"O, mercy!" cried Ella.
"Did it hit you?" I asked, alarmed by her cry.
"No, no—but——"
"Don't make any noise, then."
"Run the barge ashore hyer, boy," said Kit Cruncher, quietly.
I obeyed instantly; but another shot followed the first one, though, fortunately, neither of them did any harm.
"Let the gal go ashore," added Kit.
I understood his plan, and assisted Ella to land.
"Run up the bank into the woods, and get behind a tree," I said to her, as a third shot came across the river.
But the Indians were firing blindly in the dark, and though the last bullet hit the boat, we were still safe. Kit stepped on the shore, and we dragged the boat out of the water. The hunter paused on the bank of the river, and gazed across in the direction from which the shots came.