Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1931-02-27

alone l am sure they will not harm
me If they should happen to discover
where / am"
Jeems did not answer. They had
come to the rocks which he had
spoken of few moments before.
Here, IL anywhere, was a place for
concealment. 1t was filed with dark
and eavernous refugees, and where the
boulders met and crushed together
were hidden pockets where their bodies
might lie unseen. Toinette perceived
these things with heart that light
ened with relief and hope.
A dozen steps from where they stood
were three boulders apart from the
others. One Of the three had split
itself so that one half of it was a
slab that formed roof for the crevice
between the other two.
Jeems' eyes revealed a deeper ex-
element as he pointed it out to
Toinette.
1--WE will hide-and in therei" he
cried. make haste, Toinette! 1t is
smooth rock and will leave no sign
behind us. Go in and keep Odd with
you !"
He began to throw loose stones
about the huge boulder heap. Some
he flung over the top of it so that
they fell on the opposite side, and at
last he sent a. few into the edge Of the
valley, each farther than the other.
He finished by shooting an arrow
which descended in an open space at
the foot of the ridge.
Toinette watched him in amazement
and alarm until he commanded her in
a sterner voice to crawl quickly under
the stones. She waited no longer but
pulled herself few inches at time
beneath the boulders. Jeems, thrust
ing Odd ahead of him, had greater
difficulty in performing this same feat,
and for a little while they squlrmed
and twisted until they found dark
recess in which they could crowd
themselves and even sit upright.
Jeems explained to Toinette the mean
ing Of his strange behavior outside.
First they will find the loose stones
and the marks made and search for
us in every hole and Granny of the
pile" he said. "When they discover
the arrow hope they will believe we
have fled into the forest"
They waited in a silence wherein
the beating of their hearts was like
the sound of tiny drums in the gloom
of their hiding place. A shudder ran
through Toinette, but she whispered:
Il am not afraid"
She felt Jeems fumbling for his
Ratchet and heard him place it quietly
on the naked rock at his side.
Then the rock itself seemed to give
forth a faint sound as if some one had
tapped it gently with a stick.
This sound grew into others that
were soft and swift, and Jeems knew
that moccasined feet were all about
them. Low voices added themselves
to the pattering tread. Toinette fixed
her eyes on the crack through which
came the shaft of light, and OCCASION
ally it was darkened as body passed
it. The tread Of feet came and went,
and they heard the clatter of rocks.
But for a time all voices died away,
and it was this silence which became
almost unbearable for Toinette. This
clutch of danger which they could
not see or cope with seized upon her
until each moment she expected to
hear ghostly creature stealing into
their hiding place or to see a pair of
flaming eyes on level with her own
1t was feeling of horror instead of
fear, and with it came a strong desire
to cry out and ease her suspense in
scream.
Jeems, too. had almost found him
self in the grip of something which he
could not control. Not more than a
quarter of an hour passed in this sus-
pense, but it seemed to be lifetime.
Then there We're voices again which
increased in number and excitement
until, above them all, a yell rose from
the valley as one of the searchers dis
covered the arrow.
When Toinette raised her head, she
heard no evidence of life other than
their own on the ridge THANK God,
they think we have gone into the val
ley" said Jeems.
Toinette touched him with eau
tioning hand, and in the same mo-
ment he was aware of the sound her
ears had caught! Some one was near
the rock More than one-there were
two! Their voices were distinct
though low, and they stood so close
that their forms shut out the light
from the creyice. To his establishment
Jeems heard a language which Hepsi-
bah Adams had taught him, and it was
not Mohawk. These were Senecas.
The discovery thrilled him. He hated
the Mohawk Ratchet wieIders who
were the scourge of the southern
frontier, but the Senecas, also brethren
Of the Six Great Nations, he doubly
feared, for while the Mohawk killers
were the wolves of the wilderness. the
Senecas were its foxes and panthers
combined. One was a creature of dark
ness and surprise, the other light