consolation? Say anything--anything which will make me think less about
this matter."

The conscience of the unhappy criminal was indeed busy, and he spoke in
tones of deep, though suppressed emotion and energy. The youth did not
pretend to console--he well knew that the mental nature would have its
course, and to withstand or arrest it would only have the effect of
further provoking its morbidity. He replied calmly, but feelingly--

"Your situation is unhappy, Forrester, and calls for serious reflection.
It is not for me to offer advice to one so much more experienced than
myself. Yet my thoughts are at your service for what they are worth. You
can not, of course, hope to remain in the country after this; yet, in
flying from that justice to which you will have made no atonement, you
will not necessarily escape the consequences of your crime, which, I
feel satisfied, will, for a long season, rest heavily upon a spirit such
as yours. Your confederates have greatly the advantage of you in this
particular. The fear of human penalties is with them the only fear. Your
severest judge will be your own heart, and from that you may not fly.
With regard to your affections, I can say little. I know not what may be
your resources--your means of life, and the nature of those enterprises
which, in another region, you might pursue. In the West you would be
secure from punishment; the wants of life in the wilderness are few, and
of easy attainment: why not marry the young woman, and let her fly with
you to happiness and safety?"

"And wouldn't I do so, 'squire?--I would be a happy fellow if I could.
But her father will never consent. He had no hand in yesterday's
business, and I wonder at that too, for he's mighty apt at all such
scrapes; and he will not therefore be so very ready to perceive the
necessity of my flight--certainly not of hers, she being his only child;
and, though a tough old sort of chap, he's main fond of her."

"See him about it at once, then; and, if he does not consent, the only
difficulty is in the delay and further protraction of your union. It
would be very easy, when you are once well settled, to claim her as your
wife."

"That's all very true and very reasonable, 'squire; but it's rather
hard, this waiting. Here, for five years, have I been playing this sort
of game, and it goes greatly against the grain to have to begin anew and
in a new place. But here's where the old buck lives. It's quite a snug
farm