Jeffries stopped him.
“Hold! I’ve suthin’ ter say, too. It’s all about thet rascal, Danforth—thet galish feller.”
Then he related the events of the evening before; the meeting of the lovers; the quarrel between Danforth and Walter; the latter’s defeat, and the former’s disappearance; and concluded in a low, earnest tone:
“I was a-huntin’ for the villain, and was down by Hans’ cabin, whar he stops, when suthin’ said, ’pears like away off in the night:
“‘Yer air a-treadin’ on dangerous ground! tek keer, tek keer!’
“Wal, thet voice seemed so far away like, I kedn’t tell whar it was; but as I war thinkin’, it kim ag’in, clost ter my ears, loud an’ peart, right from the bunch of willows jist above the cabin. Thinkin’ it must be Danforth hisself, I beat ’em all through, spendin’ an hour at it; but it was no go. Then, hafe scared, I kim home. Dunbar, thar’s suthin’ wrong.”
“I am afraid there is, my friend, very apprehensive. I have always given Dead-Man’s Forest a wide berth since the red-skins have been about, but I think the best thing we can do is to search in it at once for Katie—for it’s my opinion you’ll find her there.”
“That’s so, sartain. She ain’t ter hum, an’ whar she is no one knows. Great God, whar’s my pooty little gal, my little pet?” And Jeffries buried his face in his hands.
“Courage, my friend!” said his friend, kindly. “Courage, perhaps we are mistaken—perhaps something strange though not of evil might have turned up. Hettie, run to Sol Jacobs and give the alarm. Tell them to spread the men around while I go down to Hans Winkler’s cabin to see him. Gather the whole settlement and send a swift lad for Cato the Creeper—we’ll find her soon.”
Hettie sped away toward the distant cabins, making her white, bewitching ankles fly over the ground; she loved Katie dearly, and, with a woman’s lightning wit, suspected the true state of the case.