266 IMMINENT DANGER. 



sternly as he pressed home the well-leathered bullet 

 into his rifle. 



Scarcely had the trapper completed the loading of 

 his rifle when the two Indians who had gone down 

 towards the Athabasca returned, attracted by the shot. 

 From his place of concealment Jake could see them as 

 they cautiously pushed their way through the under- 

 growth, the moon occasionally gleaming on the barrels 

 of their rifles, which they held ready to be discharged 

 at a moment's notice. Exactly opposite the mouth of 

 the hidden cove a shelving bank gave access to the 

 water, and here the two Redskins halted. Jake could 

 hear their expressions of surprise at the disappearance 

 of their companion (to whose rifle, apparently, they 

 ascribed the shot which they had heard) as they keenly 

 scanned the moonlit reaches of the creek. They stood 

 side by side at the water's edge, fronting the lurking 

 trapper at the distance of hardly fifteen yards. Jake 

 was aware that it now had become necessary to shoot 

 both the savages ; but as his rifle was a single barrel 

 he could not hope to dispose of both at one shot until 

 they were one behind the other. He therefore reserved 

 his fire and waited his opportunity. 



Little did the savages suspect the imminent danger 

 of their position as they stood full in view, just where 

 a sheaf of moonbeams fell through the overhanging 

 branches. 



Presently, having satisfied themselves that their 

 comrade was not in the immediate vicinity, they turned 



