tones discussed
their situation during the hours that the canoe sped steadily onward.

At length the moon rose, and turning her head, Edith gazed curiously at
the girl behind her. She could see that she was slender and very
graceful, and she imagined her to be beautiful.

"How did your father know of our coming, and why did he send you to
care for us?" she asked at length.

"My father is a great chief, and his eyes are everywhere," answered
Ah-mo, proudly. "He sent me and Atoka, my brother, because he feared
you might come to harm at the hands of the Wyandots."

"But why should he be particularly interested in our welfare, more than
in that of others?"

"Are you not the daughter of Two Trees, the white-haired major, and is
he not the friend of Pontiac? Even now he dwells in the camp of my
father."

"Do you mean my father, Major Hester?" cried the bewildered girl.

"Yes."

"But he can't be dwelling among the enemies of the English. You must
be mistaken, Ah-mo."

"It is as I have said," replied the girl.

"Are you then taking us to him now?"

"No. It would not be safe. There are too many bad men even in the
camps of the Ottawas, and my father would have the daughter of his
friend removed from all harm."

"Where, then, are you going?"

"You soon will see."

And with this the white girl was forced to be content.

The night was nearly spent when the canoe approached a small island in
the middle of Lake Erie, but commanding the mouth of the Detroit river.
Here it was run into a cove, and beached beside several other similar
craft. Atoka, the young Indian, who had spoken no word during all this
time, uttered a peculiar cry as he sprang ashore, and directly several
dark forms appeared from a thicket that bordered the beach.

Ah-mo assured Edith that from these men she had nothing to fear, as
they were picked Ottawa warriors devoted to her father's interests, and
stationed them as outlooks to report the movements of any vessels on
the lake.

After a few minutes of lively conversation between them and Atoka, the
whole party entered the thicket, where, snugly hidden, stood several
Indian lodges. One of these was quickly made ready for the women, and
here, in spite of the uncertainties of their situation, Madam Rothsay
and Edith Hester, wrapped in their own shawls, soon fell into the
slumber of utter exhaustion.

CHAPTER XIX

THE TOTEM SAVES DONALD'S LIFE

Exhausted as she was, Edith Hester