The troop—some thirty or forty in number—did not tarry long; in less than an hour they had all remounted and gone on their way.
"There! them savage wild Hinguns is all clear gone and hour scalps is safe for the present," remarked Viny, with a sigh of relief as the last one disappeared from view in a cloud of dust far down the street.
She had run out to the corner of the house, dishtowel in hand, to watch their movements as far as she could see them.
"Don't talk so; you'll frighten the children," said Mildred, reprovingly, speaking from the front door where she stood with the little ones grouped about her.
"I don't take my horders from you," muttered the girl, stalking back to her kitchen.
After an early tea the proposed family walk was taken.
The lot—a little farther to the north than any which had been built upon as yet, on the high river bank and overlooking the ferry—was pronounced all that could be desired.
It was on a corner, and on two sides afforded a fine view of the river, on the others of town and country.
"When we have our house built," remarked Mr. Keith, "we'll be able to see the Kankakee Marsh from the second story windows."