another plot to kill him is afoot. Some of his enemies are camped at Big
Stranger's Creek, and intend to shoot him as he passes there."

Then followed a long and anxious consultation, which ended without any
plan of rescue.

All of which had been overheard by Will, who was confined to his bed
with an attack of ague. In him, he decided, lay the only hope for
father's safety; so, dressing, he presented his fever-flushed face to
mother. As he held out a handkerchief, "Tie it tight around my head,
mother," said he; "then it won't ache so hard."

A remonstrance against his getting out of bed brought out the fact that
he contemplated riding to Grasshopper Falls!

He was almost too weak to stand, a storm threatened, and thirty miles
lay between him and father; yet he was not to be dissuaded from
his undertaking. So Julia and Martha saddled Prince and helped the
ague-racked courier to his saddle.

The plunge into the open air and the excitement of the start encouraged
Will to believe that he could hold out. As he settled down to his long,
hard ride he reflected that it was not yet noon, and that father
would not set out until late in the day. Prince seemed to discern that
something extraordinary was afoot, and swung along at a swift, steady
gait.

Big Stranger's Creek cut the road half-way to the Falls, and Will
approached it before the afternoon was half gone. The lowering sky
darkened the highway, and he hoped to pass the ambush unrecognized; but