“Yes; why shouldn’t he, when his daughter Florence, your sister, Silvia, is my wife?”
“Rodger, you are jesting!” Silvia exclaimed.
“I am not, Silvia; I have long thought I would tell you this.”
“But we never knew that Florence was married before she died, or drowned herself.”
“No, Silvia, we were married secretly. You were in Omaha at the time, so I never saw you until the night I rescued you from Black Bear,” said the ranger; “and let me tell you something else that will surprise you: Florence is not dead!”
“Rodger!” Silvia gasped; “is that true?”
“It is, Silvia; the woman in Indian disguise known as Silver Voice, is Florence.”
“Rodger, it is impossible! Silver Voice is the wife of an Indian chief.”
“Yes, Silvia, but for all that she is Florence,” said the ranger, and he went on and related the cause of Florence’s flight to the Indian country, and her marriage to Allacotah, as Florence had related it to him.
“Then Florence did not commit a willful wrong in marrying the chief. But why did you not make your existence known to her before she fled?”