"He has seen us!" the lad cried excitedly, spurring his horse forward until he came to that point where the trail suddenly branched off toward the thicket.
There could be no question but that the Tory had failed of hearing the noise of the pursuit until his enemies were close upon him, and then he did what he should have done an hour before.
There was not a second to be lost, for once the lad was so far in advance that his movements could not be followed by the motion of the foliage, it would be like the proverbial hunt for a needle in a haystack to find him.
"Look after the horses!" Nathan cried, reining in his steed and leaping to the ground musket in hand, and even before Evan could come up, although but a few paces in the rear, Isaac Shelby's nephew had disappeared in the thicket.
Young McDowells was not disposed to obey this command strictly. He cared for the steeds by hurriedly tying their bridles to the trunk of a tree, and after a delay of no more than half a minute, followed his comrade into the forest, with musket in hand ready to be discharged at the first glimpse of the fugitive.
So close behind Nathan was Evan, that he could readily follow his movements by the commotion among the underbrush, and, with a sudden burst of speed, regardless of possible accident, he succeeded in coming close to his comrade's heels.
"Have you lost sight of him?" he asked breathlessly.
"Not a bit of it!" was the cheery reply. "There is little fear he can give us the slip now we are so near!"
"Why don't you fire on the chance of winging him? I can give you my loaded musket when yours is empty."
"There's no need of wasting a cartridge upon him; we shall soon bring the villain in sight."