Oh, if Harkaway were here too. It would make me drunk with joy."

The girl turned to young Jack.

"Courage," she whispered, "courage; be bold."

And then turning to the firing party, she said--

"Come, do not delay. It is needless to prolong the sufferings which
these poor boys feel already."

"Silence, and begone!" exclaimed Hunston fiercely. "You have no right
to speak to the men."

"I have every right," returned the woman, boldly. "Silence yourself, I
say, and know your place!"

Her voice and manner half-awed Hunston, who fell back a pace or two.

"My poor comrades," she went on, addressing the firing party, "this
work is not to your taste. I'll load for you."

So saying, she set to work to reload the rifles, which were piled now.

And she observed the very greatest care in this task.

"Not a shot must miss," she said to the men of the firing party,
earnestly. "Every bullet must have its billet. We have to murder, but
even then not to torture, these unhappy boys."