"What can we do?" asked Fred.
"We must be on our guard. Get your rifles, and keep them loaded. We must hasten to some settlement. Here we are at the mercy of these savage and thieving Indians. Our gold is not safe yet, even though we have found it."
CHAPTER XVIII
FOLLOWED BY THE ENEMY
An uneasy feeling filled the hearts of the treasure finders. If what Mr. Baxter surmised proved true, they might have to face more perils than any they had yet encountered.
"Do you think that man with the glass eye—Callack his name is—will try to get the gold?" asked Fred.
"It looks as if he had arranged some plot," replied Mr. Baxter. "You recall how he whispered something to Zank as we started off on this expedition. I did not like that at the time, for I feared he was up to some trick. Now, it appears, this other Indian, who is acquainted with Zank, has been spying on us. Probably Zank, and the other three Indians who we dismissed, made their way to where their tribe was encamped, and Callack was there. He may have paid Zank to give information about us."
"But how did he know where we were going?"
"He may have gotten it out of Holfax in some way," said Jerry's father in a low voice. "I don't believe Holfax would betray us knowingly, but he is simple-minded, and a scoundrel like Zank may have wormed it out of him."