noon
She was suffering from thirst ; and on pronouncing the Indian word for water , the young girl snatched up a piece of birch-bark from the floor of the tent , and gathering the corners together , ran to the lake , and soon returned with water in this most primitive drinking-vessel , which she held to the lips of her guest , and she seemed amused by the long , deep draught with which Catharine slaked her thirst . Something like a gleam of hope came over Catharine 's mind as she marked the look of kindly feeling with which she caught the young Indian girl regarding her , and she strove to overcome the choking sensation that would from time to time rise to her throat as she fluctuated between hope and fear . The position of the Indian camp was so placed that it was quite hidden from the shore and Catharine could neither see the mouth of the ravine , nor the steep side of the mount that her brother and cousin were accustomed to ascend and descend in their visits to the lake-shore , nor had she any means of making a signal to them even if she had seen them on the beach . The long , anxious , watchful night passed , and soon after sunrise , while the morning mists still hung over the lake , the canoes of the Indians were launched , and long before noon they were in the mouth of the river . Catharine 's heart sunk within her as the fast receding shores of the lake showed each minute fainter in the distance . At mid-day they halted at a fine bend in the river , and landed on a small open place where a creek flowing down through the woods afforded them cool water ; here they found several tents put up and a larger party awaiting their return . The river was here a fine , broad , deep , and tranquil stream ; trees of many kinds fringed the edge , beyond was the unbroken forest , whose depths had never been pierced by the step of man -- so thick and luxuriant was the vegetation that even the Indian could hardly have penetrated through its dark , swampy glades : far as the eye could reach , that impenetrable , interminable wall of verdure stretched away into the far-off distance .