On the contrary, she was answered with respectful
attention.
"My daughter does not always talk like a chief at a Council Fire,"
returned Rivenoak, "or she would not have said this. Two of my
warriors have fallen by the blows of our prisoner; their grave is
too small to hold a third. The Hurons do not like to crowd their
dead. If there is another spirit about to set out for the far off
world, it must not be the spirit of a Huron; it must be the spirit
of a pale-face. Go, daughter, and sit by Sumach, who is in grief;
let the Huron warriors show how well they can shoot; let the
pale-face show how little he cares for their bullets."
Hetty's mind was unequal to a sustained discussion, and accustomed
to defer to the directions of her seniors she did as told, seating
herself passively on a log by the side of the Sumach, and averting
her face from the painful scene that was occurring within the
circle.
The warriors, as soon as this interruption had ceased, resumed
their places, and again prepared to exhibit their skill. As there
was a double object in view, that of putting the constancy of the
captive to the proof, and that of showing how steady were the hands
of the marksmen under circumstances of excitement, the distance was
small, and, in one sense, safe.
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