Page:Edgar Huntly, or The Sleep Walker.djvu/239

 the Indians, and the fourth was doubtless that by which you had fallen; yet three muskets only were discoverable.

"The arms were collected, and the girl was carried to the nearest house by her father. Her situation was deemed capable of remedy; and the sorrow and wonder which I felt at your untimely and extraordinary fate, did not hinder me from endeavouring to restore the health of this unfortunate victim: I reflected likewise that some light might be thrown upon transactions so mysterious, by the information which might be collected from her story. Numberless questions and hints were necessary to extract from her a consistent or intelligent tale. She had been dragged, it seems, for miles, at the heels of her conquerors, who at length stopped in a cavern for the sake of some repose. All slept but one, who sat and watched: something called him away; and, at the same moment, you appeared at the bottom of the cave, half naked and without arms: you instantly supplied the last deficiency by seizing the gun and tomahawk of him who had gone forth, and who had negligently left his weapons behind; then stepping over the bodies of the sleepers, you rushed out of the cavern.

"She then mentioned your unexpected return, her deliverance and flight, and arrival at Deb's hut. You watched upon the hearth, and she fell asleep upon the blanket; from this sleep she was aroused by violent and cruel blows. She looked up—you were gone, and the bed on which she lay was surrounded by the men from whom she had so lately escaped. One dragged her out of the hut, and levelled his gun at her breast; at the moment when he touched the trigger, a shot came from an unknown quarter, and he fell at her feet. Of subsequent events she had an incoherent recollection: the Indians were successively slain; and you came to her, and interrogated and consoled her.

"In your journey to the hut you were armed; this in some degree accounted for appearances—but where were your arms? Three muskets only were discovered, and these undoubtedly belonged to your enemies.

"I now had leisure to reflect upon your destiny. I had arrived soon enough on this shore merely to witness the catastrophe of two beings whom I most loved; both were