"Ho, ho, ho!" exclaimed Hippy Wingate. "That's a horse of another color. Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce to you Chief Willy Horse, and believe me he is some horse to stand the punishment those lumberjacks gave him and still be able to talk horse sense." The Overlanders acknowledged the introduction laughingly, and shook hands with the Indian, at the same time giving him their names. "Where you go?" demanded the red man, addressing Tom Gray. "To the Pineries in the north." "Good! What do?" "Cruise them, Willy. Do you know what that is?" The Indian nodded. "Good! What you do?" he questioned, turning to Lieutenant Wingate. "Oh, most any old thing, Willy old hoss," answered Hippy jovially. "It is mostly other persons who do the doing, in my case. They do me instead." "Good! You Big Friend--big medicine. You help Willy Horse. Willy not forget. Mebby kill lumberjacks one day, too." "Don't get naughty. They hang naughty Indians," reminded Hippy. "Oh, Mister Pony--I mean Mister Horse--won't you sit down and have a snack with us?" invited Emma Dean. "Of course he must," insisted Tom, pausing at his work of starting a cook fire. The Indian shook his head. "Me go," he announced briefly. "Sorry. Hope we see you again," said Hippy. "Me see. You Big Friend. Bye," he said, halting before Lieutenant Wingate. With that he trotted away. "What a queer character," exclaimed Nora Wingate. "He loves my Hippy, because my Hippy is a brave man." "Who runs away to fight another day--not!" added Emma mockingly. "He must have run very fast to catch up with us," suggested Anne. "An Indian can outdistance a horse, as horses ordinarily travel," answered Tom. "Then, too, he probably knew a shorter cut." "Did you notice how bruised and swollen his face was, and how indifferent he appeared to be about it?" questioned Grace solicitously. "Probably not so indifferent as he seemed to be," laughed Hippy. "You know an Indian forgets neither a kindness nor a wrong, and you see how my magnetic personality led this particular Indian to love me." "All Indians do," observed Emma. "Let's make camp and eat," urged Anne. "I am nearly famished." Hippy most heartily approved of Anne's suggestion. Every member of the outfit assisted in "rustling" the camp and the food. Ginger got a whole handful of candy for his part in the routing of the lumberjacks, and Hindenburg also helped himself liberally from the bag when Hippy put it down on the ground. While eating their supper the Overlanders talked over their experiences of the day and the evening. Miss Briggs declared that she would have been keenly disappointed if something had not occurred to stir them up at the outset of their journey. "This getting into difficulties became a habit with this outfit on the very day that it set sail for France and the great world war," she said. "I thank my stars that we are going into the woods where peace and the voices of nature reign supreme," spoke up Emma.