ubstantial dreams which the young and
ambitious are so fond of drawing, and which can never be realized? Did
she look upon him merely as a friend--a dear one, perhaps, whom she had
known and liked from their early childhood, because they had been
schoolmates, and he and her brother were friends?

In short, was it not evidence that she merely _liked_, but felt nothing
at all of _love_--that great over-mastering emotion that pervaded and
swayed his whole nature?

CHAPTER V.

A LIGHT AHEAD.

On the eve of starting for their destination they were confronted by a
practical difficulty, necessary to surmount before the journey could be
made. Their enemies had coolly appropriated the boat in which they had
intended to cross the river, and, another must be found for the use of
the fugitives. Ordinarily, this would have been a small matter, but,
coming as it did, it presented a difficulty not easily surmounted. Where
was the canoe to be secured? Lena-Wingo was the one to whom the others
looked to solve the problem, and he undertook it without delay.

"Stay here," said he. "Lena-Wingo find canoe."

"If you can manage to get back before to-morrow night," put in Rosa, "it
may save us a deal of valuable time."

"Lena-Wingo come back soon as can--girl don't talk much."

"I am glad to hear you speak so encouragingly," she responded, as he
moved off and instantly vanished in the deep gloom of the night.

Left to themselves, the three had little to do but to wait and hope that
their dusky friend would make good the promise of returning as soon as
possible.

"It is one of those things that could not be discounted beforehand,"
said Jo Minturn, feeling that his sister was becoming unjustly
impatient. "For no one could have dreamed that they would step up at the
moment we were ready to start, and run off with the boat."

"They must have known nothing about Rosa having occupied it this
afternoon," remarked Ned Clinton, glad of the chance of saying something
that would ward off any approach to the matter that had caused him so
much pain. "Their actions showed they did not suspect what had taken
place while they were gone."

"Yes; some of them must have taken that boat to the place this forenoon
or early in the afternoon, with the purpose of using it to carry the
colonel to the other shore."

"Suppose Lena-Wingo doesn't find another canoe?" asked Rosa, who felt
anything but comfortable over the absence of the tried and t