ushing force; and she would then weep for a time. But there was a
firmness about her character and a strength of determined resolution in her
purposes, which braced her spirit and filled her bosom with feelings such
as only have birth and nourishment in heroic souls. She looked her intended
fate in the face, with the fixed purpose to meet and conquer it, or perish
in the attempt.

In Duffel's absence, she had, on several occasions, searched the rooms of
the cave in which she was confined, to see if there was no secret passage
which communicated with the outer world. Her search had proved unavailing;
but instead of the outlet she was seeking, she found a small, jewel-hilted
dagger in a rich and costly case. It struck her at once that this weapon
might prove of great value to her, and with much care she concealed it in
the folds of her dress, where it was made fast. It was this dagger that
served her so excellently in the interview with Duffel, recorded in a
preceding chapter.

During the interview just referred to, it will be remembered how admirably
she sustained her part, and how triumphantly she thwarted Duffel in all his
villainous calculations, and especially in his attack upon her person.
After the wretch was gone, and she found herself alone, a train of sad
reflections came crowding in upon her mind. Was Hadley indeed dead? she
thought--and then the circumstantial narrative of the two accomplices of
her captor arose fresh in her mind.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed, "can it be that ravenous beasts fed upon his
flesh? that those arms upon which I have leaned, and which I hoped would
protect me, were torn from his body? that those lips which have smiled so
sweetly and spoken so hopefully and tenderly, and that noble face and brow
were gloated over by howling and bloody jaws! No, no; it cannot be! God is
just! and the wicked shall not triumph."

She tried to drive the horrible picture from her thoughts, and after a time
succeeded; for she felt the necessity of self-control in her trying
situation, and bent all her energies to that point. Then she reflected upon
all that had transpired that day, and she felt that with Duffel there was
no mercy. But she was not overcome by the thought. If worst come to worst,
she resolved that death should save her from the spoiler.

As these reflections occupied her mind, she remembered the declaration of
the villain concerning the secret communication between the two apartments
in