“No, ma’am,” we replied.
“Don’t try to accomplish any thing by yourselves,” she continued—and when she said that we looked at one another and frowned fiercely. “What could five boys like you do with a lot of savage half-breeds? Find the men as soon as possible, and remain with them; and if you don’t succeed in finding them, come home.”
Now, how do you suppose mother knew that we had made up our minds to hunt those Indians on our own hook? We hadn’t lisped a word of it to her; but then she knew all about boys, and perhaps she saw it in our faces.
We were greatly disappointed, but we promised obedience and hurried to the door. We found our negro waiting for us (the hostler had brought out mother’s horse for me to ride), and in less time than it takes to tell it we were in our saddles and galloping furiously down the road, devouring our sandwiches as we went.
I do not believe those five horses ever traveled so rapidly before. They went along at a rattling pace, tossing their heads and snorting as if they enjoyed the rapid motion as much as we did, while we strained our eyes down the road in front of us, and looked into all the lanes we passed, in the hope of discovering father and his party.
But the fleet horses on which they were mounted had carried them a long distance ahead of us, and finally, after a ride of an hour and a half, we drew rein on the shore of Deer Lake, covered with mud from head to foot, and much disappointed.
The Indians were not there, and neither was father. We ran our eyes all around the lake, and the only living things we could see were flocks of ducks and geese swimming about near the opposite shore.
We rode along the beach a short distance and then Duke led us down a bridle-path that ran back toward the plantation.
About two o’clock in the afternoon, having visited all the places at which we thought we should be likely to find father and his party, we stopped on the banks of a bayou to allow our horses a few minutes’ rest, and to decide what we should do next.
“Now, I’ll jest tell you what’s the matter with me,” said Sandy, suddenly. “It’s hard work ridin’ or talkin’ on an empty stomach, an’ I suggest that we have a bite to eat.”