Joe
got a glimpse of dark ravines and heard the music of tumbling
waters; he saw gray cliffs grown over with vines, and full of holes
and crevices; steep ridges, covered with dense patches of briar and
hazel, rising in the way. Yet the Shawnee always found an easy path.
The sun went down behind the foliage in the west, and shadows
appeared low in the glens; then the trees faded into an indistinct
mass; a purple shade settled down over the forest, and night brought
the party to a halt.
The Indians selected a sheltered spot under the lee of a knoll, at
the base of which ran a little brook. Here in this inclosed space
were the remains of a camp-fire. Evidently the Indians had halted
there that same day, for the logs still smouldered. While one brave
fanned the embers, another took from a neighboring branch a haunch
of deer meat. A blaze was soon coaxed from the dull coals, more fuel
was added, and presently a cheerful fire shone on the circle of
dusky forms.
It was a picture which Joe had seen in many a boyish dream; now that
he was a part of it he did not dwell on the hopelessness of the
situation, nor of the hostile chief whose enmity he had incurred.
Almost, it seemed, he was glad of this chance to watch the Indians
and listen to them. He had been kept apart from Jim, and it appeared
to Joe that their captors treated his brother with a contempt which
they did not show him.
Pages:
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66