Malachi; "but we shall
see."

"Well; but, Malachi, are we to let this be known to any body, or keep it
a secret?"

"Well, sir, I've thought of that; we must only let Martin and Strawberry
into the secret; and I would tell them, because they are almost Indians,
as it were; they may have some one coming to them, and there's no fear
of their telling. Martin knows better, and as for the Strawberry, she is
as safe as if she didn't know it."

"I believe you are right; and still what delight it would give my father
and mother!"

"Yes, sir, and all the family too, I have no doubt, for the first hour
or two after you had told them; but what pain it would give them for
months afterward. 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sick,' as my father
used to read out of the Bible, and that's the truth, sir. Only consider
how your father, and particularly your mother, would fret and pine
during the whole time, and what a state of anxiety they would be in;
they would not eat or sleep. No, no, sir; it would be a cruelty to tell
them, and it must not be. Nothing can be done till the spring, at all
events, and we must wait till the messenger comes to us."

"You are right, Malachi; then do as you say, make the communication to
Martin and his wife,--and I will keep the secret as faithfully as they
will."

"It's a great point our knowing whereabouts the boy is," observed
Malachi; "for if it is necessary to make a party to go for him, we know
what direction to go in. And it is also a great point to know the
strength of the enemy, as now we shall know what force we must take with
us in case it is necessary to recover the lad by force or stratagem. All
this we gained from the letter, and shall not learn from any messenger
sent to us by the Angry Snake, whose head I hope to bruise before I've
done with him."

"If I meet him, one of us shall fall," observed Alfred.

"No doubt, sir, no doubt," replied Malachi, "but if we can retake the
boy by other means, so much the better. A man, bad or good, has but one
life and God gave it to him. It is not for his fellow-creatures to take
it away unless from necessity. I hope to have the boy without shedding
of blood."

"I am willing to have him back upon any terms, Malachi; and, as you say,
if we can do it without shedding of blood, all the better; but have him
I will, if I have to kill a hundred Indians."

"That's right, sir; that's right; only let it be the last resort;
recollect the Indian seeks the