"No doubt he has practiced it long enough."
"Suppose those Indians that have followed Tim take it into their heads to pay us a visit?"
"He will take all their attention, if Shasta concludes to have a part in the matter, and they won't have time to think of us."
"We must be prepared at any rate; but don't let the thought make us uneasy. We have two good guns, and Terror would be worth half a dozen men if we get into close quarters."
"He may be all that; but a rifle-shot could quickly stretch him out lifeless. It won't do for us to go to sleep until Tim or Shasta come back."
"Of course not. I do not feel like it, even if we were satisfied that it was safe for us to do so."
The Indian was far down the stream, still speeding with his extraordinary velocity, using his arms as though they would never tire.
"Yes; he is still weak, but an Indian soon recovers himself."
"All he needed was the root which he chewed and which cured him almost immediately. These savages are what you call Thomsonians I suppose."
"They are the original ones no doubt. I have heard that some of their medicine men are the most skillful of physicians."
"Yes; we hear all kinds of things about them. What stories we have read, and yet they don't look and act as I imagined they would. I thought they would suffer and die without showing the least pain, and yet Shasta wasn't anyways backward about it."
"No doubt the poor fellow felt bad enough, and he hasn't got over it yet. You can tell that from his appearance."
"It will take all his skill to help Tim. Just as like as not he will take Shasta for an enemy and shoot him."
"If they only see each other before dark, so that Tim can understand that he has a friend at work."
"But you see it is nearly dark now, and it is likely he is in the woods by this time."
"The Indians may cross over to follow him."
They were silent a while when Elwood suddenly exclaimed.
"Suppose Shasta is an enemy and has gone to help his people?"
"No fear of that. That is the last thing that can occur."
The night gradually deepened and proved to be quite dark, a faint moon shedding a luster that made the dim light more impressive. The boys walked back and forth, watching and listening for some evidence of the approach of their friends, and gradually becoming apprehensive despite the attempt each made to cheer the spirits of the other.