"Let us first ask what the good God intends in all this. He does not lead the young into peril, or the innocent into shame for nothing. It is a fearful risk, but let us do right."
Katharine looked on him in affright, her eyes growing wildly large, her lips falling apart, till the white teeth shone through.
"You will not give me up? They will kill me! Oh, father, they will kill me!"
She had called him father for the first time in her life, and the word came forth in a cry of anguish that made even his strong heart shrink.
"No," he said, gently. "Not for all the gold of Ophir would I do this thing."
Katharine drew a long breath. The old woman folded her in a closer embrace, and softly whispered:
That she must have no fear—God always guarded the innocent.
And so they rested a little while in silence. The old man buried in thought. The women watching him with anxious faces.
"I will take her to his chamber," said the mother, at last, "the blinds are down and we can find the way without light."
Mr. Thrasher said nothing, but regarded the fugitive in grave sadness.