This was the camp fire from which they fled in such panic before the approach of the three red men.
The discovery filled him with dismay, and he darted out in the darkness for the rocks where the others were sleeping.

His first intention was to rouse them and plunge into the woods again, but a few minutes served to make him cooler and more collected in mind.
The night was well spent, and a flight of that kind could not do much for them.

It might be all in vain.

It would be trying to the last degree.

He decided not to disturb the sleepers.
By and by he persuaded himself that matters were not as bad as they first appeared.