CHAPTER IX.
THE BRIDAL.
Swiftly and on noiseless wing sped on old Father Time, and they who thought the summer would never pass, were surprised when o’er the wooded hills the breath of autumn came, bearing the yellow leaf—the first white hair in nature’s sunny locks. The golden harvests were gathered in, and through the forest “the sound of dropping nuts was heard,” showing that
“The melancholy days had come,
The saddest of the year.”
It was the last day of October, and over the fading earth the autumnal sun was shedding its rays as brightly as in the early summer. The long shadows, stretching far to the eastward, betokened approach of night, and when at last the sun sank to its western home, the full moon poured a flood of soft, pale light over the scene, and looking in at a half-opened window, shone upon a beautiful young girl, who, with the love-light in her dark-blue eye, and woman’s holy trust in her heart, was listening, or seeming to listen, while the words were said which made her the wife of George Wilder.
Scarce was the ceremony completed, when the light from the window was obscured, a shadow fell darkly upon Robert, and a voice, clear and musical, uttered words which curdled the blood of the fair bride, and made more than one heart stand still with fear. They were, “The Indians! the Indians!—they are coming in less than an hour!”
The next moment a tall and graceful figure appeared in the doorway, and laying its hand on Robert’s shoulder, exclaimed, “It is your life they seek, but Orianna will save you!”
Then away glided the maiden, so noiselessly that but for the tidings she brought, the party would almost have doubted that she had been there. For a time the company were mute with surprise, and involuntarily George clasped closely to his side his Marian, as if to shield her from the coming danger. At length, Mr. Gorton asked Robert for an explanation of what the stranger had said.
Robert replied, “Two days since, I was hunting in the woods not far from the house, when a rustling noise behind some bushes attracted my attention. Without stopping to think, I levelled my gun and fired, when behold! up sprang an Indian girl, and bounded away so swiftly that to overtake her and apologize was impossible. This I suppose to be the reason why my life is sought.”
His supposition was correct, and for the benefit of the reader we will explain how Orianna became possessed of the secret. The night before, when returning to her father’s wigwam, she was startled by the sound of many voices within. Curiosity prompted her to listen, and she thus learned that the Indians who lived east of Lexington had been insulted by a white man, who had fired at one of their squaws. From the description of the aggressor, she knew it to be Robert, and with fast beating heart she listened to the plan of attacking Mr. Gorton’s dwelling on the night of the wedding.