She was in the room occupied by Virginia Temple. Oh, what a contrast
between the two! Yes, there they were—Revenge and Innocence! The one
lay pure and beautiful in sleep; her round, white arm thrown back upon
the pillow, to form a more snowy resting place for her lovely cheek.
From beneath her cap some tresses had escaped, which, happy in release,
were sporting in the soft air that wooed them through the open window.
Her face, at other times too spiritually pale, was now slightly flushed
by the sultry warmth of the night. A smile of peaceful happiness played
around her lips, as she dreamed, perhaps, of some wild flower ramble
which in happier days she had had with Hansford. Her snowy bosom, which
in her restlessness she had nearly bared, was white and swelling as a
wave which plays in the calm moonlight. Such was the beautiful being who
lay sleeping calmly in the arms of Innocence, while the dark, but not
less striking, form of the Indian girl bent over, to discover if she
slept. She was dressed as we have before described, with the short
deer-skin smock, extending to her knees, and fitted closely round the
waist with a belt of wampum. Her long black hair was bound by a simple
riband, and fell thickly over her shoulders in dark profusion. In her
left hand she held a lamp, and it was fearful to mark, by its faint,
glimmering light, the intense earnestness of her countenance. There were
some traces of tears upon her cheek, but these were nearly dried. Her
bright black eyes were lighted by a strange, unnatural fire, which they
never knew before. It seemed as though you might see them in the dark.
In her right hand she held a small dagger, which _he_ had given her as a
pledge of a brother's love. Fit instrument to avenge a brother's death!
She seemed to be listening and watching to hear or see the slightest
movement from the slumbering maiden. But all was still!
“I slept not thus,” she murmured, “the night I heard him vow his
vengeance against your father. Before the birds had sung their morning
song I came to warn you. Now all I loved, my country, my friends, my
brother, have gone forever, and none shares the tears of the Indian
maiden.”
She turned away with a sigh from the bedside of Virginia, and carefully
replaced the dagger in her belt. She then took a key which was lying on
the table and clutched it with an air of triumph. That key she had
stolen from the pocket of Alfred Bernard while he slept—for what will
not revenge, and woman's revenge, dare to do. Then taking up a water
pitcher, and extinguishing the light, she softly left the room.
As she endeavoured to pass the outer door she was accosted by the hoarse
voice of the sentinel—“Who comes there?” he cried.
“A friend,” she answered, timidly.
“You cannot pass, friend, without a permit from the Governor. Them's his
orders.”
“I go to bring some water for the sick maiden,” she said earnestly,
showing him the pitcher. “She is far from well. Let her not suffer for a
draught of water.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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