ave them. Friend, I must leave thee! Thee shall have assistance. Can
thee hold out the hovel till morning? But it is foolish to ask thee: thee
_must_ hold it out, and with none save the coloured person and the man
Dodge to help thee; for I say to thee, it has come to this at last, as I
thought it would: I must break through the lines of thee Injun foes, and
find thee assistance."

"It is impossible," said Roland in despair; "you will only provoke your
destruction."

"It may be, friend, as thee says," responded Nathan; "nevertheless,
friend, for thee women's sake, I will adventure it; for it is I,
miserable sinner that I am, that have brought them to this pass, and that
must bring them out of it again, if man can do it."

At a moment of less grief and desperation, Roland would have better
appreciated the magnitude of the service which Nathan thus offered to
attempt, and even hesitated to permit what must have manifestly seemed
the throwing away of a human life. But the emergency was too great to
allow the operation of any but selfish feelings. The existence of his
companions, the life of his Edith, depended upon procuring relief, and
this could be obtained in no other way. If the undertaking was dangerous
in the extreme, he saw it with the eyes of a soldier as well as a lover:
it was a feat he would himself have dared without hesitation, could it
have promised, in his hands, any relief to his followers.

"Go, then, and God be with you," he muttered, eagerly "you have our lives
in your hand. But it will be long, long before you can reach the band on
foot. Yet do not weary or pause by the way. I have but little wealth; but
with what I have I will reward you."

"Friend," said Nathan proudly, "what I do I do for no lucre of reward,
but for pity of thee poor women; for truly I have seen the murdering and
scalping of poor women before, and the seeing of the same has left blood
upon my head, which is a mournful thing to think of."

"Well, be not offended: do what you can--our lives may rest on a single
minute."

"I _will_ do what I can, friend," replied Nathan; "and if I can but pass
safely through thee foes, there is scarce a horse in thee company, were
it even thee war-horse, that shall run to thee friends more fleetly. But,
friend, do thee hold out the house: use thee powder charily; keep up the
spirits of thee two men, and be of good heart theeself, fighting
valiantly, and slaying according to thee conscience; and th