The major handed her in, spoke a few words of encouragement to Mr.
Wharton and Miss Peyton, and, again mounting, led the way towards the
plains of Fishkill, which broke on their sight, on turning the rock, with
the effect of enchantment. A short half hour brought them to the door of
the farmhouse which the care of Dunwoodie had already prepared for their
reception, and where Captain Wharton was anxiously expecting
their arrival.
CHAPTER XXVI
These limbs are strengthened with a soldier's toil,
Nor has this cheek been ever blanched with fear--
But this sad tale of thine enervates all
Within me that I once could boast as man;
Chill trembling agues seize upon my frame,
And tears of childish sorrow pour, apace,
Through scarred channels that were marked by wounds.
--_Duo._
The friends of Henry Wharton had placed so much reliance on his
innocence, that they were unable to see the full danger of his
situation. As the moment of trial, however, approached, the uneasiness
of the youth himself increased; and after spending most of the night
with his afflicted family, he awoke, on the following morning, from a
short and disturbed slumber, to a clearer sense of his condition, and a
survey of the means that were to extricate him from it with life.
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