ouble; and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify
me. My son, give me thine heart_."

Dick's eyes filled with tears while the sound, as it were, of
his mother's voice thus reached him unexpectedly in that lonely
wilderness. Like too many whose hearts are young and gay, Dick had
regarded religion, if not as a gloomy, at least as not a cheerful
thing. But he felt the comfort of these words at that moment, and he
resolved seriously to peruse his mother's parting gift in time to
come.

The sun was hot, and a warm breeze gently shook the leaves, so that
Dick's garments were soon dry. A few minutes served to change the
locks of his rifle, draw the wet charges, dry out the barrels, and
re-load. Then throwing it across his shoulder, he entered the wood
and walked lightly away. And well he might, poor fellow, for at that
moment he felt light enough in person if not in heart. His worldly
goods were not such as to oppress him; but the little note had turned
his thoughts towards home, and he felt comforted.

Traversing the belt of woodland that marked the course of the river,
Dick soon emerged on the wide prairie beyond, and here he paused in
some uncertainty as to how he should proceed.

He was too good a backwoodsman, albeit so young, to feel perplexed as
to the points of the compass. He knew pretty well what hour it was, so
that the sun showed him the general bearings of the country, and he
knew that when night came he could correct his course by the pole
star. Dick's knowledge of astronomy was limited; he knew only one star
by name, but that one was an inestimable treasure of knowledge. His
perplexity was owing to his uncertainty as to the direction in which
his companions and their pursuers had gone; for he had made up his
mind to follow their trail if possible, and render all the succour his
single arm might afford. To desert them, and make for the settlement,
he held, would be a faithless and cowardly act.

While they were together Joe Blunt had often talked to him about the
route he meant to pursue to the Rocky Mountains, so that, if they had
escaped the Indians, he thought there might be some chance of finding
them at last. But, to set against this, there was the probability that
they had been taken and carried away in a totally different direction;
or they might have taken to the river, as he had done, and gone
farther down without his observing them. Then, again, if they had
escaped, they would be sure to retu