Free to come and go, Sevier quit the council-house and wandered about the village. Feeling hungry, he entered a cabin and found the little girl playing with the mirror. He was promptly provided with beans and venison. The father of the child eyed him stealthily. The child boldly ran to him and climbed on his knee. Sevier knew these were his friends insofar as they could be such without betraying their people. “Has a white man and a white woman passed through this village since the little one lost her tooth?” he asked as he ate. The man turned away, but the woman shook her head, and Chucky Jack knew she answered truthfully. He was disappointed, yet remembered it was very possible he had passed ahead of them. Tonpit would be held back by the girl. It was also possible they had passed the village without entering it. And he persisted— “Have you heard of a white man and woman travelling to the Coosa?” Again the man pretended not to have heard the query, and once more the woman silently answered in the negative. He was puzzled. He knew the Tonpits could pass without hindrance once it was known they were bound for McGillivray’s town. And, did they pass, the news would be flashed from village to village with incredible swiftness. “It must be that I’ve got ahead of them; that Polcher got far ahead of them,” he decided as he finished his meal. “Tonpit would have to stop and give the girl a chance to rest. Even at that it’s queer no word is brought ahead of their coming.” He went outside, wondering if by any chance Tonpit had changed his plans and struck for Governor Miro’s headquarters at Pensacola. The girl’s hurried scrawl told her lover they were bound for Little Talassee. This substantiated his theory that McGillivray had demanded her as a hostage to bind Tonpit to his bargain. This line of conjecture brought Kirk Jackson to mind, and he speculated on the young man’s whereabouts. How long would he hide from the settlers, thinking a mob was after him to give him short shift? “Just long enough to feel sure he could find me in the court-house,” was the borderer’s decision on this point. “On learning I’ve gone and that he’s safe in the settlement, he’ll wait just long enough to get a horse and come pounding after the girl. Wish I’d left a note for him to stay there, although that would have no effect on a young man in love.” Realizing the folly of further speculation, he brought his mind to bear on his immediate surroundings and strolled out to see his horse. The faithful animal ran to him to be petted. To leap on his back and speed down the trail would take but a minute. He had his arms and had eaten. While making much of the horse, he cast his glance about. The woods were quiet, scarcely a breath stirring the foliage. The itching to be off almost tempted him, then he turned away and walked but a few rods toward the cabins when Watts came from behind a bush.