This little Indian had, before this, shown me as much favour as an
Indian girl ever ventures to show, sufficient, at all events, to
satisfy me that I was not disagreeable to her, and what the
interpreter had said made me very uncomfortable. However, I consoled
myself with the recollection that if I were compelled to marry this
girl, it would be an involuntary infidelity on my part, and on that
account might well be excused; for the hope of again rejoining Amy
never left me at any time.
One day I went out in search of deer, and was led away from my
companions after a buck which I had wounded and attempted to overtake.
They saw me in chase of my quarry, and left me in pursuit. I followed
for several hours, continually coming up with it and as continually
losing it again. At last, I heard the report of a musket close to
where the deer was last seen by me, and I thought that some Indian had
shot it. I walked forward, however, very cautiously, and perceived a
white man standing by the animal, which lay at his feet. I started
back, for I did not know whether I had fallen in with a friend or a
foe; but as I knew that he had not had time to reload his musket, I
hallooed to him, concealing myself at the same time behind a tree.
"Is that you, Evans?" said the man in reply.
"No," said I, "it is an Englishman."
"Well, show yourself, then," said he.
"I am dressed as an Indian," replied I; "I was taken by the Indians."
"Well, come along," said the man, who was attired as a seafaring man.
I came from behind the tree, and when he saw me he snatched up his
musket.
"Don't be afraid," said I.
"Afraid!" said he; "I should like to see what I am afraid of; but I'll
be on my guard."
"That's right," I replied.
I then told him that I had been taken by the Indians, and they saved
my life because one of their women chose me as her husband, and that I
was anxious to escape from them.
"Well," said he, "I am on board of a schooner at anchor down below in
the river. There are a few of us come on shore to get some venison,
and I have lost my comrades; but I had no idea that the Indians were
down here so close to the English settlements."
"How close are we, then?" said I; "for I know not where I am. This is
certainly not our usual hunting-ground, for I have been led many miles
from it, in pursuit of the animal you have just shot."
"Well, I thought so; for I have been on shore here more than once, and
I have never met with an Indian. You ask how far you are from the
settlement; that I can hardly tell you, because the settlers have
spread out so far; but you are about forty or fifty miles from James
Town."
"And what river, then, is your schooner at anchor in?"
"I don't know the name," replied the man; "I'm not sure that it has a
name. We come here for wood and water, because it is quiet, not
inhabited, and no questions asked."
"What are you, then?" inquired I.
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