380 WILD SPOET8 IN THE SOUTH. 



in the house and some in the light-house, and the girl 

 was in the lantern with a book on her knees and her eye 

 wandering away along the reaches of the shore and of 

 the past. The evening was lull, and even the gulls had 

 settled down on the waters of the bay. Presently her 

 eye caught a motion from over the palmetto bushes that 

 ran down the island, and she watched for the cause. In 

 a moment she saw a naked Indian creeping over the 

 sands, running from a clump of bushes to one nearer the 

 house. The fellow was painted vermilion and black, 

 and from his gaudy color and crouching motion, looked 

 like a leopard more than a man. Lou was not so igno- 

 rant of Indian ways but that she knew in an instant the 

 meaning of the war paint and the subtile approach that 

 never could have been seen from below. The blood 

 rushed to her heart with a bound, and then her thoughts 

 were as cool as before. This had not been a totally 

 unforeseen contingency, and they had discussed the course 

 to be followed, and had prepared for it in a measure. 

 The door of the light-house had been made heavy and 

 strong, and the arrangements in the upper story had 

 been such that a person would find it a comparative 

 shelter. 



Lou leaned over the rail and called to her uncle in her 

 ordinary voice, " Uncle !" 



"Well, child?" 



" Look up here, uncle." 



The old man leaned over the coil of ropes he had in 

 his hand, and looked up at the lantern. 



