"Dave you oughter know better nor to ask sech a question. Look? Why, I tramped miles an' miles a-looking fer him,—an' fer them Injuns. But the redskins got away, and we couldn't find Henry, alive or dead."
"Then they must have taken him prisoner."
"Thet's it, unless"
"Unless what, Sam?"
"Wall, I don't like to say, lad. Let us hope fer the best."
"You mean they might have killed him and thrown his body into the lake?"
"Yes."
Dave drew a long breath. The thought was a horrible one. He shook his head dismally.
"You didn't hear any shots, or any struggling?"
"Nary a sound, Dave. We went along as silently as ghosts and with our ears wide open. I know Henry was along when we moved up the lake, but I missed him jest as soon as we turned to come back. He had been next to the lake front and I walked over to find out if he had seen anything of the Injuns. But he was gone—and that was the end of it—although I and the others hunted around until we simply had to give it up and come back to report."
It was dismal news, and all Barringford could do did not cheer Dave up. "First it was little Nell
