d ominous, as it had never occurred before, and with great
impatience they watched for his coming. Still, hour after hour passed,
and he came not, and with forebodings of evil, they proposed that one
of them should reconnoitre the village under the cover of darkness to
discover what was brewing among them. The chief volunteered his
services, as possessing a subtlety which was unequalled, and with his
noiseless tread, he went silently forth; but, before he had gone twenty
yards from the door a hand was laid on his shoulder, and the voice of
the guide whispered in his ear, "return to the lodge! your life depends
upon it. I will be there in an hour!"

The chief stood irresolute a moment, then as silently returned to the
lodge and related the circumstance, and asked the advice of the rest
whether he had better wait or proceed.

"I think Minawanda is our friend, and we had better do his bidding,"
said the trapper.

Silently they remained a few moments, when the sound of a light step
fell on their ear, and the _Fawn_, a child of twelve years, and a
daughter of the guide stepped within the lodge, and with a startled
look stood irresolute for a moment, then going up to Jane, nestled
close to her side fixing her dark starry eyes on hers with a bewildered
gaze.

"What would you with me?" inquired the young girl, as she endeavored to
reassure her.

"My father can no longer protect the white strangers," she replied,
"but he can save them if they will place themselves under his
directions."

"What says the young squaw?" asked the chief, whose acute ear had
caught the low tones of the child.

Jane repeated what the fawn had said, when the trapper placed himself
by her side and demanded what they were to do.

"I do not know, except that, when the Whippoorwill is heard behind the
lodge, you are all to go out silently, and as the cry is heard, you are
to follow the sound until you meet others who will be in waiting for
you----"

"To lead us to the stake!" said the chief. "Is my brother mad, that he
listens to this chattering, and will he run into the snare laid to
entrap him?"

"Really, chief, you see through the treachery of these savages better
than any one else, and do credit to your education," said Sidney.

"We will not go to them to be murdered in the dark," said Edward. "If
they want anything of us, here we are, and here we will be until
daylight."

"It will then be too late," said the fawn, sadly. "My father bad