n.

There was silence for a few minutes. Pendleton was the first to recover
himself. He went up to his friend, touched him on the shoulder, and
said:

"Berners, rouse yourself; the position requires the exertion of your
utmost powers of mind and body. Calm yourself, and collect all your
faculties. Come now let us sit down here and talk over the situation."

Lyon permitted the captain to draw him away to a little distance, where
they both sat down side by side, on a fallen tombstone.

"In the first place, how is your wife, and how does she sustain herself
under this overwhelming disaster?" inquired Captain Pendleton, forcing
himself to speak composedly.

"I do not think my dear innocent Sybil was able fully to appreciate the
danger of her position, even as she stood before the rendering of that
false and fatal verdict, she was so strong in her sense of innocence.
She seemed to suffer most from the lesser evils involved in her exile
from home."

"Where is she, then?"

"Sleeping heavily in the church there; sleeping very heavily, from the
united effects of mental and bodily fatigue and excitement."

"Heaven grant that she may sleep long and well. And now, Berners, to our
plans. You must know that I kept a horse saddled and tied in the woods
down by the river, and as soon as that lying verdict was rendered, I
hurried off, leaped into my saddle and galloped here. I forded the
river, and have left my horse just below here, at the entrance of this
thicket. I must soon mount and away again on your service."

"Oh, my dear Pendleton, how shall I ever repay you?"

"By keeping up a stout heart until this storm-cloud blows over, as it
must, in a few days or weeks. But now to business. How came this man Joe
here?"

Mr. Berners explained how Joe had overheard all their conversation while
they were making their arrangements, and taken pains to co-operate with
them, and had followed them here with some necessary provisions. And he,
Mr. Berners, closed with a eulogy on Joe's fidelity and discretion.

"I am very glad to hear what you tell me, for it relieves my mind of a
very great weight. I knew that there had been a listener to our
conversation, for I almost ran against him as I went into the house; but
as he made his escape before I could identify him, I was very anxious on
the subject. So you may judge what a burden is lifted from my mind by
the discovery that he was no other than honest Joe, whom Providence sent
in the