s, and
other wild flowers, that had grown so luxuriantly along the river's
brink, now faded for want of moisture; and the fresh verdure of the
meadow was changed to a dry and dusky yellow. Day by day the brook
dried up, and it became necessary for the camp to be removed to some
more favored spot, where the inhabitants and their cattle could still
find a sufficient supply of water.

For this purpose, it was resolved to migrate southwards, to the banks
of the broad Missouri, which no drought could sensibly affect; and
there to remain until the summer heat had passed away, and the season
for travelling had arrived. Then Tisquantum purposed to bend his steps
once more towards the land of his birth, that he might end his days in
his native Paomet, and behold the home of his fathers before his death.
To this plan Henrich gave a glad assent; for he surely hoped that, when
he reached a district that bordered so nearly on the British
territories, he should be able to obtain some information respecting
his relatives, and, perhaps, even to see them. And Oriana no longer
dreaded returning to the dwellings of her childhood, for she felt
assured--notwithstanding the occasional misgivings that troubled her
anxious heart--that Henrich loved her far too well ever to desert her;
and that he loved truth too well ever to take her from her aged father,
let the temptation be never so great.

All, therefore, looked forward with satisfaction to the autumn, when
the long journey towards the east was to commence: but they well knew
that its accomplishment would occupy several seasons; for the movement
of so large a party, of every age and sex, and the transport of all
their baggage across a district of many hundreds of miles in extent,
must, necessarily, be extremely slow, and interrupted by many pauses
for rest, as well as by the heat or the inclemency of the weather.

Coubitant also expressed his pleasure at the proposed change, which
would afford occupation and excitement to his restless spirit, and
which, likewise, promised him better opportunities for carrying out his
ultimate schemes than he could hope for in his present tranquil mode of
life. His constant attention to Tisquantum, and his assiduous care to
consult his every wish and desire, had won upon the old man's feelings,
and he again regarded him rather as the proved friend of his lost
Tekoa, than as the suspected foe of his adopted son Henrich. He
frequently employed him in exec