The Chief smiled.
"First catch your hare, then cook him," he said.
[CHAPTER V--A SCRAP OF PAPER]
Watching the horsemen as they rode away, Will suddenly remembered the prisoner whom he had seen running beside one of them. The man was now gone. Perhaps he had slipped away; perhaps the horseman at whose stirrup he had been tied had not accompanied the rest to the camp. He spoke of it to the Chief. The latter suggestion deepened the look of gravity on Mr. Jackson's face.
"I hope to goodness there are no more of them," he said. "We had better send a native to shadow them."
"I'll do that, Chief," said O'Connor, "with Ruggles. I wouldn't trust a native."
"Very well. Don't go too far. It'll be dark soon."
When O'Connor had set off with Ruggles on horseback, Mr. Jackson asked Will to go with him to his tent to talk things over.
"This is serious," he said. "I'm afraid we've only postponed the evil day. Whether this revolution succeeds or not we shall hear more of the rebels. The Government can't help us."
"Still, we couldn't be much worse off than if you had given in to the fellow. They'd have collared all our cash; and all our peons would have mutinied--all they didn't impress, that is."