"I smell him, sah, sure enough; not very close, perhaps, but in de air."
"What is it, Captain Whitney?" Mr. Blount asked, as he came forward and joined them.
"Jim says he smells fire, but I can't smell it."
"Oh, you can trust Jim's nose," the settler said. "It is wonderful how keen is the scent of these natives. They are like dogs in that respect; and can perceive the smell of a fire, when the wind brings it down to them, miles away."
"Dis way now, sah," Jim said, turning off to the left, at right angles to the course which they had been pursuing. "Smell come down the wind, dat's sartin. We follow him far enough, we sure to catch dem."
For fully two miles, Reuben followed the black without speaking. Then he said:
"I don't smell any smoke, Jim. Are you quite sure you are right about it?"
"Quite sure, sah. De smoke much stronger than he was. Some of dese bushes make very sharp smell; can smell him very far away."
"That's all right, Jim, on we go then. I must take your word for it."
After another half-an-hour's walking, Reuben thought that he too could smell an odour of burning wood and, soon afterwards, he became convinced that it was so. The ground on which they were crossing was slightly undulated and, on nearing the crest of one of the slight rises, Jim said: