Page:Marching on Niagara.djvu/272

242 dove into the clump of bushes. He did not stop, but at the risk of scratching himself in a dozen places, tore his way along into the timber and went on and on, pell-mell, fetching up against more than one tree and tripping over one big root after another. Once he went into a hole up to his knee and came close to breaking his leg, which, in the end, would undoubtedly have cost him his life. But he freed himself and did not stop but continued his course, limping deeper and deeper into the forest.

A yell of rage told him that his escape was discovered, and soon he heard several Indians thrashing around through the brushwood, while others spread out for a search through the forest. There was no doubt but that they meant to re-take him were such a thing possible.

"But they shan't do it," he muttered, through his set teeth. "I must get away somehow!"

When half a mile had been covered he was surprised to find himself within sight of the lake. At first he imagined that he had gone around in a circle and brought up at the point from which he had started, but soon he saw that the spot was a strange one, some distance south of the Indian camp.

His injured shin hurt him not a little and he was glad enough to plunge into the water up to his knees. He had come out on a little bay and here several