"They are both alive."
"What!" exclaimed the lad. "Both alive? How do you know that?"
"Before dawn I heard the Indians return to camp, and their yells of triumph told me that they had either brought in prisoners or scalps. Being anxious to know whether their prisoners were Indians or Yengeese, I crept back again to the edge of the camp."
"Indeed!" interposed Jamie, interrupting the narrative. "Weren't you afraid of being captured again?"
"Tut! tut! He'll be a smart Indian who can catch an old trapper twice."
"Well, what did you discover?"
"Before I reached the spot I heard a fierce yell of anger. That I knew to be caused by the discovery that I had escaped. When at last I reached a little rising ground overlooking the camp, where the shrub was very thick, I saw two prisoners tied to the self-same tree to which I had been tied but a few hours before."
"What were they like?"
"One was an Indian youth. I knew him at once. He was the eldest son of White Eagle, and the other was a stranger to me. He was a paleface in the garb of an Indian hunter, and he must have been your companion. This only I discovered, for my stay was a brief one, and the reason why I have remained in the vicinity of the Algonquins is because I have been hopeful that an opportunity will occur to save them, else they will either be tortured to death, or carried to the Canada lodges."
"You fill me with joy and with hope, trapper. We must and will save them! Nothing shall prevent us!" exclaimed Jamie, who was overjoyed at this good news.