Whispering Winds informed Joe that an important council was to be
held that afternoon. It would be wise for them to make the attempt
to get away immediately after the convening of the chiefs.
Accordingly she got upon Lance and rode him up and down the village
lane, much to the pleasure of the watching Indians. She scattered
the idle crowds on the grass plots, she dashed through the side
streets, and let every one in the encampment see her clinging to the
black stallion. Then she rode him out along the creek. Accustomed to
her imperious will, the Indians thought nothing unusual. When she
returned an hour later, with flying hair and disheveled costume, no
one paid particular attention to her.
That afternoon Joe and his bride were the favored of fortune. With
Mose running before them, they got clear of the encampment and into
the woods. Once in the forest Whispering Winds rapidly led the way
east. When they climbed to the top of a rocky ridge she pointed down
into a thicket before her, saying that somewhere in this dense
hollow was Girty's hut. Joe hesitated about taking Mose. He wanted
the dog, but in case he had to run it was necessary Whispering Winds
should find his trail, and for this he left the dog with her.
He started down the ridge, and had not gone a hundred paces when
over some gray boulders he saw the thatched roof of a hut.
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