It was after confiding Doña Diana to her father that Clary noticed Running Water. Count de Melgosa was lying by the side of the old sachem, with a lance thrust through his thigh. The hunters were preparing to remove the count to a more convenient spot, but the sachem, who had hitherto remained motionless, with his eyes closed as if he were already dead, gave a sudden start, and raised his head.
"One moment," he said, rising on his elbow with a great effort, "let me say a couple of words to this man."
The count ordered the hunters to withdraw.
"Chief, I am grieved to see you in this state," the Canadian said compassionately, for he remembered the sachem's kind reception; "let me bind up your wounds, and then you can speak at your ease."
"What good!" the chief answered bitterly; "I feel death approaching; its black wings are already spread out over my eyes; do not torment me."
"Let him speak," the count interrupted, "perhaps what he has to say to me may be more important than we suspect."
"Yes, yes," the chief continued with a groan, "much more than you believe."
And with a supreme effort he placed his face close to the count's, exclaiming with an expression of deadly hatred—
"Do you recognize me?"
"No," the count answered, after gazing fixedly at him.