Joe Smith's party came in, only to be confounded by the fact that she had
not even been seen by them. That night he had risked everything for her.
He scouted till dawn, visiting Wanaha's hut, but only to find it deserted.
Finally he returned to the farm, a broken-hearted man, bitter with the
reflection that he alone was to blame for what had happened.

The girl's loss cast a terrible gloom over the whole fort. It was only her
sense of responsibility which saved Ma from breaking down altogether. Rube
said not a word, but, like Seth, he perhaps suffered the more.

It was on the seventh day that a curious change came over the situation.
At first it was greeted with delight, but after the novelty had passed, a
grave suspicion grew in the minds of the worn and weary defenders. There
was not a shot fired. The enemy had withdrawn to their distant camps, and
a heavy peace prevailed. But the move was so unaccountable that all sought
the reason of it.

Counsel was taken by the heads of the defence, and the feeling of
uneasiness grew. The more experienced conceived it to be the herald of a
final, overwhelming onslaught. The younger preferred optimistic views,
which they found unconvincing. However, every one took care that advantage
was taken of the respite.

Seth had his supper in one of the upper rooms in company with Parker and
Nevil Steyne. He sat at the open window watching, watching with eyes
straining and nerves painfully alert. Others might rest, he could not,
dared not.

The sun dipped below the horizon. The brief spring twilight changed from
gold to gray. A footstep sounded outside the door of the room where the
three men were sitting. A moment later Mrs. Rickards came in. Rosebud's
cousin had changed considerably in those seven days. Her ample proportions
were shrunken. Her face was less round, but had gained in character. The
education of a lifetime had been crowded into the past week for her. And
it had roused a spirit within her bosom, the presence of which she had not
even suspected.

"Rube wants you, Seth," she announced. "He's on the north side of the
stockade. It's something particular, I think," she added. "That's why he
asked me to tell you."

With a few words of thanks, Seth accompanied her from the room and moved
down-stairs. It was on their way down that Mrs. Rickards laid a hand,
already work-worn, upon the man's arm.

"They're advancing again. Seth, shall we get out of this trouble?"

The quest