ill save me from
the violence of the red men, neither you nor your associates will
liberate me. Ah, Ninigret! why are you so in the power of that tyrant,
Philip? Why will you not brave him, he is so far from here now, and take
me to a white settlement? I promise you no harm shall come to you. You
shall return unhurt to your people."

"Do you not remember that Wattasacompanum has promised to keep you in
safety until Philip is ready to have you ransomed? Have you forgotten
the solemn rites by which he bound himself the day they brought you to
us? Wattasacompanum is a good chief, a true Indian, who will not break
his promise."

"Then, Ninigret, I appeal to you, who have made no promise for me, to
help me to escape to my countrymen."

"I cannot do that; but I will take you to a place of safety, though it
may be a long, long journey from here. Say, Millicent, will you come
with me?"

"Go with you, Ninigret, in any direction other than to a white
settlement?" replied Millicent, turning her wondering blue eyes full
upon him. "Even if such a thing were possible, where would you take me?
Where and how in this time of war?"

"Beyond the reach of the present strife, until Philip has driven the
white men from our country. I cannot take you to the whites, for they
will soon be swept from the land. They are much broken up already.
Philip is a mighty chief, and has powerful friends among the Indians."

"Can it be so? No, no; the Indian may do harm and cause suffering, but
surely the white race cannot be exterminated."

"Yes, it can, Millicent; as when, in the spring, the warm sun melts the
snow, causing it to disappear from the dark earth, so will the white men
vanish from this country, leaving the red men in possession."

"I cannot believe it. Yet how can a poor creature like me, a captive in
the forest, cut off from all communication with her friends, know what
is the real state of affairs outside? In the long months since I was
taken captive rumors have come to me of one town after another being
destroyed or abandoned. Alas! what else may not have happened? Yes, it
is doubtless true. O my God! is it then to be my fate to be held in
life-long bondage, without a friend to whom I can turn?"

"I will be your friend; come with me. I will take you away from here,
where you are so unhappy, I will make a home for you. We will live
together. You shall be my wife."

"Your wife!" and Millicent, deadly pale, clung closer to the tre