"I can reply as you did a moment ago—that I could easily do so, but I have no intention of trying it. Jo tells me that you and he are to go together?"
"Of course we shall. We have been friends all our lives, and we may as well stick together in the army."
"I am glad to hear that, for it has many advantages—but why talk of those things now?"
The girl looked around in the darkness, as if she wondered at the continued absence of Lena-Wingo and her brother.
"I am half tempted to lose my patience with Jack!" she said, after a minute of waiting and listening. "He doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all; we ought to have been in Wilkesbarre before daylight this morning, and here it is dark again, and there is no telling when he will be ready to start."
"I have no fear of the Mohawk," replied Ned, who thought they might find a much more interesting subject to talk about. "He will be here in due time, and is sure to do his part in whatever needs to be done. I think he has gone in search of that supply of food he was talking about a while ago. When he gets it he will bring us a good supper, which will not come amiss to any of us, although I should have preferred to eat it in Wilkesbarre."
"We may as well content ourselves here until Jack is ready," said Ned, keeping his seat as close to Rosa as he conveniently could. "Until then, remember that I am here, ready to defend you with my life."
"I know you would, Edward," she responded in a softer, tenderer voice than the last few words had been spoken. "But I do not want to see the occasion come."
"I should welcome it, Rosa, to prove my devotion to you."
"I need no proof," she answered, speaking so low that he barely caught the words.