But already a second warrior had come into view, following closely in the footsteps of the leading brave, it seemed. He, too, was decked out for war, if those feathers that stood upright signified all the boys believed they did, and a gun was clasped in his hand, just as with the first dark spectre. A third was in view even before the second had passed beyond the limits of the watchers' vision. A fourth came trailing along, then a fifth; and the grim procession continued to move along like a column of nightmare ghosts, until Bob had unconsciously counted twenty-two of the savages. What a narrow escape they had had! Suppose either he or Sandy had been unwise enough to talk beyond the whisper which cautious Pat instituted as the margin of safety, what chance would they have had against such a host of cruel foes? They waited for a minute or so, fearful lest there might be a straggler who had fallen a little distance behind the rest; but, when none appeared, Bob felt safe in speaking in the guarded tone used before. "That was a close shave, now, I'm telling you," he said, drawing a long breath. "If we'd been moving at the time, I'm afraid they'd have discovered us long before we did them." "Yis," grumbled Pat, "wid me makin' all the noise av a granehorn in the woods, a-draggin' me lift lig afther me. But sure, that's not the worrst av it, byes. Did ye not notice the direction the bog trotters do be goin'?" "Up the river!" said Sandy, quickly. "And the flatboat lies there, not more than a mile away!" gasped Bob, feeling suddenly cold all over, as a spasm of dread took possession of him. "Oh! how can we warn them?" asked Sandy, getting to his feet, as though sorely tempted to start on a run for the river, so that he could try to make the camp before the murderous Indians reached it. "Whist! be aisy now, and we'll thry and find some way to do the same," remarked Pat, as he painfully arose, and made ready to clutch hold of the impetuous lad, if there was any sign that Sandy really contemplated giving them the slip. "But something ought to be done at once," remonstrated the other, his voice filled with emotion, as he thought of the loved ones who might be caught unawares by the savages and fall victims to their cruel tomahawks and knives. "Don't you think either Bob or myself might get there ahead of them, if we went along the edge of the river? Please, Pat, think quick now, if ever you did in all your life." "'Tis that same I'm doin', me bye," the trapper replied. "Ye must pull up, and howld yer horses. 'Tis a time to do the right thing, or be the same token ye're apt to ruin the whole business. Just stop and remimber that afore we lift camp I arranged all that wid yer father." "The signals, you mean, Pat?" asked Sandy, while Bob gulped down the lump in his throat that had threatened to choke him, for a sudden sense of relief had come to him.