The bright, windless day passed over the prairie, and whenever
Annette spoke of the bravery of Captain Stephens, Julie would tell
some praises of the chief with the graceful loins and the great
luminous eye.
"Your lover has said that he would come to see you, Julie, but, ah
me, in these troublesome times Captain Stephens can no more return to
our cottage. Do you know, my little friend, that I cannot bear being
cooped up here during all this strife and tumult, when brave men and
defenceless women are at the mercy of savages and ill-advised men of
our own class. There have been evil and oppressive doings by
government and its agents, but I do not think that Monsieur Riel and
my father have taken the prudent course to remove the wrongs. It will
not be fair or honorable war; for when the savage and cruel instincts
of the red men are once aroused, they will treat the innocent like
the guilty, and neither woman nor child will be safe from their
horrible vengeance. Therefore, Annette, I have made up my mind to go
forth tomorrow in my Indian-boy disguise.
"I shall not betray my people or bur friends, but I shall pass from
one force to the other, and whenever I can warn the loyal troops, or
apprise their people of danger, I shall do it. You Julie I shall
leave in the care of my aunt at the Portage; for it is not safe for
you, it would not be safe for you and me together, to remain in this
deserted cottage alone during these looting and lawless times."
The two maidens were now alone, save for the presence of a Cree
drudge; for Paul had mounted a pony and followed his father, with
pistols in his holster-pipes, and a large bowie knife stuck into his
belt.
So as evening drew on Annette had packed, in little, portable
parcels all the valuables about the house; and when she sat down to
supper with Julie at her side, she said that everything was now
ready, and that they needed but to get into the saddle in the
morning. Little did these two girls know, as they sat quietly eating
their supper, that there was at this very moment a band of painted
enemies hurrying across the dim prairie toward their cottage!
Everything was perfectly still in the house, and the tick-tack of the
clock smote the silence. The heart of each girl was far away, and the
eyes of both were on the white, sweet floor.
Annette was the first to raise her eyes, and a short cry of terror
burst from her lips. For there in the entrance of the little dining-room
stood the tall, straight figure of an Indian chief. The cry brought
Julie to her senses, and she too looked up: but she gave no cry; the
blood came surging into her sweet head till her cheeks, and her smooth
throat, and her little shell-like ears, became the color of a blown
carnation.