The water cleared, and I could see him lying in
the cool blue depths, his eyes staring, his mouth open, and a little
dark eddy about his forehead.
CHAPTER XXVI.
SHALAH.
I came out of the wood a new being. My wounded arm and my torn and
inflamed limbs were forgotten. I held my head high, and walked like a
free man. It was not that I had slain my enemy and been delivered from
deadly peril, nor had I any clearer light on my next step. But I had
suddenly got the conviction that God was on my side, and that I need
not fear what man could do unto me. You may call it the madness of a
lad whose body and spirit had been tried to breaking-point. But,
madness or no, it gave me infinite courage, and in that hour I would
have dared every savage on earth.
I found some Indians at the edge of the wood, and told one who spoke
Powhatan the issue of the fight. I flung the broken arrow on the
ground.
"That is my token," I said. "You will find the other in the pool below
the cascade."
Then I strode towards the tents, looking every man I passed squarely in
the eyes. No one spoke, no one hindered me; every face was like a
graven image.
I reached the teepee in which I had spent the night, and flung myself
down on the rude couch.
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