she
gazed at her son, who laid the rifle on the table for her inspection,
while he rattled off an animated and somewhat disjointed account of the
match.

"Deary me! now that was good; that was cliver. But what's that scraping
at the door?"

"Oh! that's Fan; I forgot her. Here! here! Fan! Come in, good dog,"
he cried rising and opening the door.

Fan entered and stopped short, evidently uncomfortable.

"My boy, what do ye with the major's dog?"

"Won her too, mother!"

"Won her, my son?"

"Ay, won her, and the pup too; see, here it is!" and he plucked Crusoe
from his bosom.

Crusoe, having found his position to be one of great comfort, had fallen
into a profound slumber, and on being thus unceremoniously awakened, he
gave forth a yelp of discontent that brought Fan in a state of frantic
sympathy to his side.

"There you are, Fan, take it to a corner and make yourself at home. Ay,
that's right, mother, give her somethin' to eat; she's hungry, I know by
the look o' her eye."

"Deary me, Dick," said Mrs Varley, who now proceeded to spread the
youth's mid-day meal before him, "did ye drive the nail three times?"

"No, only once, and that not parfetly. Brought 'em all down at one
shot--rifle, Fan, an' pup!"

"Well, well, now that was cliver; but--" Here the old woman paused and
looked grave.

"But what, mother?"

"You'll be wantin' to go off to the mountains now, I fear me, boy."

"Wantin' _now_!" exclaimed the youth earnestly; "I'm _always_ wantin'.
I've bin wantin' ever since I could walk; but I won't go till you let
me, mother, that I won't!" And he struck the table with his fist so
forcibly that the platters rung again.

"You're a good boy, Dick; but you're too young yit to ventur' among the
Red-skins."

"An' yit, if I don't ventur' young, I'd better not ventur' at all. You
know, mother dear, I don't want to leave you; but I was born to be a
hunter, and everybody in them parts is a hunter, and I can't hunt in the
kitchen you know, mother!"

At this point the conversation was interrupted by a sound that caused
young Varley to spring up and seize his rifle, and Fan to show her teeth
and growl.

"Hist! mother; that's like horses' hoofs," he whispered, opening the
door and gazing intently in the direction whence the sound came.

Louder and louder it came, until an opening in the forest showed the
advancing cavalcade to be a party of white men. In another moment they
were in full view--a