“I don’t like their looks,” he thought. “That fellow is very much like Mysticoose. It will be wiser for the girls to keep clear of them.”
Turning round, therefore, he rode back as hard as he could go, and as he rejoined Sybil, and Effie, he advised them to give their horses the whip so that they might not risk an encounter with the strangers. On looking round he saw that the latter were coming directly after them.
“On, girls, on!” he cried out. “I wish that we had turned sooner; but our horses are in good wind and we can keep ahead of these fellows, even should they try to overtake us.”
Norman’s horse was a powerful one: the young ladies being light weights, and accustomed to riding, giving the rein to their steeds they flew over the ground.
Their attendants, who did not like the appearance of the strangers, making good use of whip and spur, managed to keep up with them.
“There’s a ford right ahead, across the river; we will make for it,” shouted Norman. “We can then keep along the northern bank. It will be much safer than attempting to reach the fort by the direct track, which would bring us close to those fellows.”
Towards the ford, therefore, they directed their course. Trusting to the fleetness of their steeds, they had reason to hope that they should keep ahead of their pursuers; for the Indians’ horses, though strong and possessed of great endurance, were incapable, they knew, of going at any great speed.
Norman, looking back, however, saw with vexation that the Indian chief, spurring on his animal, was fast distancing most of his followers, somewhat scattered, though not far off. There were several other savages endeavouring to keep up with him. Again and again, Norman urged Sybil and his sister to give the rein to their steeds.
“Never fear. Stick on; the animals won’t come down,” he shouted.
They both kept up their courage, though fully alive to their dangerous position. Sybil, indeed, suspected that Mysticoose was at the head of the party, and that his object was to capture her. She nerved herself up, however, for whatever might occur.