"You speak enigmas, boy," said the other, sharply; "tell me quickly to whom, and what you allude?"
"Go, ask my lady," said the page, with provoking calmness; "I may not betray the secrets of her household."
"You!" said the other, scornfully; "a pretty stripling, truly, to receive the confidence of your lady."
"If not my lady's," replied the page, "perhaps her young companion has less discretion in her choice of confidants."
"Ha!" said the stranger, starting, and changing colour, in spite of his tawny disguise; "what say you of _her_? speak; and speak truly, for I shall soon know if thou art false, from her own lips."
"_Her_ lips will never contradict _my_ words," returned the boy; "but go, take the pass-word, enter the fort, and see--you will not find her there."
"Not find her there?" he repeated in astonishment, and with a bewildered air; then suddenly grasping the page's arm, he said, in no gentle tone,
"Now, by my faith, boy, you test my patience beyond endurance; if I thought you were deceiving me"--
He stopped abruptly, and withdrew his hand, as a laugh, which he could no longer repress, burst from the lips of Hector, and at the same instant the heavy cloak fell from his shoulders to the ground.
"What mountebank trick is this?" demanded the stranger, angrily; but, as his eye glanced over the figure of the page, his countenance rapidly changed, and in an altered tone, he exclaimed,
"Hush!" interrupted Hector, quickly pressing his finger on the other's lips; and, with a feeling of instinctive dread, he pointed to father Gilbert, who was approaching, and in a moment stood calmly and silently beside them. As the young man turned to scan the person of the priest, Hector hastily gathered his cloak around him, and before they were aware of his intention, fled from the spot, and was soon secure within the walls of the fort. The pretended Indian would have pursued, when he perceived the page's flight, but his steps were arrested by the nervous grasp of the priest.
"Loose your hold, sirrah!" he said, impatiently; but instantly recollecting himself, added, with a gesture of respect, "Pardon me, holy father, my mind was chafed with its own thoughts, or I should not have forgotten the reverence due to your character and office."