must be within a few miles of Fort Henry."

"How d'ye know we're near the fort?" interrupted the teamster, "or
safe, either, fer thet matter? I don't know this country."

"The guide assured me we could easily make Fort Henry by sundown."

"Thet guide! I tell ye, Mr. Sheppard----"

"Not so loud. Do not alarm my daughter," cautioned the man who had
been called Sheppard.

"Did ye notice anythin' queer about thet guide?" asked the teamster,
lowering his voice. "Did ye see how oneasy he was last night? Did it
strike ye he left us in a hurry, kind of excited like, in spite of his
offhand manner?"

"Yes, he acted odd, or so it seemed to me," replied Sheppard. "How
about you, Will?"

"Now that I think of it, I believe he was queer. He behaved like a man
who expected somebody, or feared something might happen. I fancied,
however, that it was simply the manner of a woodsman."

"Wal, I hev my opinion," said the teamster, in a gruff whisper. "Ye
was in a hurry to be a-goin', an' wouldn't take no advice. The
fur-trader at Fort Pitt didn't give this guide Jenks no good send off.
Said he wasn't well-known round Pitt, 'cept he could handle a
knife some."