Greenway Court; or, the Bloody Ground, Chapters LXIV-LXXV [pp. 440-465]

Greenway Court; or, the Bloody Ground.
-a sad, tender smile played over the lips
and half-closed eyes:-the heart, pressed
to the heart of the child, beat tranquilly.
At the same moment Lightfoot entered
the cavern.
their project in execution: and as there
were many indications of the fact that
the braves were, one by one, yielding to
their long day's journey, the realization
of the hopes of the party did not seem
very far distant.
Lightfoot remained then, silent and
motionless in his place, listening with the
keen ear of the Indian, to all noises
which ascended in muffled murmurs from
below. One by one these noises died
away:-the muttered "Oughs" of the
warriors, as they wrapped their blankets around them and addressed themselves to sleep, became less and less
frequent:-finally all sounds lapsed into
silence, with the exception of the heavy
breathing which indicated the slumber of
the tribe.
It was no part of the young Indian's
plan, however, to carry out his enterprise at once. He was well acquainted
with the echoing peculiarities of the
cavern-and his design was to wait
patiently until the troubled sleep of the
warriors became a heavy, log-like insensibility: and this would not take place
for an hour or two. By that time, the
sentinel also would be nodding over the
fire, and they might proceed without difficulty to their undertaking.
This had been communicated to the
three women, and by the advice of Lightfoot, they had lain down to snatch the
hasty slumber requisite to support them
in their flight. All obeyed, and wora
out with excitement, were soon asleep.
Lightfoot remained thus silent and
motionless for two or three hours, wearily
listening, when, all at once, a cautious step
descended the winding staircase from
the upper cavern. He rose, for this could
scarcely be one of the Indians. With
his hand on his knife, he waited. Then
at sight of the figure which appeared at
the mouth of the cavern, he uttered a
low exclamation of astonishment.
It was the figure of Falconbridge.
The young Indian approached the
group with the silent tread of his race,
and pausing before them, folded his arms
and said:
"I have come to show the Mountain
Dove and her companions that they have
a friend."
Cannie raised her head eagerly, and
fixing an earnest, blushing look upon the
Indian, murmured:
"W Will you go away with us, Lightfoot?"
The Indian inclined his head.
"The tribe are going to sleep. Soon
they will be slumbering. Then I will
carry you off, and place you on the homeward path."
Cannie clasped her hands and gazed
so gratefully into Lightfoot's face that
the blood rushed to his cheeks, and it required all his self-control to suppress the
tremour which ran through his frame.
He di d sup press i t, however: in a moment he had recovered his presence of
mind; and obeying a gesture from the
girl he came, silently, and sat down near
the group.
T hei r pl ans w ere q uic kly communicated to him, and the expression of eye
which greeted the announcement, was
one of unmistakable satisfaction. His
reply was, that their plan was his own.
He had thought at once of the fissure in
the upper cave, and he came to prepare
them for the moment, when he would
silently conduct them to the place.
They conversed thus for a quarter of an
hour in whispers, and arranged all the
details of the scheme. As soon as the
savages, in the lower cave, were sunk in
deep sleep, they would be able to put
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445
LXVI.
THE RIVAL OF THE HALF-BREED.