“Whither does my brother Huron wish to go?”

“To the Shawnee village on the shore of the Miami.”

“We journey thither, and will take our brother with us.”

“Oonomoo goes as the enemy of the Shawnees.  He goes to save a pale-faced maiden who has fallen into their hands.  My Miami brothers go as the friends of the Shawnees.”

“They go as the friends of Oonomoo, who saved one of their warriors, and they will carry him in their canoe.”

“The feet of Oonomoo are like the deer’s, and his eyes are as the eagle’s.  He can see his path at night in the wood, and can journey from the rising until the setting sun without becoming weary.”

“We know our brother is brave and fleet of foot.  His Miami friends will carry him far upon his journey, and when he wishes to go through the woods, they will leave him upon the shore.”

Oonomoo could not decline this kind offer.  Simply to show in a small degree their friendship for him, the Miamis insisted upon carrying him in their canoe as far as he wished, landing him upon the bank whenever it was his desire that they should do so.  The Miamis being allies of the Shawnees, and on their way to join one of their war-parties, they could not (even on account of their peculiar relations with the Huron) act as their enemies in any way; consequently the Huron did not expect or ask their assistance.  But while they were prevented from aiding him in the least, in his attempt to rescue the captive, the claims which he had upon their gratitude were such, that he well knew they would carefully avoid throwing any obstacle in his way, and would act as neutrals throughout the affair, believing, however, that it was not inconsistent with such a profession to carry him even in sight of the Shawnee village itself.  Beyond that it would be as if these five Miamis were a thousand miles distant.

All this time, it may well be supposed, that Lieutenant Canfield was no uninterested spectator of the interview between his Huron friend and the Miamis.  When they made their appearance upon the rock, he believed that Oonomoo had been captured.  He was about to seek his own safety in flight, but he was struck by the apparently good feeling of the conference.  Their words being in the Miami tongue, he could not distinguish their meaning, but from their sound, judged them to be friendly in their nature.  Still, there could be no certainty, and he was in a torment of doubt, when he was startled by hearing the Huron call his name.  At first he determined not to answer, thinking his friend had been compelled to betray him by his captors.  A moment’s reflection, however, convinced him that such could not be the case.

“Canfiel’!  Canfiel’!”

“What do you want, Oonomoo?”

“Go down bank—­wait for us—­Miami won’t hurt.”

The young soldier did as he requested, and the next moment saw the two canoes put out from the rock.  In the first were the four Miamis, and in the second Oonomoo and Heigon, the latter using the paddle.  They touched a point on the shore about a hundred yards down-stream, almost at the same moment that it was reached by the Lieutenant.