on the point of placing it in,
when the Dominie suggested that we should take off her wedding-ring and
any ornament about her, that they might be given to her daughter, and
that they might also serve to identify her, so that should we have an
opportunity we might inform her relatives and friends of her fate.
Besides the plain gold ring, was another of curious workmanship with an
amethyst set in it, while secured round her neck by a silk ribbon Uncle
Denis discovered a gold locket. Without stopping to examine it he
placed it in his pouch. In the waggon were a few articles for family
use, but we found nothing of value. No letters; no pocket-book which
might serve to tell us who she was; everything had been carried off by
the savages. Her husband, probably, was among the murdered men; and if
we could find his body, we would, we agreed, place it in the grave of
his wife.

"That's more than we are likely to do," answered Uncle Denis; "let the
poor lady rest alone."

Accordingly, lifting her up, we placed her in the narrow grave, and
although she was a stranger to me, I confess that I burst into tears as
we hurriedly threw the earth over her. Martin had in the meantime
commenced a larger grave for the men. Had they been our most intimate
friends, we should have been unable to recognise them, so fearfully had
their countenances been disfigured by the savages. The bodies too had
been partly stripped, so that there was little difference in their dress
to help us. In vain we endeavoured to ascertain which was the husband
of the poor lady, and we had no time to devote to a close examination.
We were not long in digging a shallow grave and burying the murdered men
side by side.

"We must place some logs over the poor lady's grave," said Uncle Denis,
"so that we may know it again."

Mr Tidey agreed, and all of us plying our axes, we managed to pile up a
number of logs over the spot. Three fallen trees lay near the larger
grave and these we dragged over it, so as to prevent the wolves from
disturbing the dead. Dio had in the meantime been riding backward and
forwards, shouting out whenever he saw any of the brutes approaching: he
was assisted by our two brave dogs, who kept up a constant barking,
showing that they understood the duty required of them.

The sun had already set, and as the Indians, should they have been
watching us in the distance, might creep up during the darkness, we
mounted our horses and rode back