his horse in
advance of me; and I was about requesting him to pull up; but before I
could give utterance to the words, I saw him make halt of himself.
This, however, was done in so awkward and hurried a manner, that I at
once turned from gazing upon the scene, and fixed my eyes upon my
companion. As if by an involuntary effort, he had drawn his horse
almost upon his haunches: and was now stiffly seated in the saddle, with
blanched cheeks and eyes sparkling in their sockets--as if some object
of terror was before him! I did not ask for an explanation. I knew
that the object that so strangely affected him must be visible--though
not from the point where I had halted.

A touch of the spur brought my horse alongside his, and gave me a view
of the whole surface of the glade. I looked in the direction indicated
by the attitude of the hunter: for--apparently paralysed by some
terrible surprise--he had neither pointed nor spoken.

A little to the right of the path, I beheld a white object lying along
the ground--a dead tree, whose barkless trunk and smooth naked branches
gleamed under the moonlight with the whiteness of a blanched skeleton.
In front of this, and a pace or two from it, was a dark form, upright
and human-like. Favoured by the clear light of the moon, I had no
difficulty in distinguishing the form to be that of a woman.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

SU-WA-NEE.

Beyond doubt, the dark form was that of a woman--a young one too, as
evinced by her erect bearing, and a light agile movement, made at the
moment of our first beholding her. Her attire was odd. It consisted of
a brownish-coloured tunic--apparently of doeskin leather--reaching from
the neck to the knees; underneath which appeared leggings of like
material, ending in mocassins that covered the feet. The arms, neck,
and head were entirely bare; and the colour of the skin, as seen in the
moonlight, differed from that of the outer garments only in being a
shade or two darker! The woman, therefore, was not white, but an
_Indian_: as was made further manifest by the sparkling of beads and
bangles around her neck, rings in her ears, and metal circlets upon her
arms--all reflecting the light of the moon in copious coruscations. As
I brought my horse to a halt, I perceived that the figure was advancing
towards us, and with rapid step. My steed set his ears, and snorted
with affright. The jade of the hunter had already given the example--
each, no doubt, a