Could it be possible that Katrina had taken the alarm in time?
This was the question, Sebastian asked himself, as he narrowly watched the dusky dog who was attempting this piece of shameless deception. Dark as was the prospect, he began to feel some hope that such might be the case.
Like a true lover, he believed the mental abilities of his favorite unequaled by any one else, and taking lesson from the stupidity of her uncle, she might have detected the nearness of the Indians before they discovered her.
While these thoughts were passing through his mind, he was watching the movements of the decoy. With the jingling bell held in one hand, and his rifle in the other, he walked across the clearing, turning his head expectantly toward the cabin, as if expecting some response from that. He even circled entirely around it, and then as if disgusted with the failure of this enterprise upon his part, he, too, took his departure into the woods, and the Texan was once more left alone.
Alone and wrought up to a high pitch of excitement. Several hours had already passed since the departure from the cabin, and the party of four was separated into three companies, hardly one knowing where to look for each other, and not more than one understanding how great a danger menaced them.
The young man was naturally filled with the greatest anxiety to do something for his beloved, and with a desire to get the rest away from the perilous spot, but his hands seemed really to be tied.
He could only stand still as it were, and see the procession go by without taking part in it.
To add to his discomfort, he now began to be haunted by the thought that she had already discovered her danger, and had followed after the party, starting at such a time as to miss him.
So strong did this conviction become, that he had decided to do the same, and make that point clear, when his acutely sensitive ear caught the sound of a footstep directly behind him.
It was so soft and stealthy, that he was certain at once of its being made by an Indian, and he sprung behind a tree to protect himself.