Left alone in this unceremonious fashion the young man paddled
ruefully after his missing oar, and then struck out boldly after the
escaped captive, with the intention of apologizing for what now seemed
to him rather a cowardly performance; but the footsteps of the flying
maiden left no trace upon the beach. His discomfited gaze rested on no
living thing save the approaching figures of his sister and her friend,
whose humane inquiries and frequent jests concerning the half wild,
wholly dripping, vision that had crossed their path, contributed in no
way to the young man's enjoyment of their homeward row.
CHAPTER V.
THE ALGONQUIN MAIDEN.
Early on one of those matchless summer mornings, for he loved to adopt
the hours kept by the birds, Edward set forth alone on a voyage of
discovery. The wilds of his native land had a great and enduring
fascination for him. He never ceased to enjoy the charm of a forest so
dense that one might stay in it for days without the danger of
discovery. Wandering as he listed, hurrying or loitering as it pleased
him, and resting when weary beneath the outstretched arms of the
over-shadowing wood, he drank deeply of the simple joys of a free and
careless savage life.
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