ary warld
To part my Love frae me."
No, nothing should part us now. Poverty and pride had kept him
silent when my heart was yearning for him; but now, poverty did
not exist, for I was here to make him restitution, and the pride
was all mine now, in claiming a love that belonged to me alone.
Love was King, and
"The King shall have his own
Once more!
The King shall have his own!"
I sang, mimicking his manly tone as best I might, to the great
astonishment of Lucy.
Delighted as we were merely to feel the sands beneath our feet,
the soft, fresh green of the forest which edged them close attracted
us, and we timidly made our way under the first scattered trees.
Then seeing no wild animals, of which we were greatly in dread,
and hearing the reassuring voices of the seamen, we ventured in
far enough to gain the thick, sweet-smelling carpet of pine needles,
and at length seated ourselves by a little stream, but near enough
the sands to see the waters of the bay glinting between the trees.
"Oh, Lucy, Lucy, I am so happy!" I said, in the fulness of my heart,
giving her my hand, for I looked on her more as a companion than
a waiting-woman; but before she could reply a hand was clapped over
my mouth, and I saw Lucy struggling in the arms of a savage. An
overwhelming terror crushed all life and sense out of me, and I
swooned away.
When I recovered I found I was being carried swiftly by two savages,
one at my shoulders and another at my feet, but my terror was so
great upon me that I dared not make a sound. How long, or how far
we went I could not even conjecture. I saw the trees passing before
my upturned eyes as in some horrid dream, but it was not until I
began to catch glimpses of the sky through the thinning branches,
and my captors halted in an open space, setting me on my feet, that
my senses came back in some degree.
We were beside the water again, dark and empty. The Indians
immediately brought forth three of their light canoes, which they
had cunningly concealed among the bushes, and laid them gently on
the stream. No one molested me, nor, indeed, paid any special
attention to me as I sate and watched them.
[Illustration: "And laid them gently on the stream."]
The pictures in such works as La Hontain and others I had seen were
unreal, and I could not recognise their models in the men about
me. They were painted, it is true, but in a manner more grotesque
than affrighting; their hair
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