Before him came a swift vision of red slaughter--women and
children massacred in the darkness. Then his brave heart swelled to meet
the coming danger. The night passed without alarm, but Henry, Ross, and
Shif'less Sol, roaming far in the forest, saw signs that told them
infallibly where warriors had passed.

"The attack will come," said Henry.

"As sure as night follows day," said Ross, "an' it's our business to know
when it's about to come."

Henry nodded, and the three sped on in their great circle about the camp,
not coming in until a little before day, when they slept briefly before
one of the fires. When the people arose and found that nothing had
happened, they were light-hearted. Nothing had happened, so nothing would
happen, they said to themselves; they were too strong for the danger that
had threatened, and it would pass them by. Day was so much more cheerful
than night.

They ate breakfast, their appetites brisk in the crisp morning air, and
resumed the march. But they advanced slowly, the wagons in a close, triple
file, with riflemen on either side. But Daniel Poe knew that their chief
reliance now was the eyes of the five strangers, who were in the forest on
either side and in front. They had made a deep impression upon him, as
they had upon every other person with whom they came into contact. He had
the most implicit confidence in their courage, skill, and faith.

The wagons went slowly on through the virgin wilderness, Daniel Poe and
Dick Salter at their head, the riflemen all along the flanks.

"We'll strike a river some time to-morrow," said Salter. "It's narrow and
deep, and the ford will be hard."

"I wish we were safely on the other side," said Daniel Poe.

"So do I," said Dick Salter, and his tone was full of meaning.

Yet the day passed as the night had passed, and nothing happened. They had
safely crossed the mountains, and before them were gentle, rolling hills
and open forest. The country steadily grew more fertile, and often game
sprang up from the way, showing that man trod there but little. The day
was of unrivaled beauty, a cloudless blue sky overhead, green grass under
foot, and a warm, gentle wind always blowing from the south. How could
danger be threatening under such a smiling guise? But the "eyes" of the
train, which nothing escaped, the five who watched on every side, saw the
Indian sign again and again, and always their faces were grave.

"The train carries many brave men,