From the distance, half a mile away, I guessed, came the crack of a rifle; then another and another, and after that the same deathly silence as before. "Think you any harm has come to him?" Paul whispered tremulously, and I replied as I believed truly: "Not unless he met with an accident before that first shot was fired. If there had been a large number of savages nearabout, he would have used every effort to return without loss of time, that we might go to warn the volunteers. There may have been only a few, with, perhaps, a captive, and he has attempted a rescue." I was heartened by my own words, which sounded plausible, and remained on the alert ten minutes or more, expecting each instant to see Kenton appear as silently as he had vanished. When that length of time had elapsed, however, and he yet remained absent, fear crept over me, and I imagined the worst. After half an hour went by, and I kept note of time by counting, there was no longer any hope in my heart. After firing a shot Kenton would, had he been able, come back to us at once; for even though he had not learned all which seemed necessary, he must have understood that he would no longer be able to spy upon the foe. I tried to decide what should be done; but my brain was in a whirl. I could hardly have defended myself if one of the painted brutes had shown himself close at hand. It was Paul who aroused me from what was little less than the stupefaction of despair, by whispering in my ear: "He did not say that we should go up the river until sunrise. Why may it not be possible for us to help him?" I shook my head, believing it was too late for us to effect anything in his behalf; but the suggestion, coming from a lad who was ignorant of all this wretched business, awakened me to a realization of my own folly. "I am the one to go," I said decidedly "You shall stay here, in case he comes back." "By so doing I could be of no assistance. We will go together." Even now I fail to understand why my wits had so completely deserted me. I had no thought of what might be the result if we two made off into the forest in the darkness; but before we met Simon Kenton again I realized my folly most keenly. Without trying to persuade him to remain, as I should have done even in my foolishness, I whispered: "You must move softly and keep close behind me, lest we be separated in the thicket where it might mean death to cry out. Follow my every motion, for I shall take the lead." He grasped his rifle in a manner which told he at least was no coward, and clutched my hunting shirt to make certain of obeying the command I had given. I stepped over the side of the canoe into the water; but not as silently as Simon Kenton had done, and we two waded ashore with no heed as to where this rash move was likely to lead us.