A LIGHT AHEAD.
On the eve of starting for their destination they were confronted by a
practical difficulty, necessary to surmount before the journey could be
made. Their enemies had coolly appropriated the boat in which they had
intended to cross the river, and, another must be found for the use of
the fugitives. Ordinarily, this would have been a small matter, but,
coming as it did, it presented a difficulty not easily surmounted. Where
was the canoe to be secured? Lena-Wingo was the one to whom the others
looked to solve the problem, and he undertook it without delay.
"Stay here," said he. "Lena-Wingo find canoe."
"If you can manage to get back before to-morrow night," put in Rosa, "it
may save us a deal of valuable time."
"Lena-Wingo come back soon as can--girl don't talk much."
"I am glad to hear you speak so encouragingly," she responded, as he
moved off and instantly vanished in the deep gloom of the night.
Left to themselves, the three had little to do but to wait and hope that
their dusky friend would make good the promise of returning as soon as
possible.
"It is one of those things that could not be discounted beforehand,"
said Jo Minturn, feeling that his sister was becoming unjustly
impatient. "For no one could have dreamed that they would step up at the
moment we were ready to start, and run off with the boat."
"They must have known nothing about Rosa having occupied it this
afternoon," remarked Ned Clinton, glad of the chance of saying something
that would ward off any approach to the matter that had caused him so
much pain. "Their actions showed they did not suspect what had taken
place while they were gone."
"Yes; some of them must have taken that boat to the place this forenoon
or early in the afternoon, with the purpose of using it to carry the
colonel to the other shore."
"Suppose Lena-Wingo doesn't find another canoe?" asked Rosa, who felt
anything but comfortable over the absence of the tried and trusty
scout.
"It may take him longer than he wants, but he will succeed, you may be
sure of that."
"I should like to know why you and he went off in that mysterious
fashion a short time ago?" continued the girl, addressing her brother.
"It must have been a very important errand, judging from the way you
managed it."
"Well, I think it was important, for it was to find something to eat,
and I notice you are pretty sure to be interested in anything of that
nature."
"Well, did you get any food?"
"We got on the track of some when Colonel Butler appeared with his
Iroquois, and we had to take a look after them."
"So you didn't find any, after all," she repeated. "It is about what I
expected when you went away."
"Don't be too quick to judge us," replied the brother, in a voice that
was meant to signify a deal more than the mere words. "You'll be
surprised before long."
"The only thing to surprise me will be to see something like haste used
in getting over the river to Wilkesbarre. I suspect that Lena-Wingo will
wait till daylight before making the start, even if he finds a canoe, on
the ground that we ought to have something to eat before starting."
A few minutes after, while the two were in an earnest discussion, the
Mohawk appeared among them, and said, in his sententious manner:
"Come with me--walk still--make no noise."
The fugitives had been in enough danger to render this admonition
unnecessary, but it was a warning which the Mohawk seemed to consider
timely on all occasions, for he was much addicted to using it. It was so
dark in the gloom of the forest that it was a matter of no small
difficulty for the little party to keep together.
"Jo, you had better take my hand on one side, and you, Edward, on the
other," said Rosa, "it is hard work to get along without help."
The suggestion was adopted without much perceptible increase of speed,
as it still was necessary to feel their way with great caution to
prevent collisions with trunks and limbs. But the bliss of Ned Clinton;
who shall tell it? He forgot all the misery of a short time before when
the world seemed dismal and full of despair, and was only conscious of
the sweet fact that he held the hand of Rosa Minturn in his own! At the
first touch it seemed that a thrill like the flash of the subtle
magnetic current passed through him, and he would not have cared if the
journey continued for half a dozen miles, so long as this arrangement
lasted.
The admonition of the red scout was not forgotten, and when they spoke
it was in whispers, while frequent pauses were made, in answer to the
faintest possible "'Sh!" of Lena-Wingo, who was conducting matters with
his proverbial caution. Minturn saw something suggestive in the fact
that their guide was leading them away from instead of toward the river,
for the depths of the wood was not the place to look for the canoe, of
which they stood in so much need just then. He suspected there was
another reason, which would soon become apparent. Ned might have noticed
the same fact and made inquiry about it, had he been capable of
appreciating anything besides the delight of holding the hand of his
beloved. That was happiness enough to last him at least for the time in
which the journey continued, and he cared very little whither their
guide led them, so long as he did not separate him from Rosa.
Where all was shrouded in such darkness, neither of the fugitives, with
the exception of the Mohawk, was able to keep anything like a knowledge
of the precise course which they were following. The ground was
familiar to all, and indeed there was not one who had not been over it
so frequently that he or she would have identified it in the daytime.
But when all was indistinguishable, in the darkness of the night, they
could only trust to the skill of the dusky guide, who seemed able at any
time to pick his way with unerring accuracy through the trackless
forest.
In the earlier portion of the evening there was no moon, but after
starting a faint one was observed in the sky, and enough of its rays
penetrated the branches overhead to afford considerable assistance to
the three who were threading their way as best they could in the track
of the Mohawk. A few minutes after the moon was noticed, all were
startled by hearing the discharge of a gun at no great distance on their
left--that is, away from the river. They paused and listened, expecting
something to follow that would explain what the report meant. But the
stillness remained as profound as that of the grave, the night being so
quiet that there was scarcely a rustle among the branches overhead,
while not even the soft flow of the river reached their ears.
The pause was only a few minutes in length, when the cautious journey
was resumed, still heading some little distance away from the stream
which they were so anxious to cross. Rosa had observed this fact before,
but she felt that it was hardly the thing to criticise the Mohawk when
he was at work; but she was becoming impatient, and might have said
something in the way of protest, but for the discovery that a bright
light was shining ahead of them, which light undoubtedly meant something
of interest to them all.