CHAPTER IX.
A NEW DANGER.
Tis too late To crush the hordes who have the power and will To rob thee of thy hunting-grounds and fountains, And drive thee backward to the Rocky Mountains .-- EDWARD SANFORD.
The moon was now well up in the sky, although it was still comparatively early in the night.

It was hardly possible that the escape of Miss Prescott could be discovered before morning, yet the Huron was too prudent not to guard against the most remote probability, by taking up their march at once in a direct line for the settlement.
The eight or ten hours of unmolested travel that were before them, were amply sufficient to place all beyond danger, at least from the Shawnees who had just been left behind.

Taking the lead, as usual, he proceeded at a moderate walk, timing his progress to the endurance of the maiden with him, still keeping the impatient Cato behind.
"I say, Oonomoo," called out Lieutenant Canfield, in a suppressed voice, "suppose Miss Prescott and myself should indulge in conversation, would you have any objection ?" "No--don't care--talk sweet--talk love--so no one hear but gal--gal talk low, sweet, so no one but him hear," returned the Indian, pleasantly.
Falling a rod or so in the rear, the Lieutenant took the willing hand of his betrothed, and said: "Tell me, dear Mary, of your captivity--of all that happened to you since they took you from your home." The girl proceeded to relate what is already known to the reader, adding that but for the friendship of Hans Vanderbum and Oonomoo, she never would have hoped to escape from her captivity.
"The Dutchman is a stupid, honest-hearted fellow, whose heart is in the right place, and the Huron has endeared himself to hundreds of hearts by his self-sacrificing devotion in their hour of affliction." "What possible motive could influence him to risk his life in my rescue ?" "His own nature.

He has been with those holy men, the Moravians, and he is, what is so rarely seen, a Christian Indian.

But, he has been thus friendly to the whites for many years.