"The pale man is as curious as an old squaw," she said, with an accent of ill-humour; "why does he wish to know Prairie-Flower's secret? She has in her heart a little bird which sings pleasant songs to her, and attracts her in the footsteps of the Paleface who saved her."
"Ah!" said the Breton, partly catching the girl's meaning; "that is different."
"Instead of returning to the village," Red Wolf interposed, "Prairie-Flower wished to return to the side of Glass-eye."
The Breton reflected for a long time; the two Indians watched him silently, patiently waiting till he thought proper to explain himself. Presently, he raised his head, and, fixing his cunning grey eye on the girl, he asked her distinctly,—
"You love him, then?"
"Yes," she answered, looking down on the ground.
"Very good. Now listen attentively to what I am about to tell you; it will interest you prodigiously, or I am greatly mistaken."
The two hearers bent down toward him, and listened attentively. Ivon then related most copiously his master's conversation with the two Chiefs; the dispute that arose between them; the combat that ensued from it, and the way in which he had escaped.
"If I did run away," he said, in conclusion, "heaven is my witness that it was not for the purpose of saving my life. Though I am a desperate coward, I would never hesitate to sacrifice my life for him; but Bright-eye advised me to act in this way, so that I may try and find assistance for them both."
"Good," the girl said, quickly; "the Paleface is brave. What does he intend to do?"