Strange continued:
“Yes, trouble and sorrow in the crow’s feet, and what beyond? Ay, a group of men, a military tribunal, a cashiered captain, and who is that wending his way through the hills, the hills? Now, now I see, my lord; it is the captain, the cashiered captain; and now, what do I see, see emerge from the woods and seize the captain. Ay, it’s a legion of dusky fiends, fiends, and then, oh, then, what beyond that, my lord? A canoe, a canoe drifting, drifting down a wild mountain stream, and in it lies the cashiered captain bound hand and foot, and the canoe with the captain is drifting, drifting toward what? Ay, toward death—the falls, the falls—Oh, God! he has gone over, and all beyond is black, black as——”
The man’s words were here cut short by a bullet whizzing in close proximity to his head, closely followed by the report of a rifle. Throwing up his hands, he exclaimed:
“Away, Rainbolt! away! the fiends, the fiends are after you again. Save yourself for the girl’s sake!” and turning, the man glided away into the forest.
At this instant, Echo, the eagle, appeared over his master’s head, and uttered a wild scream which the ranger knew to be his signal of approaching danger, and speaking to his animal, he dashed away down the stony hill with a score of mounted Cheyennes thundering after him.
The ranger shaped his course back toward his hidden home, for the language of the madman, Solomon Strange, had so fearfully impressed his mind that he could not pursue the search for Silvia’s father until he had had time for reflection.
After an hour’s hard riding he entered a level, wooded valley, through which wound the waters of Lodge Pole creek.
He now reined his noble animal to a walk, inasmuch as he had distanced his pursuers, but, suddenly, his eagle again came swooping down with the warning cry of danger, and again he rode on at the top of his animal’s speed.
He had gone thus some two miles, when he suddenly dashed from the thick timbers into an open plain, and what was his surprise to find himself in the outskirt of an Indian village.
It required but a single glance to see that the Indians were Cheyennes, and great was his surprise to see Black Bear among them.