"Not to-night, Stella, surely." "Yes, to-night. Right now." "But----" "There's no buts in this at all. Who wants to help me find Singing Bird?" Every fellow in the outfit stepped forward. "Well, I guess that's enough," she said, laughing. "But, I want you and Kit. The others can stay behind and 'tend the herd. We'll be back when we return." She waved a merry hand to the others, and the three strode into the woods, Bud bending eagerly forward to find the trail. Presently Bud struck a moccasin trail, and they followed it until it mingled with another. The first was undoubtedly that of Singing Bird. The other was that of a big man, or of a man with a big foot. "I reckon she come out here ter find her mother's grave, an' met up with ther bully, her husband. Here they seem ter hev had a struggle, and then thar is only one track, but deeper, showin' that he was carryin' weight. I reckon he put his hand over her mouth an' carried her off by main strength." "Poor Singing Bird," murmured Stella. "If she has really fallen into the hands of that brute, it's a sure thing that she'll be killed this time, and now we're bound to follow her and get her." "That's interfering between a man and his wife," said Kit. "I don't care. She's mine now, for I saved her life. She said so." "All right, Stella, we'll find her if we swaller our chewin' gum. Forward!" Bud led the way, always with his eyes on the ground. After traversing a few hundred yards he stopped. "Here they're walkin' side by side again," he said, "and they're going toward the river." They hastened on to the bank of the river, and there all trace of them was lost at the water's edge. "They've crossed over, but not in a boat," said Bud. "I don't see how they could do it if they didn't swim. There isn't the sign o' a boat around here." "Then over the river we go," said Stella. "But the question is, how?" "I'll swim it," said Bud. "And if I find any trace of them over there, I'll holler." Bud threw his guns on the bank and plunged into the water, and in a few minutes was across, for so near the headwaters it was not wide. They saw him scouting along the shore, and presently he waved his hand at them, and pointed to the ground. "He's found them," said Kit. "But how are we to get over?" Kit ran up and down the shore, and soon found several logs, which he towed to where Stella was waiting, and fastened them together into a raft. "There you are," he said. "Climb aboard, and I'll ferry you across." Stella did so, and in a few minutes they were on the other side. Bud showed them the tracks of Singing Bird, and they followed them into the woods. Close beside the track was a huge stump of a sycamore tree, and Stella elected to sit down beside it and wait until they returned, as she was pretty tired. The boys passed on with the warning to fire her revolver three times if anything should alarm her.