Then came Nick, who leaned closer above me.
"Their young sorceress," said he, "has washed your body with bitter-bark and sumach, and has cleansed the wounds and stopped them with dry moss and balsam, so that they have ceased bleeding."
I turned my heavy eyes on the Oneida girl.
"Truly," said I, "I have come back through the mist, returning in scarlet.... My little sister is very wise."
She said nothing, but lifted a pannikin of cold water to my lips. It had bitter herbs in it, and, I think, a little gin. I satisfied my thirst.
"Little sister," I gasped, "is the hole that Balty made in my body so great that my soul shall presently escape?"
She answered calmly: "I have looked through the wound into your body; and I saw your soul there, watching me. Then I conjured your soul, which is very white, to remain within your body. And your soul, seeing that it was not the Eye of Tharon looking in to discover it, went quietly to sleep. And will abide within you."
She spoke in the Oneida dialect, and Nick listened impatiently, not understanding.
"What does the little Oneida witch say?" he demanded.
Her brother, Tahioni, the Wolf, answered calmly: "The River-reed is a witch and is as wise as the Woman of the Sounding Skies. The River-reed sees events beforehand."