ek, she fell to
the earth, and called upon her mother. She was lifted up by the stern
priest, placed upon the pile, and bound to the stake. With wild
incantations, and horrid yells, the dread orgies were commenced. The
torch was lighted, and ready to be applied. At that instant, a shrill
whoop burst from the adjoining wood. A brave young warrior, leaping into
the midst of the circle, rushed to the stake, cut the cords that bound
the helpless victim, tore her away from the pile, and, dashing back
through the panic-struck crowd, flung her upon a fleet horse which he
had prepared for the occasion, sprung himself upon another, and was soon
lost in the distant windings of the wood.

It was the act of a moment. Even the Indian warriors, who are not easily
surprised, or put off their guard, were confounded and paralysed. Before
they could comprehend the object of this sudden phantom, this rash
interruption of their festival, their victim was gone. The bare stake,
and the useless heap of faggots were there. The proud chief, who
furnished the victim, and the fierce-looking priests, who were to
officiate in the dark rites of the sacrifice, stood in blank
astonishment around, as if a bolt from the cloud had smitten them. A
momentary silence prevailed among that mighty throng. A low murmur
succeeded, like the distant moans of a coming storm: then, like the
tempest, bursting in all its wrath, fierce cries of vengeance from a
thousand flaming tongues, furious discordant yells and shouts,
accompanied with frantic gestures, and looks of rage, such as would
distort the visage of a fiend. Some of the fleetest started off in hot
but vain pursuit. Those who remained, promised themselves a day of
terrible retribution. The mothers secretly rejoiced in the escape; while
those of the young girls who had been the chosen companions of the
captive, gave vent to their joy and gratitude in wild songs and dances.

In this manner, that turbulent assembly broke up. Without the usual
feast and its accompanying games, they scattered to their several homes,
coolly meditating revenge, and darkly foreboding the famine that should
ensue from the absence of the accustomed sacrifice.

Meanwhile, the fugitives held on their way, with the speed of the wind.
Not a word was spoken. It was a race of life and death, and every
faculty of the rescuer as well as of the rescued was absorbed in the one
idea and effort to escape. Over hill and plain, and shallow stream