me! Help me to reach that hut, Clarence."

There was no resisting her wild and passionate appeal. Clarence put his
arm around her waist, to sustain her more effectually, as he said:

"Now lean on me, Cora, and step carefully, for the path is almost
hidden, and very rugged."

"Oh, Clarence, did he recognize me? did he, Clarence? did he?" she
eagerly inquired.

"Yes, Cora, he did," gravely answered the young uncle.

"And turned and went away! And turned and went away! Went away and left
me without one word!" she wailed, in doubt and distress.

"Cora, my dear, pray control yourself," said Clarence, uneasily.

"Did he speak to you?" she suddenly inquired.

"Not one word."

"Did you speak to him?"

"No; for he was gone in an instant, before I recovered from my
astonishment at his appearance."

"How did he look?--how did he look when he recognized me? In anger?"

"No, Corona; but in much sorrow, pity, and tenderness," gravely replied
Clarence.

"Then, why did he leave me? Oh, why did he turn away from me?"

"My dear, he had every reason to think that his sudden appearance had
frightened you, and that his presence grieved and distressed you."

"Why, oh, why should he have thought so?" she demanded, with increasing
agitation.

"My dear girl, you were frightened. I might say appalled. You saw him
suddenly, and with a half-smothered scream threw your hands to your eyes
as if to shut out the sight, and then sank to the ground. Now what could
the man think but that you feared and hated the sight of him?"

"Just as he thought before! Just as he thought before!"

"And he turned sorrowfully away and walked up to his cabin on the mount,
entered, and shut the door. I saw him do it."

"Just as he did before! Just as he did before! Oh, Rule! what a
fatality! That appearances should always be false and disastrous between
us!" she moaned.

"Not in this case, Cora. At least not from this hour. Come, we are on
the ledge now!" said Clarence, as he helped his niece, who with one more
high step stood on the top of the plateau, her back to one of the most
glorious prairie scenes in nature, her face to a rocky, pine-dotted
precipice, against which stood a double log cabin, with a door in the
middle and a window on each side.

"There is the hut! Now, shall I take you there, or shall I wait here and
let you go alone?" he inquired, as they stood side by side gazing on the
hut.

She did not answer. Her eyes were riveted on