“Madam, I have a proposition to make to you, or a favor to ask—as it may turn out.”
“What is it, my son?” gravely inquired the lady.
“You heard Mr. Fairfax speak of the young mountain-girl whom we met just before the storm, and who kindly conducted us to her grandfather’s cabin?”
“Yes.”
“It is of her that I would speak, and for her that I would enlist your sympathy and protection—”
“Go on, I attend, my son.”
“You have given me some credit for insight into character. If my judgment is worthy of your consideration, this young girl is deserving of your kindest offices.”
“Does she deserve them?”
“Madam, she impressed me as being a child of high moral and mental endowments, and the trying experience of one night proved the truth of that impression.”
“Does she need my good offices?”