d cut off his return to the shore."

Howard suddenly laid his hand upon the arm of his cousin and pointed to
the other shore.

CHAPTER XXII.

DANGER.

Three Indians walked leisurely down to the shore of the river, as though
in quest of nothing particular, and stood gesticulating as they
generally do with their whole arms. They were about two hundred yards
above the point where Tim O'Rooney landed, but their position was such
that the canoe might have rested on the surface of the water without
being seen. Sensible of their danger, the boys at first sight of them
withdrew into cover, from which they cautiously peered out and watched
their movements.

"Those must be the three who fired the guns," whispered Elwood.

"Very probably they are; that looks more encouraging, for I do not see
Tim among them."

"Maybe they have slain him and are talking as to where he came from."

"Heaven! I hope not."

"So do I; but it looks reasonable that they have made away with him and
are now looking for us."

"How did they know he had any friends with him? Then, too, if they had
slain him, would they not have followed his trail straight down to the
water?"

"I didn't think of that. _That_ question makes me more hopeful than
anything else. It does now look somewhat cheering. But what are they
after?"

The Indians were still talking in an excited manner, and more than once
pointed across the river to the island as if there were something there
which claimed their attention. It might be the boys themselves, or they
may have known that one of their race lay there in dire extremity; but
whatever the cause was it boded no good to the two boys, who were
crouching in the bushes and grass and furtively watching their motions.

The latter were still gazing at them when their hearts were thrilled by
the sight of Tim O'Rooney. The eyes of Elwood chanced to be fixed upon a
small open space, a rod or two from where the canoe lay, when he saw the
Irishman come cautiously into view, and then pause and look around him.
He had an animal slung over his shoulders, whose weight was sufficient
to make him stop and travel with some difficulty. They saw him turn his
head and carefully scrutinize every suspicious point that was visible,
and then he walked slowly toward the spot where the canoe was concealed.
Whether his low stoop was caused by the weight of his game, or whether
it was a precautionary measure on his part, was difficult to dec