on her breast, her hands clasped, her ashy lips
quivering, but uttering no articulate sound. "Thee prays Heaven to help
thee, poor maid!" he muttered to himself: "Heaven denied the prayer of
them that was as good and as lovely; but thee is not yet forsaken!"

He took his knife from its sheath, and turned his eyes upon the old hag,
who sat at the fire with her back partly towards him, but her eyes
fastened upon the captive, over whom they wandered with the fierce and
unappeasable malice, that was in those days seen rankling in the breast
of many an Indian mother, and expended upon prisoners at the stake with
a savage, nay, a demoniacal zeal that might have put warriors to shame.
In truth, the unlucky captive had always more to apprehend from the
squaws of a tribe than from its warriors; and _their_ cries for vengeance
often gave to the torture wretches whom even their cruel husbands were
inclined to spare.

With knife in hand, and murderous thoughts in his heart, Nathan raised a
corner of the mat, and glared for a moment upon the beldam. But the
feelings of the white-man prevailed; he hesitated, faltered, and dropping
the mat in its place, retreated silently from the door. Then restoring
his knife for a second time to its sheath, listening awhile to hear if
the drunken Wenonga yet stirred in his lair, and taking a survey of the
sleepers at the nearly extinguished fire, he crept away, retraced his
steps through the village, to the place where he had left the captain of
horse-thieves, whom,--to the shame of that worthy be it spoken,--he found
fast locked in the arms of Morpheus, and breathing such a melody from his
upturned nostrils as might have roused the whole village from its repose,
had not that been at least twice as sound and deep as his own.

"Tarnal death to me!" said he, rubbing his eyes when Nathan shook
him from his slumbers, "I war nigh gone in a dead snooze!--being as
how I ar'n't had a true reggelar mouthful of snortin' this h'yar
no-time,--considering I always took it with my hoptical peepers right
open. But, I say, Nathan, what's the last news from the abbregynes and
anngelliferous madam?"

"Give me one of thee halters," said Nathan, "and do thee observe now what
I have to say to thee."

"A halter!" cried Ralph, in dudgeon; "you ar'n't for doing all, and the
hoss-stealing too?"

"Friend," said Nathan, "with this halter I must bind one that sits in
watch over the maiden; and, truly, it is better it sh