“I observed that he tried to attract my particular attention whenever we happened to be unnoticed for a moment. But as we were so very closely watched I had no opportunity of asking, or he of telling, what he meant,” said Lyon Berners.
“Then I will tell you all about it. When Mr. Purley went away with you, and left that young man guarding me, the first thing he did was to make himself known to me, and to place himself at my service even to the death!”
“Who was he?”
“Robert Munson; a boy that I was so fortunate as to be kind to in his childhood and mine. Afterwards he was a private soldier in Captain Pendleton’s company, and served under him for eight years, fighting the Indians on the frontier. At Captain Pendleton’s suggestion, and with his own hearty free will, he volunteered for this service of pursuing me, only that he might more effectually try to free me.”
“Sybil, what are you saying? Have we a friend in one of our captors?” exclaimed Lyon, in astonishment.
“Yes; a friend who will serve us to the death! Listen, dear Lyon, and I will tell you all about it,” answered Sybil.
And she commenced, and related all the circumstances of her acquaintance with Robert Munson; of his motives for entering upon his present avocation, and of his discovery of himself to her in the hotel at Portsmouth.
“Now may heaven grant that some day I may have an opportunity of rewarding that good fellow for his willing service, whether it ever avail us or not,” said Lyon Berners, earnestly.
“But dear Lyon, we must be very careful not to betray by any word or look that we have any acquaintance, much less understanding, with Munson, for to do so would be to ruin our only chance of escape,” said Sybil.
“Of course! of course! I understand that perfectly well!”