return the compliment, he sprang up the bank, on the
top of which I stood ready to assist him. The bear was not killed, but,
rendered furious by the wound, she began to scramble up the bank after
us. The Delaware spra