that, even should you be
carried there in a litter, Ronayne--but God forbid the necessity!--you
must be present."

"At what hour does that council assemble, Mrs. Headley?" asked the
ensign.

"At midday, I believe. Winnebeg has been desired to bring the chiefs
to the glacis, between the flagstaff and the southern block-house,
at two o'clock precisely."

"What! Winnebeg returned?" exclaimed Ronayne, as he impetuously
rose in his bed. "Ah, then there is hope. He will aid me in my
enterprise. And what of Wau-nan-gee? Is he, too, here, Mrs. Headley?
Yes, he must be. Oh, this is indeed providential! I shall rise with
the dawn, and seek them both. Everything can be accomplished, if
at all, before the hour of our own council arrives."

Mrs. Headley cast a look of profound sadness on him, as, taking
his hot hand in hers, she said--

"Wau-nan-gee did not come with Winnebeg, Ronayne; but there is
reason to believe that he is not far from the camp of the
Pottowatomies, for he was seen yesterday. Yet he will not aid you
in your proposed enterprise."

"Oh! Mrs. Headley, you do him wrong--indeed you do. Wau-nan-gee
loves Maria too well not to risk his life for her. You little know
the strength of his generous attachment, if you doubt his interest
in her preservation."

"I know, that his love for her is great--perhaps too much so," she
replied, emphatically, after a moment's pause, while bending over
to adjust his pillow, and in a voice so subdued as to be inaudible
to all but himself.

CHAPTER VII.

Ronayne's pale cheek became suddenly scarlet. He perceived from
the tone and look that accompanied the words that suspicion of some
kind, whence derived he knew not, had entered into the mind of Mrs.
Headley, and that she saw in the regard of the young Indian for
his wife, evidence of a prepossession which might prove dangerous
to his peace. But this, to a mind generous and impetuous as that
of the highly-gifted officer, brought no alarm. Conscious of the
entire possession of the heart and confidence of his wife, it was
a source of speculative pride, rather than of concern to him,
that the warm-hearted and inartificial Indian, at once brave,
boy-like, and handsome, should, with a cheek glowing, and an eye
beaming with overweening softness, feel and betray all the power
of her beauty when exposed to the influence of its presence. It
was a compliment to himself--to his own taste and judgment, and,
had this been possible,