And as he did so the same young woman, with a thrill of pleasure, saw that her moment of revenge had come!
CHAPTER III.
FATHER AND DAUGHTER
The canoe had not yet touched the land, when the girl leaped out as lightly as a fawn, not pausing to pick up her bow and quiver, lying in the bottom of the boat beside those of her brother. Facing about, she grasped the front of the craft with both hands, as if to draw it up the bank beyond reach of the action of the tide.
Almost at the same moment Nantaquas laid his dripping paddle beside the implements, and rose partly to his feet, bending over to gather up the bows and arrows. In the act of doing so, and while his body was in a stooping posture, the girl gave a lightning-like, sideways jerk to the boat, snapping it forward like a flash, for a distance of fully two feet. The youth had no thought of anything of the kind, and yet, knowing his sister as well as he did, he ought to have been prepared. Thrown so suddenly off his balance, he went backward over the side of the canoe, which narrowly escaped upsetting; and, as his heels kicked in the air and he vainly threw out his arms to save himself, he dropped out of sight in water twenty feet deep.
The girl screamed with delight. Her scheme had worked to perfection; she had punished her brother as she planned, and as he deserved. Down, down he went, before he could right himself and get his bearings. Then his head popped up, he blew the water from his mouth, and one or two powerful strokes brought him to land. Scrambling to his feet, he made for the laughing girl. He was not angry, for he admired her brightness, but-wait till he could lay hands on the mischievous sprite!
But she was not yet caught. Brimming over with fun, she darted into the wood, with him in headlong pursuit. Perhaps on the open plain, in a straightaway chase, he might have overtaken her, though it is by no means certain; but she was quicker than he in dodging, turning, and doubling. With one hand outstretched, and seemingly about to grasp an arm or shoulder, his fingers closed on vacancy, as she whisked to one side, and, waiting until he repeated the attempt, she slipped again beyond reach. Like a civilized girl, she kept screaming and laughing while thus engaged, glancing continually over her shoulder, and baffling her pursuer at the very moment that success seemed certain.
All the time she was heading toward her home, not far off in the woods, while he, forgetful of the implements left behind in the canoe, kept up his efforts to lay hands on her. He would not believe he could fail, and she nurtured the self-delusion on his part, encouraging him once or twice by allowing the outstretched hand to touch her robe, though it could never grip it fairly.
Suddenly, just as he held his breath ready to leap forward and pounce upon her, and it looked as if nothing could save the fugitive, she did a very clever thing. She darted across a spot in the woods where the ground was covered with many running vines. She did this, but he was too earnest in the pursuit to notice danger. She led him on, and again his hand shot out almost over her shoulder, when he caught his moccasin in one of the vines, that was like so many yards of fine steel wire, and sprawled forward on his face, with a force that drove the breath from his body, and seemed to make the earth shake with the shock.
And then she could run no farther, from very excess of merriment. Pressing one hand against the nearest tree-trunk to support her, she laughed until she could hardly stand. He slowly climbed to his feet and shook his head. She was not assured that he had given up the chase, and held herself ready to bound away again, when both abruptly paused at the discovery that a third party had appeared on the scene.