"That is strange," rejoined the nobleman; "he set out to deliver himself up to you, to save the young man's life."
"He is brave," answered Black Eagle; "the Good Spirit kept him away."
"Then, how was the boy delivered?" asked Lord H----. "We feared that your people would be inexorable."
"The Great Spirit spoke by the voices of the women," answered the chief. "She who sees beyond the earth in her visions, heard the voice, and told its words. It was decreed that if the boy died, our wives, our daughters, our sisters, should all die with him; and we listened to the voice, and obeyed."
"Come with me quickly," said Lord H---- eagerly; "let us carry the news to Mr. Prevost. He is here at the fort, now holding an office in our army."
"I know it," replied Black Eagle. "I have been to his lodge, and found no one but the slaves, who told me. The boy I sent on with my people; for the children of the Stone have taken the war-path for England, and a thousand warriors are on their way to the place of the Sounding Waters. He goes to fight amongst us as our son. But I must speak with Prevost before I go, for the wings of the Black Eagle are spread, perhaps, for his last flight; and who knows but he will leave his scalp on the war-post of the Huron?"
Lord H---- led the way with a quick step; and the chief and his companions followed. At the first outpost they were of course challenged; and, strict orders having been given to admit no troop of Indians within the limits of the fort, the young nobleman and the chief proceeded alone to the quarters of Mr. Prevost. They found him still up, and busily writing orders for the following morning. When he beheld the face of Black Eagle following his noble friend, he started up, and, at first, drew back; but then, with a sudden change of feeling, he seized the warrior's hand, exclaiming, "My son lives! my son lives, or you would not be here!"
"He lives," replied Black Eagle.
He then proceeded to give the same account to Mr. Prevost which had been heard by Lord H----. The former, however, understanding the Indian better, soon drew from him, partly in English, and partly in Iroquois, the whole particulars of Walter's deliverance.
"And would you really have slain him?" asked Mr. Prevost.