Strange shrugged. "I can't be sure of what is going on," he said. "I don't want to alarm you unnecessarily. But I have a reason to suspect danger."
Colina turned pale. "Tell me exactly what you mean," she said.
"The Indians have learned by now how easy it was to seize the mill," he said with admirable gravity. "It seems to me that to the Indian mind looting the store will next suggest itself. We know they are incensed against your father. His long weakness makes them bold."
"But these are merely surmises!"' cried Colina.
"There is something else. Their minds work obliquely. They never come out straight with anything. I have received a kind of warning. It was an invitation to spend the night with Marcel Charlbois down the river. But it came from the other side."
"Why should they warn you?" asked Colina.
"Some man among them probably has compunctions," said Strange. "Watusk, the head man is a decent sort. Perhaps this is his way of letting me know that he cannot keep his people in hand."
"What do you expect will happen?" she asked.
"I think there will be an attack to-night," he said quietly. "It is my duty to tell you. If it doesn't come, no harm done."
Strange's quiet air was terribly impressive. Colina sat pale and silent, letting the horror sink in. She was no weakling, but this was a prospect to appal the strongest man.