Brave Heart smiled cruelly, the two Mohawks stood impassive. Radisson turned to me with a sudden sob shaking his great frame, and his white-bearded face seemed shot with lightnings as he made reply in Cree, that the warriors might understand.
"What does it mean? It means that The Pike is on his last war-path, Davie! Last night a band of thirty Chippewas burst on the village. The few men held them back until most of the women could escape with some few things, then—then the village was destroyed."
A grunt broke from Uchichak, and his hand went to his knife as he stood over the wounded chief. But I flung him away, a question hot on my lips.
"Was it Ruth they were after? Did they harm her?"
"Yes and no, lad. They bore her away captive on a sled. Fortunately, these dogs and our sled had been hidden out of their reach. When the Mohawks and I returned we took them and came after. You shall go forward with us, and we will follow the party."
"What can we do against them?" I exclaimed hopelessly.
"We can watch and wait," returned Radisson grimly, with a significant look at the two gaunt warriors beside him. "Uchichak, do you take this Chippewa back and hold him captive. Gather your hunters speedily—even now they are coming in. Send a runner to the village of Talking Owl and bid his young men join you. Then follow our trail, even though it may lead to the Ghost Hills. There, perhaps, The Pike will imagine that you do not dare follow."
Uchichak said nothing. He and Wapistan jerked Brave Heart to his feet, replaced his snowshoes for him, and the three departed. So suddenly and unexpectedly had the dire news broken upon me, that I stood as if dazed. Radisson came and put a kindly hand on my shoulder.
"Come, lad, all is not lost. They will not harm the little maid, and we must hasten on their trail. Not even The Pike would dare harm her while their chief is a captive. Come, there is work for us ahead. Now tell me your tale as we go forward."
Brokenly, I told him how we had come upon the trail. When I finished, Radisson's face was lit with a stern glow, and he raised a hand to the Mohawks.