probably had attracted the notice of the Indians, who, she
could no longer doubt, were approaching. They had, as she fancied,
waylaid and killed her husband--and were now coming to destroy herself
and her child. What should she do? She never thought of attempting to
escape without her babe; but in what direction should she fly, when,
perhaps, the Indians surrounded the cabin? There was one moment of
terrible agony, when the mangled form of her husband seemed before
her, and she heard, in idea, the shrieks of her babe beneath the
tortures of your race, till her breath failed, and reason seemed
deserting her. But she made a strong effort to recall her wandering
senses, and then, with her eyes and clasped hands raised to that place
where the white man believes his God to reside, she took her
resolution. With a noiseless step she entered her dwelling,
extinguished the light, took her infant in her arms, and again stole
softly forth, creeping along in the shadow of the house, till she
reached the spot whence she had first seen the object which alarmed
her. Here she stood perfectly still. Her infant lay on her bosom in
profound sleep--as quiet and seemingly as breathless as though his
spirit had already departed. She did not wait long before the same
dark figure again rose, looked around, and then sank down as before.
The moment it disappeared, she passed swiftly and softly, as a shadow,
over the space that separated the cabin from the chesnut-tree. This
tree was an uncommonly large one, and there was a separation of the
trunk into two branches, about half the height of a tall man from the
ground, where the shuddering wife thought it possible that she might
conceal herself. She gained it, and placed herself in a position which
allowed her to watch the door of her dwelling. All was silent for a
long time--more than that space, which among my people, is called an
hour, and she began to doubt the reality of what she had seen,
imagining she had been deceived, and taken a stump for a human figure;
and she was about to descend from the tree, where her situation had
become uncomfortable, when suddenly a forest warrior stept by her,
between the house and the tree. As another, and another, followed, it
was with difficulty she suppressed her screams. But she did suppress
them, and the only sign she gave of fear, was to press her infant
closer to her bosom. They reached the door, and a sound of surprise at
finding it open was muttered b