whom are you talking there?"

"There is only Jack here now," answered Susanna meekly, although
the sparkle still gleamed in her eyes; "Ebenezer has just gone out.
I was saying farewell to him."

"Come back now, and finish setting the table; and if John will stay
to supper, he will be welcome."

John was only too glad, for he took keen pleasure in the society of
Susanna, and was fond of the quaint old house where his kinsman
lived. He rose and went into the inner room, where Hannah received
him with a smile and a nod.

Susanna would have asked him what special news had reached the town
that day, but the sound of approaching feet outside warned her of
the return of her father with the friends he was bringing to
supper. She flew to the kitchen for the first relay of dishes, and
Hannah left her to dish them up, whilst she went to meet the
guests.

Jack and the maidservant assisted Susanna at the stove, and a few
minutes passed before they entered the supper room, where the
company had assembled. When they did so, the girl was surprised to
note that her mother was standing between two tall strangers, one
of whom had his arm about her, and that she was weeping silently
yet bitterly.

Susanna put down her dishes on the table and crept to her father's
side.

"What is the matter?" she asked timidly.

"Matter enough to bring tears to all our eyes--ay, tears of blood!"
answered Ashley sternly. "These two men are your mother's brothers,
who arrived today--just a short while back--as I hoped with
pleasant tidings. Now have we learned a different tale. Their old
father and Charles's wife and children have been brutally murdered
by Indians, and he himself escaped as by a miracle. We have been
telling the tale to the Assembly this very afternoon. Ah, it would
have moved hearts of stone to hear Charles's words! I pray Heaven
that something may soon be done. It is fearful to think of the
sufferings which our inaction is causing to our settlers in the
west!"

"It is a shame--a disgrace!" exclaimed Jack hotly, and then he
turned his glance upon the two other men who were seated at the
table, taking in the whole scene in silence.

Both wore the look of travellers; both were tanned by exposure, and
were clad in stained and curious garments, such as betokened the
life of the wilderness. Jack was instantly and keenly interested.
He himself would willingly have been a backwoodsman had he been
able to adopt that adventurous life