"I can't tell, Lily. I hope not, I pray not."
"Suppose it should die out, Dan?" added she, moving up nearer to the skipper.
"If we lose the wind there is nothing to prevent the boat from overtaking us at once."
"O, dear!" shuddered Lily, moving up still nearer to him who was her only earthly protector.
"Why do you tremble so, Lily?" asked Dan, as he took her hand and pressed it in his own, perhaps thinking that he might thus impart to her some of his own steadiness.
"Because I am so terribly frightened," replied she, with quivering lips. "I would rather die than be taken; and I have been thinking that I would throw myself into the lake if the boat catches us."
"You shall not be taken, Lily," said Dan, his lips compressed, and his teeth tightly closed, evincing the determination with which he had resolved to meet the slave-hunters, if they attempted to lay their polluting hands upon the gentle girl by his side.
"What can you do against such men as those?"
"I can fight, Lily; I would do so to save myself, but more to save you."
"O Heaven! If I should be taken! What would become of me?"