orrid dream, when he saw the wild
glaring eyes of the savage fixed upon him, and the gaunt arm upraised
to strike, while Atawa feebly tried to hold it back. The blow
descended the next moment, but the generous girl, unable to restrain
the maniac's force, threw herself in the way, and fell stricken
senseless on the snow. Her efforts had happily turned the edge of the
axe, and she was only stunned, not wounded. Meynell seized the Indian
by the throat; they struggled to their feet, and grappled closely
together: the madman's furious excitement lent him force for a time to
meet the greatly superior strength of his opponent but he failed
rapidly, his grasp relaxed, his eyes closed; Meynell, mustering all
his remaining energies, threw him back with violence, and then,
utterly exhausted in the struggle, fell himself also fainting to the
ground.

When he began to recover, the dim morning light was reflected from the
snowy waste, the fire was nearly burnt down, and the intensity of the
cold had probably awakened him. Atawa still lay motionless; he tried
anxiously to arouse her, and at the same time to collect his scattered
thoughts, after the dreadful dream of the night before. She slowly
recovered, and opened her eyes to the sight of horror that presented
itself to their returning consciousness. Ta-ou-renche lay dead, and
half consumed in the fire: he had fallen stunned across the burning
logs, and perished miserably.

Then a sudden terror seized the survivors, and lent them renewed
strength; they scarcely cast a second look on the charred corpse, but
rose up and fled away together, leaving every thing behind. For hours
they hurried on, and exchanged never a word, Atawa often casting a
terrified look behind, as though she thought she were pursued. About
mid-day, their failing limbs refused to carry them any farther, and
they lay down on the trunk of a fallen pine. The winter sun stood high
up in the cloudless heaven, pouring down its dazzling but chilly light
upon the frozen earth. To the dark line of the distant horizon, far as
the eye could reach lay the snowy desert. There was not a breath of
wind, no rustling leaves or murmuring waters, not a living thing
beside themselves breathed in that awful solitude; not a sound
awakened the echoes in its deathlike silence. Meynell's heart sank
within him; the brief energy lent him by the terror of the dreadful
scene he had left, yielded now to the reaction of despair. Their
throats