CHAPTER X
Day broke slowly and heavily under a gray cloud, and found Lord H---- and the Indian chief still seated side by side at the entrance of the farmhouse. A word or two had passed between them in the earlier part of the night, but for many hours before dawn they had remained perfectly silent. Only once through the hours of their watch had Black Eagle moved from his seat, and that was nearly at midnight. The ears of Lord H---- had been on the watch as well as his own; but though the young English nobleman heard no sound, the chief caught a distant footfall about a quarter before twelve, and starting up he listened attentively. Then, moving slowly toward the door, he stood there a few moments as still as a statue. Presently Lord H---- caught the sound which had moved him, though it was exceedingly light, and the next instant another dark figure, not quite so tall as that of the chief, darkened the moonlight, and threw its shadow into the doorway. A few words then passed between the two Indians, in their native tongue, at first low and musical in tone, but then rising high, in accents which seemed to the ear of the listener to express grief or anger. Not more than five sentences were spoken on either part, and then the last comer bounded away, with a quick and seemingly reckless step, into the forest, and the old chief returned and seated himself, assuming exactly the same attitude as before.
When day dawned, however, Black Eagle rose and said in English: "It is day, my brother; let the voice of the Cataract awake the maiden, and I will lead you on the way. Her horse has not yet come, but if it have not run with the wind, or fed upon the fire, it will be here speedily."
"Do you know, then, what became of it after it broke away from us?" asked Lord H----.
"Nay," answered the Indian, "I know not; but my steps were in yours from the setting sun till you came hither. I was there for your safety, my brother, and for the safety of the maiden."
"We should often have been glad of your advice," answered Lord H----, "for we were often in sore need of some better information than our own."
"The man who aids himself needs no aid," answered Black Eagle. "Thou wert sufficient for the need; why should I take from thee thy right to act?"
As they were speaking, the light step of Edith was heard upon the stairs, and the eyes of the Black Eagle fixed upon her as she descended, with a look which seemed to Lord H---- to have some significance, though he could not tell exactly in what the peculiarity consisted. It was calm and grave, but there was a sort of tenderness in it which, without knowing why, made the young nobleman fear that the Indian was aware of some evil having befallen Mr. Prevost.
His mind was soon relieved, however, for when Edith had descended, the chief said at once: "Thy father is safe, my daughter. He passed through the fire uninjured, and is in his own lodge."
Edith looked pale and worn, but the words of the chief called a joyful smile upon her face, and the color back upon her cheek. In answer to the inquiries of Lord H---- she admitted that she had slept hardly at all, and added, with a returning look of anxiety: "How could I sleep, so uncertain as I was of my father's safety?"