Rough-and-Ready looked at her with admiration, and said, very inappropriately, as she thought,--
"Do you know that you have made me a better man?"
"A better man!" she exclaimed. "Why, you are a good man, and a brave man, too."
"You think so. So let it be," he said, half seriously, half gayly. "I'm not going to spoil your delusion just yet."
They saw no signs of the savages that night. They did not retire until late, and Rough-and-Ready went many times short distances in different directions to look for the natives, but they did not appear. Joshua took out his accordion and played. Rough-and-Ready listened thoughtfully, and when Joshua had finished an air, he said,--
"I told you, when we first came ashore here, that there is no surer way to frighten the blacks than through their superstitious fears. Your playing to-night, connected with the near presence of the savages, brings that remark back to me; and I'll tell you why. That music of yours may possibly be a great power with them. They have never heard any thing like it. If you don't lose your self-possession when you get among them--and you must take care not to, for Minnie's sake; her life may depend upon your courage--you may obtain an influence over them by means of your accordion. Sound for which they cannot account has a wonderful effect upon them. Here you have it. Don't forget what I say. Come, now, I can hear no sign of the black devils. You take some rest. I'll wake you in a couple of hours."
So they watched in turns during the night.
"What is the best thing to do," asked Joshua the following evening, "when the savages come?--to make friends with them, or try to frighten them?"
"There are too few of us to fight," answered Rough-and-Ready. "We might frighten them for a time, but they would be sure to come back in larger numbers. Then we haven't too much powder and shot left. No; the best and wisest course will be to be friendly with them, if possible. I have heard of white men living with them for many years. I saw an Englishman myself once who had been with them for five years. He was glad enough to get away from them; but they treated him kindly, he said. One man, whom I never saw, lived with them for thirty years. His name is Buckley, and he is living now."
"Do you know any thing of his story?"