"Exactly, and he was right, for we were in his rear, and he detected us."
"But what could it be?" asked his alarmed niece. "No Indian could have come anywhere near without our detecting him."
"Not unless he wanted us to do so; then it would have been easy enough. I tell you," added the Texan, more earnestly than ever, "I believe there has been some sharp trick played upon us."
Carsfield was firm in his belief, but he could give no definite conjecture as to what the trick he referred to really was.
"I have had dealings with the Comanches before," he continued, "and when they go to scheming and playing at strategy, they are a little the sharpest fellows I ever saw."
"But I can see no object in this," said Katrina. "Uncle Hans is not such a tempting prize that they should steal him and leave us."
"That is it," laughed Crockett; "when you are here, any red or white man would pass by us for you; you are right, Katrina."
"That is not what I meant," the blushing girl hastened to say; "but he is the last man, as I look at it, that a party of Indians would seek to capture."
"Our turn, your turn, my dearest one, will soon come. They have experimented on him; they have succeeded so well that their next attempt will be upon us."
The words of Sebastian struck both Crockett and Katrina as full of meaning, and they began to believe that he was right, although the whole thing had a look which, neither of the three could explain or understand.