e strictest orders were issued immediately after
your return, to allow neither officer nor man to leave the fort,
unless passed by Headley himself."

"Or I shall never return, I suppose," muttered the Virginian
bitterly; "well, we shall see;" and he ground his teeth together
fiercely.

"Ronayne," said Mrs. Headley, "spare your bitterness. You will know
to-morrow what Headley meant by his remark; yet promise me one
thing before I leave you, that before you seek to leave the fort,
you will see me in the morning, in my apartments. If, then, I fail
to satisfy you of the reasons which exist against your entertaining
any hopes of success in the enterprise you meditate, I think I may
venture to say that I shall obtain of not to oppose you. But,
stay! on consideration, it will be better that what I have to urge
should be said at once. This is no time or occasion for mere forms
or ceremonies. There is too much at stake. I shall leave you now,
and return, alone, in little more than an hour. You will dismiss
Collins for the night, desiring him to close the door--not fasten
it, so that I may make no noise--find no difficulty in entering.
Better that you give vent to your feelings here, in the privacy of
your own room, than reveal by your excitement to others that which
should be known only to ourselves."

"Good heaven! what can all this mean? what can it portend?" exclaimed
the startled officer.

"Prepare yourself for no pleasant communication, Ronayne," continued
Mrs. Headley, sadly; "I must wound, yet I trust but to heal; one
point I would have you question Von Voltenberg on before I go--the
manner in which Maria fell into the hands of the Indians."

During this short and low conversation, Mrs. Elmsley and Von
Voltenberg had been talking aside on the same subject, the former
continuing to weep quietly but bitterly for the loss of her friend.
Ronayne now questioned the surgeon in regard to the cause of the
suddenness of their departure from the point where he had dismounted
to procure water.

Von Voltenberg replied that he scarcely knew himself, but his own
impression was that Mrs. Ronayne had started off her horse the
moment the shots were fired--he supposed in the very exaggerated
spirit of wantonness which had marked her actions ever since leaving
the fort. He had mechanically followed in courtesy, and the result
was as has been seen--her sudden captivity by the war party, who
had hurried her off, almost unresistingly,