A few bounds brought him to the river, into which he plunged without a second's hesitation, and dived beneath the surface. Abel Merriweather and his friends, with ready rifles, waited vengefully for his reappearance; but he came up far below and dived again before a single weapon could cover him. The whites looked disappointedly at each other. "I ought to have dealt with him last night," the settler said, self-upbraidingly. "He will join the Indians, and deal murderously with us. God help my family." The party, smarting with chagrin over the traitor's escape, returned slowly to the camp, to meet a group of the whitest faces ever seen in the forest. Helpless in the shadow of an impending evil, Abel Merriweather's family gathered around him, and for the first time since the flight from home the strong man's heart sank within him. The other members of the party looked about for Little Moccasin, but Kate said that during the pursuit of John Darknight she had fled from the camp without an explanation of her departure. CHAPTER VI. THE EXCITING COUNSEL. James Girty, the white renegade, was known to the various tribes as the White Whirlwind. His brother Simon was the possessor of a few attributes of kindness, but _he_ was destitute of every redeeming trait. A repulsive face surmounted an ungainly body, but the fiend was possessed of almost supernatural strength. He was a power in the council, and the British agents stirred the Indians to resist Wayne through him. We have witnessed his theft of the message which Wolf Cap and young Catlett left in the hollow tree prior to their departure for the assistance of the Merriweathers and their friends. It is now our purpose to follow him and witness his dealings with the warriors of the then wild northwest. He crossed the river in a canoe which he drew from a place of concealment on the bank, and, having hid it on the opposite shore, plunged into the forest. He seemed impatient to read the contents of the paper which he had stolen, and as he reached the summit of a wooded knoll a cry of joy burst from his throat. For some minutes prior to his arrival on the top of the declivity, certain sounds had been wafted to his ears by the night winds. They prepared him for the sight that had burst upon his vision, but still he could not repress the exclamation. "I wonder if they are all there?" he murmured as he sprang forward and heard the forest resound with his Indian name. Girty had come suddenly, but not unexpectedly upon an Indian council. A fire that blazed in the ring formed by five hundred painted savages, furnished the light for the forest tableau, and revealed the renegade to the gaze of all. His quick eye swept the circle of faces as he passed through. He saw representatives of every tribe which confronted Wayne; he noticed a fair sprinkling of his own ilk, and a group of whites handsomely attired in British uniforms.