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Show TilE LILY Ar.'D TilE TOTEll. nanee, that his proceedings towards Gucrnachc- who was a general favorite-bad afforded not more satisfaction to him, tl1an they had done to Monalctta. It was, therefore, in no very pleasa-nt mood with himself and those around him, that our captain consoled himself in the dance with the hand of an inferior beauty. J ealous of temper and frivolous of mind-characteristics which arc frequently found together-Albert was very fond of dancing, and enjoyed tl1e sport quite as greatly as any of his companions. But, even while he capered, his soul, stung and dissatisfied, was brooding vexatiously over its petty hurts. His thoughts were busied in devising ways to revenge himself upon tho humble offender by whom his mortification originally grew. Upon this 8WCCt nnd bitter cud did he chew while the merry music sounded in his ears, and the gaily twinkling feet of the dusky maidens were whirling in promiscuous mazes beneath his eye. But these festivities, and his own evil meditations, were destined to have an interruption as startling as unexpected. While the mirth was at its highest, and the merriment most contagious, the cars of the assembly were startled by screams, the most terrible, of fright and anguish. The Frenchmen felt o. nameless terror seizing upon them. The cries :md shrieks were from an European throat. Wild was tho discord which accom~ panied them,-whoops of wrath and vengeance, which, 11.8 cvi~ dently issued only from the throats of most infuriated sa\'ages. The music ceased in an instant. 1'he dance was arrested. The Frenchmen rushed to their arms, fully believing that tl10y were surrounded by treachery-that they had been beguiled to the feast only to become its victims. With desperate decision, they prepared themselves for the worst. While their suspense and fear were at their highest, the cause of tho alarm and uproar soon be-tame :lpparcnt to their eyes. Bursting, like a wounded deer, suddenly, from the woods by which the tlwdling of Audusla was sunoundcd, a J..\oody figure, ghnstly :md spotted, appearc~ before the crowd. In another moment the Frenchmen rcco,!;"mzcd the spy, Pierre Renaud, who had volunteered to get at tlte.hcart of the Indian mysteries-to follow the priesthood to thc1r sacred haunts, and gather nll the secrets of their ccrcmonialfl. . 'Ve have ah·cady seen that he reached his place of watch m s:\fcty. But here his good fortune failed him: his place of e~~ piona;;e was not ono of concealment. In the wild or~ic~ ~f thetr religion,-for they seem to have practised rites not dlssmula~ .to, and not less violent and terrible than those of the Bnh~ Druids,-the priests darted over the crouching spy. Detected m the very act, where he Jay," squat like a. toad," the lawns fell upon J1im with the sharp instruments of fli~t with \~·hieh they had been lancing and lacerating their own bod1es. Wi!h these they contrived, in spite of all hi.~ struggles and entreaties, to inflict upon him some \'Cry sc,·ere wouuds. Thcit· rage was unmeasured, and the will to slay him was not wanting. llut Renaud was n. fellow equally vigorous and active. lie baffled their blows as '~ell as l:o could, and :~t length break in,; ft·om their folds, ho took fa1rly to hlil llcels. Howling with rage and fury, they darted upon his track, their wild shrieks ringing through the \'l'ood like those of e-o many demons suffering in mortal agony. 'fhey cried to all whom tiHlY saw, to stay and slay the offender. Others joined in th~ _chase, ~s they h~ard this summons. But fortune favored ~he fugitive. _Has terror added wings to his flight. He was not, It seems, deshned to such a. death as they designed him. He outran hi.~ pursuers, :md. dod~ing those whom he accidentally encountered, he made his ~,·ay into tbe thick of the arca1 where his cvmrades, half he· |
