THE AMERICANS AND THE ABORIGINES. 339 



lowed by all but one of the Indians. Hodges cast a 

 last glance after their dark figures, as they disap- 

 peared between the trees, and then seized the canoe 

 to carry it to the water. Upon reaching the opposite 

 shore, the Indian concealed the boat amongst the 

 bushes, and started off across the prairie at a pace 

 with which the young Englishman had some diffi- 

 culty in keeping up. 



IV. 



Tokeah and his Indians returned to their village 

 upon the banks of the Natchez. There, upon the 

 day after the arrival of the warriors, the Indians 

 assembled and deliberated in their council-house. 

 Some important matter was evidently in agitation : 

 an ominous gloom hung over the village ; and Canon- 

 dah, to whom her father had not spoken since his 

 return, and who was in complete ignorance of what 

 passed between him and Hodges, was shut tip in her 

 wigwam with Rosa. The absence of one of the 

 Indians, sent as a guide with the Englishman, the 

 silence of Tokeah, and their state of semi-captivity, 

 rendered the two girls sad and anxious, and they 

 busied themselves with a thousand conjectures as to 

 what has occurred, when a shrill whistle attracted 

 them to the window. The sight that there pre- 

 sented itself chased the blood from the cheeks of 



