"Oh, say! how is that? We left that fire behind us, Socato."
"And we have come round by the water till it is before us again."
This was true, but the darkness had been so intense that Frank did not see how their course was changing.
"I see how you mean to come up behind them," said the boy. "You are going to land and cross to their camp."
"That right. They won't look for us that way."
"I reckon not."
Soon the rushes closed in on either side, and the Indian sent the canoe twisting in and out amid their tall stalks like a creeping panther. He seemed to know every inch of the way, and followed it as well as if it were broad noonday.
Frank's admiration for the fellow grew with each moment, and he felt that he could, indeed, trust Socato.
"If we save that girl and the old man, you shall be well paid for the job," declared the boy, feeling that it was well to dangle a reward before the Indian's mental vision.
"It is good," was the whispered retort. "Socato is poor."