e and
rest."

I helped Elspeth to her feet, and on my arm she clambered to the grassy
place in the woods. I searched my pockets, and gave her the remnants
of the bread and bacon I had brought from the Rappahannock post.
Better still, I remembered that I had in my breast a little flask of
eau-de-vie, and a mouthful of it revived her greatly. She put her hands
to her head, and began to tidy her dishevelled hair, which is a sure
sign in a woman that she is recovering her composure.

"What brought you here?" I asked gently.

She had forgotten that I was in her black books, and that in her letter
she forbade my journey. Indeed, she looked at me as a child in a pickle
may look at an upbraiding parent.

"I was lost," she cried. "I did not mean to go far, but the night came
down and I could not find the way back. Oh, it has been a hideous
nightmare! I have been almost mad in the dark woods."

"But how did you get here?" I asked, still hopelessly puzzled.

"I was with Uncle James on the Rappahannock. He heard something that
made him anxious, and he was going back to the Tidewater yesterday. But
a message came for him suddenly, and he left me at Morrison's farm, and
said he would be back by the evening. I did not want to go home before
I had seen the mountains where my estate is--you know, the land that
Governor Francis said he would give me for my birthday. They told me
one could see the hills from near at hand, and a boy that I asked said
I would get a rare view if I went to the rise beyond the river. So I
had Paladin saddled, and crossed the ford, meaning to be back long ere
sunset. But the trees were so thick that I could see nothing from the
first rise, and I tried to reach a green hill that looked near. Then it
began to grow dark, and I lost my head, and oh! I don't know where I
wandered. I thought every rustle in the bushes was a bear or a panther.
I feared the Indians, too, for they told me they were unsafe in this
country. All night long I tried to find a valley running east, but the
moonlight deceived me, and I must have come farther away every hour.
When day came I tied Paladin to a tree and slept a little, and then I
rode on to find a hill which would show me the lie of the land. But it
was very hot, and I was very weary. And then you came, and those
dreadful wild men. And--and----" She broke down and wept piteously.

I comforted her as best I could, telling her that her troubles were
over now, and that I shou