Matters being explained all around, the three set off through the forest in hopes of finding Walter.
They had not traveled far, when they discovered that they were being followed, while in every direction they could hear the hooting of owls, the cry of the night-hawk, and the sharp barking of the wolf.
To Frank these sounds seemed natural enough, but to the two hunters they did not, for they knew that they were the signals of the Indians.
“Ay, now!” exclaimed O’Flynn, “and it’s a divil av a time wees are going to have. The whole Cheyenne nation is in these hills, so they are.”
“S’pose we strike fur de Bear’s Cave,” said Ebony Jim.
“Aghrade,” responded the Irishman, and so they shaped their course accordingly.
In a few minutes the cavern in question was reached, and taking the lead, Ebony Jim led the way into the black subterranean passage.
They had not gone more than fifty feet when a glowing fire, in a chamber to their right, burst suddenly upon their eyes; and within the light of the fire they saw three men seated, engaged in conversation.