Deerfoot the Shawanoe remained in the vicinity of the Winnebago camp until the made their start at an early hour the following morning. He took more than one survey of the red men, who gathered about the blazing fire and talked over the events of the night. He could easily have every one of the whom they kept moving through the wood, but he had no wish to do so.  
He heard and saw enough to convince him that they intended to make an attack on the camp in the mountains, but he did not feel absolutely sure that they would not turn aside and follow in the path of the Wolf and Wau-ko-mia-tan, until the party had advanced several miles to the southward along the Ozark trail.
 
It seemed strange that the Winnebagos paid no attention to the two missing warriors, and yet, after all, it was not singular. They knew they were dead and it was therefore a waste of time to give to them. If by any possibility they were alive, they must take care of themselves, just as all brave Indians did: if unable to do so, the consequences must be on their own heads.
 
So the ten Winnebagos, under the lead of the famous chieftain Black Bear, moved along the trail in the direction of the camp of the Hunters of the Ozark, and the expressions and words that had been overheard by the Shawanoe, left no doubt that by way of revenge they meant to the three trappers who had located there for the winter.
 
The Winnebagos came from the north-east. Their , villages and hunting grounds were many moons' travel away, and the section of country through which they were journeying was so settled that they had no fear of pursuit. Now, when you give an American Indian the chance to commit some vicious with no fear of being made to pay therefor, you may set it down as a truth that nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every one thousand will commit that crime. It was a matter of , in the first place, whether they harmed the hunters or not. Since the latter were removed some distance from their path, it is probable that they would not at that time have taken the trouble to go in quest of them: it was the feeling of revenge that was the deciding weight in the scale.
 
Let us recall the situation as it was on the second morning after Fred Linden and Terry Clark left their homes in Greville. The boys themselves were the furthest advanced along the trail to the mountains, while at a considerable distance behind, filed the ten Winnebago warriors, and in the vicinity was Deerfoot the Shawanoe, watching every movement with the vigilance of a lynx.
 
Whenever he chose he could make a circuit around the Winnebagos, and joining the boys beyond, hasten to the hunters' camp and them of their danger; but there remained an abundance of time in which to do that, and he did not wish to leave the vicinity of the enemies until he saw a little more of them.
 
It was evident that the Winnebagos were in no hurry. They must have known that two of the youths were following the trail in advance, for the heavy shoes of the lads could not fail to leave their in many places; but, such being the case, the red men might ask in what manner they could know that a party of Winnebagos were following them, unless such knowledge came through Deerfoot the Shawanoe, who, wherever he might be, certainly was not in front of them.
 
When the Indians came to a stream of water, they did not rush in and or swim to the other side, as they would have done had there been any call for haste, but like those who had gone before, they stopped long enough to make a raft on which they could float across. The American Indian is not as fond of water as he should be, and though the Winnebagos would have cared little for the chill of the stream, it was more pleasant for them to pass over dry shod; so they made their several rafts and poled themselves to the opposite bank.
 
You would not look for humor under such circumstances, and yet on one of the three rafts there was so much of it shown that even the grim Shawanoe smiled.
 
The structures on which the red men floated were, as a matter of course, of the nature, intended as they were to last only long enough to bear them to the other shore. With proper management, all would have done this, but on one of the rafts holding four of the warriors, there was an wag. A single Indian managed the pole, while the others carefully in their respective positions and were expected to keep quiet, so as not to the structure.
 
The wag to whom I have referred, while sitting with an innocent expression on his painted , quietly loosened the two or three withes, and gave the logs such an that they separated like two bodies charged with electricity, when brought together. The who handled the pole was with legs somewhat apart, resting on a different log, when they suddenly separated still more, and he sat down with a splash in the water. Another log , as did the who was sitting on it, while the others were also plashing in the stream, which was not deep enough to make them swim, though it came to the neck of the shortest one. The four warriors to shore amid the grins of the others, and with no suspicion of the criminal that had played the trick upon them.
 
The next stream was reached by the Indians a couple of hours later. This was not as deep as the other and they did not stop to make rafts. After a little searching, they found a portion where the current did not come above their knees and they waded.
 
In doing so, Black Bear took the lead, and, in accordance with a custom universal among Indians, each warrior carefully stepped into the footprints in front of him. The water was so that the impression made by the chieftain's moccasin was plainly shown, so that there was no difficulty in this respect. Had a person been trailing them, he would have seen before him what seemed to be the footprints of a single man. There was but a slight variation near the furth............