im more clear-sighted as to the possibility of her
affection ripening into love than her father had as yet become; and
gladly would the rival of the unsuspecting Henrich have blackened him
in the eyes of the Chieftain, and caused him to be banished from the
lodge, had he been able to find any accusation against him. But in this
he invariably failed; for the pale-face was brave, honest, and
truthful, to a degree that baffled the ingenuity of his wily foe: and
Coubitant found that, instead of lowering Henrich in the regard of the
Sachem, he only excited him to take his part still more, and also ran a
great risk of losing all the favor which he had himself attained in
Tisquantum's eyes.

The sudden friendship that the young Jyanough had conceived for the
white stranger, and the consequent favor with which he was looked upon
by Oriana, tended still more to irritate the malignant savage; and
when, a few days after the arrival of Tisquantum's party at the Cree
village, he saw the three young friends seated amicably together
beneath a shadowing tree, and evidently engaged in earnest
conversation, he could not resist stealing silently behind them, and
lurking in the underwood that formed a thick background to their
position, in order to listen to the subject of their discourse. How
astonished and how indignant was he to find that Henrich was reasoning
eloquently against the cruel and ridiculous superstitions of the Indian
tribes, and pointing out to his attentive hearers the infinite
superiority of the Christian's belief and the Christian's practice!
The acquiescence that Oriana expressed to the simple but forcible
arguments of the pale-face added to his exasperation; and he was also
angry, as well as astonished, to perceive that the young Cree, although
he was yet unconvinced, was still a willing listener, and an anxious
inquirer as to the creed of his white friend.

Maddened with rage, and excited also by the hope of at length arousing
the anger of the Sachem against the Christian youth, he forgot his
former caution, and hurried away, with quick and noiseless step, to the
wigwam occupied by Tisquantum, and broke unceremoniously upon his
repose as he sat, in a half-dreaming state, on the soft mat that
covered the floor, and 'drank smoke' from his long, clay pipe.

With vehement gestures, Coubitant explained to the Sachem the cause of
his sudden interruption, and implored him to listen to the counsel of
his most faithful fri