At length Conanchet paused He studied the position of the sun, gravely,
and took a long and anxious look at the signs of the forest, in order that
he might not be deceived in its quarter. To an unpractised eye, the arches
of the trees, the leaf-covered path, and the mouldering logs, would have
seemed everywhere the same. But it was not easy to deceive one so trained
in the woods. Satisfied equally with the progress he had made, and with
the hour the chief signed to his two companions to place themselves at his
side, and took a seat on a low shelf of rock, that thrust its naked head
out of the side of a hill.
For many minutes, after all were seated, no one broke the silence. The eye
of Narra-mattah sought the countenance of her husband, as the eye of woman
seeks instruction from the expression of features that she has been taught
to revere; but still she spoke not. The innocent laid the patient babe at
the feet of its mother, and imitated her reserve.
"Is the air of the woods pleasant to the Honey-suckle, after living in the
wigwam of her people?" asked Conanchet, breaking the long silence.
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