"How do you know that?" Matthew asked.
"Don't ask foolish questions," the girl pleaded; "help me get these horses roped together. Then I will leap into the river with the end of the rope tied to my saddle, and the horses must follow. You bring up the rear."
She was so resolute that the boys did not resist, but did her bidding.
"But where did you get that fine Indian pony?" Fred asked when the work was done.
"No questions, until we are on the other side," Agnes said; "that belonged to a Pequot chief once; now it is mine by right of spoils."
She mounted her pony and at once drove it into the stream; the other horses followed, urged on by the showers of blows which Fred and Matthew gave them. The crossing was dangerous, for the river was wide and the current swift. But after much struggling they got across and spurred their mounts up the bank.
"There is a trail that leads north," Agnes said; "let's find it. Loose the horses, and let me ride ahead."
"What a wonderful girl she is!" Matthew exclaimed; "she is a veritable leader."
Soon the boys heard the hooting of an owl, and they whipped their horses into a trot. Agnes had found the trail.
"Come now," she admonished them, "we must do some fast riding, until we are safe. Then I will tell you my story."