way intimations that
his companion's corn-crib was near at hand, and if he had not deduced
from these premises the probability of sharing his fare, his mental
processes served him quite as well as reason, and brought him to the
same result. On and on they sped, neck and neck, through the darkening
woods; fire flashed now and again from their iron-shod hoofs; often
a splash and a shower of drops told of a swift dashing through the
mud-holes that recent rains had fostered in the shallows. The dank odor
of dripping boughs came on the clear air. Once the chestnut shied from a
sudden strange shining point springing up in the darkness close at
hand, which the country-bred horse discriminated as fox-fire, and
kept steadily on, unmindful of the rotting log where it glowed. Far in
advance, in the dank depths of the woods, a Will-o'-the-wisp danced and
flickered and lured the traveller's eye. The stranger was not sure of
the different quality of another light, appearing down a vista as the
road turned, until the sorrel, making a tremendous spurt, headed for it,
uttering a joyous neigh at the sight.

The deep-voiced barking of hounds rose melodiously on the silence,
and as the horses burst out of the woods into a small clearing, Dundas
beheld in the brighter light a half-dozen of the animals nimbly afoot in
the road, one springing over the fence, another in the act of climbing,
his fore-paws on the topmost rail, his long neck stretched, and his head
turning about in attitudes of observation. He evidently wished to assure
himself whether the excitement of his friends was warranted by the facts
before he troubled himself to vault over the fence. Three or four still
lingered near the door of a log-cabin, fawning about a girl who stood on
the porch. Her pose was alert, expectant; a fire in the dooryard, where
the domestic manufacture of soap had been in progress, cast a red flare
on the house, its appurtenances, the great dark forest looming all
around, and, more than the glow of the hearth within, lighted up the
central figure of the scene. She was tall, straight, and strong; a
wealth of fair hair was clustered in a knot at the back of her head, and
fleecy tendrils fell over her brow; on it was perched a soldier's-cap;
and certainly more gallant and fearless eyes had never looked out from
under the straight, stiff brim. Her chin, firm, round, dimpled, was
uplifted as she raised her head, descrying the horsemen's approach. She
wore a