"By Nick!" repeated half-a-dozen voices, in surprise--Surely, father--
surely, Willoughby--surely, my dear captain, you cannot suspect as old
and tried a follower, as the Tuscarora!"

"Ay, he is an _old_ follower, certainly, and he has been
_punished_ often enough, if he has not been _tried_. I have
never suffered my distrust of that fellow to go to sleep--it is unsafe,
with an Indian, unless you have a strong hold on his gratitude."

"But, Willoughby, he it was who found this manor for us," rejoined the
wife. "Without him, we should never have been the owners of this lovely
place, this beaver-dam, and all else that we so much enjoy."

"True, my dear; and without good golden guineas, we should not have had
Nick."

"But, sir, I pay as liberally as he can wish," observed the major. "If
bribes will buy him, mine are as good as another's."

"We shall see--under actual circumstances, I think we shall be, in
every respect, safer, by keeping nothing back, than by telling all to
the people."

The captain now put on his hat, and issued through the undefended
gateway, followed by every individual of his family. As the summons had
been general, when the Willoughbys and the chaplain appeared on the
lawn, every living soul of that isolated settlement, even to infants in
the arms, was collected there. The captain commanded the profound
respect of all his dependants, though a few among them did not love