"Keep straight on, and I'll go to see!" called Bob, suddenly turning aside from the straight course they had been pursuing.
Sandy hesitated, for he wished to accompany his older brother; but, during their many hunts, he had come to look upon Bob as the leader, and gradually fallen into the way of obeying any instructions the other might see fit to give. So he continued on to the cabin, where his parents were waiting so anxiously.
Mary Armstrong had darted back into the large front room, and now once more came into view, carrying the settler's trusty gun. Though his left arm was still in a sling, David Armstrong gripped the weapon with determination written on his sun-browned face. In defence of his loved ones he would forget his injuries for the time being, and, if need be, fight desperately.
Meanwhile, what of Bob?
The spring from which the Armstrongs secured their drinking water bubbled up from the mossy ground under the trees at some little distance from the cabin. It was reached by a circuitous path, well beaten from frequent pilgrimages to and fro.
Jumping over bushes that intervened, for he was too eager to follow the winding path even when he struck it, Bob quickly came in sight of the spring. His heart was almost in his throat as he discovered the well known sun-bonnet of his pretty sister, Kate, hanging to the bush that overspread the spring; but failed to see the slightest sign of the girl.
Cold with the fear that oppressed him, he continued to advance. What if Kate had already been carried off by some wandering red man? With the vast wilderness stretching all around for hundreds of miles, how would they ever know where to look for her?
"Kate! Oh! Kate!" he called, stopping short in his suspense to listen.
Then, to his great delight, a voice answered him; and the girl arose from a shady nook where she was accustomed to amuse herself.