As she uttered the last word she moved to the crevice again.
“Who blows that bugle?” the girl asked, curiously, trying to catch sight of the blower; but the next moment a dark figure rose between her and the stars.
It was the burly body of the guard, and his action told the girl that he had purposely obstructed her line of vision.
The next bugle blast was broken by the voice of the Indian, who stood against the lodge.
“Dog! will you give your mouth no rest?” said the guard, angrily.
Mouseskin's eyes flashed at this, and Feel-the-Sky advanced to bestow the threatened kick.
All at once, like a panther preparing for a spring, the noisy Sioux boy dropped to the ground, and the next moment threw himself heavily upon the guard.
Dora Lightway, the girl captive, heard the collision, and saw two figures writhing and struggling in the dim light.
Like two mastiffs contending for victory, the redskins fought just without the birchen lodge. The advantage was with the boy, whose sudden charge had taken his adversary at a disadvantage.
“Ah! me, a groan! the knife on one is at work,” Dora said, with a shudder for the sounds that assailed her ears.
Then a strange silence came into the lodge.
A half hour of mental torture passed away, and Dora put her hand through the crevice—it touched the rude bar which secured the door.
Holding her breath, she worked silently at this till it fell, and then she easily stepped out.
What a thrill of joy shot through the heart of Midnight Jack's young sister.
The stars were above her; the lodge of captivity behind!
It was a moment the emotions of which cannot be described.
Near her lay the body of a man, and near to it another dark heap, but much smaller.
This is what Weeping Leaf said to herself.
The sounds before her told her that safety lay in the route that stretched in the opposite direction.
“Heaven guide my feet!” she fervently cried.
A shrill bugle blast at her very side almost lifted her from the ground.
With a cry of horror she turned and saw Mouseskin on his knees, blowing with all his might.
The sight decided the soldier's daughter.
The next moment she sprung upon the boy with the intention to do or die, and pushed him back.
At the same time she snatched the silver bugle from his lips, and struck him heavily with the singular weapon.