Blazing Arrow: A Tale of the FrontierEllis, Edward Sylvester
General
Blazing Arrow: A Tale of the Frontier
Ellis, Edward Sylvester
Frontier and pioneer life -- Juvenile fiction; West (U.S.) -- Juvenile fiction
It was a faint hope, but it did the lad good. He had hunted so much in
the company of his friend that they had not only acquired a good deal of
woodcraft, but were familiar with each other's ways.
Larry recalled that he had heard no gun fired since the discharge of his
weapon. It was fair to believe, therefore, that whatever the fate of
young Edwards might be, he had not been shot. There were other methods
of putting him out of the way, but the belief to which his friend was
rapidly bringing himself was that the one for whom he was concerned was
a prisoner of the Shawanoes.
The way to find out was to discover the camp of the red men, which must
be pitched somewhere in the neighborhood. It will thus be seen that the
lads were reasoning along the same lines, to the same conclusion.
Larry had risen from the bowlder on which he had seated himself, and
decided to move farther back in the woods in search of the camp-fire
that he knew was burning there. In making the search he would have to go
it blind, since there was no means of finding guidance.
But, as in more than one previous instance, he fortunately discovered
that others were near him before he was observed. He stood motionless,
peering and listening under the trees, where the gloom was so intense
that he might have brushed by a man without either seeing the other.
They were there, however, and a moment later were seen more plainly in
the moonlight, across which they passed to reach the torrent whither
they were making their way.
Larry was surprised when he saw two Indians walking with their light,
noiseless tread over the rocks. He had supposed there was but a solitary
warrior.
"I'm hoping that one of them is Blazing Arrow," was his thought.
He was resentful to that degree toward this particular Shawanoe that,
despite the danger from his companion, he would have shot him down; and
there can be little question that in doing so he would have rendered a
service to humanity.
But he could not identify either of the red men in the moonlight, with
their faces turned away from him. He saw them walk to the edge of the
torrent, where the tree lay, and then one followed the other across.
"I'd like to know the meaning of that; they must be hunting for Whart or
mesilf. I'm pretty sure they won't find mesilf there, and I don't know
about Whart. If they haven't got him already, it may take more than them
to find him."
As yet he could not know whether the war party were on this or the other
side of the stream. It looked as if the couple were returning to camp.
If this was so, the youth must follow them to obtain the information he
wanted.
He had reached this conclusion and was about to venture out in the
moonlight, when he was thrilled by the sound of the signal which he
feared he was never to hear again.
He paused and listened, afraid to reply and yet on the point of doing
so.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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