as a desire towards
her we call Miriam."

"And does she love him?" inquired the princess.

"A maiden's heart is a riddle, even to herself," said Kamaiakan.

"But there is a sympathy that makes me feel her heart in my own,"
rejoined Semitzin. "Love is a thing that pierces through time, and
through barriers which separate the mind and memory of the past from the
present. I--as you know, Kamaiakan--was never wedded; the fate of our
people, and my early end, kept that from me. But the thought of that
youth is here,"--she put her hand on her bosom,--"and it seems to me
that, were we to meet, I should know him. Perhaps, were that to be,
Miriam and I might thus come to be aware of each other, and live
henceforth one life."

"Such matters are beyond my knowledge," said the Indian, shaking his
head. "The gods know what will be. It is for us, now, to regain the
treasure. Are you willing, my princess, to accompany me thither?"

"I am ready. Shall it be now?"

"Not now, but soon. I will call you when the moment comes. The place
is but a ride of two or three hours from here. None must know of our
departure, for there are some here whom I do not trust. We must go by
night. You will wear the garments you now have on, without which all
might miscarry."

"How can the garments affect the result, Kamaiakan?"

"A powerful spell is laid upon them, princess. Moreover, the characters
wrought upon them, with gold thread and jewels, are mystical, and the
substance of the garment itself has a virtue to preserve the wearer from
evil. It is the same that was worn by you when the treasure was hidden;
and it may be, Semitzin, that without its magic aid your spirit could
not know itself in this world as now it can."

As he spoke the last words, a low sound, wandering and muttering with
an inward note, came palpitating on their ears through the night air.
It seemed to approach from no direction that could be identified, yet
it was at first remote, and then came nearer, and in a moment trembled
around them, and shivered in the solid earth beneath their feet; and in
another instant it had passed on, and was subdued slowly into silence in
the shadowy distance. No one who has once heard that sound can mistake
it for any other, or ever can forget it. The air had suddenly become
close and tense; and now a long breeze swept like a sigh through the
garden, dying away in a long-drawn wail; and out of the west came a
hollow murmur, like that of a mig