"And more than that," continued Old Ropes, "my belief is that Captain Flint is of the same opinion, though he didn't like to say so. "I shouldn't wonder now, if he hadn't some charm he was tryin', and that was the reason why he stayed in the cave so much." "I rather guess the charm that keeps the captain so much in the cave is a putty face," dryly remarked one of the men. CHAPTER XII. While these things had been going on at the cavern, and Captain Flint had been pretending to use his influence with the Indians for the recovery of Hellena, Carl Rosenthrall himself had not been idle in the meantime. He had dealings with Indians of the various tribes along the river, and many from the Far North, and West, and he engaged them to make diligent search for his daughter among their people, offering tempting rewards to any who would restore her, or even tell him to a certainty, where she was to be found. In order to induce Fire Cloud to restore her in case it should prove it was he who was holding her in captivity, he sent word to that chief, that if he would restore his child, he would not only not have him punished, but would load him with presents. These offers, of course made through Captain Flint, who it was supposed by Rosenthrall, had more opportunities than any one else of communicating with the old chief. How likely they would have been to reach the chief, even if he had been the real culprit, the reader can guess. In fact he had done all in his power to impress the Indian that to put himself in the power of Rosenthrall, would be certain death to him. Thus more than a month passed without bringing to the distracted father any tidings of his missing child. We may as well remark here, that Rosenthrall had lost his wife many years before, and that Hellena was his only child, so that in losing her he felt that he had lost everything. The Indians whom he had employed to aid him in his search, informed him that they could learn nothing of his daughter among their people, and some of them who were acquainted with Fire Cloud, told him that the old chief protested he knew nothing of the matter. Could it be that Flint was playing him false? He could hardly think that it was Flint himself who had stolen his child, for what motive could he have in doing it? The more he endeavored to unravel the mystery, the stranger and more mysterious it became. Notwithstanding the statements to the contrary made by the Indians, Flint persisted in giving it as his belief, that Fire Cloud had carried off the girl and was still holding her a prisoner. He even said that the chief had admitted as much to him. Yet he was sure that if he was allowed to manage the affair in his own way, he should be able to bring the Indian to terms.