After partaking of their supper, the three settled down to spend a long and tiresome night under the trees of that forest bordering the bank of the Mississippi.
Sandy slept very little, Bob felt sure, because every time the latter woke up he could see the other sitting there, hugging his knees with his arms, and with an anxious face turned squarely toward the east, as though desirous of knowing when the first faint peep of daybreak arrived.
And really it was one of the longest nights Bob himself could ever remember passing through. It seemed as though dawn would never come.
But finally Pat stirred, and, sitting up, announced that they had better be making a fire, if they hoped to have a bite before starting off. How he knew what the time was might seem a deep mystery to those unacquainted with the ways of a woodsman. The chances were that Pat, who used the heavens for his clock, had decided that a certain star would be just at a particular point an hour before daylight, and this was plenty of time for their needs.
So once more they were on the move, as soon as the light was strong enough for Pat to take up the trail.
The two Frenchmen evidently believed that they had long since baffled any possible pursuer. Indeed, they could hardly dream that they would be followed at all. The little band of English, that had thus boldly invaded the territory so long claimed by the French, must be only a weak branch of the rival race; and surely would never dare venture far away from their base, lest they be overwhelmed by hostile Indians.
Consequently, Pat was enabled to make very good time along the trail, now that he had the light of day to assist him.
They came upon the ashes of a fire after a while, showing that the men they were chasing must have camped not a great distance away from their own resting place, certainly no more than three miles.
Pat could tell by placing his hand among the still warm ashes just how long before the place had been deserted; just as he was able to discover from the tracks what space of time had elapsed since the men passed along.
Their caution increased as the morning advanced, for they realized that they were rapidly overhauling the two Frenchmen; and, as these worthies had been spending the better part of their lives among the Indians and wild animals of the frontier, it was to be expected that they were well versed in all the ways of the borderman.