a life seemed to him particularly horrible.

In a moment the other boys came out and stood looking down upon the
body. They were all deeply affected by what had taken place,
particularly Thede, who had never received anything but the kindest
treatment from the half-breed until the arrival of the Boy Scouts.

"It was my life or his," Antoine explained.

"Did he shoot at you?" asked Will, "we heard only one shot, save
the one fired by Pierre at my hat."

"He didn't get an opportunity to fire!" Antoine answered. "He had
his gun leveled at my head when my bullet ended his life!"

"Now I wonder," thought Will, "whether it was Pierre who sat by the
fire last night, and whether the secret of the Little Brass God
dies with him! I wish there were some way of knowing."

While these thoughts were passing through the brain of the boy,
Thede stood regarding the new-comer in a puzzled way. Slowly the
impression was forming in his mind that it was not Pierre who had
sat before the fire in the chamber where the Little Brass God had
been displayed.

"I suppose the next thing on the program," Antoine observed, with a
smile, "will be breakfast."

"That suits me!" shouted Tommy and Sandy in a breath.