"Such is my prayer, but if the necessity arises do not hesitate."
"Be assured I shall not," she replied, with a flash of her fine eyes and a compression of her lips.
CHAPTER V. — COMPANIONS IN FLIGHT.
Everything needed having been gathered, the lamps were extinguished, and with the physician in the lead, the three passed out of the front door to the veranda. The doctor decided to leave the door unfastened, since it was useless to secure it.
Suddenly, when the doctor was about to give the word to move, he saw a shadowy figure in the direction of the river.
"Sh!" he whispered; "it looks as if we had waited too long; some one is approaching. Be ready to use your gun or to retreat into the house if necessary to fight it out there."
"It is a white man," said the daughter in an undertone; "he may be a patient."
It was clear by this time that the stranger was not a native, for he was dressed in civilized costume and his gait was that of a European. He did not perceive the silent figures until within a few paces of the veranda, when he paused abruptly, as if startled.