"They are southward. My brother has a message for them from me. He has promised to deliver it to them; but he does not know the country. If he goes by himself, bad men of other tribes may meet him and take him with them. If you and some of your young men will accompany him south until he sees the strangers, or is near to them, I will return to you by and by, and your tribe shall never want food. The strangers will be kind to you, and will give you good things. Will Opara do this, and protect my brother?"
"Opara will do this, and will protect your brother."
"Good." She gives the old chief her hand, and he places it on his eyes, and departs gravely.
Joshua for a time is too agitated to speak. This last proof of her devotion is the crowning sacrifice of her life. She is the first to break the silence.
"Joshua, my dear, I have made atonement?"
He can only say, "O my dear, my dear, how unworthy I am in my own eyes!"
"Nay, nay," she says soothingly, "you are all that is good and noble. A better heart, a purer, never beat. I have committed a great fault, and have done you a great wrong--unconsciously, my dear, and without thought; and, by the mercy of our Father, I have been able to atone for it. Think of me as a child, my dear, who has loved you with all her heart, despite her wilfulness. Take me in your arms as you would a child, and say that you forgive me."
He takes her in his arms, and, to satisfy her, sobs out the words she wishes to hear. Her face is close to his.
"This kiss for Ellen," she whispers; "this for your dear, kind mother; this for Dan. Tell all of them of my fancy, that I wish to live in their minds, not as a woman, but as a child as a child who erred through love, and who had not been taught to understand what duty was. Who said this, 'There is no earthly sacrifice that love will not sanctify.'"
"Your father!" he whispers, amazed.