“They aren’t here now, my dear Tommy,” observed Miss Elting smilingly.  “The white man pointed his gun at the Indian,” she continued, “but the old chieftain never flinched.  He sent back a look so full of hatred that the white man almost feared him.  The chief, with upraised hands, called down the curses of the Great Spirit on the head of the white man and all his kind.  Then Chocorua turned and sped swiftly to the far end of the shelf, near where we got the water for our supper, and, without an instant’s hesitation, leaped far out into space.”

“Oh!” exclaimed the girls shudderingly.

“The body of the chief dashed from rock to rock, finally dropping into the lake which you saw as we came up.  Then a strange thing occurred.  The white settlers finally conquered the Indians; then they brought in their stock and began to graze them.  But after that every animal that drank from the lake died.  It came to be known as the ’Lake of the Poisoned Waters.’  The Indians declared this to be the revenge of the Great Spirit.”

“How strange!” pondered Harriet.

“A number of scientific men, passing through this section years afterward, unraveled the mystery.  They say that the lime formation of the rocks, through which the water seeps into the lake, has poisoned the water.  But you cannot make an Indian believe that.”

“Ith thith a fairy thtory, or a really-truly thtory?” demanded Tommy.

“It is only a legend, Tommy,” was Miss Elting’s smiling reply.

“It has been a most interesting story,” nodded Harriet.  “I love Indian folklore.”

“Girls, it is time for you to turn in,” reminded Miss Elting.

“I don’t like such stories before going to bed,” objected Margery.  “I know I shall have the nightmare.  Oh!”

“We will roll you over if you do,” answered Jane.  “There’s nobody but ourselves to hear you, either, so you may yell all you please, and——­”

“No!” protested Tommy.  “If Buthter yellth I’ll yell, too, and wake up all the retht of you.”

“Then you’ll be attended to then and there,” Jane warned her.

“You let me alone.  I will let you know when I get ready for your thervithes.  You needn’t go on talking about me, either.  You make me nervouth, ath Buthter sayth.”

Janus began his preparations for the night.  These consisted principally in taking each girl’s rope and securing it to his own belt, which he had taken off for the purpose of making the ropes fast to it.  They watched him with keen interest.

“Just a precaution,” he explained.  “If any one of you moves in the night I shall know it.”

“My grathiouth!” shuddered Tommy, “ithn’t it exthiting?” She made a ridiculous face at the guide’s broad back.

The girls tried hard not to laugh, but Margery giggled audibly, bringing a frown from the guardian.  Tommy, however, declared that she would not roll up in her blanket, that she would fold it over her, so she could get up without disturbing the camp.