out in an earnest but low voice,
seizing her by an arm; "this will never do. Sartain death would follow,
and that without sarving any one. We must return to the block."

"Father! my poor, dear, murdered father!" said the girl wildly, though
habitual caution, even at that trying moment, induced her to speak low.
"Pathfinder, if you love me, let me go to my dear father."

"This will not do, Mabel. It is singular that no one speaks; no one
returns the fire from the boats; and I have left Killdeer in the block!
But of what use would a rifle be when no one is to be seen?"

At that moment the quick eye of Pathfinder, which, while he held Mabel
firmly in his grasp, had never ceased to roam over the dim scene, caught
an indistinct view of five or six dark crouching forms, endeavoring to
steal past him, doubtless with the intention of intercepting the retreat
to the blockhouse. Catching up Mabel, and putting her under an arm, as
if she were an infant, the sinewy frame of the woodsman was exerted to
the utmost, and he succeeded in entering the building. The tramp of
his pursuers seemed immediately at his heels. Dropping his burden, he
turned, closed the door, and had fastened one bar, as a rush against the
solid mass threatened to force it from the hinges. To secure the other
bars was the work of an instant.

Mabel now ascended to the first floor, while Pathfinder remained as a
sentinel below. Our heroine was in that state in which the body exerts
itself, apparently without the control of the mind. She relighted the
candle mechanically, as her companion had desired, and returned with it
below, where he was waiting her reappearance. No sooner was Pathfinder
in possession of the light than he examined the place carefully, to make
certain no one was concealed in the fortress, ascending to each floor
in succession, after assuring himself that he left no enemy in his rear.
The result was the conviction that the blockhouse now contained no one
but Mabel and himself, June having escaped. When perfectly convinced on
this material point, Pathfinder rejoined our heroine in the principal
apartment, setting down the light and examining the priming of Killdeer
before he seated himself.

"Our worst fears are realized!" said Mabel, to whom the hurry and
excitement of the last five minutes appeared to contain the emotions of
a life. "My beloved father and all his party are slain or captured!"

"We don't know that--morning will tell us all.