With the body of the Seneca covered by the rifle of Mr. Brainerd the latter pulled the trigger, at the very moment the body was in mid-air, but the gun was undischarged.  
Habakkuk McEwen, in his flurry, had down the bullet first, and the weapon was useless until the ball was extracted.
 
Where the elder had shown such vigilance, it was singular that he had forgotten to take a very simple precaution—he should have had the African or New Englander covering the same point, and arranged that one should fire with him.
 
The intervening space was so brief there was no excuse for missing, and such a could have been .
 
But though Mr. Brainerd's piece failed him, the second Indian emitted the same , and went to the bottom, shot directly through the body.
 
"What the have you done with my gun?" demanded Mr. Brainerd, flinging the weapon behind him; "let me have the one in your hand; there's something wrong with mine; draw out the charge and fix it."
 
"My gracious!" exclaimed the Gimp, "what does dat mean?"
 
"What does what mean?"
 
"Why did dat Injin turn back summersets, and it up in dat style, when your gun flashed in de pan?"
 
"Somebody shot him."
 
"But who was he?"
 
Mr. Brainerd made no reply, for he had none to make. Some unknown friend had fired the second shot, that prevented the obtaining a foothold where it would have been fatal to the whites.
 
As to the identity of the friend, that could not be guessed.
 
The explanation upon which all agreed was, that some other settlers—one or more—had taken shelter somewhere in the vicinity, and had fired, either as a matter of self-protection, or for the benefit of those in the .
 
how it should become necessary for some one to shoot the warrior, as a means of , was more than could be explained.
 
Another strange fact about it was, that Maggie Brainerd and Aunt Peggy insisted that, instead of being discharged from some point beyond and on the other side of the rocks, the marksman was perched directly over the heads of those in the cavern.
 
Where there were so many and trees, the short echoes might well produce confusion, but the two ladies were positive that the man was immediately above them.
 
Gravity Gimp was inclined to the same opinion, and Mr. Brainerd was puzzled more than ever.
 
"I not only heard the gun," said Maggie, with great positiveness, "but I heard the man himself moving up there."
 
"That is impossible, my daughter," protested her father, feeling it had now become safe, for the first time, to relax his vigilance.
 
"Not at all," she replied, "you can hear plainly through a solid substance, and I caught a sound made by that man's shoe scraping over the rocks."
 
It was scarcely , and yet, knowing Maggie for the clear-headed girl that she was, her father could not doubt her assertion.
 
It was a vast relief to discover they had such an ally so close at hand, though there remained the element of doubt as to how much further his help would extend.
 
was ended at last, and the solemn night brooded over the scene.
 
"Better to be shot to the death here where we are," was the thought of Mr. Brainerd, "than to fall into their hands, and such shall be our fate, if it comes to a choice between the two."
 
But for all that, the conviction was strong upon him that the only possible hope for him and his dear ones was to get them all out of that place, and well on the way through the "Shades of Death," before the rising of the morrow's sun.
 
They could not leave during the daytime, when, under the full glare of the noonday sun, and with such leisure at their command, the Indians would find some way of intrenching themselves behind the column of rocks, without being exposed to the fire of the sentinel or sentinels, as the case might be.
 
Besides this, it was hardly to be expected that the unknown friend would be able to hold his own position in the daytime.
 
But how to leave the spot was the all-important question.
 
It would not do to move up the path by the way they came, for, even with the protecting shadow, they would be seen and would walk into the web, like so many flies.
 
As the path ended at the front of the cavern, no progress could be made in that direction, but the believed that by picking his way down the rocks to the bottom of the ravine, as he was certain could be done, some new route might be opened.
 
It was necessary, however, to make a reconnoissance before venturing . Who was the right person to do it?
 
Beyond question, Habakkuk McEwen was the man.
 
"See here," said Mr. Brainerd, coming to the point at once, as was his custom, "it may as well be understood that if we remain until the sun rises there will be no hope of our ever getting away."
 
Perfect silence followed this remark, and waiting only long enough for it to produce its effect, he added:
 
"Some one must steal out of the cavern, and learn whether any path is open by which we can get away. I would not hesitate to go, but our safety depends on guarding this point, where one of them may appear. Gravity is too slow, and I must therefore request you, Habakkuk, to act as our ."
 
"Well, well!" exclaimed the startled man. "It'll never do for me to go down among the Injins."
 
"You needn't go down among them—but are to make sure whether there is a chance for us to steal away, under the protection of the shadow which now incloses us."
 
"I'd like to oblige you, but it won't do—why," he added, starting up with the idea, "it always makes me dizzy to go prowling around in the moonlight. I'd be sure to fall over the rocks and break my leg, and then how would you feel?"
 
"Sorry because it wasn't your neck," retorted Mr. Brainerd, who concluded that the man was not such a re-enforcement after all, as he appeared from his own account to be; "your presence with us is an incumbrance, and I should be highly gratified if you would depart and never show yourself again. I will go myself."
 
He called to Gravity to take his place as sentinel, with his gun out where the was likely to appear, but Eva, Maggie............