otioned them to follow him, while he showed his steed,
of which he was very proud.

The horse snuffed and displayed some timidity when the flame was brought
near him, but a few words from his master quieted him, and he stood
still while the three walked around and admired his points. The boys
said nothing until they were through. Then Jack, with the firelight
lighting up his face, looked at Otto, who laughed and nodded his head.

The two had discovered the fact that the horse before them belonged to
Otto Relstaub, and was the one for which the poor lad had hunted in vain
so long and which, therefore, was the cause of all the misfortunes that
had befallen him and Jack Carleton.

CHAPTER XXXI.

A FATAL FAILURE.

Deerfoot the Shawanoe made known only a few of the thoughts which
troubled him, when he hurried Jack Carleton and Otto Relstaub forward
with orders to make no tarrying (except to cover their footprints),
until they should reach the distant ridge, where, as I have stated, he
hoped to join them.

But the conviction had come upon him that afternoon, that the crisis of
the long hunt was at hand, and that success or failure, absolute and
entire, was near. It will be admitted that they had been in situations
of apparently much greater danger, but there was "something in the air"
which foretold stirring events.

While he said nothing of the absence of Hay-uta the Sauk, he was uneasy
over it. His own delay was meant to be as much in his interest as in
that of the boys. If it should prove that the Sauk needed the help of
Deerfoot, the latter wished to be free to give it, and that could not be
done so long as the care of the boys was on his hands. When they were
out of the way, nothing could interfere with the marvelous woodcraft of
the young Shawanoe.

The first point which Deerfoot established, so far as it was possible to
do so, was that the four Pawnees, with whom they had come in collision,
were the only ones who had reached the neighborhood. The others were
near the river, where they were first seen by our friends. The Shawanoe
interpreted the reason of this state of affairs to be that, brave as the
Pawnees were, the majority were unwilling to pursue their enemies
further. They had eagerly crossed the river to engage in the fight, but,
learning that the Evil One and two companions were moving toward their
distant hunting grounds, as though indifferent to pursuit, they came to
the conclusion that they