She gazed at him believingly; for hers was not a heart to doubt, and his was not a heart to be doubted; and she then said, with a sigh--
"But you are now going to battle, to risk your life and all our happiness. Still, though it may be strange, I would not stay you, though all I have learned from good Mr. Gore should make me look upon such things with horror; and, though I would fain have you stay away from danger, I suppose the habits of the people still cling about me, even though I hold a better faith than theirs."
"Fear not, dearest, fear not," answered Walter, boldly. "No harm will happen to me, I do trust and believe; and I only leave you for a few short weeks."
"You will not leave me at all, Walter," she rejoined--"no, never more. I will go with you, if not to the battle, as near it as I can be. I have my father's leave; the warriors of my race will defend me, and I will not part with my recovered treasure any more."
"Go to my father's house," said Walter, joyfully. "It is very near the spot, and Edith will rejoice to have you with her."
Otaitsa fixed her eyes upon vacancy, and fell into a deep reverie; and an expression came into her face, which Walter had remarked more than once before.
"Do you know, my beloved," he said, "that sometimes you strike me as very like our dear Edith--especially when you look thoughtful, as you did just now."
"It is very natural," said Otaitsa, nestling closer to him. "You do not know she is my cousin. My mother was your father's sister. Hush! not a word, especially in the ears of any of the tribe. My father knows it--but he will not know it, because, among the elder people of the nation, it was held contrary to our customs that cousin should marry cousin. I asked Mr. Gore, long ago, if it were against your law; but he said 'No,' that it was neither against law nor religion. He inquired why I asked so earnestly," she added, laughing, "but I would not tell him. Come with me into my chamber, and I will show you many things belonging to my mother. Stay, I will light my lamp."
What a beautiful thing is innocence! how free, how untrammelled, how boundless! and what a sad thing is its loss, to man, and to society! Surely, that loss implies slavery of the worst kind--slavery to which we voluntarily submit--bonds that we rivet round our own hands. He who thinks no evil, because he knows of none, is the only freeman on the earth's face.
Otaitsa bent down, and lighted her lamp, and guided her lover up to her little chamber; and there they sat and turned over many a long-stored treasure, and she showed him the picture of his own father, and of her mother, and of many of their mutual kin, and drawings of fair scenes in Europe, some of which he remembered well, with others of the land in which they then were, but of spots which he had never seen. There was one, also, which had been left unfinished, of a young, sweet child; and Walter gazed first upon the infant face, and then upon the bright, happy countenance beside him, and clasped his Blossom warmly to his heart. The book, too, with the drop of blood upon it, told its own tale to both their hearts.