nce exhibited unusual alarm
and anxiety.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

Panting from her exertions and the long run she had had, she was at
first unable to reply.

"De young ladies! de young ladies! you seen dem? Dey went out long dis
path, and have not yet come back. Oh, dear! oh, dear! can anything have
happened to dem?"

On hearing this I became alarmed, for as we had not met the girls, it
was very certain that they had taken some other path. Rose further said
that they had been absent for some hours, though they had promised to
return early in the afternoon. She confessed that she had not told my
mother or Biddy, and she was the only person in the house who knew of
their having intended to go farther than usual.

Grizzlies, wolves, panthers, and prowling Indians instantly flashed
across my mind; still I hoped that even before this they might have
returned home by some other way.

Dio, who was evidently far more alarmed than I felt, suddenly, without a
moment's warning of his intention, darted away through some thick
brushwood to the eastward, exclaiming, "Me find 'em! me find 'em!"

As he disappeared in the wood, I fancied I saw him stoop and wave a
handkerchief, but the light was uncertain, and I thought I must have
been mistaken. My first impulse was to follow Dio, but on looking back,
I saw Mr Tidey coming along the path in the distance, and I reflected
that our object was far more likely to be attained by getting him to
accompany me, as, should we discover the direction taken by Kathleen and
Lily, we might follow up their trail together, and be more likely to
rescue them, if they had, a was possible, been captured by Indians. Mr
Tidey was naturally very much alarmed at the tidings I gave him.

"We will set off at once and send Rose back to let our friends know the
way we have gone," he observed, as we hurried towards the spot where the
black woman was standing. On nearing the place, however, we found that
she had gone after Dio, and we accordingly ran on in the same direction.
It was some time before we overtook her, and we then in vain
endeavoured to persuade her to go back.

"No!" she exclaimed. It was her fault, as she should have accompanied
them, and return home without them she would not.

As valuable time would be lost in persuading her to do what we wished,
we allowed her to accompany us. We soon had to regret this, as we were
frequently compelled to assist her, but we had now gone