ment was in the midst of a dense wood, the eye could not
take in its tout ensemble at a glance, but hut after hut started out of
the gloomy picture, as one gazed about him in quest of objects. There
was no centre, unless the fire might be so considered, no open area
where the possessors of this rude village might congregate, but all was
dark, covert and cunning, like its owners. A few children strayed from
hut to hut, giving the spot a little of the air of domestic life, and
the suppressed laugh and low voices of the women occasionally broke
in upon the deep stillness of the sombre forest. As for the men, they
either ate, slept, or examined their arms. They conversed but little,
and then usually apart, or in groups withdrawn from the females, whilst
an air of untiring, innate watchfulness and apprehension of danger
seemed to be blended even with their slumbers.

As the two girls came near the encampment, Hetty uttered a slight
exclamation, on catching a view of the person of her father. He was
seated on the ground with his back to a tree, and Hurry stood near him
indolently whittling a twig. Apparently they were as much at liberty as
any others in or about the camp, and one unaccustomed to Indian usages
would have mistaken them for visitors, instead of supposing them to
be captives. Wah-ta-Wah led her new friend quite near them, and then
modestly withdrew, that her own presence might be no restraint on her
feelings. But Hetty was not sufficiently familiar with caresses or
outward demonstrations of fondness, to indulge in any outbreaking of
feeling. She merely approached and stood at her father's side without
speaking, resembling a silent statue of filial affection. The old man
expressed neither alarm nor surprise at her sudden appearance. In these
particulars he had caught the stoicism of the Indians, well knowing
that there was no more certain mode of securing their respect than by
imitating their self-command. Nor did the savages themselves betray the
least sign of surprise at this sudden appearance of a stranger among
them. In a word, this arrival produced much less visible sensation,
though occurring under circumstances so peculiar, than would be seen in
a village of higher pretensions to civilization did an ordinary traveler
drive up to the door of its principal inn.

Still a few warriors collected, and it was evident by the manner in
which they glanced at Hetty as they conversed together, that she was
the subject