Nell cried till she brought on a slight headache, then made that an
excuse for going to bed before the return of her brother and his
wife. She did not want to face the keen scrutiny of Clare, who would
be sure to detect the traces of tears and to make a shrewd guess at
their cause.
The girl had ample space for repentance, overpowering anxiety and
dread in the next two or three weeks; and though she continued to
hide her feelings from those about her, seeming quite as light
hearted and gay as was her wont, the darkness of night was witness to
many sighs and tears.
Dale came in on the evening after her late interview with Kenneth,
and seizing an opportunity for a few words in private, asked her what
she thought of Dr. Clendenin's starting off upon such a journey at
that inclement season of the year.
"Why should I trouble myself about it?" Nell asked, with a slight
toss of her pretty head. "I presume the doctor knows his own
business."
"Possibly," returned Dale, with gravity, "but can you conjecture what
that business is?"
"Can you?" she asked. "Perhaps some Indian chief is ill, or has a
sick wife or child, and wishes to test the skill of the medicine man
of the whites."
"Your ingenuity does you credit, Miss Lamar," remarked Dale, poking
the fire, "but I am satisfied that Clendenin has gone on the same
errand that took him before; and that is a chase after a white woman
living among the Indians."
"A relative?" queried Nell, with interest.
"No; he told me he had never had relative or friend taken by them;
and that is what makes his evident anxiety to find her so puzzling,
so utterly inexplicable to me."
"Neither relative nor friend," pondered Nell, as she lay awake
that night, listening to the sough of the wind around the house,
the creaking of the trees in its fierce blast, the rattle of sleet
against the outer wall, and the distant howl of the prairie wolf, and
thinking of Kenneth without shelter from storm or wild beast, "if it
were his lady love he would never say that."
This was not a heavy or lasting storm, the morning sun rose in a
clear sky, and several days of mild bright weather followed.
After that it grew bitterly cold, and for many hours a fierce tempest
raged, and the snow fell fast, the wind whirling it furiously about
till all the roads and paths were blocked up with it, and in places
the drifts were many feet deep.
Kenneth was on his homeward way when this storm began, with, as he
had said, no companion save his horse and his gun.
On the latter was his principal reliance for a supply of food, though
he had in his saddle-bags sufficient coarse corn-bread to keep him
from actual starvation.
And well was it for him that he had come so provided, as the
whirling, blinding snow rendered the pursuit of game impossible for
the time being.
Indeed he soon found it impossible to continue his journey, and
coming upon a comparatively sheltered spot, at the foot of a rock, he
dismounted, secured his horse, and with some difficulty collecting a
supply of dry branches, twigs, bark and leaves, finally succeeded in
kindling a fire with his flint and steel and a bit of burnt rag which
he carried for the purpose in his tinder box.
His mission had not been successful and his heart was heavy with
disappointment, care and grief, as he sat there over his fire
listening to the howling of the storm as the wind swept through the
forest, the giant trees bending and creaking in the blast, groaning,
breaking, falling before it and beneath the weight of snow and sleet.
At length there was a slight lull in the tempest, and Kenneth crept
out from his hiding place and wandered hither and thither in search
of fuel with which to replenish his fire.
Plunging into a snowdrift his foot caught in something and he had
nearly fallen over--what? was it a log? Surely not! His heart gave
a wild throb, he stooped, and hastily brushing away the snow found
an Indian lad sleeping that fatal sleep, that, undisturbed, ends in
death.
Exerting all his strength, Kenneth took the boy in his arms, shook
him roughly, shouted in his ears, and catching up a handful of snow,
rubbed it briskly over the half frozen face.
He dragged him to the shelter of the rock, but not close to the fire,
and continuing his efforts at length succeeded in rousing him, and
finally in restoring circulation and warmth to his benumbed limbs.
Then he took him to the fire, fed him and made him share his blanket,
taking him in his arms that it might cover them both: and so with
their feet to the fire, and each hugged close to the other's breast,
they slept through the dark, stormy night.
The morning broke bright, clear and cold, icicles depending from the
trees, snow heaped high on every side, too high to admit of moving
more than a few paces from their sheltered nook. It was as if they
were shut up in prison together.
The lad knew that Kenneth had saved his life and he was very
grateful. He was a Shawnee, and had been travelling from one Indian
village to another, but blinded by the whirling sleet and snow had
lost his way and at last, overcome with fatigue, hunger and cold, had
lain down to rest and sleep.
