“I don’t want to rub it in, Dick,” he remarked, “but that was a good joke on you. The cabin that is burning down isn’t more than a block from here. Whoever set fire to it must have slipped right past you. What were you doing, Dick?”
Dick flushed, but did not reply.
“Didn’t you see anyone?” persisted Sandy.
“No. They caught us napping all right. But be mighty sure, Sandy, that they don’t come in on your side before the night’s over. Well, good luck to you. I’ll be along before daybreak.”
Sandy and Toma departed, and again Dick and his two companions took up their lonely patrol. This time, however, at Dick’s suggestion, they separated, each having under his surveillance a certain definite section of the village. Up and down, forth and back, through that cold and stilly night, their moccasined feet beat across the snow.
Then, suddenly, for the second time that night, a shot rang out. There came the sound of crashing glass and a woman’s startled scream.
It had all happened right in Dick’s beat, scarcely fifty yards away. Instantly he was alert and ready. This time instead of rushing away toward the cabin which had been fired on he cut obliquely across the street in the direction the invader would have taken in making his get-away. He fairly flew across the snow, dodged between two low buildings and came out on the farther side, panting for breath.
In the path of moonlight in the cleared space ahead, he saw a fleeting form, and, without even pausing for breath, started forward in swift pursuit.
Dick was a fast runner, as he had proved to his satisfaction many times before. In the present instance, he put all his heart and strength in the race. He exerted every ounce of energy. But if he was fleet of foot, excelling in this particular line of physical endeavor, so was his opponent. Try as he would, Dick seemed unable to gain upon him. Between buildings, across fields, over a narrow footbridge that crossed a brook, then along a trail that threaded its way south from the village, the two forms flew.
After a time Dick began to gain slowly upon his quarry. Foot at a time, he drew closer. He saw the Indian, tall and lithe like himself, cast one worried glance over his shoulder, see that he was being overtaken, then hurl his rifle to the snow, free from which encumbrance, he quickly regained his former advantage.