228 A WARNING NOTE. 



With some misgivings, lest his skill should fail to 

 deceive the quick ears of the savages or to arouse old 

 Jake's vigilance, Gaultier produced the well-known 

 note. At first neither the lurking Indians nor his 

 veteran comrade appeared to notice the sounds; but 

 upon their repetition, Jake glanced quickly to the spot 

 where Gaultier was concealed; and there apparently 

 ended the interest the sounds had excited. 



Presently, however, and as if in the prosecution of 

 his sport, the old trapper gradually moved further 

 away, until he reached some stunted bushes which 

 almost dipped their branches in the river. Behind 

 these he seated himself, and from the shelter they 

 afforded he scrutinized closely the verge of the woods 

 where the savages prowled. 



From the position which Gaultier occupied he com- 

 manded a view of the Indians and also of the bush 

 behind which Jake lay hidden ; and as the former had 

 their eyes fixed in the direction of the old hunter, 

 Gaultier was thus enabled to make signals unobserved 

 by them, and which Jake had no difficulty in inter- 

 preting. Stooping, to intimate caution, and throwing 

 forward his rifle as if to fire at some object in the open, 

 Gaultier pointed frequently in the direction of the Red- 

 skins. 



These signs were immediately understood by old 

 Jake, who at once resolved upon his line of action. 

 With his customary caution, he had not separated him- 

 self from his rifle: with this in his hand he feared 



