"Speak, brother."
"Has the narrative of your sufferings any connexion with the conspiracy you are about to reveal to me?"
"An intimate one."
"Well, it is scarce ten o'clock, we have the night before us; tell me all that has happened to you since our separation."
"You wish it?"
"Yes, for it will be by your narrative that I shall regulate my treatment of the Indians."
"Listen, then, brother, and be indulgent to me, for I have suffered bitterly, as you are about to hear."
The Major pressed her hand; he took a chair, sat by her side, and after bolting the door, to prevent any interruption of the story, he said—
"Speak, Margaret, and tell me everything; I do not wish to be ignorant of any of the tortures you have endured during the long years that have elapsed since our parting."