about to take their final leave of the tribe.
The soldiers of Middleton in anticipation of his arrival, had bargained with an
unsuccessful trader for the use of his boat, which lay in the stream ready to
receive its cargo, and nothing remained to complete the arrangements for the
long journey.
    Middleton did not see this moment arrive, entirely, without distrust. The
admiration with which Hard-Heart regarded Inez, had not escaped his jealous
eyes, any more than had the lawless wishes of Mahtoree. He knew the consummate
manner in which a savage could conceal his designs, and he felt that it would be
a culpable weakness to be unprepared for the worst. Secret instructions were
therefore given to his men, while the preparations they made were properly
masked behind the show of military parade, with which it was intended to
signalise their departure.
    The conscience of the young soldier reproached him, when he saw the whole
tribe accompanying his party to the margin of the stream with unarmed hands and
sorrowful countenances. They gathered in a circle around the strangers and their
chief and became not only peaceful but deeply interested observers of what was
passing. As it was evident that Hard-Heart intended to speak, the former
stopped, and manifested their readiness to listen, the trapper performing the
office of an interpreter. Then the chief addressed his people, in the usual,
metaphorical language of an Indian. He commenced by alluding to the antiquity
and renown of his own nation. He spoke of their successes in the hunts and on
the war path; of the manner in which they had always known how to defend their
rights and to chastise their enemies. After he had said enough to manifest his
respect for the greatness of the Loups, and to satisfy the pride of the
listeners, he made a sudden transition to the race of whom the strangers were
members. He compared their countless numbers to the flights of migratory birds
in the season of blossoms, or in the fall of the year. With a delicacy, that
none knew better how to practise than an Indian warrior, he made no direct
mention of the rapacious temper, that so many of them had betrayed, in their
dealings with the red-men. Feeling, that the sentiment of distrust was strongly
engrafted in the tempers of his tribe, he rather endeavored to soothe any just
resentment they might entertain, by indirect excuses and apologies. He reminded
the listeners that even the Pawnee Loups had been obliged to chase many unworthy
individuals from their villages. The Wahcondah sometimes veiled his countenance
from a red man. No doubt the Great Spirit of the Pale Faces often looked