Then away glided the maiden, so noiselessly that but for the tidings she brought, the party would almost have doubted that she had been there. For a time the company were mute with surprise, and involuntarily George clasped closely to his side his Marian, as if to shield her from the coming danger. At length, Mr. Gorton asked Robert for an explanation of what the stranger had said. Robert replied, “Two days since, I was hunting in the woods not far from the house, when a rustling noise behind some bushes attracted my attention. Without stopping to think, I levelled my gun and fired, when behold! up sprang an Indian girl, and bounded away so swiftly that to overtake her and apologize was impossible. This I suppose to be the reason why my life is sought.” His supposition was correct, and for the benefit of the reader we will explain how Orianna became possessed of the secret. The night before, when returning to her father’s wigwam, she was startled by the sound of many voices within. Curiosity prompted her to listen, and she thus learned that the Indians who lived east of Lexington had been insulted by a white man, who had fired at one of their squaws. From the description of the aggressor, she knew it to be Robert, and with fast beating heart she listened to the plan of attacking Mr. Gorton’s dwelling on the night of the wedding. Owanno heard them to the end, and then, to Orianna’s great delight, he refused to join them, saying he was too old to contend with the pale-face unless himself or family were molested. The old chief would not acknowledge how much this decision was owing to the influence of his gentle daughter. He knew she liked the whites, and he knew, too, another thing—but ’tis not time for that yet. Orianna had now something to do. A life dearer far than her own was to be saved, and Marian, too,—whose very name had a power to thrill each nerve of that noble Indian girl,—she was in danger. The next day Charlie waited in vain for his pupil, for she was away on her mission of love, and the stern features of many an Indian relaxed as he welcomed to his cabin the chieftain’s daughter. Ere the sun set, she fully understood their plan of attack, and then, unmindful of the twenty-five miles traversed since the dawn of day, she hied her back to Lexington, to raise its inhabitants, and, as we have seen, to apprise the bridal party of their danger. Not a moment was to be lost, and while they were consulting as to their best means of safety, the Indian girl again stood among them, saying, “Let me advise you. It is not the town they wish to attack,—they will hardly do that—it is _this_ house—it is _you_,” laying her hand convulsively on Robert’s arm. “But there is yet time to escape; flee to the town, and leave me here—” “To be killed?” said Robert. “To be killed!” she repeated, scornfully. “In all Kentucky there lives not the red man who dares touch a hair of Orianna’s head.”