there was in the fort, and you can guess how
it looked and tasted to men who had lived for weeks on corn and leather
straps and nothing; and who had watched with greedy eyes the cutting up
of an old white owl.

They gave us a room, with soap and tubs of warm water, and we got rid of
some of the grime, cut off our beards, shaved our faces, and put on the
clothes they left for us. Amos said:--

"B-Ben, I feel as if No. 4 must be p-pretty near h-heaven."

"Yes! But it isn't up the river."

When we came out, the men crowded round to hear our adventures. Amos
started to tell the story, and when he got hung up on a word, Edmund
would go on with the tale.

[Sidenote: BEN HAS A FEVER]

I felt hot and feeble and sick. My head ached. I became dizzy, and
finally asked some one to take me to a room where I could lie down, and
I went to bed. I haven't any clear idea of what happened afterward. I
have a faint recollection of Edmund and Amos bending over me, saying
good-by. But I do remember that Indian who tried again and again to
scalp me. John Stark drove him off several times, but he kept coming
back, and at last caught me by the hair, ran his knife round my head,
braced his foot on my shoulder, pulled, and I felt my scalp go. Then I
knew nothing more till I opened my eyes, and saw the rafters above, and
the bedclothes about me.

I smelt smoke, and heard the wood snap and crackle. Beside the fireplace
a girl was seated, knitting. Such a pretty girl, the loveliest I had
ever seen. I watched her knit, and then stop and count the stitches. How
beautiful she was, with her light brown hair, the pretty side face, with
the fresh colour in it! Her figure was lithe, supple, full of grace. I
thought at once of Shakespeare's Rosalind. My heart went out to her. As
I gazed, she looked up, and turned a pair of big brown eyes at me. I had
never been in love before. But, as she rose and came over to the bed, I
said to myself:--

"This is she. This is the one for whom I have waited."

She smiled, and a little dimple came in her cheek.

"Ah! I'm glad you've come to your senses again. How do you feel?"

"Perfectly content and happy. I seem to be in a pleasant dream."

"That's good. You've had dreams enough, in the last month, that didn't
seem pleasant. You must keep quiet. I'll be back in a minute."

She returned with her mother, who gave me some medicine, and a drink of
broth, and I fell asleep. When I awoke, the pretty girl was kni