On he went, never for a moment flagging in his pace.
The moon rose higher and higher, and at last he judged from it that midnight was near at hand.
He could not be far from the clearing now. Were the red-skins before or behind him?
The sky as yet gave no evidence of fire near at hand, and though he paused and listened he could not hear the slightest sound.
A calm unbroken by aught reigned around.
But it was always the stillest before a storm.
Would it prove so in this case?
From what he heard that night he could think it would be otherwise.
At last the broad field of moonlight which lay through the trees before him told him that he was close to the edge of the clearing.
A few minutes more and his suspense was at an end.