his pipe gently by, and stealing his hand under his coat,
again grasped the hilt of his dagger. At length he slowly
and partially turned his head, while his eyes inquiringly
demanded of his friend the cause of his alarm.

Partly to aid in concealing his increasing paleness, and
partly with a view to render it a medium for the conveyance
of subdued sound, the hand of the latter was raised to
his face in such a manner that the motion of his lips
could not be distinguished from behind.

"We are betrayed," he scarcely breathed. "If you can
command yourself, turn and look at the window; but for
God's sake arm yourself with resolution, or look not at
all: first draw the hood over your head, and without any
appearance of design. Our only chance of safety lies in
this,--that the Canadian may still be true, and that our
disguise may not be penetrated."

In despite of his native courage,--and this had often
been put to honourable proof,--he, thus mysteriously
addressed, felt his heart to throb violently. There was
something so appalled in the countenance of his
friend--something so alarming in the very caution he had
recommended--that a vague dread of the horrible reality
rushed at once to his mind, and for a moment his own
cheek became ashy pale, and his breathing painfully
oppressed. It was the natural weakness of the physical
man, over which the moral faculties had, for an instant,
lost their directing power. Speedily recovering himself,