Tahmeroo evidently heard these words; she struggled to get up, but sank back again, moaning out: “No, no, Tahmeroo is his wife!”
“You hear,” said Mary Derwent, looking up at her sister, who, still trembling with terror, clung to young Butler with all her strength, and seemed soothed by his expressions of tender interest. “This poor girl is his wife, his cruel words are killing her. Leave his arms, sister; stand up alone, and look upon the woman you have both wronged, asking God to forgive you!”
“Come, come, with me now. Let the crooked little witch preach on. You are not safe here—the moment I leave you, this pretty fiend will find her knife again. She will not let you live a week. See how your sister tends her as if she, not you, had been hurt! Leave them together, sweet one; we can reach the canoe before they miss us. I shall leave Wyoming at once. Horses are ready for us down at Aunt Polly’s tavern; before daylight we shall reach the Blue Mountains.”
Butler whispered these words into Jane Derwent’s ear, drawing her down to his side as he spoke, and enforcing his entreaties with covert caresses.
Half overcome with terror, half with these entreaties, the unhappy girl yielded herself to the power of his arm, and they both fled towards the shore.
CHAPTER XIII
THE MERITED LESSON
Tahmeroo heard the movement, sprang to her feet, and away, almost throwing Mary down the steep, with her first impetuous leap.
Recovering from the shock, Mary followed her, calling desperately after her sister.
In his hurry to reach the spring, Butler had dragged his canoe half-way up the bank, and it took a few moments to shove it into the water again. Frightened and weak, Jane had seated herself on a loose boulder, and eagerly watched him as he tugged at the little craft. By this time Tahmeroo confronted her husband, dragged the canoe desperately from his hold, and with the strength of a lioness, sent it shooting into the river.
The canoe was out of reach in a moment—for the quick current seized it, and it was soon dancing down its own silver path on the “broken waters,” leaving the baffled villain and his victim helpless on the shore.