All the cords of my legs
were straightening as if I was in the saddle.
"She slept for three hours. I got the two horses saddled. Who could
tell but she might need help? I had nothing to do; I knew the shortest
way to Fort Micah, every foot--and then it is good to be ready for all
things. I told Hilton's wife what I had done. She was glad. She made a
gesture at me as to a brother, and then began to put things in a bag for
us to carry. She had settled all how it was to be. She had told the
girl. You see, a man may be--what is it they call me?--a plunderer, and
yet a woman will trust him, comme ca!"
"Aw yis, aw yis, Pierre; but she knew yer hand and yer tongue niver wint
agin a woman, Pierre. Naw, niver a wan. Aw swate, swate, she was, wid a
heart--a heart, Hilton's wife, aw yis!"
Pierre waved Macavoy into silence. "The girl waked after three hours
with a start. Her hand caught at her heart. 'Oh,' she said, still
staring at us, 'I thought that they had come!' A little after she and
Hilton's wife went to another room. All at once there was a sound of
horses outside, and then a knock at the door, and four men come in.
They were the girl's hunters.
"It was hard to tell what to do all in a minute; but I saw at once the
best thing was to act for all, and to get all the men inside the house.
So I whispered to Hilton, and then pretended that I was a great man in
the Company. I ordered Hilton to have the horses cared for, and, not
giving the men time to speak, I fetched out the old brown brandy,
wondering all the time what could be done.
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