"Then they have arrived," said the officer, turning to his guest; "let us set out at once. Are the horses saddled?"
"They have been kept ready, sir, ever since the morning," replied the servant, to whom the last words were addressed.
"It is strange," said Mr. Prevost, as he followed his host towards the door of the room, "that the negro I sent to tell Edith the cause of my delay has not returned, as I told him. He might have been here four hours ago. I am growing somewhat anxious."
"Be not so, be not so!" replied Sir William. "Two or three years of forest life, my good friend, are not enough to inure a man to all the little accidents and discomforts he must meet with; and the first serious danger so shakes his nerves that they vibrate at a trifle. The man's horse may have fallen, or he may have purloined a bottle of brandy, and got drunk, or he may have missed his way, or set out late. Between this house and yours there is room for chances enough to make a moderate volume. Let us not look out for uncertain evils, when there are real ones enough around us."
"Real ones enough, indeed!" ejaculated Mr. Prevost, with a deep sigh.
A moment after, they reached the front of the stables, from which their horses were immediately brought forth; and, mounting, they set out, followed by a small party both on horseback and on foot; for Sir William, though he affected the simplicity of the Indian, was not at all averse to a little appearance of state and dignity in his dealings with his red allies. There is a certain sort of pride which clothes itself in humility; and without at all meaning to assert that the very remarkable man in question desired to make the Indian chiefs feel that his adoption of their manners was a condescension, yet it is certain that from time to time he judged it expedient--perhaps from good motives of policy--to make a somewhat ostentatious display of power and authority.
The night was exceedingly dark. The moon now rose at a very late hour; and dim clouds hid the stars from the dwellers upon earth. In such a night, and in such circumstances, the fancy even of the most stout-hearted is apt to indulge in deceits; and as the eye of Mr. Prevost wandered round, dim forms like spectres seemed to be gliding about the field of maize, cut in many places, but not yet garnered.
Not feeling certain whether imagination cheated him or not, he made no observation, and for some time Sir William Johnson was silent also; but, at length, the latter said, in a commonplace tone--
"Our good friends seem to have come in great force, probably, in consequence of the urgency of my summons. Now, be patient, Prevost, and bear with their cool, phlegmatic ways; for these people often feel the strongest sympathies and serve their friends the best when they seem the most cold and indifferent."
Mr. Prevost felt already how difficult it was to maintain that equanimity which in theory he estimated as highly as an Indian, and in practice strove for always, but not unfrequently lost. He promised, however, to leave entirely to Sir William Johnson the management of a conference with the chiefs of the Mohawk and Onondaga Nations, which had been proposed by that officer himself, for the purpose of inducing the two most powerful tribes of the Iroquois to interfere in behalf of Walter, and save him from the fate that menaced him.