ct. "I have tempted the dangers of flood and storm
for him--of forest and field--noon-day battle and midnight assault," she
said, with an earnestness that showed she had shaken all doubts from her
mind; "I have taken my vow of devotion to his safety--to be performed
with such fidelity as befits the sacred bond between us. I will not
blench now, in the last struggle, though perils thicken around me. I'm
prepared for the worst."

Allen Musgrove, Robinson, and Henry combated this resolve with joint
expostulation, urging upon Mildred the propriety of her tarrying in the
village, at least until the active operations of the army were
terminated--an event that might be expected in a few days. But it was
not until Campbell himself remonstrated with her against the
indiscretion of her purpose, and promised to afford her the means of
repairing to the scene of action at any moment she might think her
presence there useful, that she relinquished her determination to
accompany the army on its present expedition. It was, in consequence,
ultimately arranged that she should remain in the quarters provided for
her in Gilbert-town, attended by the miller and his daughter, whilst a
few soldiers were to be detailed as a guard for her person. With this
train of attendants, she was to be left at liberty to draw as near to
the centre of events as her considerate and faithful counsellor, Allen
Musgrove, might deem safe.

Another source of uneasiness to her arose out of the separation which
she was about to endure from the sergeant and her brother Henry. Horse
Shoe, swayed by an irresistible and affectionate longing to be present
at the expected passage of arms, which might so materially affect the
fortunes of his captive fellow-soldier, Butler, had represented to
Mildred the value of the services he might be able to render; and as
the friendly solicitude of the miller and his daughter left nothing
within their power to be supplied, towards the comfort and protection
of the lady, she did not refuse her consent to this temporary
desertion--although it naturally awakened some painful sense of
bereavement, at a moment when her excited feelings most required the
consolation of friends.

Henry, captivated with the prospect of military adventure, and magnified
in his own esteem by the importance which Stephen Foster and the Rangers
playfully assigned to his position in the ranks, had so far lost sight
of the special duty he had assumed, as his sis