“Well, he couldn’t get much worse than we have already,” Sandy returned grimly. “Gee, I never thought we’d come to this when we left Fort du Lac.”
“I could stand it better if I wasn’t so hungry and thirsty,” Dick declared.
“You said it,” Sandy heartily sanctioned. “I guess they’re going to starve us too.”
“Do you notice it’s growing colder?” Dick asked presently.
“I thought maybe it was because we didn’t have any fire.”
“I remember Toma said we were due for a blizzard,” Dick recalled.
“Funny why Govereau doesn’t call one of us out again,” Sandy mused.
“He’s after his men I expect. An Indian reported they were drinking while I was being questioned. The fellow saved me from being tortured.”
Engaging in a wandering conversation, Dick and Sandy whiled away two more long hours, in which they managed to untie each other’s wrists, and kept warm by walking back and forth and swinging their arms. They were almost certain now that Govereau had gone. If so, then if Toma hadn’t been forced to go with the Frenchman, he would be more able to help them.
It was along toward morning when Dick started up out of a doze to hear the sound of a blow and the muffled fall of a body in the front room. There was a sharp stifled cry. Then Dick shook Sandy to wakefulness.
“What is it?” whispered Sandy, leaping to his feet.
Through the darkness in the room they could hear the heavy wooden bolt on the door of their prison sliding backward.
With bated breath Dick and Sandy awaited some sign of the identity of the person who was entering so stealthily. Was it the scar faced Indian coming for vengeance, or was it—the warmth from the other room was rushing in. It was Toma’s voice that came to them.
Hearts leaping with joy, Dick and Sandy joined the young guide in the darkness. He led them out into the larger room, picking his way with a certainty that revealed he could see in the dark.
“Watch for one fella on floor. I hit him on head with rifle,” Toma whispered. “Govereau’s men all go to post ten miles south where they drink fire-water. Govereau heap mad. Him after them. They come back anytime. He take me long with um. I run away. He know what I do now. You bet he know.”
Toma swung open the cabin door, and Dick and Sandy followed him out. It was so cold their teeth commenced chattering almost immediately. They buttoned up their jackets and hurried off into the night.