approach of Wacousta, the young Indians, to whose custody
he had been committed, had returned to their post; but
no sooner had that warrior, obeying the call of Ponteac,
again departed, than they once more flew to the extreme
skirt of the forest, after first satisfying themselves
the ligatures which confined their prisoner were secure.
Either with a view of avoiding unnecessary encumbrance
in their course, or through hurry and inadvertence, they
had left their blankets near the foot of the tree. The
first thought of the officer was to seize one of these;
for, in order to gain the point whence his final effort
to join the detachment must be made, it was necessary he
should pass through the body of scattered Indians who
stood immediately in his way; and the disguise of the
blanket could alone afford him a reasonable chance of
moving unnoticed among them. Secretly congratulating
himself on the insulting mockery that had inducted his
upper form in the disguising warpaint of his enemies, he
now drew the protecting blanket close up to his eyes;
and then, with every nerve braced up, every faculty of
mind and body called into action, commenced his dangerous
enterprise.

He had not, however, taken more than two or three steps
in advance, when, to his great discomfiture and alarm,
he beheld the formidable Wacousta approaching from a
distance, evidently in search of his prisoner. With the
quickness of thought he determined on his course. To
appear to avoid him would be to excite the suspicion of
the fierce warrior; and, desperate as the alternative