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Show 178 TilE LILT AND THE TOTEM. 'l'hc question remained unanswered. Fourncnux excused himself on a variety of pleas, not one of which would be satisfactory with a brtwc man. La Itoqucttc declared that his magical powers were always yu\uclcss when nny restra int was set upon his person ; in other words, he could better perform his incantations when the danger threatened everybody but himself. lie certainly would not think of risking them within I~a Caroline, while Laudonnicrc was in power. Besides "he had no arts of im itation. He had no abilities as an actor." Stephen Lc Gcnc,·ois smiled ns he listened to their }Jicas and excuses. " l\Iy friends !" he exclaimed. "Did you think that I would suffer a good scheme to be spoiled by such as you? I but waited that you should speak. 1'hi.s adventure is mine, and I claim it. I will return to La Caroline. I will play the spy~and take the danger. Mark ye, now, comrade !"-addressing the Indian," prepare me for the business. Clothe me in copper, and make me whnt you plctLSe. I have no beauty that you need fear to spoil." Thus s.1ying1 he throw off, with an air of scornful recklessness, the costume which he wore. Wild was tho roilct, and wilder still tho guise of our buoyant Frenchman. In an open space within the thicket, beneath a. great iuoss-covcred oak, which wore the beard of three centuries upon his breast, the chief conspirator yielded himself to the hands of the Indian. A keen knife shore from his head tho thick black hair with which it was covered. A thin ridge alone was suffered to remain upon the coronal region, significant of the war-lock of that tribe of Apalachia, to which Oolcnoc belonged. The small golden droplets which hung from the Frenchman's cars, wore made W give way to a more nHlSSi\'O ornament of shells, cunningly strung upon a hoop of copper wire. 179 ITis body, stripped to the butT, was then stained \Vith the brown juices of a native pbnt, which, with other dyc-sht!Ti!, the Indian produced from his wallet. His brow was then dyed with deeper hues of red-his cheeks tinged with spots of the darkest crimson, while a heavy circlet of black, about his eyes, gave to his countenanca the aspect of 11 damon rather than that of a man. This done, the savage displayed a small pocket mirror before tho eyes of the met.amorpl10sed outlaw. "With an oath of no measured emphasis, tho Frenchman bounded to his feet, his eyes flashing with a strange delight. "It will do!" lla siJOut.cd. " H likes me weB! Were I now in France, there would be no wonder beside myself. I should stir the envy of the mcn-I should win the hearts of the women. I should be tha loveliest monster. lio! Jio! Would that my voice \Vould suit my visnge !" A cotton tunic with which t.he lndinn had provided himself, was wrapped round tho loins of our ncw-mndo sa.vnge, his feet wore cas~d with moccasins, and l1is legs with leggins made of deerskin-a bow and quiver at his shoulder-a knife in his girdle -a string of p:)!\g or shells about his neck ;-and his toilet was complete. Thnt very night, accompanied by his Indian comrade, Stephen Le Gene\·ois entered the walls of La Caroline, bearing messages from Oolcnoo and Alphonse D'Erlaeh-thelatter of which, we need scarcely sny, were whoUy fraudulent. Tho credulous I~audonnil!rc, delighted with assurances of success on tho part of his lieutenant, was not pnrticulnrly heedful of the nature of the evidence thus afforded him, and laid his head on an cas~ pillow, around which danger hovered in almost visible forms, wlnb ha, unconsl!io u ~ly, dreamed only of golden conquests, and discoveries which were equally to result in fame and fortune. |