He could speak but a few words of English; but Kenneth had
gained considerable knowledge of the Shawnee tongue since making
acquaintance with Wawillaway, and was able to converse with the boy
to their mutual satisfaction.
They remained together for some days, keeping up their fire and
feeding on some wild turkeys Kenneth fortunately succeeded in
shooting; then parting with kindly adieus and a hearty shake of the
hand, each went his way, Kenneth toward Chillicothe, the Indian lad
in a nearly opposite direction.
While yet two or three miles from the town, Kenneth saw in the
distance a white man and an Indian coming toward him from thence.
They were Dale and Wawillaway, and as they drew near the former
uttered a joyous shout.
"Hello, doc! so here you are, safe and sound! We feared you were
buried in the snowdrifts and we'd have to dig you out."
There was a hearty shaking of hands as they met.
"Did you come out in search of me?" asked Kenneth.
"We did," said Dale, "and are rejoiced to have found you so easily.
Your friends have been exceedingly anxious in regard to your safety,
fearing you could hardly have weathered the heavy storm of last week.
How did you manage it?"
Dale and the Indian had wheeled about, and all three were ploughing
their way through the snow in the direction of the town.
Kenneth answered the question as they went, with a brief account of
his sojourn at the foot of the rock in the wilderness.
He said nothing of the object of his journey or whether it had been
successful; but Dale's furtive yet searching glances read a fresh and
bitter disappointment in the weary, haggard face, and drooping figure.
"And my friends have been anxious for my safety, you say?" Kenneth
said inquiringly, and with a wistful look in his large gray eyes,
thinking of a fair young face that had sometimes brightened at his
coming.
"Yes," said Dale, "it has been for the last three days the most
exciting theme of conversation with old and young. It's a fine thing
to be a doctor, if you care to have high and low, rich and poor
interested in your safety."
It was the middle of the afternoon. Mrs. and Miss Lamar plied the
needle within doors while the children were engaged in winter sports
without--sledding, sliding and snow-balling.
Suddenly they came tearing in, half wild with joy.
"Oh, mother and Aunt Nell, he's come! he's come!"
"Who?" and Nell's heart beat fast and loud. It had been well nigh
breaking with the thought of a manly form lying still and cold out in
the wilderness with a snow wreath for its winding sheet, yet she had
given no sign, but seemed the gayest of the gay.
"Dr. Clendenin!" cried the children in chorus; "he didn't get lost in
the snow or killed by the Indians, we just saw him ride by with Mr.
Dale and Wawillaway."
Nell stitched away, apparently quite indifferent to the news, but her
heart sang for joy, and all the rest of the day her ear was strained
to catch the sound of his approaching footsteps.
The major brought him home to tea and though Mrs. Lamar welcomed him
most cordially, and the children hailed his coming with delight,
Nell's manner was reserved and quiet almost to coldness.
He took the limp, passive hand in his for an instant, as he gave one
wistful glance into the unmoved face, then with the thought, "She
does not care for me, and it is well," yet sighing inwardly, turned
away and entered into conversation with the major and his wife.
"We have been very anxious about you, doctor, ever since that fearful
storm set in," Mrs. Lamar was saying. "We feared you must perish if
exposed to it. Did you not suffer terribly?"
"Oh no," he answered cheerily, "I fared very well," and went on to
tell of the sheltered rock he had found, and that he had a fire, a
good blanket and something to eat.
"Tell us all about it," the children begged, clustering round him and
climbing upon his knees.
"Were you all alone?" asked Bess; "I do think it must be dreadful to
be alone in the woods at night."
"No, I was not quite alone through it all," he said, stroking her
hair.
"Oh, I know! you mean God was with you?"
"Yes; but I had a human companion, too, an Indian boy, who told me
his name was Little Horn."
Nell asked no question, but she was not the least interested of those
who listened to the story of the finding of the lad and the way in
which the two passed their time while storm-stayed together in the
wood.
She was furtively studying Kenneth's face while he talked,
sorrowfully taking note of its worn, thin look, and the deepening of
the lines of grief and care that made it seem older than his years
warranted. Its expression at this moment was cheerful, as were the
tones of his voice, but she had no need to be told that for him
"Disappointment still tracked the steps of hope."