“That’s one o’ the foolish notions of y’ur people, Moorooine; but Brom ain’t afraid o’ the place. I’ve gre’t hopes ’twas the means o’ savin’ him.”
He briefly explained the nature of the place to her, adding that he had no doubt the rangers were at that moment concealed there. She listened with great interest.
“Good,” she said. “They help us if can, then.”
“Thar’s jist a hope; but it’s a slim one,” said the scout. “If they take a notion to s’arch this place we’ll be lost, sartin. If we kin keep hid till night comes ag’in—eh, what’s hatchin’ now?”
They listened, Moorooine keeping her ear close to the crevice. Suddenly she turned her head and peeped out. She recognized the warrior whose proposition to save her an hour before had been so suddenly interrupted by Scarred Eagle.
The quick-witted Indian girl understood all at a glance. The fellow had not told of his own mishap, only that he had found the girl gone. He well knew she could not have got far away, and, failing to find her around the village, had a suspicion she was secreted somewhere within. The missing canoe did not satisfy him. He was now pointing toward the council-house, asking if the loft had been searched!
“No hope now, only for you!” whispered Moorooine, sadly.
She rose suddenly to her feet, and had taken one step forward, when Scarred Eagle, surmising her intent, pulled her back.
“No; not yit!” he said. “Ye’ve put y’ur life at stake once to git the boy safe, an’ you ain’t a-goin’ ter resk it for me, by throwin’ y’urself into their hands. Git down thar ag’in quicker!”
He fairly crowded her into the aperture, between the log-floor and the roof. Then, with steady agility, he darted past her, and established himself in a similar attitude. At that moment three or four Indians entered below, and one of them, assisted by the rest, seized the beam, and drew himself over it. The concealed borderer knew that several moments would elapse before the Indian’s gaze would become used to the gloom in the loft. Even then, he might not think it worth while to cross over, and look into the narrow space where they lay concealed.