“God bless me! that’s an original way of guiding us!” exclaimed the Captain, taken aback by the unexpected disappearance of the Indian.

“The danger that threatens his wife is so imminent that he dare not wait for our tardy movements,” said Lieutenant Canfield.  “He will leave a trail that your men can follow without the least difficulty, and, I trust, we may come up in time to prevent anything serious occurring to him and her.  His son joined him last night and brought the news of his misfortune to him, but the noble fellow, although his heart must have nearly burst within him, would not leave us until he was assured of your daughter’s safety.”

“Noble chap! noble chap! he must be paid for such devotion.  Come, my boys, let us lose no time.  As you all understand the woods better than I do, I must select one of you to walk beside me and keep the trail in sight, while the rest of you must remember and not fall out of line.  If a tree should stand in the way, just step around it, but don’t lose the step.  There’s nothing like discipline—­nothing like discipline.”

The guide was selected, who took his station beside Captain Prescott, and the word was given and away they started in the wake of the flying Huron.

CHAPTER X.

CONCLUSION.

    I leave the Huron shore
    For emptier groves below! 
    Ye charming solitudes,
    Ye tall ascending woods,
  Ye glassy lakes and prattling streams. 
    Whose aspect still was sweet,
    Whether the sun did greet,
  Or the pale moon embrace you with her beams—­
        Adieu to all! 
    Adieu, the mountain’s lofty swell,
    Adieu, thou little verdant hill,
  And seas, and stars, and skies, farewell!—­P.  FRENAU.

Away started Niniotan like a fawn, his father following at a rate that kept both within a few feet of each other.  The densest portions of the wood seemed to offer them no impediments, as they glided like rabbits through them.  The boy trailed a rifle in his right hand with as much ease and grace as a full-grown warrior, and the speed which he kept up, mile after mile, seemed to have as little effect upon him as upon the indurated frame of his father.  The step of neither lagged, and their respiration was hardly quickened.  The dark eyes of Niniotan appeared larger, as if expanded with terror, and looked as if they were fixed upon some point, many leagues away in the horizon.  The habitual gloomy expression rested upon the face of Oonomoo, and it needed no skillful physiognomist to read the signs of an unusual emotion upon his swarthy countenance.  It was seen in the dark scowl, the glittering eye, and the compressed lip, although he spoke not a word until they had penetrated far into the forest.