if they were her friends, why did they not relieve
her? Now a sudden, but, alas! erroneous thought
occurred to her. She was persuaded that they were
her friends, but that the friendly Indian was not with
them—he had perhaps directed them where
she could be found, and then returned to his home.
Might not her friends, at that moment, be anxiously
searching for her? Would not one word suffice
to dispel their solicitude, and restore the lost one
to their arms? She resolved to speak. Bowing
down her head slightly, so that her precise location
might not instantly be ascertained, she uttered in
a soft voice the word “FATHER!” The chief
sprang from his seat, and the party was instantly
in commotion. Some of the savages looked above,
among the twining branches, and some shot their arrows
in the snow, but fortunately not in the direction
of Mary, while others ran about in every direction,
examining all the large trees in the vicinity.
The chief was amazed and utterly confounded.
He drew not forth an arrow, nor brandished a tomahawk.
While he thus stood, and the rest of the party were
moving hurriedly about a few paces distant, Mary again
repeated the word “FATHER!” As suddenly
as if by enchantment every savage was paralyzed.
Each stood as devoid of animation as a statue.
For many moments an intense silence reigned, as if
naught existed there but the cheerless forest trees.
Slowly, at length, the tomahawk was returned to the
belt, and the arrow to the quiver. No longer was
a desire to spill blood manifested. The dusky
children of the forest attributed to the mysterious
sound a supernatural agency. They believed it
was a voice from the perennial hunting-grounds.
Humbly they bowed their heads, and whispered devotions
to the Great Spirit. The young chief alone stood
erect. He gazed at the round moon above him,
and sighs burst from his breast, and burning tears
ran down his stained cheek. Impatiently, by a
motion of the hand, he directed the savages to leave
him, and when they withdrew he resumed his seat on
the fallen trunk, and reclined his brow upon his hand.
One of the long feathers that decked his head waved
forward, after he had been seated thus a few minutes,
and when his eye rested upon it he started up wildly,
and tearing it away, trampled it under his feet.
At that instant the same “FATHER!” was
again heard. The young chief fell upon his knees,
and, while he panted convulsively, said, in ENGLISH,
“Father! Mother! I’m your
poor William—you loved me much—where
are you? Oh tell me—I will come to
you—I want to see you!” He then
fell prostrate and groaned piteously. “Father!
oh! where are you? Whose voice was that?”
said Mary, breaking through the slight incrustation
that obscured her, and leaping from her covert.