Then I groaned, for I remembered what Radisson had said of Gib, called The Pike, and his Chippewa followers. If these men had come to the village when the hunters were away, what had happened?
Right speedily was all thought of the Mighty One forgotten, as we took up the trail in desperate haste toward the village. Wapistan went on to say that it was very fresh, that the band had not passed us more than an hour previously, and in no long time his words were borne out. For, as we turned a sharp bend in the river-trail, we came upon two men striding rapidly toward us. They were not more than a hundred yards away, and I did not need Uchichak's hasty exclamation to tell me that they were Chippewas. For one was our old friend Soan-ge-ta-ha, though the other I knew not.
For a bare second we stared at each other, then I saw the Chippewa chief throw off the coverings of a musket. I dashed my two companions headlong, just as the weapon roared out and gave vent to a cloud of smoke. The bullet sang overhead, and at this unprovoked and cowardly attack I picked up my strung bow and drew it taut.
The two Chippewas had darted aside just after the chief fired, and were speeding for the shelter of the trees. But my arrow sped faster than they. Even as Uchichak and Wapistan darted forward, I saw Brave Heart stumble, and the musket flew far from him. He was up and running again, however, but the brief pause had given my vengeful friends a lead. All four disappeared among the trees, with wild cries that thrilled my heart.
I followed slowly after them, glad that my savage aim had not gone true, for in all my life I had never shed the heart-blood of a man. That these Chippewas were enemies there was no doubt, and I prudently stopped to recover the musket dropped by the chief, for such things were valuable. A brief wonder came to me that the weapon had not dismayed the two Crees, but I hastened to follow them in among the trees. As I did so, I caught a glimpse of something dark speeding toward us from the direction of the village, but I stopped not to see what it was.
From the trees and bushes came the sound of men struggling, and when I had broken through I saw the four in front. Wapistan was calmly sitting in the snow, wiping his long flint knife, and I turned from him with a shudder. Soan-ge-ta-ha and Uchichak were at handgrips, but The Crane plainly had the mastery over the Chippewa chief, in whose shoulder still stood my arrow. Even as I plunged forward through the snow, Brave Heart bent backward, the knife dropped from his nerveless fingers, and Uchichak stood up to meet me.
"It was a good fight, brother!" he said calmly. "This Chippewa dog is only faint from loss of blood. The Marten has sharp teeth, and is a warrior. Good!"
I kneeled over Brave Heart, pulled the arrow through his shoulder-muscles, and roughly bound up the already freezing wound. As I did so, I told the others of the dark object that I had seen approaching, and Wapistan slipped away. The Crane aided me in getting Brave Heart up with his back against a stump, and barely had we done so when there was a crash of bushes behind us, and in swept Radisson, The Keeper, and Swift Arrow, leading the same dog-sled which had been prepared for our hunt of the Mighty One. The Chippewa chief opened his eyes.
"Soan-ge-ta-ha," burst out Radisson angrily in English, "your heart is bad! You have led your warriors against the Crees, stealing upon them in the night, and you shall suffer for it bitterly!"
"What has happened?" I cried out, a great fear rising in me. "What does it all mean?"