Birch examined her features
as, with open ingenuousness, she related the simple incidents that had
made her mistress of his secret; and, as she ended, he sprang upon his
feet, and, striking the window with the stick in his hand, demolished it
at a blow.
"'Tis but little luxury or comfort that I know," he said, "but even that
little cannot be enjoyed in safety! Miss Wharton," he added, advancing
before Frances, and speaking with the bitter melancholy that was common
to him, "I am hunted through these hills like a beast of the forest; but
whenever, tired with my toils, I can reach this spot, poor and dreary as
it is, I can spend my solitary nights in safety. Will you aid to make
the life of a wretch still more miserable?"
"Never!" cried Frances, with fervor; "your secret is safe with me."
"Major Dunwoodie"--said the peddler, slowly, turning an eye upon her
that read her soul.
Frances lowered her head upon her bosom, for a moment, in shame; then,
elevating her fine and glowing face, she added, with enthusiasm,--
"Never, never, Harvey, as God may hear my prayers!"
The peddler seemed satisfied; for he drew back, and, watching his
opportunity, unseen by Henry, slipped behind the screen, and entered
the cavern.
Frances and her brother, who thought his companion had passed through
the door, continued conversing on the latter's situation for several
minutes, when the former urged the necessity of expedition on his part,
in order to precede Dunwoodie, from whose sense of duty they knew they
had no escape.
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