“It is a positive fact.”
“We have forgotten soap and brooms too; we have forgotten everything.”
“No, not everything; only a few things that make everything useless.”
“What’s to be done? We can’t cook supper to-night, or even breakfast to-morrow morning, without a fire.”
“No. Let’s see—I know if one rubs two pieces of wood together long enough, they will ignite; and I know of other processes by which fire may be kindled; but, after all, I think the quickest and the surest way will be for me to go back to Shelton this evening, and get the matches; and then I can also get soap, a broom, and my pistols, which were likewise forgotten.”
“Go back to Shelton this evening! Walk three miles to Shelton, and back this evening, and the sun already down! You will be tired to death.”
“No, dear; I can walk that three miles in about an hour, get the things in ten minutes; borrow Mr. Garner’s saddle-horse to ride back, and take him home again in the morning, when I go to the office. And my brave little girl will not be afraid to stay here a a few hours by herself?”
“Afraid? No; surely not.”
“You can fasten the door with this wooden pin, if you wish to do so.”
“Oh! I shall not wish to fasten the door. I shall sit on the sill and watch the stars, and see if I can read our future destiny on their orbs, and wait for the moon to rise, and for you to come.”