any inquiries for me, but we only heard of
his having been seen shortly after he left home, and quite failed in
learning where he had gone. Time went on, and, after the first anxious
and troubled feelings passed off, I allowed myself to enjoy the
undisturbed quiet, and to be happy as any other mother might be with her
child. I had a whole year of such peace; you grew hardy and merry, and
were the pet and plaything of the whole village, learning to talk the
strangest mixed language, and showing at that time none of the terror of
Indians which I have seen in you since then.

"But at the end of a year our respite ended. One day when I had been at
the school, and you with me, I was surprised on my return home to see
the door of the house open, and some men sitting at my table. I hurried
on, and walked into the room before they were aware of my coming. There
were four of them, two Indians and two who were either white or of mixed
race; but it was only by his voice, and that after a moment's pause,
that I could recognize my husband. My husband! never till then had I
known the full horror that word could convey. Remember that long ago I
had been charmed, had fallen in love, as girls say, with one who seemed
to represent the very perfection and ideal of manly beauty; that this
beauty and stateliness of outward form had been so great that I took it
for the truthful expression of such a nature as I thought most
heroic--remember this, and then think of what I saw after this year of
absence. A bloated, degraded, horrible creature--not even a man, but a
brute, raving half deliriously, and still drinking, while his
companions, little more sober than himself, made him the subject of
their jests and jeers. I held my little innocent child in my arms while
I saw this, and for the first time, and for her sake, I felt a bitter
hatred rise up in my heart against her father."

A strong shudder crept over Mrs. Costello; she covered her face with her
hands for a moment, while Lucia drew more closely to her side. Presently
she went on. "A cry from you, my child, drew the men's attention to us.
'Here's your squaw,' one of them said to Christian, who tried to get up,
but could not. I saw that it was useless to speak to him, and turned to
leave the house, intending to ask shelter from Mrs. Strafford or Mary,
but before I could pass the door one of the strangers shut and bolted
it, while another seized and held me fast. They made me sit down at the