Then he groped about for several minutes and returned to the same old place, admitting reluctantly that Artena, like the boat, was gone!
He could not conjecture the cause of her desertion; but he resolved to wait awhile for her return.
He lay down on the bank in such a position that he could look upon the spies sleeping soundly in the lion’s den, and over his head the leaden moments passed.
All at once the ranger chief moved, and his eyes flashed upon an object in the cave.
This object had suddenly made its appearance in the shape of a man, and by stepping over the prostrate body of Hooker Jim.
The dim light revealed it but indistinctly to Donald McKay, yet he saw the tomahawk clutched in the right hand, and he recognized the face.
For a moment the new-comer paused, listened, and looked.
The sleeping spies were the objects of his attention, and seemingly satisfied with his observation, he again advanced toward them.
Simultaneously with the second advance, there was a movement of the ranger’s right arm.
It crept over the edge of the bank, and a revolver filled the hand.