There was no disguising the fact that Kate Merriweather was missing.
Harvey Catlett felt that the stealthy tread which had fallen upon his ears was that of her abductor, and he upbraided himself for what he self-accusingly termed his inactivity.
It is true that the hawk cry which he construed into a preconcerted signal had roused him to action; but the boat and its occupants, one of whom was doubtless the settler"s daughter, had left the sh.o.r.e. And he had fired into the craft without thinking that his ball might find the heart of the fair girl, and imperil his own life.
It was a startled group that surrounded the young scout, and almost uncontrollable anger flashed in Oscar Parton"s eyes. Kate had been abducted during Catlett"s hour on guard!
The fact was sufficient to give birth to a new and bitter forest feud.
But the young borderer avoided the lover"s gaze, as he did not desire to enter into a controversy which calmer moments would make appear ridiculous.
With remarkable tact and secrecy the girl had been stolen from the couch in the boat. Even Carl"s wakefulness had failed to baffle the thief.
Since the scout"s arrival a feeling of security had settled over the camp, and the sleep of its inmates was deeper than it had been for many nights.
The abductor probably knew this; but at any rate he had carried out his scheme at a propitious moment.
In the exciting council that followed the abduction an hundred suggestions were offered, to be rejected. Wolf Cap and his friend hardly unsealed their lips, but listened attentively to all that was said.
"Now what say you, Wolf Cap?" said Abel Merriweather, appealing to the tall man. "You have not said ten words about my dear child"s peril, and we know that you are a king in these forests; and you have said that you would get us to Wayne or die in the attempt. For G.o.d"s sake suggest some plan of swift rescue, for we are tortured almost beyond endurance."
Slowly Wolf Cap turned upon the settler, who held his white-faced, anguish-stricken wife to his bosom, waiting for a reply which he felt would be freighted with salvation or doom.
"Talk to the boy, there!" he said, pointing to Harvey Catlett. "He was on guard when _it_ happened. What he says will be done."
All eyes fell upon the youthful scout.
"I will save her if I can," he said quickly, and with determination.
"Wolf Cap must remain. You may need him. Pursue the journey; it may be death to tarry here."
"And worse than that to proceed;" Mrs. Merriweather said.
"I think not, madam. Keep stout hearts in your bosoms. Mr. Parton, will you follow me?"
"On the trail?" inquired the young man, to whom the question was unexpected.
"Certainly, sir. I see that you have been thinking pretty hard of me to-night."
Oscar Parton blushed.
"Forgive me," he said, putting out his hand. "We are apt to think unadvisedly on the spur of the moment. I trust we shall be friends, and work together in all things."
Catlett took the extended hand in a pledge of friendship, and pressed it heartily.
"Come!" he said; "we must cross the river."
Parton turned to press the hands of his friends.
"No time for that," said Wayne"s scout. "In these times we must say farewell with our lips. We have lost time already."
He turned to the water"s edge, and Kate"s lover dropped Carl"s hand to follow.
"Can you swim?" asked Catlett.
"Certainly."
"Then here we go. Keep alongside of me and swim noiselessly."
A moment later the twain glided into the water, leaving an anxious group on the shadowy sh.o.r.e.
Silently, so far as the form of swimming was concerned, the friends kept together and approached the northern bank of the Maumee.
"Do you know who took the girl?" Catlett asked his companion.
"How should I?" was the question that met his.
Wayne"s scout smiled.
"I thought that you might have formed an opinion," he said.
"No;" and then came the question, "what do you know about it?"
"Not much; but if she escapes us, the terror of these woods will see her."
Oscar Parton"s face became pale.
"Do you mean----"
He paused, as if afraid to utter the name.
"I mean that man!" said Catlett, as if his companion had finished his sentence. "Jim Girty has caused more anguish in this part of the world than the tomahawks and fire brands of a whole red nation. I believe that John Darknight was here to-night, and he and the White Whirlwind have been friends."
The whispered conversation grew still, for the gloomy sh.o.r.e was discernible, and the thought of Kate Merriweather in the hands of the greatest renegade in the northwest, was enough of itself to seal Oscar Parton"s lips.
A long fringe of woodland welcomed the swimmers, and they drew themselves from the water. No noise save the plash of the ripples at their feet broke the stillness, and the sound was so musical that they could scarcely believe that the woods and the waves beautified a land of death.
Wringing the water from their garments, the scouts inaugurated a search for the trail, or, in other words, for the spot where the boat had been drawn from the water.
A line of moonshine lay along the edge of the stream, and this underwent a close examination, Harvey Catlett hunting down and his companion up the river.
While Oscar Parton was not an experienced woodman, like his friend, the mysteries of the trail were not great ones to him. He had been reared in the forests, and from the very tribes that now sought his heart"s blood he had learned much of the science of tracking man and beast. He felt proud of the notice which Catlett had taken of his woodcraft in permitting him to search alone for Kate"s trail, and he inwardly hoped that he would have the good fortune to find it. The circ.u.mstance would elevate him in the eyes of the young scout.
Now through the forest, and now back to the river, with its edging of moonlight, the two men crept like ghosts, letting nothing escape them.
One could not distinguish the other for the dimly lighted distance that lay between them, but preconcerted calls told from time to time that the search had not been abandoned.
Oscar Parton began to despair. He had pa.s.sed beyond the line of search marked out by his companion and was on the eve of returning when he came suddenly upon a canoe with its keel just beyond the reach of the tide.