In this mood the young partisan had bid farewell to Bad Eye, and was about to leave the country of the Crows, when there was an arrival at the village, the new-comers being Mr. Martin Laurie and a band of trappers.
Benning was greatly surprised to see the agent at that time and place, and Laurie was no less surprised at meeting the partisan.
“I was afraid you were dead,” said the Scotchman. “I heard nothing of you, and all of us supposed that you had been rubbed out by the red-skins.”
“Not yet,” coolly replied Benning, who was suspicious of the Scotchman, and felt unwilling to give him any information until he could learn what his intentions were.
“Have you been able to do any thing for Miss Flora?”
Laurie, to whom Flora had now become a secondary object to the possession of her father’s scalp, here dropped the subject, which he found Benning quite willing to avoid. He was shrewd enough to guess that the young partisan would not be so cool and unexcited about the matter, unless he knew that Flora was safe. If she was safe, and Benning was remaining quietly among the Crows, it was reasonable to suppose that the young lady was not far off. Laurie had as yet heard nothing to move him from the belief that a party of Crows had made the night-attack upon Mr Robinette’s encampment, and he was still convinced that Flora was to be found among them. Benning doubtless knew where she was; but he was not rich enough to buy her from them, or influential enough to insure them immunity for the outrage. If the Crows had Flora, it was probable that they also had the scalp of Paul Robinette. The way seemed clear to Martin Laurie, who soon left the young man, and hastened to the lodge of the chief, for the purpose of opening negotiations.
George Benning had been led to quite different conclusions, which were as groundless as those of Laurie. When we reason upon false premises, the reasoning can not fail to deceive. Convinced that Silverspur had taken Flora to the rendezvous, he saw, from the light and easy manner in which Laurie mentioned her, that he knew of her safety and had seen her. It was evident to him that the shrewd Scotchman wished him to remain ignorant of her rescue, in order that he might be kept away from her as long as possible. He could not help smiling at the shortsightedness of Laurie, in expecting to conceal the truth from him, when he could so easily learn it from the trappers whom he had brought from the rendezvous.