It contained paddles, provisions, and, what caused him more pleasure than all else, six large buffalo horns, full of gunpowder, and two bags of bullets.
"Good!" he said, "my daughter is grateful, Wacondah will protect her."
Sunbeam's face expanded at these words.
At this moment Don Pablo and the other hunters rejoined Valentine, and learned with delight what had happened; the sight of the canoe restored them all their energy. Shaw remained on guard, while Valentine, accompanied by the others, and Sunbeam, returned to Doña Clara, whom anxiety had aroused.
"Here is a new friend I present to you," the hunter said, pointing to the young Indian, who stood timidly behind him.
"Oh! I know her," Doña Clara replied, as she embraced the girl, who was quite confused by these caresses.
"But tell me, Sunbeam," Valentine said, after the expiration of a moment, "how comes it that you arrived here?"
The Indian girl smiled haughtily.
"Unicorn is a great warrior," she answered; "he has the glance of the eagle, he knows all that happens in the prairie; he saw the danger his brother, the great paleface hunter, ran, and his heart trembled with sadness."
"Yes," Valentine said, "the chief loves me."