Part 20 (1/2)

And then suddenly--when it was about noon--he ca beneath the trees, and at a little distance Alf sitting on the ground with Red Fox prostrate, resting his head on the lad's lap

CHAPTER XVII

THE FATE OF RED FOX

Itthat Alf did notcarried away on horseback It is no easyin front of him on a bare-backed broncho when the person is helpless and still It is a yet less easywith a struggling captive

Of course we know that Holden was at a disadvantage He was powerless to use his ars, and it ith difficulty that he breathed But his legs were coy to make such resistance as would have considerably hampered Red Fox in his purpose

The reason for the lad's passive demeanour is not difficult to understand

Alf was no fool Indeed, he possessed a ift for rapid reasoning He quickly decided that, for the ti at least, he was at the Indian's mercy His instinct told him that, for some unknown reason, he ht have struggled with a measure of success, the Indian was both powerful and passionate enough to murder him then and there

No person, even in the direst straits, is anxious to incur a violent death Holden was no exception to that rule, so he dee, on the chance that tiht It would only be a needless exhaustion to struggle nohen he would be easily overpowered Moreover, a show of resistance -knife

So he lay still, and the Indian laughed aloud, believing the lad to be unconscious through fright

”Huh! White dog laugh at Red Fox? He say Red Fox face hideous?” the redskin exclaily, as he pressed the horse to the race ”'Tis well Red Fox face bad--very bad; but white boy worse when Indian hand have used knife!”

Then the boy understood the mystery His careless words _had_ been understood, as Bob had suggested And his fate was to be vengeance of a like mutilation of his own fair cheeks!

Not if he knew it!

It was little wonder if the lad felt his blood run cold as he listened to the Indian's vaunt, and it is little wonder that his head swam until he was near in reality to the very faintness that he had assu The very threat was enough to rouse a strong determination to thwart the brutal intention, and his mental decision was that which we have just recorded in the third person: ”Not if I know it!”

Red Fox had quite forgotten about the ermine robe That was quite Indian-like The object of the ain that aim he would have sacrificed a thousand robes of costliest fur--nay, even life itself, if he could have the satisfaction of vengeance first

Guiding the broncho by the swaying of his body and the occasional use of a halter-rope, the redskin did not permit the ani to the stillness of his burden, he drew aside a portion of the blanket to look at the boy's face

He saw that the eyes were closed, and a fear came into his heart that perhaps he was to be robbed of his pleasure after all

But the lips tre down the Indian could hear the sound of breathing

”Huh!” he laughed, as he replaced the cloth ”That good! Pale-face--he sleep, but he wake soon when Red Fox ain at Indian Red Fox, he laugh at hideous white boy”

A peal of harsh, savage laughter rang through the woods at this delicious humour, and startled the horse so that it strained harder in the gallop

Through the woods, the burnt clearing, across the marsh where Bob had tracked so steadily, the broncho passed in thefor the boy as he lay on his back--half across the Indian's knee, with his head partly free of the blanket; but he set his teeth, deterht be(he never knehat) startled the horse It sprang sideways froht Red Fox right in the forehead