ear."

"It will be the safest way," I added, as the soldier returned with my
team.

We drove back to the Castle, and I put up the horses. The lieutenant
sent a corporal and two men to the mouth of Bear River, two miles below
the Castle; and I was satisfied that the three Indians could not
possibly join the band which was moving down the Fish. We went into the
house together, where a cheerful fire of pitch wood was blazing on the
hearth. Poor Ella had dropped asleep, and her father and mother sat by
her bedside watching her heaving chest. They were very anxious about
her, though Mr. Gracewood declared that she suffered only from
exhaustion, and that rest would restore her.

The lieutenant read the order I had brought to him, and we left the
Castle, so as not to disturb Ella. By this time I was willing to
believe I was tired myself. I thought it must be nearly daylight, and
was surprised when the officer told me it was only twelve o'clock. It
seemed to me that I had lived a whole year since sundown. I was invited
to sleep in the lieutenant's tent, and I did sleep there in good
earnest till long after sunrise the next morning, when a soldier called
me.

"We are about ready to start, Phil," said Mr. Jackson. "My orders say
you are to be my guide."

"I must take care of my horses and pigs, and eat my breakfast."

"My men have fed your horses, and cleaned them. I thought you would be
very tired, and I had your work done for you," said the lieutenant.

"I was tired--that's a fact; but I am as good as new now."

"Mr. Gracewood says your breakfast is all ready."

"How is Ella?" I asked.

"She is better, but still very weak."

"Is she sick?"

"No, they say not; only worn out."

I went to the Castle, and was at once greeted with an outpouring of
thanks from father, mother, and daughter for what I had done the night
before. Ella, as the officer had said, was suffering only from stiff
limbs and over-fatigue. Mr. Gracewood had cooked our breakfast, and we
all sat down to the table. It was a happy family which gathered around
the board, and the father said a prayer of thanksgiving for the mercy
of God in sparing our lives during the perils of the preceding day and
night; and it was a prayer in which we all joined, in mind and heart.

The scene was a novel one to me. It was the first time in my life that
I had ever sat at table with women--the first family I had ever seen
together. I had read of such things, and my ki