“I hope not, but I have the same apprehension as Cora that he will return when we least expect him.  We must manage so that we are never both away from the house at the same time.  It is now getting well along in the afternoon, Teddy; you may prepare your fish for supper.”

The Irishman obediently moved away, and the young missionary and his wife were left together.

CHAPTER V.

GONE!

  Alas, alas, fair Inez,
  She went away with song,
  In sounds that sang Farewell, Farewell
  To her you’ve loved so long.—­HOOD.

Alertness or watchfulness is sure to succeed the accomplishment of an enemy’s designs.  The moment danger is over, then the most vigilant preparations against it are made.  The burglar knows better than to visit the same house two nights in succession.  He is wise enough to wait until time has lulled the inmates into fancied security.

With such an interest at stake as had Harvey Richter, one may well believe that no precaution was neglected which could operate to defeat the designs of the savage whom he had driven in anger from his door.  He changed his hour of visitation from the afternoon to the forenoon.  Teddy needed no admonition against leaving the house during his absence.  He kept watch and ward over the house as if he would atone by vigilance for past shortcomings.

The missionary had dwelt long enough among the Indians to gain a pretty accurate estimate of their character.  What troubled him most, therefore, was a conviction that the savage’s revenge, though delayed for ten years, for want of the convenient opportunity, was sure to be accomplished.  He might have gone immediately to the north or east, there to remain with his own tribe until convinced that the moment had come to strike the blow—­a blow, which no human influence, no personal danger, no suffering, could persuade him from inflicting upon the offending white man.

But there was no certainty even of delay.  Did the savage believe the moment to strike propitious, he would be ready for the trial.  Even then, he might be skulking in the woods, with his black eyes fixed upon the cabin.  It will be perceived, that, did he contemplate the death of either of the parties concerned, he could have compassed it without difficulty.  Opportunities offered every day for the fatal bullet to reach its mark; but the insult to the Indian was so great, that he contemplated a far sweeter compensation than death itself.  Whatever that might be, time would be sure to develop it, and that, too, at the moment when least expected.

This fear became so ever-present and troublesome, that the missionary made it known in the village, where he could command the services of half a hundred warriors.  A dozen at once made search through the woods to ascertain whether the savage was concealed anywhere in the vicinity.  One of these chanced upon a trail, which, after following some distance, was lost in the river.  This, however, he pronounced to be the trail of a white man.  The suspected Indian evidently, had fled, and no trace was discovered of him.