“You won’t be gone long?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Be careful, but there’s no need of waiting,” said the captain.
The three watched the guide until he disappeared from sight among the cedars, when the captain added:
“Vose told me that it was possible that camp fire had been started by Indians, but it seems to me there is little likelihood of that.”
“Why?”
“Those people are so skilled in woodcraft that they would have been on the alert against our approach, for a brief survey of the trail for the last half hour would have revealed us to them.”
“It may be,” suggested the parson, “that with every reason to believe there is no danger of anything of the kind, for it must be rare that a white man passes along this trail, they did not keep a lookout.”
The captain shook his head.