I wish I could read that trail across the sky." "It's thinning out fast," said Robert.

"You can hardly see it! and now it's gone entirely!" But the hunter continued to look thoughtfully at the sky, where the smoke had been.

He never underrated the activity of the French, and he believed that a movement of importance, something the nature of which they should discover was at hand.
"Lads," he said, "I expected an easy night of good sleep for all three of us, but I'm thinking instead that we'd better take to the trail, and travel toward the place where that smoke was started." "It's what scouts would do," said Tayoga tersely.
"And such we claim to be," said Robert.
As the sun began to sink they saw far in the west another smoke, that would have been invisible had it not been outlined against a fiery red sky, across which it lay like a dark thread.

It was gone in a few moments, and then the dusk began to come.
"An answer to the first signal," said Tayoga.

"It is very likely that a strong force is gathering.