nty. So deftly had we taken
our measures, that we need apprehend no great difficulty in attaining
the end aimed at. Among the Saints, there was not the slightest
suspicion of our character--at least none had yet shown itself. We
should be free to come and go, as we pleased: since the very nature of
our contract required it. Camp and caravan would be alike accessible to
us--at all hours, I might say--and surely opportunities would not be
lacking for the accomplishment of our purpose?

Only one object was worth regarding: the will of Lilian herself. She
might still refuse to become a runaway? She might not consent to
forsake her father? In that case, our efforts would be idle indeed!
Had I reason to expect such a perverse contingency? Surely not? Though
my own influence might be gone, her sister would still have the power to
persuade her? Her eyes once opened to the conspiracy that threatened
her, surely but one thought could arise in that virtuous bosom--how to
escape from it? "No--no," was my concluding reflection, spoken in
soliloquy, "there need be no fear of opposition in that quarter. True,
Lilian is still a child; but her virtue is that of a virgin heart. Her
sister's story, when told to her, will arouse her to a sense of her own
danger. She will be ready, as we, to adopt measures for averting it."

Drawing comfort from this reflection, I was turning to attend to my
horse. The gallant creature had been sadly neglected of late, and
needed my care. A huge Mexican _silla_, that with its trappings
half-covered its body, would have sufficiently disguised him; but I had
not much fear of his being recognised. Stebbins and Holt had both seen
him--once only, and then under such circumstances that it was scarcely
possible they could have noticed him. Otherwise, they might have
remembered him readily enough. Such a noble steed, once seen, would not
easily be forgotten. I had no fear, however; and was about to remove
the saddle, when an object presented itself to my eyes that interrupted
my intention--causing me to remain fixed and immobile. In the open
ground, scarcely twenty paces from where I stood, was a form that fell
upon the eye like a beam of empyrean light in the midst of deepest
darkness--a girl of golden roseate hue, with a _chevelure_ of yellow
hair hanging to her haunches in all its lustrous luxuriance! Scarcely
twenty paces separated me from Lilian Holt: for need I say that it was
Lilian he