that lay at the side of the almost invisible path they
had hitherto pursued, and motioning to her companion to
unboot himself, proceeded to unlace the fastenings of
her mocassins.

"The foot of the Saganaw must fall like the night dew on
the prairie," she observed: "the ear of the red skin is
quicker than the lightning, and he will know that a pale
face is near, if he hear but his tread upon a blade of
grass."

Gallantry in the civilised man is a sentiment that never
wholly abandons him; and in whatever clime he may be
thrown, or under whatever circumstances he may be
placed,--be it called forth by white or by blackamoor,--it
is certain to influence his conduct: it is a refinement,
of that instinctive deference to the weaker sex, which
nature has implanted in him for the wisest of purposes;
and which, while it tends to exalt those to whom its
influence is extended, fails not to reflect a corresponding
lustre on himself.

The young officer had, at the first suggestion of his
guide, divested himself of his boots, prepared to perform
the remainder of the journey merely in his stockings,
but his companion now threw herself on her knees before
him, and, without further ceremony, proceeded to draw
over his foot one of the mocassins she had just
relinquished.