"An' perhaps Jacob may be one of them!" I cried, in an agony of
apprehension, and from that moment it was not necessary the old soldier
urge me forward, for I burned with the desire to do all I might to find
our comrade before it should be too late.

When we left the ravine in search of the lad, it was necessary we advance
over much the same course as when we carried General Herkimer's message,
and it was slightly in our favor that we knew fairly well at how great a
distance from the general encampment of the enemy we must keep in order to
avoid running into the Indians.

Then, again, it seemed probable we had a better chance of making our way
around this circle than when we first traversed it, because just at this
time Thayendanega's villains had received such a drubbing at the hands of
the patriots as would most likely prevent them from having any keen desire
to come upon more white men.

It was also probable, as Sergeant Corney had suggested, that they had
taken a number of prisoners during the fight with the garrison of the
fort, as well as at the ravine, and the murderous scoundrels would be so
occupied with making preparations for torturing such poor unfortunates as
to neglect their duties as St. Leger's allies.

When I had thus viewed the situation, it did not appear such a difficult
matter for us to gain a station to the southward of Thayendanega's
encampment; but coming across Jacob was quite a different proposition.
Finding a needle in a hay-stack seemed much more simple than running upon
a lad who was doing his best to remain hidden from view, unless,
perchance, he had already been captured.