She was crouching over the fire, which she gazed at fixedly, with her chin on the palm of her hand.
On the arrival of the Americans, she did not rise, and did not even appear to notice their presence. After examining her attentively for some time, Black walked up, and, tapping her on the shoulder, said —
"You are welcome, woman; it seems as if you were cold, and the fire does not displease you."
She slowly raised her head on feeling the touch, and, fixing on her questioner a gloomy glance, in which it was easy to perceive a slight wildness, she replied in English, in a hollow voice, and with guttural accent —
"The Palefaces are mad; they ever think themselves in their towns; they forget that in the prairie the trees have ears and the leaves eyes to see and hear all that is done. The Blackfeet Indians raise their hair very skilfully."
The two men looked at each other on hearing these words, whose meaning they were afraid to guess, though they seemed somewhat obscure.
"Are you hungry? Will you eat?" John Black continued, "or is it thirst that troubles you? I can, if you like, give you a good draught of firewater to warm you."
The woman frowned.
"Fire-water is good for Indian squaws," she said, "what good would it do me to drink it? Others will come who will soon dispose of it. Do you know how many hours you still have to live?"
The emigrant shuddered, in spite of himself at this species of menace.
"Why speak to me thus?" he asked; "have you any cause of complaint against me?"
"I care little," she continued. "I am not among the living, since my heart is dead."
She turned her head in every direction with a slow and solemn movement, while carefully examining the country.
"Stay," she continued, pointing with her lean arm to a mound of grass a short distance off, "'twas there he fell – 'tis there he rests. His head was cleft asunder by an axe during his sleep – poor James! This spot is ill-omened: do you not know it? The vultures and the crows alone stay here at long intervals. Why, then, have you come here? Are you weary of life? Do you hear them? They are approaching; they will soon be here."
Father and son exchanged a glance.
"She is mad. Poor creature!" Black muttered.
"Yes; that is what they all say on the prairies," she exclaimed, with some accusation in her voice. "They call me Ohucahauck Chiké (the evil one of the earth), because they fear me as their evil genius. You, also, fancy me mad, eh? ah! ah! ah!"
She burst into a strident laugh, which ended in a sob; she buried her face in her hands, and wept. The two men felt awed in spite of themselves; this strange grief, these incoherent words, all aroused their interest in favour of this poor creature, who appeared so unhappy. Pity was at work in their hearts, and they regarded her silently without daring to disturb her. In a few moments she raised her head, passed the back of her hand over her eyes to dry them, and spoke again. The wild expression had disappeared; the very sound of her voice was no longer the same; as if by enchantment, a complete change had taken place in her.
"Pardon," she said mournfully, "the extravagant words I have uttered. The solitude in which I live, and the heavy burden of woe which has crushed me so long, at times trouble my reason; and then the place where we now stand reminds me of terrible scenes, whose cruel memory will never be erased from my mind."
"Madam, I assure you – ," John Black continued, not knowing what he said, so great was his surprise.
"Now the fit has passed away." She interrupted him with a gentle and melancholy smile, which gave her countenance a very different expression from that the Americans had hitherto remarked; "I have been following you for the last two days to come to your help; the Redskins are preparing to attack you – "
The two men shuddered: and, forgetting all else to think only of the pressing danger, they cast a restless glance around them.
"You know it?" Black exclaimed.
"I know all," she answered; "but reassure yourselves. You have still two hours ere their horrible war cry will sound in your ears; that is more than enough to render you safe."
"Oh! we have good rifles and keen sight," said William, clutching his weapon in his nervous hands.
"What can four rifles, however good they may be, do against two or three hundred tigers thirsting for blood, like those you will have to fight? You do not know the Redskins, young man."
"That is true," he answered; "but what is to be done?"
"Seek a refuge? – where find help in these immense solitudes?" the father added, casting a despairing glance around him.
"Did I not tell you I wished to help you?" she said, sharply.
"Yes; you told us so; but I try in vain to detect of what use you can be to us."
She smiled a melancholy smile.
"It is your good angel that brought you to the spot where you now are. While I was watching you all the day, I trembled lest you might not encamp here. Come!"
The two men, surprised by the ascendancy this strange creature had gained over them in a few minutes, followed her without reply. After walking about a dozen steps, she stopped, and turned toward them.
"Look," she said, stretching out her thin arm in a north-west direction, "your enemies are there, scarce two leagues off, buried in the tall grass. I have heard their plans, and was present at their council, though they little suspected it. They are only waiting for the moon to set, ere they attack you. You have scarce an hour left."
"My poor wife!" Black murmured.
"It is impossible for me to save you all: to fancy it would be madness; but I can, if you wish it, attempt to save your wife and daughter from the fate that menaces them."
"Speak! speak!"
"This tree, at the foot of which we are now standing, although apparently possessing all the vigour of youth, is internally hollow, so that only the bark stands upright. Your wife and daughter, supplied with some provisions, will get into the tree and remain there in safety till the danger has passed away. As for ourselves – "
"As for us," Black quickly interrupted her, "we are men accustomed to danger: our fate is in the hands of God."
"Good; but do not despair: all is not lost yet."
The American shook his head.
"As you said yourself, what can four men do against a legion of demons like those who menace us? But that is not the question of the moment. I do not see the hole by which my wife and daughter can enter the tree."
"It is twenty to twenty-four feet up, hidden among the branches and leaves."
"The Lord be praised! they will be sheltered."
"Yes; but make haste and warn them, while your son and I make all the preparations."
Black, convinced of the necessity of haste, ran off, while the stranger and William constructed, with that dexterity produced by the approach of danger, a species of handy ladder, by which the two women could not merely ascend the tree, but go down into the cavity. Black waked the ladies, and called the servants; in a few words he explained to them what was passing; then, loading his wife and daughter with provisions, furs, and other indispensable objects, he led them to the spot where the stranger was expecting them.
"This is my most precious treasure," Black said; "if I save it, I shall be solely indebted to you."
The two ladies began thanking their mysterious protectress; but she imposed silence on them by a peremptory gesture.
"Presently, presently," she said; "if we escape, we shall have plenty of time for mutual congratulations; but at this moment we have something more important to do than exchange compliments. We must get into a place of safety."
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