"Then let us see if we can keep him in sight for a while without his seeing us," suggested Reuben.
"All right," responded Seth, to whom the idea seemed a capital one, and accordingly they proceeded to stalk the Major, who, all unconscious of their proximity, was entirely absorbed in his own thoughts.
Taking the utmost care not to betray themselves, they followed him for some distance, having no more definite purpose than simply to see if they could do so without being discovered, and were quite enjoying the joke of it when Reuben gave a sudden start, and, pulling Seth down to the ground beside him, whispered in his ear:
"I see Indians! They're just over there, and Major Rogers is going right toward them."
"Where? Where?" asked Seth excitedly. "Show them to me!"
Reuben pointed off to the right of where they lay, and Seth, fixing his eyes upon the spot, was able to make out the dark forms of at least two Indians crouching among the trees with the evident design of ambushing the Major.
For the moment he knew not what to do—whether to warn the Major, or to try a long shot at the Indians, and while he hesitated Reuben acted.
Springing to his feet in entire disregard of the danger he ran by thus exposing himself, he shouted:
"Down, sir, down! The Indians!"
His voice rang out amid the stillness of the forest with the clearness of a trumpet call, and the veteran scout, without pausing an instant to ascertain whence it came, and where the danger warned against lay, instantly threw himself flat upon the ground.