A blue smoke curling lazily from the stone chimney of his cabin,
showed that Sam had made the kitchen fire, and a little later a rich,
savory odor gave pleasing evidence that his wife was cooking
breakfast.

"Any sign of Jack?" a voice called from the open door, and Betty
appeared.

"Nary sign."

"Of the Indians, then?"

"Well, Betts, they left you a token of their regard," and Colonel Zane
smiled as he took a broken halter from the fence.

"Madcap?" cried Betty.

"Yes, they've taken Madcap and Bess."

"Oh, the villains! Poor pony," exclaimed Betty indignantly. "Eb, I'll
coax Wetzel to fetch the pony home if he has to kill every Shawnee in
the valley."

"Now you're talking, Betts," Colonel Zane replied. "If you could get
Lew to do that much, you'd be blessed from one end of the border to
the other."

He walked up the road; then back, keeping a sharp lookout on all
sides, and bestowing a particularly keen glance at the hillside across