inquired for his brother. From the child they learnt, that while he and
Henrich were busily engaged in their several occupations in the wood,
two Indians had suddenly rushed from the thick brushwood, and seized on
his brother before he had time to fly. Ludovico was gathering moss at
some distance, but he saw what passed, and uttered a cry that attracted
the attention of the savages; and one of them east a spear at him with
such violence, that, missing its intended mark, it stuck firmly in a
tree close behind him. Seeing this, his noble and courageous brother
called out to him to hide among the bushes, and make his way home as
quickly as possible; and the Indians, eager to secure the prize they
had so long been watching for, hurried away through the forest,
dragging Henrich with them.

The murderous attempt made by these savages against the life of
Ludovico proved but too clearly that the destruction of Rodolph's
children was their object, and banished every hope that lingered in
Helen's breast; and this conviction of their cruel intentions was still
further confirmed by Janet's account of the look and gesture of the
warrior who attended his Chief when the Nausetts first assailed the
settlement. Rodolph had seen, and understood the action; and as he had
also learnt through his Wampanoge friends that Tekoa, the son of the
Nausett Chief, had fallen in the first encounter, he knew enough of
Indian customs to be aware that he, as the slayer, was a marked object
of their vengeance. He had, however, always concealed his suspicions
from Helen; and the only effect they had produced on him was causing
him, at that time, to prohibit his children from venturing unguarded
into the wood, more strictly than he would otherwise have done.