“To find um boy,” he said, frowning.
“And we’ll stop too, Morgan,” I said. “We may find him at any moment, and it is impossible to go and leave the poor boy like this.”
Hannibal did not speak, but I saw his eyes fixed on me as Morgan spoke.
“I don’t want to go and leave him, Master George,” he said, “because it’s like leaving a comrade, and old soldiers don’t do that. But soldiers has their duty to do, and duty says— Go and let them know at the settlement. Besides, my duty to your father seems to say, Get you out of this as quick as you can.”
“Yes, I know that, Morgan,” I said.
“And the Indians may be on us at any moment.”
“Yes, but we can’t leave him,” I said; “and— Ah, there’s that noise again. I’m sure it came from right in there.”
I pointed back toward the other side of the clearing, toward which spot Hannibal immediately rushed, and we followed as quickly as we could, for something seemed to tell us that a discovery was at hand.
It was close by the part of the forest through which Morgan and I had made our way cautiously and silently when we were going to kill the rattlesnake; and as we reached the edge, and passed in amongst the densely growing trees, all was silent, dark, and mysterious-looking; but there was nothing to be seen but tree-trunks, and we crept up to where the great black stood bending down and listening.
All was silent. Then there was a faint rap as a squirrel dropped a fir-cone from high up somewhere invisible to us. As far as we could see there were the gloomy aisles of great growing pillars, and we knew that we had passed through this portion of the forest again and again, though it was quite possible that we might have missed parts.