Jamie started, but felt relieved when he saw it was no redskin that bent over him.
This man sat upon a fallen tree-trunk, against which leaned his rifle also. His arms were folded across his broad chest, and while he vigorously puffed wreaths of smoke from his pipe, he was complacently looking at the lad, as though he had been keeping watch.
"The same face----" murmured Jamie. "It is--it must be--the great paleface hunter!"
CHAPTER XVI
THE PALEFACE HUNTER
Jamie half rose from the ground, rubbed his eyes, and appeared surprised and mystified at this unexpected turn of events.
"Am I still dreaming?" he wondered. "I have seen this man many a time in my dreams, but never, to my knowledge, have I seen him before in the flesh. Who can he be, that he thus haunts me, asleep and awake?"
"So you've woke up at last, youngster! I was beginning to fear that you might never wake again," said the stranger, in a kindly and not unfamiliar voice that awoke the echoes of memory.
"Then you've been watching over me? Guarding me, perhaps, whilst I slept?"
The stranger nodded assent.