This sight added
to the speed of the anxious youth, who now turned the angle of the hill
that opened to the valley, and came suddenly on the object of his
search. Frances had followed the party which guarded her brother, at a
distance; and as they vanished from her sight, she felt deserted by all
that she most prized in this world. The unaccountable absence of
Dunwoodie, with the shock of parting from Henry under such
circumstances, had entirely subdued her fortitude, and she had sunk on a
stone by the roadside, sobbing as if her heart would break. Dunwoodie
sprang from his charger, threw the reins over the neck of the animal,
and in a moment he was by the side of the weeping girl.
"Frances--my own Frances!" he exclaimed, "why this distress? Let not the
situation of your brother create any alarm. As soon as the duty I am now
on is completed, I will hasten to the feet of Washington, and beg his
release. The Father of his Country will never deny such a boon to one of
his favorite pupils."
"Major Dunwoodie, for your interest in behalf of my poor brother, I
thank you," said the trembling girl, drying her eyes, and rising with
dignity; "but such language addressed to me, surely, is improper."
"Improper! are you not mine--by the consent of your father--your
aunt--your brother--nay, by your own consent, my sweet Frances?"
"I wish not, Major Dunwoodie, to interfere with the prior claims that
any other lady may have to your affections," said Frances, struggling to
speak with firmness.
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