It was not the hand of man that had rescued her; but an ally whom, perhaps, she deemed more faithful. It was the dog Wolf! The impetus which the Indian had given to the thrust, and its consequent failure, had carried her past her intended victim. She was turning with the design of renewing the attack, when the dog rushed upon the ground. With a savage growl the animal sprang forward; and, vaulting high into the air, launched himself on the breast of the Chicasaw--at the same instant seizing her by the throat! In this position he clung--holding on by his terrible teeth, and aided by his paws, with which he kept constantly clawing the bosom of the Indian! It was a painful spectacle; and now that Marian was safe, Wingrove and I ran on with the intention of releasing the woman from the grasp of the dog. Before we could get near, both victim and avenger disappeared from our sight! The Indian in her wild terror had been retreating backward. In this way she had reached the bank; and, having lost her footing, had fallen back downward upon the water! As we arrived upon the edge, neither woman nor dog was visible. Both had sunk to the bottom! Almost on the instant they re-appeared on the surface, the dog uppermost; and we saw that his teeth were still fastened upon the throat of his human victim! Half-a-dozen men leaped into the water; and, after a struggle, the savage animal was dragged from his hold. It was too late. The sharp incisors had done their dread work; and, as the body of the wretched woman was raised over the bank, those who lifted it perceived that the last breath had gone out of it. The limbs were supple, and the pulse no longer beat. Su-wa-nee had ceased to live! CHAPTER EIGHTY SEVEN. SUSPICIOUS APPEARANCES. The Indians came crowding around the corpse--both warriors and women. Their exclamations betokened no sympathy. Even the squaws looked on with unpitying aspect--though the victim was of their own race and sex. They knew she had been allied with their enemies; and had been witnesses of her savage assault upon _Maranee_, though ignorant of its motive. Some of them who had lost kindred in the strife, already stirred by grief and fury, were proceeding to insult the lifeless and mutilated remains--to mutilate them still more! I turned away from the loathsome scene. Neither the dead nor the living, that composed this ghastly tableau, had further interest for me.