Silent and melancholy was the greeting that took place
between the parties: the voice spoke not; the hand alone
was eloquent; but it was in the eloquence of sorrow only
that it indulged. Pleasure, even in this almost despaired
of re-union, could not be expressed; and even the eye
shrank from mutual encounter, as if its very glance at
such a moment were sacrilege. Recalled to a sense of her
situation by the preparation of the men to raise the
bridge, the Indian woman was the first to break the
silence.
"The Saganaw is safe within his fort, and the girl of
the pale faces will lay her head upon his bosom," she
remarked solemnly. "Oucanasta will go to her solitary
wigwam among the red skins."
The heart of Madeline de Haldimar was oppressed by the
weight of many griefs; yet she could not see the generous
preserver of her life, and the rescuer of the body of
her ill-fated cousin, depart without emotion. Drawing a
ring, of some value and great beauty, from her finger,
which she had more than once observed the Indian to
admire, she placed it on her hand; and then, throwing
herself on the bosom of the faithful creature, embraced
her with deep manifestations of affection, but without
uttering a word.
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