At War with Pontiac | Page 7

they dashed it to the ground. After that they held another bowl
of water close to his face, but he never gratified 'em by making a move
to try and drink it.
"Finally, they made a circle of dry wood around him and set fire to it.
Then I thought it was all up with the poor fellow, and his torment
would soon be over. I was just saying this to myself when something
swift and still as a shadder brushed past the place where I was hid. I
had just time to see that it was a woman, when she cleared the woods

like a flash, ran to the stake, never minding the flames more'n ef they'd
been a shower of rain, and cut Songa free.
"He gave a great leap, like a deer, out of the ring of fire that was slowly
roasting him, knocked down two or three warriors that stood in his path,
and gained the woods, with her close beside him, almost before any one
knew what had happened. A score of rifle balls whizzed after them, but
they wasn't hit, and they had a clear start of a hundred yards afore the
crowd took after 'em. Mahng was the only one who could keep 'em in
sight, and when they separated at the foot of the lake, he taking up one
side, and she the other, Mahng trailed the one he hated most, which was
Songa."
"How did you happen to see all this?" inquired the major. "They must
have passed from view of your hiding-place very quickly."
"Oh, I jined in the hunt, too," replied Truman Flagg. "I thought some
one might find it handy to have me 'round. Besides, I was feeling
cramped and in need of a bit of exercise."
"Well, it was handy to have you around," said the major, heartily, "and
it will be long ere I forget the gratitude with which I saw you at that
critical moment. I am thankful, too, that the poor fellow escaped and
sought the refuge he did, though what I am to do with him is more than
I can imagine. I wish with all my heart that he were well on his way
toward the Ottawa villages. But who was the woman who rescued him
so splendidly, and what do you suppose became of her?"
"He claims her as his squaw," replied the hunter, "and ef she's where I
left her, she's setting watching him at this moment."
"You don't mean it! How can she be?" cried the major, jumping to his
feet.
"I do mean it; and she can be beside him because I let her in myself, not
half an hour ago, and locked the door after me when I come out."
"Then come with me at once, for I must go and see them," exclaimed

the proprietor, starting toward the door.
"Hold a bit, major. Don' you think that maybe Songa has earned a few
hours of uninterrupted rest?" asked the hunter.
"Yes, you are right, he certainly has," replied the major, as he again
sank into his chair.
CHAPTER IV
ESCAPE OF THE PRISONERS
Mrs. Hester, who had been putting her child to sleep, entered the room
in time to hear the conclusion of the hunter's story, which she found
intensely interesting. Like her husband, she was filled with a desire to
see the brave woman who, daring all for the man she loved, had, alone
and unaided, saved him from a horrible fate. With him, though, she
agreed that it would be cruel to disturb the much-needed and bravely
earned rest of their guests. Thus it was decided that they should wait
until morning before visiting those whom Fate had so strangely thrust
upon their hospitality. In the meantime, were they guests or prisoners,
and what was to be done with them? Long and animated was the
discussion of these questions, which were finally settled by the major,
who said: "They are both. For this night they are our guests.
To-morrow morning I shall set a guard over them, for their protection
as well as our own. Thus they will become prisoners. If by the time the
Ottawa warrior is sufficiently recovered of his wounds to travel, I have
received no word to the contrary from Johnson, I shall let him go, and
bid him God speed. If, however, I should receive orders to continue to
hold him, or even to deliver him over to his savage captors, which God
forbid, I can conceive of no alternative save that of obedience."
"Oh, Graham! You wouldn't, you couldn't, deliver that splendid Indian
and his brave wife to the awful fate that would await them!" cried Mrs.
Hester.
"I don't think that I could give up the woman nor that