Her wild eye fell upon Fairfax, shielding Eudora with his form, and her wolves were sent into the midst of her enemies.
Jim Girty shrieked with pain, at the work of the wolf’s claws, and, with an oath, he darted upon Alaska, whose eye caught his action.
“Curse you, mad woman!” he hissed. “No longer shall you baffle me!” and, as she sent the fourth wolf from her hands, his hatchet went whizzing through the air.
The renegade saw the mad queen stagger forward, as the wolf’s teeth sunk into his own throat, and he fell to the earth insensible, with the mad animal drinking his blood.
Scarce had the battle between Alaska and the renegade ended, when a loud whoop broke from the forest that crowned the hills that bounded the village on the north, and down among the lodges swarmed a large band of savages, with Tecumseh at their head.
Like a whirlwind the great sachem of the Shawnees sprung among the combatants, and his voice was distinctly heard above the din of conflict:
“Back!” he cried, thrusting the foremost brave from him. “Back, warriors! Tecumseh speaks!” and his tomahawk towered threateningly above his head.
His command, freighted with mystery to his warriors, was instantly obeyed; and he threw himself between the brave little band and the battled red-skins.
“Tecumseh returns from the war-path with many scalps!” he said, addressing the Indians. “A pale-face saved Tecumseh’s life when a mad white squaw sought it, and Tecumseh swore to free every white prisoner in the Shawnee village. If the red-men want blood, let them take Tecumseh’s.”
A loud shout greeted the conclusion of the chief’s speech, and he turned to the hermit: