»this exceeds all I have ever even heard, or
imagined as possible, in the treachery and artifices of your people!«
    »Tuscarora very cunning -« said June, in a way to show that she rather
approved of, than condemned the uses to which the dead bodies had been applied -
»Do soldier no harm now; do Iroquois, good. Got the scalps, first; now make
bodies work. By and by, bum 'em.«
    This speech told Mabel how far she was separated from her friend, in
character, and it was several minutes before she could again address her. But
this temporary aversion was lost on June, who set about preparing their simple
breakfast, in a way to show how insensible she was to feelings in others, that
her own habits taught her to discard. Mabel ate sparingly, and her companion as
if nothing had happened. Then they had leisure again for their thoughts, and for
further surveys of the island. Our heroine, though devoured with a feverish
desire to be always at the loops, seldom went that she did not immediately quit
them in disgust, though compelled by her apprehensions to return again, in a few
minutes, called by the rustling of leaves, or the sighing of the wind. It was,
indeed, a solemn thing, to look out upon that deserted spot, peopled by the dead
in the panoply of the living, and thrown into the attitudes and acts of careless
merriment and rude enjoyment. The effect on our heroine, was much as if she had
found herself an observer of the revelries of demons.
    Throughout the live-long day, not an Indian, nor a Frenchman was to be seen,
and night closed over the frightful but silent masquerade, with the steady and
unalterable progress with which the earth obeys her laws, indifferent to the
petty actors, and petty scenes, that are in daily bustle and daily occurrence on
her bosom. The night was far more quiet than that which had preceded it, and
Mabel slept with an increasing confidence, for she now felt satisfied that her
own fate would not be decided, until the return of her father. The following day
he was expected, however, and when our heroine awoke, she ran eagerly to the
loops in order to ascertain the state of the weather and the aspect of the
skies, as well as the condition of the island. There lounged the fearful group
on the grass, the fisherman still hung over the water, seemingly intent on his
sport, and the distorted countenance of Jennie glared from out the hut, in
horrible contortions.