246 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 
her anxiety to allay visible suffering. A moment had 
hardly elapsed before water was thrown in his face and 
held to his lips. 
The refreshing beverage brought him to conscious- 
ness. He stared wildly about, and discovered the In- 
dian form bending over him; he again sank insensible 
to the earth. Like a young doe the girl bounded away, 
and disappeared. 
A half hour might have elapsed, when there issued 
out of the forest a long train of Indians. At their 
head was the young maiden, surrounded by armed war- 
riors ; in the rear followed women and children. They 
approached Rousseau, whose recovery was but momen- 
tary, and who was now unconscious of what was passing 
around him. The crowd examined him first with cau- 
tion, gradually, with familiarity; their whispers became 
animated conversation, and, finally, blended in one noisy 
confusion. 
There were, among those present, many who had 
heard of the white man and of his powers, but none had 
ever seen one before. One Indian, more bold than the 
rest, stripped the remnant of a cloak from Rousseau’s 
shoulder ; another, emboldened by this act, caught 
rudely hold of his coat, and as he pulled it aside, there 
fell from his breast a small gilt crucifix, held by a silken 
cord. Its brilliancy excited the cupidity of all, and 
many were the eager hands that pressed forward to ob- 
tain it. An old chief gained the prize, and fortunately 
