of the wall, through one of which, in particular, it
would be easy enough to effect a retreat. At this place, the floor was
entirely wanting, and the earth below washed into a gully communicating
with the rocky ravine, of which it might be considered the head.

But the looks of the soldier did not dwell long upon the dreary spectacle
of ruin; they were soon cast upon the countenance of Edith, concealed so
long by darkness. It was even wanner and paler than he feared to find it,
and her eye shone with an unnatural lustre, as it met his own. She
extended her hands and placed them in his, gazed upon him piercingly, but
without speaking, or indeed seeming able to utter a single word.

"Be of good heart," he said, replying to the look of inquiry; "we are
unfortunate, Edith, but we are safe."

"Thank Heaven!" she exclaimed, but more wildly than fervently: "I have
been looking every moment to see you shot dead at my feet! Would I had
died, Roland, my brother, before I brought you to this fatal land--But I
distress you! Well, I will not be frightened more. But is not this an
adventure for a woman that never before looked upon a cut finger without
fainting? Truly, Roland,--'truly,' as friend Nathan says,--it is as
ridiculous as frightful: and then this cabin, where they killed so many
poor women and children,--is it not a ridiculous lodging place for Edith
Forrester? a canopy of clouds, a couch of clay, with owls and snakes for
my bed-fellows--truly, truly, truly, it is very ridiculous!"

It seemed, for a moment, as if the maiden's effort to exchange her
melancholy and terror for a more joyous feeling, would have resulted in
producing even greater agitation than before; but the soothing words of
Roland, and the encouraging countenance maintained by Telie Doe, who
seemed little affected by their forlorn situation, gradually tranquilised
her mind, and enabled her the better to preserve the air of levity and
mirthfulness, which she so vainly attempted at first to assume. This
moment of calm Roland took advantage of to apprise her of the necessity
of recruiting her spirits with a few hours' asleep; for which purpose he
began to look about him for some suitable place in which to strew her a
bed of fern and leaves.

"Why, here is one strewn for me already," she cried, with an affected
laugh, pointing to a corner, in which lay a mass of leaves so green and
fresh that they looked as if plucked but a day or two before: "truly,
Nathan