“Pale-face warriors' friends are in a hurry, too--so you will do well to follow us, as we do not intend to follow you. Come, gentlemen, we will lead the Indian, as the Indian does not seem disposed to lead us. After a mile or two he will think it more honourable to go in advance; and, for that distance, I believe, I can show you the way.” “That road good for young men who don't want see enemy!” said Susquesus, with ironical point. “By St. Nicholas! Indian, what do you mean?” cried Guert, turning short on his heels and moving swiftly towards the Onondago, who did not wait for the menacing blow, but wheeled in his tracks and led off, at a quick pace, directly towards the north-west. I do believe that Guert pursued, for the first minute, with no other intention than that of laying his powerful arm on the offender's shoulder; but I dropped in on his footsteps so soon, Dirck following me, and Jaap Dirck, that we were all moving off Indian file, or in the fashion of the woods, at the rate of four miles in the hour, almost before we knew it. An impulse of that angry nature is not over in a minute, and, before either of us had sufficiently cooled to be entirely reasonable, the whole party was fairly out of sight of the hut. After that no one appeared to think of the necessity or of the expediency of reverting to the original intention. It was certainly indiscreet, thus to confide absolutely in the good faith of a savage, or a semi-savage, at least, whom we scarcely knew, and whom we had actually distrusted; but we did it, and precisely in the manner and under the feelings I have described. I know that we all thought of the indiscretion of which we had been guilty, after the first mile; but each was too proud to make the other acquainted with his misgivings. I say all, but Jaap ought to be excepted, for nothing in the shape of danger ever gave that negro any concern, unless it was spooks. He _was_ afraid of 'spooks,' but he did not fear man. Susquesus manifested the same confidence in his knowledge of the woods, while now leading the way, league after league through the dark forest, as he had done when he took us to the oak with the broken top. On this occasion, he guided us more by the sun, and the course generally, than by any acquaintance with objects that we passed; though, three times that day did he point out to us particular things that he had before seen, while traversing the woods in directions that crossed, at angles more or less oblique, the line of our present route. As for us, it was like a sailor's pointing to a path on the trackless ocean. We had our pocket-compasses, it is true, and understood well enough that a north-west course would bring us out somewhere near the foot of Lake George; but I much doubt if we could have made, by any means, as direct a line, by their aid, as we did by that of the Indian.