f Virginia. I should find
there now, not Yeardley, but Sir Francis Wyatt.

The torches were lighted, and the folk were indoors, for the night was
cold. One or two figures that I met or passed would have accosted me,
not knowing who I was, but I brushed by them, and hastened on. Only when
I passed the guest house I looked up, and saw that mine host's chief
rooms were yet in use.

The Governor's door was open, and in the hall servingmen were moving
to and fro. When I came in upon them, they cried out as it had been a
ghost, and one fellow let a silver dish that he carried fall clattering
to the floor. They shook and stood back, as I passed them without a
word, and went on to the Governor's great room. The door was ajar, and I
pushed it open and stood for a minute upon the threshold, unobserved by
the occupants of the room.

After the darkness outside the lights dazzled me; the room, too, seemed
crowded with men, though when I counted them there were not so many,
after all. Supper had been put upon the table, but they were not eating.
Before the fire, his head thoughtfully bent, and his fingers tapping
upon the arm of his chair, sat the Governor; over against him, and as
serious of aspect, was the Treasurer. West stood by the mantel, tugging
at his long mustaches and softly swearing. Clayborne was in the room,
Piersey the Cape Merchant, and one or two besides. And Rolfe was there,
walking up and down with hasty steps, and a flushed and haggard
face. His suit of buff was torn and stained, and his great-boots were
spattered with mud.

The Governor let his fingers rest upon the arm of his chair, and raised
his head.

"He is dead, Master Rolfe," he said. "There can be no other
conclusion,--a brave man lost to you and to the colony. We mourn with
you, sir."

"We too have searched, Jack," put in West. "We have not been idle,
though well-nigh all men believe that the Indians, who we know had a
grudge against him, murdered him and his man that night, then threw
their bodies into the river, and themselves made off out of our reach.
But we hoped against hope that when your party returned he would be in
your midst."

"As for this latest loss," continued the Governor, "within an hour
of its discovery this morning search parties were out; yea, if I had
allowed it, the whole town would have betaken itself to the woods. The
searchers have not returned, and we are gravely anxious. Yet we are not
utterly cast down. This trail can