“I tell you, Donellan,” impatiently returned the officer, “that I shall be back; but I only wish to guard against accidents.  The instant you get into the fort, you will take off my clothes and resume your own.  Who the devil is to see you in the uniform, unless it be Halloway?”

“If the Saganaw would not see the earth red with the blood of his race, he will go,” interrupted the female.  “Oucanasta can feel the breath of the morning fresh upon her cheek, and the council of the chiefs must be begun.”

“The Saganaw is ready, and Oucanasta shall lead the way,” hastily returned the officer.  “One word more, Donellan;” and he pressed the hand of his domestic kindly:  “should I not return, you must, without committing Halloway or yourself, cause my father to be apprised that the Indians meditate a deep and treacherous plan to get possession of the fort.  What that plan is, I know not yet myself, neither does this woman know; but she says that I shall hear it discussed unseen, even in the heart of their own encampment.  All you have to do is to acquaint my father with the existence of danger.  And now be cautious:  above all things, keep close under the shadow of the bomb-proof; for there are scouts constantly prowling about the common, and the glittering of the uniform in the starlight may betray you.”

“But why may I not follow your honour?” again urged the faithful soldier; “and where is the use of my remaining here to count the stars, and hear the ‘All’s well!’ from the fort, when I could be so much better employed in guarding your honour from harm?  What sort of protection can that Ingian woman afford, who is of the race of our bitterest enemies, them cursed Ottawas, and your honour venturing, too, like a spy into the very heart of the blood-hounds?  Ah, Captain de Haldimar, for the love of God, do not trust yourself alone with her, or I am sure I shall never see your honour again!”

The last words (unhappily too prophetic) fell only on the ear of him who uttered them.  The female and the officer had already disappeared round an abrupt angle of the bomb-proof; and the soldier, as directed by his master, now drew up his tall figure against the ruin, where he continued for a period immovable, as if he had been planted there in his ordinary character of sentinel, listening, until they eventually died away in distance, to the receding footsteps of his master; and then ruminating on the several apprehensions that crowded on his mind, in regard to the probable issue of his adventurous project.

Meanwhile, Captain de Haldimar and his guide trod the mazes of the forest, with an expedition that proved the latter to be well acquainted with its bearings.  On quitting the bomb-proof, she had struck into a narrow winding path, less seen than felt in the deep gloom pervading the wood, and with light steps bounded over obstacles that lay strewed in their course, emitting scarcely more sound than would have been produced