There was no reply to his summons, and he raised his fist to strike the door again, when he discovered the latch-string on the outside. With no suspicion of what it meant, he gave it a twitch.
To his amazement, the door swung inward of its own weight, and, before he could check himself, he had to take a step within to escape falling.
With a vague suspicion of the truth, he called to the lad again, and groped about the lower room.
He quickly discovered that it was empty, and then, with little personal fear, he hurried up the stairs.
Two minutes were enough to make clear the truth.
He was the only living person in the cabin!
CHAPTER NINE
NAT TRUMBULL AND HIS MEN—OUT IN THE NIGHT
THE American Indian rarely shows any emotion that may be stirring his heart. I am sure, however, that if one could have had a look at the face of Tall Bear when he made the discovery that neither the brother nor sister was in the cabin he would have seen a picture of as blank amazement as ever held a person speechless.
This was not caused so much by what the children had done as by the course of the Sioux themselves, for nothing was plainer to the chieftain than the manner in which Melville and Dot had escaped.