His eager temperament, always sensitive to impressions, was kindled into fire, and his imagination painted the whole forest scene in the most vivid colors.

A thought at first, it now became a conviction with him that Tandakora led the pursuit.

The red leader had come upon his trail in some way, and, venomous from so many failures, would follow now for days in an effort to take him.

He saw the huge Ojibway again with all the intensity of reality, his malignant face, his mighty body, naked to the waist and painted in hideous designs.
He saw too the warriors who were with him, many of them, and they were fully as eager and fierce as their chief.
But his imagination which was so vital a part of him did not paint evil and danger alone; it drew the good in colors no less deep and glowing.

It saw himself refreshed, stronger of body and keener of mind than ever, escaping every wile and snare laid for his ruin.