INDIANS ON THE WAR-PATH. 145 



I could not, and in every blaze, every glowing 

 ember, I could see Angey's face ; by the wind that 

 sighed through the timber I could hear repeated, " I 

 do love him." 



* The father came. His face showed that he also 

 ' had suffered " You can speak now," he said. And 

 I did speak. The words flowed fast, and he listened 

 patiently. When I came to the end he held out 

 his hand, and said, " All is perhaps for the best. 

 My stay in this world I have no right to expect 

 will be long, and but for you my girl might have 

 been left alone." 



' So we went to the fort at Leavenworth and were 

 married. The old man and I got on first-rate. I 

 built a new house ; the world prospered with us, and 

 I was happy as the day was long. 



' But trouble was not far off ; the Indians were on 

 the war-path. Already they had committed several 

 depredations, and fear was entertained that they 

 might still come further into the settlements. 



' My father-in-law knew them well. He had once 

 been a trader, and had on several occasions received 

 severe treatment at their hands. He had retaliated, 

 taken the law into his hands, and revenged himself. 

 On account of this he feared their coming ; not that 

 he dreaded the result for himself, for a braver man 

 could not be found, but in case they should destroy 

 his dwelling or injure his child. 



' His wife, the mother of mine, had perished by 

 their means. This was sufficient cause to make the 



L 



