He was tall, and straight, and lithe; and he had a certain
indefinable grace of gesture and address which fits itself only to
one who, by descent and breeding, has been "to the manner born." His
hair was dark, and almost silky fine; and the poise of his head would
be a theme for the pen or the pencil of Rossetti. His eye was dark as
night, but it revealed an immense range of expression; a capacity for
great tenderness, and passion without bound. His nose approximated
the aquiline type; his firm mouth was a bow of Cupid, and his skin
was a light nut-brown. His dress was like that of a cow-boy, and was
devoid of barbaric gauds. I suppose that is enough to say about him.
[Footnote: I may say that when afterwards, through the fortunes of
war, this same chief was brought as a prisoner before a certain
paunchy officer, the attempt of the latter to show his dignity was a
clumsy failure. The proud and splendid chief, with arms folded across
his breast, and head slightly bowed, looked singularly out of place
arraigned before the stumpy judge.--E. C.] "And now," said the chief, putting down the hamper, "We shall see
what your aunt has sent." Nimble fingers soon opened it, and found,
besides le cafe and le the, as they were labelled, several petits
pains--"Rolls!" cried Julie, smacking her hungry lips--a bunch of
saucisses; of le fromage about a pound, and of la patisserie enough
for a meal for the hungry girls.
"There now, Julie, we have coffee, and tea, and rolls, and sausage;
a pound of cheese, fully, and pie enough for one delicious meal." Her
sweet mouth was "watering," and when she came to un gigot de mouton,
she cried, "What a sweet aunt she is! But when can we eat this whole
leg of mutton?"
Oh, Julie was very hungry, and so was her chief; and Annette herself
was like a bear. After all, very little would be left for the prairie
dog.
"Does the chief think that Captain Stephens was in danger of capture
by those Indians?" Annette ventured to ask. This is the question that
had been upon her lips since the arrival of the chief, but she could
not summon courage enough to ask it sooner.
"When last seen, mademoiselle, le capitaine and his wounded friend
were moving slowly through the swampy bottom of the ravine; and many
braves, with arms in their hands, were in close pursuit. But le
capitaine may have gone upon the high ground and escaped; he easily
could have done so."
There was not much consolation in this for Annette's foreboding
heart; but as she lay down in her blanket, with Julie at her side,
there came once more, through the stillness, from the bosom of the
lake, the soothing song of the swan.