"Oh, oh," the count replied with a forced smile; "this country has not a very encouraging look, I allow, still I dare not believe that you are afraid." The adventurer looked at him. "And even if I were afraid," he said a moment later, "do you think I should do my duty worse on that account, in a case of need? Fear is nothing but the instinct of self-preservation, a nervous movement independent of our will, which causes us to forebode danger, and thus helps us to conquer it by suggesting the means of avoiding it. Fear is nothing dishonouring; every man has been afraid several times in his life, and he who denies it is a brute. I never see a gun barrel pointed at my chest without feeling a sensation of internal cold which is simply fear." "The man who speaks so frankly of a feeling which everybody tries to hide must be brave," said the count; "but let us break off this discussion for the present, which we will resume at a more favourable moment, and pray explain your ideas to me." "It will not take long, señor; my opinion is that no spot could be better chosen than this for an ambuscade." "Which means?" "That, if we are to be attacked, it will be inevitably here." "The spot, it is true, has a bad reputation; but it is long since any attack of the sort has been heard of in the country, and nothing leads to the supposition that we have one to apprehend." The Canadian shook his head with a preoccupied air which alarmed the count. "Come," he said, "my friend, speak clearly; I am a man. Have we, yes or no, anything to fear?" "Yes," Oliver replied bluntly. "Do you think so?" "No; I am sure of it." "Still, up to the present, we have perceived nothing." "You, doubtless," the adventurer interrupted, "whose senses have been blunted by a long residence in towns, have perceived nothing; but I, accustomed to desert life, have during the last ten minutes picked up proofs which do not permit me the least doubt on this head. I repeat that we shall be attacked within an hour perhaps, but assuredly at sunset." "Tell me what signs you have discovered." "What good will that do, señor? It is better to profit by the time left us to prepare to resist the attack that threatens us." "I wish to have the proof, not because I doubt your words or your sagacity, but because there is in all this something extraordinary which I wish to unravel." "Be satisfied, then," the hunter said; "stoop down." The adventurer removed a few leaves, and displayed a footstep perfectly imprinted on the damp ground. "What is this?" the count said, with a surprise mingled with terror. "It is the mark of a war moccasin," the hunter answered calmly. "Now, remain here without stirring, while I follow the track; within half an hour we shall know who the enemies are who are upon our trail, and their number."