“White Buffalo wishes he could aid his friend Dave,” said the Indian. “But now he must journey to the home of the Delawares, to prepare for the great ceremonial. But when he is at liberty he will follow Dave, and bring with him some of his best braves.” “I’ll be glad of that, White Buffalo.” “If Bevoir and his curs have slain Dave’s father and his friends they must suffer for it,” went on the aged chief. “And the trading post belongs to Dave and his people,” he added, firmly. “Neither the French nor the red men can have it.” A talk lasting an hour followed, and White Buffalo said again that sooner or later he would aid Dave. How he kept his word we shall see in a later chapter. The Indians went on their way, and once again Dave and the others turned their faces eastward. Nothing more happened to alarm them, and thus they went on for two days more. “We’ll soon be there,” said Dave. “We ought to strike one of the settlements in a day or two.” They had certainly pushed ahead with rapidity, as their strained and tired legs testified. That night they encamped among some trees, and in the morning found everything covered with snow. The snow was still coming down steadily. “We are not going to do so well to-day,” said Henry. “We must take care, or we’ll get off the trail.” “Trust me to keep to the trail,” said Lawson. “I know the ground too well to get lost.” It was indeed hard to go on, and by noon they were glad enough to stop for a long rest. The wind was biting cold and the temperature was going down rapidly. “Unless I miss my guess we’re going to have an awful night,” remarked Devine. “The best thing we can do is to find some good shelter before it gets too dark.” They pushed on from two o’clock to four. By that time the leaden sky was growing dark, and they looked around for the best shelter obtainable. At last they chose a spot where there were some rocks and thickly set trees. “This isn’t as good as it might be, but it’s the best around here, I reckon,” said Lawson. They scraped away the snow and built a fire, and then heaped up some brushwood as a shelter from the wind. But it kept growing colder and colder, until they were glad enough to huddle close to the blaze with their coats buttoned closely around them. “This is going to be a banner night,” said Henry, and his words proved correct, so far as the cold was concerned. The temperature dropped steadily until two o’clock in the morning, when Dave felt as if he was “breathing icicles” as he expressed it. It was so cold that nobody could sleep, and they spent the time in hugging the fire and in drinking hot coffee. The two men had a bottle of liquor, of which they consumed not a little. The liquor was offered to the two youths, but each declined. “I think we are better off without it,” said Dave, and Henry said the same. CHAPTER XXI A NEW MOVE