Page:Barbour--Metipoms Hostage.djvu/150

136 illumined, though but dimly, as the starlight flooded the open wood. David was resolved to let no chance go by, and for that reason fought hard against the sleep that  weighted his eyelids. If, he reasoned, he could in some manner get past the Indians and  through the entrance without their knowledge, he might elude them in the gloom of  the forest and, by traveling eastward, discover the trail leading to Sudbury and there  lie in wait for the returning party of his  friends. The Indians gradually ceased their talk and silence fell again. At last one of them stirred and spoke briefly. The other responded with a grunt and the entrance was darkened momentarily as the first speaker  slipped out of the cavern.

David lay down then and simulated slumber, breathing regularly. He would have given much to have known whither the other  savage had gone; whether back to the village  or only to some post of watching near by. Peering across the cave, he saw the glow of the Indian’s pipe at intervals. Then it went out and silence settled more deeply. After a long while the Indian muttered, sighed, and  then began to breathe heavily and with a  rasping sound. David’s heart beat fast while