in all our welfares--Is it not too soon to venture down upon the flats,
Joel? I must trust to _you_ as a guide."

"I think Miss Maud would do full as well if she did. Mike must be told,
too, not to talk so much, and above all, not to speak so loud. He may
be heard, sometimes, a dozen rods."

"Tould!" exclaimed the county Leitrim-man, in heat--"And isn't tould
I've been twenty times already, by your own smooth conversation?
Where's the occasion to tell a thing over and over ag'in, when a man is
not wanting in ears. It's the likes of you that loves to convarse."

"Well, Mike, for my sake, you will be silent, I hope," said Maud.
"Remember, I am not fitted for a battle, and the first thing is to get
safely into the house. The sooner we are down the hill, perhaps, the
better it may be. Lead the way, then, Joel, and I will follow. Michael
will go next to you, in readiness for any enemy, and I will bring up
the rear. It will be better for all to keep a dead silence, until it be
necessary to speak."

This arrangement was made, and the party proceeded, Maud remaining a
little behind, in order that the major might catch glimpses of her
person, in the sombre light of the hour and the forest, and not miss
the road. A few minutes brought them all upon the level land, where,
Joel, instead of entering the open fields, inclined more into the
woods, always keeping one of the many paths. His object was to cross
the rivulet under cover, a suitable place offering a short distance
from the point where the stream glided out of the forest. Towards this
spot Joel quietly held his way, occasionally stopping to listen if any
movement of importance had occurred on the flats. As for Maud, her eyes