The quiet of the forest seemed ominous of evil.
“They are near at hand,” said Benton, with a peculiar smile.
For the first time, Virginia saw the evil look in his face. His words, though apparently harmless, filled her with terror.
“Where are they?” she asked, a heavy weight upon her heart as she spoke.
“Shall I call them?” Benton questioned, surveying the girl with an air of triumph.
“Yes,” Virginia said, slowly.
With a mocking smile, Benton turned to where a dense clump of bushes—an outpost of the thicket—had planted itself upon the margin of the glade.
Virginia watched him with earnest eyes.
A dim presentiment of danger filled her soul.
Danger! yet what that danger was, she could not guess.