"Take care, Carmela!" he exclaimed furiously, as he advanced a step toward her.
"What, threats!" she continued in a loud voice. "Do I not know that all is ready prepared for my punishment. Summon your slaves, Master, and bid them torture me! But know this, I will never consent to obey you. I am not so abandoned as you may feel inclined to suppose; I have friends I love, and who love me in return. Make haste, for who knows whether I may not be liberated tomorrow, if you do not kill me to day?"
"Oh, this is too much," the White Scalper said in a low and inarticulate voice, "so much audacity shall not pass unpunished. Ah! you reckon, foolish child, on your friends! But they are far away," he said with a bitter laugh; "we are safe here, and I shall make you yield to my will."
"Never!" she exclaimed with exaltation, and rushing toward him, she stopped almost within grasp, adding,—
"I defy you, coward who threaten a woman!"
"Help!" the White Scalper exclaimed, with a tiger yell.
All at once the window was noisily burst open and Tranquil entered.
"I think you called, Señor?" he said, as he leaped into the room and advanced with a firm and measured step.
"My father! My father!" the poor girl shrieked, as she threw herself into his arms with delight; "you are come at last!"
The White Scalper, utterly astonished and startled by the unexpected appearance of the hunter, looked around him in alarm, and could not succeed in regaining his coolness. The Canadian, after lovingly replying to the maiden's warm greeting, laid her gently on the hammock, and then turned to the White Scalper, who was beginning to come to himself again.