But there she was, squat on the ground and watching them with big black, pleading eyes. There was but one thing to do, to care for her now, as humanity insisted, and Angie made the first move. It was in the direction of cleanliness; for entering the tent, she soon appeared with some of her own extra clothing, soap, and towels, and bade the girl follow her up the river a few rods. The moon was shining clearly above the tree-tops, the camp-fire burned brightly, and Martin, Ray, and Levi were lounging near it when the two returned, and in one an astonishing transformation had taken place. Angie had gone away with a girl of ten in respect to clothing, her skirt evidently made of gunny cloth and reaching but little below her knees, and for a waist, what was once a man's red flannel shirt, and both in rags. Soiled with black mud, and bleeding, she was an object pitiable beyond words; she returned a young lady, almost, in stature, her face shining and rosy, and her eyes so tender with gratitude that they were pathetic. Another change had also come with cleanliness and clothing--a sudden bashfulness. It was some time ere she could be made to talk again, but finally that wore away and then her story came. What a tale it was--scarce credible. At first were growing terrors as she plunged deeper and deeper into the shadowy forest, the brush and logs that tripped her, the mud holes she wallowed through, the ever increasing horrors of this flight, the blood-chilling cries of night prowlers, the gathering darkness while she waited on the bridge, the awful moment when she saw two yellow eyes watching her, not twenty feet away, her screams of agonized fear, and then time that seemed eternity, while she expected the next moment to feel the fangs of a hungry panther. How blessed the first dawn of morning had seemed, how she ran on and on, until faint with hunger she halted to eat roots, leaves, berries--anything to sustain life! The river had been her one boon of hope and consolation, and even beyond the fear of wild beast had been the dread of pursuit and capture by this half-breed. When night came, she had crept into a thicket, covering herself with boughs; when daylight dawned, she had pushed on again, ever growing weaker and oft stumbling from faintness. Hope had almost vanished, her strength had quite left her, the last day had been a partial blank so far as knowledge of her progress went, but filled with eerie sights and sounds. From first to last the spites of Old Tomah had kept her company--by day she heard them, swifter-footed than she, in the undergrowth; by night they were all about, dodging behind trees, hopping from limb to limb, and sometimes snapping and snarling. The one supreme moment of joy, oft referred to, was when she had seen her rescuers' camp-fire, with human, and possibly friendly, faces about it.