Hour after hour went by, and nobody came near our hero. It was indeed lonely, and as the time passed his heart sank within him.
Then Jack heard the faint patter of footsteps over the dry leaves surrounding the cabin. The sounds came closer.
"Perhaps it's a dog," he thought. "I hope it is one from our plantation, on the hunt for me."
At last a shadow fell across the open cabin doorway and the figure of a strange creature came slowly into view. At the sight Jack could not suppress a scream. The visitor was a mountain wild cat!
COLONEL STANTON'S TALE.
Two days after being brought to the plantation Colonel Stanton's fever went down, and the surgeon who came to attend him pronounced the officer much better.
"But he must remain where he is for some time," said the medical man.
"He can remain as long as he pleases," declared Mrs. Ruthven. "I have no wish to hurry his departure."
She was anxious to learn the truth concerning the colonel's past, yet realized that she must move with caution, otherwise he might be thrown into another fever.