"Blue Jacket knows; and he tells me that he can smell the big water in the air right now," he observed.
"You mean the Great Lake, on the shore of which, somewhere, the Iroquois have their village—is that it?" demanded Sandy, brightening up wonderfully.
"Yes, and he also tells me that we are apt to come out upon it before the sun goes down to-night," Bob continued, encouragingly.
"Well," said Sandy, heaving a big sigh, "I shall be glad if it turns out to be so. I am so tired of waiting, day after day, and plunging into constant forests. If it wasn't for Kate's peril I could enjoy this journey, for you know I always said I meant to follow in the footsteps of Kenton, and look on new sights; but, as it is, I can think of nothing but these three things that trouble us."
"Three?" remarked Bob, as if surprised.
"Why, yes. There is Kate, to begin with," Sandy started to say.
"And you are also thinking of our mother, should the dreaded Indian attack come when we are away?" Bob pursued.
"Surely. There were many ugly signs of it. But, when I remember how our neighbor, Mr. Brewster, gave us his word that he would take her into his own family while we were gone, and look after her as if she belonged under his cabin roof, somehow I do not feel quite so bad."
"But you said three, and that is only two causes," Bob went on. "Are you still thinking about father, Sandy?"
"Surely," the younger brother answered back. "The more we plunge into this unbroken wilderness the greater become my fears for him. There were only four in the party. If the Indians ever discovered their trail, they would follow them like hungry wolves. Day and night they might hang about, seeking opportunities to ambush them. Oh! why did not Colonel Boone, or Simon Kenton, happen along at the time they were starting?"