"No, sir, direct from the Apache country, where I have been a prisoner for three years."
"Is it possible, sir! You must have had a dreadful experience."
And then questions and answers followed in rapid succession, Mr. Clark almost forgetting to eat in the intense interest he felt in the story Rupert and Juanita had to tell; for learning from something said by one of the family that she had shared Rupert's captivity, he catechised her also quite closely.
He was captivated by her beauty and her modest, sensible replies, and being presently able to make a shrewd conjecture as to who were to claim his services that evening, thought Rupert a very fortunate man.
Chapter Eighteenth.
"I bless thee for the noble heart,
The tender and the true,
Where mine hath found the happiest rest
That e'er fond woman's knew."
Mrs. Hemans.