"Go?" cried the one addressed, and her voice sent a thrill of pleasure to the heart beating wildly on the top of the knoll. "Go, Areotha? You cannot name a place whither I will not fly with you at this hour. I wonder if they do not believe me dead already. My God! I see through the treachery of that man," and she glanced at the body on the ground. "Girl, is every one in these parts like him? He came to our home and persuaded father to fly to Wayne, offering to guide us; but he meditated treachery all the time. I see it now." "He makes no more bloody boats on the big river," Little Moccasin said with triumph. "He was bold to steal white girl alone." "No, no, girl. An Indian called Oskaloo assisted, but he was killed in the boat by some one on the shore--Mr. Catlett, perhaps. He was on guard." Little Moccasin's eyes gleamed with pride at the mention of the young scout's name. "He good hunter," she said with growing enthusiasm. "Areotha will take the white girl back to him." "Yes, yes, and then I will find all of them. Let us go now. Some person may find us here if we tarry." Some person? Yes; that "person" was already near, and as Kate Merriweather and her protector started to fly, Jim Girty, with a single bound, reached the foot of the hillock, and stood before them. The twain started back with a cry of terror; but Kate's retreat was quickly checked by the renegade's hand. "Not so fast, my beauty!" he cried with a hideous smile, a mixture of sensuality and triumph. "I am convinced that I did not arrive a moment too late. That man was playing me false!" and he nodded at the dead. "He wasn't on the trail that leads to my cabin. I suspect, miss, that he got struck with your beauty, and thought that he would outwit his employer and make you his own wife." Kate Merriweather did not reply. White faced and trembling, she stood before the outlaw, whose eyes devoured her peerless beauty, and from whose clutches she longed to escape. "John Darknight proved to be a traitor, and your companion paid him for his treachery, though I guess that she did not suspect that she was serving me when she pulled the trigger. Perhaps you do not know me," and there was a grim smile on Girty's face. "I do not, though----" "Though you may have heard of me, you were going to say. I fancy that my name has reached your ears. There isn't a woman in the Northwest Territory who has not heard of me. My name is Girty!" The settler's daughter uttered a cry of mingled terror and disgust. "Simon Girty, the renegade?" "No! his brother James--the worse devil of the two!" said the outlaw with a sardonic grin and a glance at the bewildered Little Moccasin.