“Down, John!” Ree called, but not heeding the command, Jerome, who had gone a few rods away for water, sped forward to the camp before seeking shelter behind a tree trunk.
Vigilantly both boys watched for a sight of the would-be assassin. They could see nothing but a streak of smoke curling up in the direction from which the shot had been fired. Several minutes passed, and though no sound of footsteps was heard, there came just as suddenly as before, from another direction, the crack of a rifle and a bullet speeding so near John Jerome’s head that he dropped flat on the ground.
“It looks as if we were surrounded,” said Kingdom coolly, as John called out that he was not hurt.
The stranger’s dapple gray was trembling with fear, though Neb, the cart horse, was not in the least disturbed.
“There’s more than just a different degree of intelligence to cause that,” whispered Kingdom, crouching behind a tree and cautiously peering out, John having called attention to the behavior of the horses. “I’ll venture to say that the Redskins around us now are the same that scalped the stranger, and the horse knows it.”
No further sign of the attacking party was seen. What had become of the foe or foes neither Ree nor John could guess, and though, when the twilight had given way to dense darkness, they took turn about in making a half dozen scouting expeditions to learn if possible where the enemy was, and what might be expected from that source, no trace of savage or savages could be discovered.
Puzzled as they were, neither boy lay down to sleep that night, nor did they build a fire, whose light might make them easy targets.
While it was still dark Neb was hitched up, the still unconscious stranger in the cart made as comfortable as possible, and with the first light of the dawn of another day, the young emigrants were pushing on farther and deeper into the wilds, undaunted by the night’s experience.
All possible care was taken to guard against surprise, however, and with much coaxing and petting and painstaking instruction Ring, the big, yellow half-mastiff, was taught to give up the place he liked best, close beside Neb, for which horse he showed a deep friendship, and follow along a hundred yards or so in the rear. Ree went ahead an equal distance, except when it was necessary to help John clear the way of trees or logs for the cart to pass, and John himself kept a sharp lookout on either side, while driving.
So the day passed and nothing occurred further to alarm the two boys or retard their advance. But they reminded one another that they must not relax their watchfulness.