The Shawanoes soon passed by, making no pause until they reached the
carcass of the panther. They quickly saw the bullet-wound, between
his fore legs, and understood that his heart had been pierced while
in the act of leaping from his perch upon the hunter beneath. A
brief scrutiny of the ground brought to light the impressions of the
calf-skin shoes of him who had fired the fatal shot.

They understood at once that the party was a white person, and,
judging from the size of the footprints, he clearly was an adult-one
who, it was safe to conclude, was able to taking good care of
himself; but it must have been a relief to the warriors when their
examination of the earth showed that only a single member of the
detested race had been concerned in the death of the cougar.

That which followed was precisely what the watcher expected. The
moment the red men were certain of the direction taken by the hunter
they started along the same line. The foremost looked down for an
instant at the ground, and then seemed to dart a glance at every
visible point around him. The other warrior did not once look down,
but guarded against running into any ambush for it need not be said
that the task on which they were engaged was most delicate and
dangerous.

The American Indian cannot excel the white man in woodcraft and
subtlety, and no Kentucky pioneer ever stood still and allowed a
dusky foe to creep upon him.

It will be conceded that a point had been reached where Jack
Carleton had good cause for alarm. Those Shawanoe were following