ving the lad to the ministrations of the child, and under
pretence of making "all cosy for the picnic," Wahneenah sped
cautiously back through the passage to the edge of the little grove,
casting a searching glance in each direction. To her infinite relief,
the glistening speck had vanished from the landscape, and she
concluded that the white soldiers had ridden but a short distance
north of the village, and then returned to it. She noticed with pride
how the little maid had fastened each of the brave animals that had
served them so well in a spot where the grass was still green and
plentiful, and that there was no need of her refastening the straps
which held them.

"Surely, her wisdom is more than mortal!" she exclaimed in delight;
such as more cultured mothers feel when they discover that their
little ones are really gifted with the common intelligence that to
them seems extraordinary.

Gaspar was awake, and looking about him curiously, when she got back
into the cavern; and, in response to his silent inquiry, she drew a
tree-branch before the opening and nodded smilingly:

"That is to keep the sunshine out of the Dark-Eyes."

"But--where are we? Why--oh! I remember! I remember! Must I always,
always see such awful things? Is there no place in this world where I
can hide?"

"Why, yes, Dark-Eye. There is just such a place; and we have found it.
Don't you remember our sanctuary? Where the Black Partridge came to
eat the fish you caught? Where we have such a store of good things put
aside. Rest now, after your ride, and the White Papoose shall make a
pillow for you of the rushes I will pull. Then we'll shut the branch
in close, like the curtain of our wigwam, and be as safe and happy as
a bird in its nest."

Wahneenah's assumed cheerfulness did not deceive, though it greatly
comforted, the terrified boy; and the quietude of the sheltered spot,
added to its dimness and his own exhaustion, soon overcame him again,
and his eyelids closed. But the sleep into which he drifted now was a
natural and restful one, and he roused from it, at Kitty's summons,
with something of his old courage--the courage which had made him a
hero that day when he first rode the black gelding, and had used his
boyish strength to do a man's work.

"When Other Mother did make a fire and cook us such a nice breakfast,
we must eat it quick. Kitty's ready. Kitty's dreadful hungry, Kitty
is. Is you hungry, too, Dark-Eye?"

He had not thought t