ur marching orders, for though you are half a madman
you are whiles a man. There's the soul of a leader in you, and I would
keep you from the shame of leading men to hell. To-morrow morn you will
tell these folk that the Lord has revealed to you a better way, and by
noon you will be across the Shenandoah. D'you hear my word?"

"Ay," he said. "We will march in the morning."

"Can you lead them where you will?"

His back stiffened, and the spirit of a general looked out of his eyes.

"They will follow where I bid. There's no a man of them dare cheep at
what I tell them."

"My work is done," I said. "I go to whence I came. And some day I shall
go to Cramond and tell Alison that John Gib is no disgrace to his kin."

"Would you put up a prayer?" he said timidly. "I would be the better of
one."

Then for the first and last time in my life I spoke aloud to my Maker
in another's presence, and it was surely the strangest petition ever
offered.

"Lord," I prayed, "Thou seest Thy creature, John Gib, who by the
perverseness of his heart has come to the edge of grievous sin. Take
the cloud from his spirit, arrange his disordered wits, and lead him to
a wiser life. Keep him in mind of his own land, and of her who prays
for him. Guide him over hills and rivers to an enlarged country, and
make his arm strong against his enemies, so be they are not of his own
kin. And if ever he should hearken again to the devil, do Thou blast
his body with Thy fires, so that his soul may be saved."

"Amen," said he, and I went out of the tent to find the grey dawn
beginning to steal up the sky.

Shalah was waiting at the entrance, far inside the white stones. 'Twas
the first time I had ever seen him in a state approaching fear.

"What fortune, brother?" he asked, and his teeth chattered.

"The Tidewater is safe. This day they march westwards to look for their
new country."

"Thy magic is as the magic of Heaven," he said reverently. "My heart
all night has been like water, for I know no charm which hath prevailed
against the mystery of the Panther."

"'Twas no magic of mine," said I. "God spoke to him through my lips in
the night watches."

We took our way unchallenged through the sleeping host till we had
climbed the scarp of the hills.

"What brought you to the tent door?" I asked.

"I abode there through the night, I heard the strife with the devils,
and my joints were loosened. Also I heard thy voice, brother, but I
knew not th