CHAPTER XYII. 
A REUNION. 
T was now nearly a week beyond the day ap- 
pointed for the rendezvous at Fort Selkirk, and 
nothing had been heard from Mr. Button. 
The lieutenant began to entertain serious fears as to the 
safety of the inland party ; the more so when he heard 
Peeschee's account of the hostility of the tribes of the 
interior to any intruders upon their domain. 
That there were Ayan villages or encampments both 
above and below them on the river they knew. The 
Chilkats went on daily scouting expeditions, and on sev- 
eral occasions reported fresh trails of large parties of 
natives, — whether peaceful or w^arlike they could not 
tell. 
Richard became decidedly impatient. He fretted be- 
cause of the enforced inaction, the torment of the clouds 
of mosquitoes that infested the banks of the river, the 
bands of Indians hanging about the camp ; and last, but 
not least, the state of Flossie's health. The girl seemed 
suffering from a sort of malarial attack, for which the 
most direct cure would be a trip into the mountainous 
interior. 
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