"By George, I wish we could!" exclaimed Rod with enthusiasm. "Coax
Wabi, Minnetaki--coax him hard."

"You'll coax him, too, won't you, Rod? But then, I don't suppose it
will do any good. And father and mother wouldn't listen to it for a
moment. All of them are so afraid that some harm is going to befall
me. That's why they sent me from Wabinosh House just before you boys
returned. You see the Indians were more hostile than ever, and they
thought I would be safer at Kenegami House. How I do wish they'd let
me go! I'd love to hunt bears, and wolves, and moose, and help you
find the gold. Please coax him hard, Roderick!"

And that very day, when he was strong enough to sit up, Rod did plead
with his half-Indian comrade that Minnetaki might be allowed to
accompany them. But Wabi stanchly refused even to consider the
proposition, and Mukoki, when he learned of the girl's desire, grinned
and chuckled in his astonishment for the next half-hour.

"Minnetaki ver' brave--ver' brave girl," he confided to Rod, "but she
die up there, I guess so! You want Minnetaki die?"

Rod assured him that he did not, and the subject was dropped.

That day and night in the old cabin was one of the pleasantest within
Rod's memory, despite the youth's wound. A cheerful fire of dry pine
and poplar burned in the stone fireplace, and when Minnetaki announced
that the evening meal was ready Rod was for the first time allowed to
leave his bunk. For the greater part of the day Wabi and Mukoki had
searched in the chasm and along the mountains for signs of the outlaw