be about fifty feet in circumference. In the centre
blazed a large fire that had been newly fed, and around this were
assembled a band of swarthy warriors, some twenty or thirty in number,
who, by their proud, calm, and thoughtful bearing, might at once be
known to be chiefs.

The faces of most of these were familiar to the young officer, who
speedily recognised them for the principals of the various tribes
Ponteac had leagued in arms against his enemies. That chief himself,
ever remarkable for his haughty eye and commanding gesture, was of the
number of those present; and, a little aloof from his inferiors, sat,
with his feet stretched towards the fire, and half reclining on his
side in an attitude of indolence; yet with his mind evidently engrossed
by deep and absorbing thought. From some observations that distinctly
met his ear, Captain de Haldimar gathered, the party were only awaiting
the arrival of an important character, without whose presence the
leading chief was unwilling the conference should begin. The period of
the officer's concealment had just been long enough to enable him to
fix all these particulars in his mind, when suddenly the faint report
of a distant rifle was heard echoing throughout the wood. This was
instantly succeeded by a second, that sounded more sharply on the ear;
and then followed a long and piercing cry, that brought every warrior,
even of those who slept, quickly to his feet.

An anxious interval of some minutes passed away in the fixed and
listening attitudes, which the chiefs especially had assumed, when a
noise resembling that of some animal forcing its way rapidly through
the rustling branches, was faintly heard in the direction in which the
shots had been fired. This gradually increased as it evidently
approached the encampment, and then, distinctly, could be heard the
light yet unguarded boundings of a human foot. At every moment the
rustling of the underwood, rapidly divided by the approaching form,
became more audible; and so closely did the intruder press upon the
point in which Captain de Haldimar was concealed, that that officer,
fancying he had been betrayed, turned hastily round, and, grasping one
of the pistols he had secreted in his chest, prepared himself for a
last and deadly encounter. An instant or two was sufficient to
re-assure him. The form glided hastily past, brushing the tree with its
garments in its course, and clearing, at a single bound, the belt of
under