ur
warning. God be thanked that you were able to baulk the scoundrels
to-night, for if you had not been awake at the moment, I and perhaps
you also would be no longer alive. But evidently it is not the will of
Providence that we should die yet. Let us kneel and give thanks to God
for our deliverance."

And so with the foiled assassin scowling and cursing them as he
strained at his bonds, the two knelt down, while Mr. Paterson poured
forth in prayer his gratitude to God for their merciful deliverance.

There was no more sleep for either of them that night. In the morning
Mr. Paterson called the council together, and producing the prisoner,
told the story of the night attack.

Great was the indignation of all who heard him. Although there were
many who blamed him for the failure of their high hopes, and others who
were jealous of his fine qualities and resented his authority, none
were so base as to desire his death; and if it had not been for his
earnest entreaty, the prisoner would have been condemned to be shot
that very day as a terrible example. But Mr. Paterson magnanimously
interceded, with the result that the prisoner and his confederate, if
he should be found, were banished from the colony, on pain of death if
they dared to return.

With the passing of the days matters grew steadily worse at St.
Andrews. The plan had been that other ships carrying reinforcements of
men and supplies should follow the first little fleet after an interval
of some months, and these were now long overdue; yet although the high
hill above the settlement was never without watchers, who eagerly
scanned the face of the waters, no sign of sail appeared.

As a matter of fact, only one ship had been dispatched, and this one
unfortunately foundered in mid-ocean. Meanwhile, deaths were taking
place daily, and those who managed to keep alive were little more than
haggard, sickly skeletons.

No wonder that in spite of Mr. Paterson's earnest protest they at last
determined to depart from the fatal spot, which, instead of proving a
paradise, had been the grave of all their high hopes and of so many of
their companions. Mr. Paterson, still hopeful of the success of the
great scheme, pleaded with them not to abandon it. He claimed that to
do so would be to be false to the trust placed in them by their
countrymen.

But they would not listen to him. Their first duty, they retorted, was
to themselves. They must save their own lives