At length, however, she thought she heard voices at a distance; and, a minute or two after, found herself on the banks of a small brook. She paused and listened; the voices were now distinct; and, without hesitation, she crossed, and crept cautiously along in the direction from which the sounds came. A moment or two after, the flickering of a fire through the trees attracted her attention; and more and more carefully she stole on upon her hands and knees through the low brush, still seeing the blaze of the firelight when she raised her eyes, but unable to perceive the spot whence it proceeded. A small pine cut down then met her hand as she crept along, and then a number of loose branches tossed together. And now sister Bab began to get an inkling of the truth.
"It must be what dey call an ambush," she thought; and, raising herself gently, she found that she was close to a bank of earth, over which the firelight was streaming. The sounds of voices were now distinctly heard; but she could not understand a syllable, for it seemed to her that they were speaking in two different languages, if not more, and each of them was strange to her. At one time, she fancied she heard Edith's voice; still, the language spoken was a strange one; and, although the bank of earth was not more than shoulder-high, she did not venture at first to rise to her whole stature in order to look over.
At length, however, came some words of English; and the voice which she judged to be Edith's was plainly heard, saying,--
"This gentleman is asking you, my good friend, if you will not go and take some supper with him where the people have spread a cloth yonder."
Bab could resist no more, but raised herself sufficiently to bring her eyes above the top of the breastwork, and gazed over into the little rude redoubt. On the right, and at the further part of the enclosure, were a number of Indians, seated on the ground; and, besides the fire already burning, several others were being piled up amidst the various groups of natives. Somewhat on the left, and stretching well nigh across the western side of the open space, were the French soldiers, in groups of five or six, with their arms piled near them. Other straggling parties were scattered over the ground; and two sentinels, each with musket on shoulder, appeared on the other side of the redoubt.
But the group which attracted the poor woman's chief attention was one on the left, near a spot where some small huts had been erected. It consisted of three persons--a gaily-dressed French officer, a man in the garb of a soldier, but with his weapons cast aside, and, lastly, a powerful man in a yellowish-brown hunting-shirt, whom sister Bab instantly recognized as her old acquaintance, the Woodchuck. That sight was quite enough; and, sinking again amongst the bushes, she crept slowly away to a little distance, and there lay down to meditate as to what was next to be done.
At one time she was tempted to enter the French redoubt, and remain with her young mistress. Several considerations seemed in favour of this course; and let it be no imputation upon poor Bab, that hunger, and the savoury odours which came wafted over the earthwork, were not without their influence. But then she thought,--"If I do, how will old massa ever know where missy is?"
And this remembrance enabled her to resist the strong temptation.
"I will stay here and rest till de moon get up," thought the poor woman. "I know dey must be coming up de lake by dis time, and I can catch dem before to-morrow."
To prevent herself from sleeping too long, if slumber should overtake her, she crept further out of the thick wood, and seated herself in a more open spot, with her clasped hands over her knees, but with nothing else to support her. Various sorts of fears suggested themselves to her mind, as she thus sat; but oppressive weariness was more powerful than thought, and in a few moments her head was nodding. Often she woke up at first; but then she slept more profoundly, bending forward till her forehead actually rested on her knees. It is probable, too, that she dreamed, for, in the course of the next two hours, several broken sentences issued from her lips in a low murmur. At length, however, she woke with a start, and found the moon silvering the whole sky to the eastward, though some bold heights, towering up, still obscured the face of the orb of night.