"No; but I've seen them as has," replied Old Ropes.
"And more than that," continued Old Ropes, "my belief is that Captain Flint is of the same opinion, though he didn't like to say so.
"I shouldn't wonder now, if he hadn't some charm he was tryin', and that was the reason why he stayed in the cave so much."
"I rather guess the charm that keeps the captain so much in the cave is a putty face," dryly remarked one of the men.
CHAPTER XII.
While these things had been going on at the cavern, and Captain Flint had been pretending to use his influence with the Indians for the recovery of Hellena, Carl Rosenthrall himself had not been idle in the meantime.
He had dealings with Indians of the various tribes along the river, and many from the Far North, and West, and he engaged them to make diligent search for his daughter among their people, offering tempting rewards to any who would restore her, or even tell him to a certainty, where she was to be found.
In order to induce Fire Cloud to restore her in case it should prove it was he who was holding her in captivity, he sent word to that chief, that if he would restore his child, he would not only not have him punished, but would load him with presents.
These offers, of course made through Captain Flint, who it was supposed by Rosenthrall, had more opportunities than any one else of communicating with the old chief.
How likely they would have been to reach the chief, even if he had been the real culprit, the reader can guess.