For a companion he had a Great Dane, a dog of enormous size and strength, generally tractable, but which his master, if he chose, could transform into a savage animal almost as formidable as a panther.
Wanatoma's log cabin was situated upon a level stretch on the side of a high hill. Close by towered a wall of barren rock crowned by a thick growth of timber.
It was early on the evening preceding the departure of the boys. The Indian, wrapped in a blanket, had taken a position near a good-sized fire, for the gusts of wind sweeping by were chill and frosty. The Great Dane, stretched at full length, lay a few feet away.
As Wanatoma saw the dog's head suddenly raised and his ears twitch forward, he stopped his almost ceaseless rocking to peer intently toward the west. In another moment, the Dane, with a low, ominous growl, rose to his feet and started off; but a soft word from Wanatoma brought him to a halt.
"Ugh!" grunted the Indian.
Presently he walked to the brow of the hill, keeping his eyes stolidly fixed on the line of woods below. Although the sky was still bright and clear, the landscape was fast deepening in the twilight. Trees, bushes and tangled thickets seemed rapidly merging together in somber masses; the rocks alone maintained their sharpness.
Wanatoma's eyes and ears did not serve him well, so, with a sigh, he leaned against a sapling and waited, while the Dane began to growl and show an array of dangerous-looking teeth. Only a few sharply-spoken words prevented him from dashing down the slope, and when, several minutes later, a sudden crackling of twigs sounded he answered with a deep bay that echoed weirdly from the surrounding hills.
"I wonder what for the white man come now?" murmured the Indian. "Mebbe boys; mebbe not—we see."
The crackling which had ceased began again; voices, too, came over the intervening space; evidently a party was forcing its way through the brush, and an occasional angry exclamation showed it to be not an altogether pleasant task. Then shadowy shapes came into view, gradually detaching themselves from the background, until five separate forms stood upon a rocky ledge a short distance below the Indian.
"Hello—hello, Wanna!" came a salutation, in a rough voice. "Is your dog loose?"