The canoe, suddenly becoming a live thing, leaped forward in the water,
and sped down the stream, as if it were the leader in a race. Far behind
them rose a sudden war cry, and the three laughed.

"I suppose they've discovered in some way that we've fled," said Robert.

"That is so," said Tayoga.

"And they'll come down the river as fast as they can," said Willet, "but
they'll do no more business with us. I don't want to brag, but you can't
find three better paddlers in the wilderness than we are, and with a
mile start we ought soon to leave behind any number of warriors who have
to run through the woods and follow the windings of the stream."

"They cannot catch us now," said Tayoga, "and I will tell them so."

He uttered a war whoop so piercing and fierce that Robert was startled.
It cut the air like the slash of a sword, but it was a long cry, full of
varied meaning. It expressed satisfaction, triumph, a taunt for the foe,
and then it died away in a sinister note like a threat for any who tried
to follow. Willet laughed under his breath.

"That'll stir 'em, Tayoga," he said. "You put a little dart squarely in
their hearts, and they don't like it. But they can squirm as much as
they please, we're out of their reach now. Hark, they're answering!"

They heard a cry from the savage who had besieged them, but it was
followed by a long silence. The three paddled with their utmost
strength, the great muscles on their arms rising and falling with their