168 I^IiE BED MOUNTAIN OF ALASKA. 
Still, there had doubtless been some good reason, and the 
party would probably be found encamped near by. 
Having reached the site of the fort in the early evening, 
the travellers spent the night near the blackened chimneys, 
and next morning took raft once more, full of expectation 
of meeting their dear ones soon. 
For two days, however, nothing was seen of them. 
At the end of the third, a faint sound of muskets was 
heard — welcome break in the silence that had reigned so 
long. 
Half a mile more by river brought them into the very 
midst of a stirring scene : A raft, much like their own, 
but slightly larger ; three women and several men upon 
it ; smoke and flashes of fire issuing from the muskets of 
the latter. On either shore, skulking behind trees, dark, 
ugly forms, that could be no other than Indians. 
To the rescue ! " shouted the boys, lustily, bearing 
down upon the expedition and the craft that had thus 
been brought to bay. 
