"She, too, must have been taken captive!" "Then, by heavens, we have much to live for!" cried William, starting to his feet. "Much to live for? Yes--our country--our hopes--revenge! Oh! William, could you have seen that sight, _you_ would feel as I now feel. Could you have felt the burning fires that seared my heart as I lifted the dying form of her I loved so truly, in my arms, and vainly begged her not to leave me yet, you would feel as I now feel. Could you have heard the cry of agony wrung from my wretched breast when I knew I no longer had a wife, you would feel as I do now. Oh! William, it is terrible--terrible!" "What course did you pursue?" asked William. "I consigned our loved ones to the grave, disguised myself, staining my skin with walnut bark, and then started forth for vengeance!" "And what have you accomplished?" "But little as yet. I have not met _the_ man. I could have killed, but if discovered, or even suspected, it would prevent the carrying out of my plans. Price has employed me as a spy, and thus I have access through his lines. My plans are first, to find your father and your sister. I am almost certain she is with the rebel army, and that I heard her sweet voice, last night, singing a mournful song." "Oh! if she lives--but let us go. I will enter the lines of the rebel army this very night. I _will_ go, and if my sister is there, she shall be saved, or I will perish with her!" "I am waiting only for to-morrow night. At that time Price will suppose I have just returned from Warsaw. Then I will go with you!" replied Johnson. "I shall go to-night!" answered William. "But I shall enter the camp by stealth, crawl from tent to tent, listen to all conversations, and perhaps in this manner may get important information, both for our friends, and of my father and sister." "It is a desperate hazard, William!" "I am resolved!" "I shall go with you!" replied Johnson. "No, or at least, not within the camp. If you were seen before the expected time, it would create suspicion. You will conceal yourself before you reach the outer pickets. But I must find Fall-leaf. I will go to the point where I heard the rifle report. He may be wounded--perhaps dead." Night was fast approaching as the friends took their course down the mountain, and toward the rebel camp. The fires could be distinctly seen, and the shrill notes of the fife, and the rattle of the drum, echoed across the mountain, and from hill to hill. As they reached the river, William exclaimed: "It is nine o'clock. They are beating the tattoo in camp. In an hour all will be quiet. But let us now search for Fall-leaf. The moon is shining brightly, which will favor our search!"