“‘“To Heaven and you,” she said, as I lowered her down on a bank of green grass—“to Heaven and you I owe my life.”
“‘“Do not talk too much just yet,” I said. “The savages will not return. We should welcome them warmly if they did. But surely it was Providence who sent us here.”
“‘Then I made her swallow a little of something from my flask. It was well watered, and could not hurt.
“‘She revived a little, and with her own handkerchief I wiped the tears from her eyes and face. Then I chafed her hands and tiny feet, and told her she must rest until my men made a kind of litter to carry her to her father’s home, which, she said, was very many miles away.
“‘Then she told me how the abduction had occurred.
“‘There dwelt here, she said, a tribe of what the few whites on the island called the Amphibious Indians, because they lived as much on the water, or even in it, as upon dry land. They were implacable savages, but the whites and they had always been on the most friendly terms till now, and Red Toad, the chief, often came to the Hall, as their home was called, to beg for medicine for his braves, and never failed to bring fish and game. The Indians who had stolen the girl were irreclaimable renegades.
“‘“Oh,” she cried, tears beginning to flow afresh, “but for your fortunate arrival the awful torture would have already commenced. Then they would have buried me, and no one could have told what had become of me.
“‘“I came away from home to-day to wander in the woods and cull wild flowers. The servants will not even yet miss me. Father is in Florida, but returns to-night. Mother, did you say? Ah! she is dead and gone years ago, and I am the only child. But never before have the savages attempted to molest us.”
“‘Well, if there was one thing more than another that I now felt certain about, it was this: I had fallen suddenly but deeply in love with this beautiful and innocent young girl.
“‘I lifted her gently into the litter the men had prepared. How light she felt in my strong arms! Perhaps I held her therein just one brief second longer than was necessary.