"Bill," he managed to articulate, "can you have the branches removed, and let us know the fearful worst?"
Burly Bill gave the order, and the Indians tossed the half-burned wood aside.
Then they pulled out bone after bone of limbs, of arms, of ribs. But all were charred almost into cinders!
Roland now seemed to rise to the occasion.
He held his right arm on high.
"Bill," he cried; "here, under the blazing sun and above the remains, the dust of my dead sister, I register a vow to follow up these fiends to their distant homes, if Providence shall but lead us aright, and to slay and burn every wretch who has aided or abetted this terrible deed!"
"I too register that vow," said Bill solemnly.
"And I, and I!" shouted the white men, and even the Indians.
They went on again once more, after burying the charred bones and dust.
But the trail took them to a ford, and beyond the stream there was not the imprint of even a single footstep.