“You can’t tell about that,” replied Harry, in a resolute, decided way! “If a continued search can not find out, we sometimes come upon it by chance. I know you are anxious to learn, and I shall never give over my efforts until I find out.”
As he said this, he passed the gun back to the owner, and they turned off from the falls, where the din and roar prevented them from conversing without great difficulty.
“I wonder whether any of those Indians saw me,” continued Harry. “I was out hunting when I found that canoe, and thought I would get in and practice a little, for canoe-paddling is my weak point, and it is the hardest thing in the world for me to get the hang of the thing. Before I knew it, I come right smack in front of those lodges, and finding I couldn’t paddle up-stream, I just lay down, and trusted to Providence to take me through all.”
“I saw you,” laughed Little Rifle, “for I was watching the lodges from the other side the stream, but I didn’t dare call to you, for fear the Blackfeet would hear me.”
“There were Indians in them then?”
“Yes; I saw them, but they didn’t come out to the water until you were far down the stream. I could just see your canoe going around the curve above the falls, when they looked down the river. I can’t say whether they saw you or not, but they acted to me as though they did.”
“They have wonderfully sharp eyes, and if you could see me, you can make up your mind that they could and did—so we had better be on the look-out.”
“And what if they did?” was the reassuring reply of Little Rifle. “Where will they look for you and the canoe now? If they find you both went over the falls, will they hunt any further for you?”
CHAPTER X.
“THE CAVE OF WINDS.”
Notwithstanding the reassuring words of Little Rifle, both he and Harry deemed it best to make a cautious survey of the river above the falls, before leaving their vicinity. It was possible that a party of Blackfeet might be in their immediate vicinity, in which case they were in imminent danger of being seen and pursued, while if their presence was unsuspected by the red-skins they could continue their journey homeward, with very little fear of any molestation from foes in the rear.