"It cannot be, beloved," she answered. "I came to save him I love, to save him who is the husband of my heart, but not to abandon my father till he gives me to you; and besides, there would be none to help us. This night you must climb by the ropes and boughs up to the top of the cliff, when, as near as you can reckon, there has been six hours of darkness. At the top you will find people waiting. They are but women, yet they all love you and me likewise, and they have sworn by their Great Spirit that if it costs their lives they will set you free. Each will help you in some way. One has a canoe upon the creek, another knows the deepest woods on the Mohawk side, and can guide you well. Others will lead you down Ward Creek to Sir William Johnson's Castle, where you are safe. Eat now, my beloved, for you must have strength, and Otaitsa must leave you soon. Before she goes she must tie your hands again, lest your enemies come ere the night; but she will tie them in such a sort that with your teeth you can undraw the knot; and she will loosen the fastening of the bar so that even a weak hand can push it out."
She had hardly uttered the words, when a low, mocking laugh came upon their ears, and two or three dark forms shadowed the doorway. Otaitsa instantly started up and drew a knife from the belt around her waist.
"Stand back!" she cried aloud in the Iroquois tongue, as the men glided in. "I am your great chief's daughter, and the blood of the Black Eagle will not bear a touch."
"We touch thee not, Blossom," answered Apukwa. "Thou shalt go free, for the Black Eagle is a mighty chief, a mighty warrior, reverenced by his people; but our prisoner we keep, and though thou hast loosened his hands we can fasten them again. Put thy tomahawk in thy belt, brother of the Snake; it must taste no blood here, though it is hungry, I know well. He shall die, but not now."
As he spoke he thrust his arm between the younger Indian and Walter, who had cast himself before Otaitsa, as if for one desperate struggle if he saw any violence offered to her. The words of the medicine man, however, quieted him on that score, and it was but too plain that all resistance on his part would be in vain. A few hours before he had sought death as a boon, but the coming of the Blossom had changed all his thoughts and feelings, had relighted hope and restored firmness and constancy. He was willing to live, and for the chances of what some other day might bring; for the love and self-devotion of that beautiful creature made existence seem too valuable to cast away the slightest chance of its preservation.
He suffered them to bind him then, while Otaitsa turned away her head and struggled against the tears that sought to rise. It cost her a great effort, but resolution triumphed, and with a lofty air, very different from the tenderness of her demeanor a few moments before, she waved her hand for the Indians to make way, saying: "Unworthy Oneidas, I go to carry my own tale to my father's feet, to tell him that with his own blood warm in my heart I came thither to save my brother, my lover, my husband, and to warn him that the tomahawk which falls on that beloved head severs the chain of Otaitsa's life. But fear not, Walter," she continued, turning toward him; "fear not, my beloved. Live, and laugh thine enemies to scorn. Thou shalt be delivered yet, let these men do what they will. It is written on high that thou shalt not perish by their hands," and thus saying, she left the hut, and followed closely by two of the Oneidas, pursued her way back toward the Castle.
When she reached the gate of the palisade she at once perceived a good deal of commotion and activity within, though none but women, youths, and children were to be seen.
"Where is the Black Eagle?" she asked of the first woman whom she met. "Has he returned to the lodge?"
"He returned with forty warriors," replied the other, in a grave tone, "painted himself for battle, and has gone forth upon the warpath, taking with him every warrior he could find."
"Against whom?" asked Otaitsa, in as calm a tone as she could assume, but with her heart beating fast.