"And made by an Injun, too, for the toes turn in!" came from another.
"Reuben, you have made a valuable discovery," Brady remarked, after he had himself bent over to examine the footprints in the soft soil, which the keen and practised eye of the old man had detected. "An Indian has been here after night set in; for you all remember there was just a little rainfall at dark, and this trail has been made fresh since then."
"It is the track of the burner! Let us follow it, and punish the hand that held the torch!" cried an excitable young man, waving his gun above his head.
Bob and Sandy exchanged a quick glance; and the latter seemed to ask a question of his brother, since Bob quickly remarked:
"No, this does not prove that we were wrong; for Lacroix may have been in league with the Indians; and he could easily engage one of the red men to come here to do his work for him. It may be that the torch of a Pottawottomi or a Shawanee set fire to our cabin; but, Sandy, the hand of a Frenchman was back of it!"
With Reuben in the van, half a dozen of the men started following the fresh trail. They could have but little hope of coming upon the culprit, unless the Indian might have hidden near by, wishing to enjoy the confusion and wild alarm his wanton act had caused; but, since they were so aroused, it might be just as well to scour the immediate neighborhood in order to give vent to some of their enthusiasm.
A few of the settlers had gone home. They could not tell what this midnight burning might signify. Perhaps other incendiaries were abroad, and at any moment another fire would call for attention.
Every man was keyed up to a pitch where it would have gone hard with any Indian or half-breed falling into his clutches just then. The entire settlement was astir. Women had armed themselves, not knowing but that a general attack might be forthcoming. And the wives and daughters of these early Ohio pioneers were well fitted to be the mates of the bold spirits that braved the unknown perils of the great wilderness. Many of them could handle a gun almost as well as the men.
The tracking party had now entered the dense woods. They had been warned by the older and more cautious members of the community to be careful lest they fall into some cunning ambush. That plain trail may have been left purposely in order to excite their anger, and bring them under the guns of concealed enemies, who would shoot them down without mercy.
This was Indian nature. Treachery went hand-in-hand with the war tactics of the red men. They thought it no wrong to lure their foes into a trap, and then slaughter them as wolves might be cut down. Pontiac himself had shown how exceedingly clever and crafty a warfare could be exercised against the white man.