Shebotha but bends lower, with an inclination of the head, to imply that his instructions will be attended to. Then he adds—
“No one must see, or converse with her; at least, not for a time. And you mustn’t admit any one inside your toldo, except the witless white creature, your slave. About him it don’t signify. But keep out all others, as I know you can. You understand me, Shebotha?”
She makes answer in the affirmative, but, as before, only by a nod.
“Enough!” is the young chief’s satisfied rejoinder, as he vaults back upon his horse, and rides off to meet the captive train, which he knows must be now near.
That night, as for other nights and days succeeding, Francesca Halberger has this horrid hag for a hostess, or rather the keeper of her prison; since the unhappy girl is in reality kept and guarded as a prisoner.
Chapter Thirty One.
Taste after Powder.
Long before daylight penetrates the interior of the cavern, or shows its first streak on the sky outside, the trackers are up and active.