closely to his broad chest with his long sinewy arms, was soon skipping
from rock to rock like a mountain goat. The mother and the three other
children followed as closely as possible in Paul's tracks.

After the Indian had gone about a hundred yards, he looked over his left
shoulder and appeared satisfied that all was well. He redoubled his
speed and bounded along as a deer, and suddenly turning to the right he
made his way up a slope of ground and was out of sight among the trees.

Margaret now began to feel anxious, fearing that after all the trust she
had reposed in Paul, he might yet prove unfaithful. She called to the
Indian, but he heeded not her cry. She again called, but he had
completely disappeared.

Under such circumstances a less brave woman would have sunk on the spot
in utter despair. She kept on, following as nearly as she could the
track that Paul had taken. She toiled on and on for three quarters of an
hour, but never sighted the Indian. At last she completely lost the
trail. The rocks and uneven ground impeded her progress, and the trees
confused her in the line of march. All traces of a pathway were lost.

She sat down on a large boulder--the children wanted rest, they were
completely fatigued. She judged that they must be nearly two miles from
the canoe. In her distressed situation she contemplated returning to the
shore. To proceed further in the direction she had been going seemed
hopeless. Without a guide she and her children would certainly get lost,
and likely all would perish. Whilst she was thus debating in her mind
what course to pursue, a peel of thunder passed over her head, and large
drops of rain began to fall. The wind suddenly sprang up, and all around
her was growing dark. Her blood quickened in its pulsations, as the