So when our waggon drove up in the darkness outside, he came and took leave of us all very kindly, saying he hoped that Penelope would be safe in Johnstown, and that the raiders would soon be driven out of the Sacandaga.
I gave him our canoe, for which he seemed grateful.
Then I helped Penelope into the waggon, got in myself and took the reins. Nick and the Saguenay vaulted into the box and lay down on our pile of furs and blankets.
And so we drove out of the stockade and onto the Johnstown Road, Penelope in a wolf-robe beside me, and both her hands clasped around my left arm.
"Are you a-chill?" I asked.
"I do not know what ails me," she murmured, "but—the world is so vast and dark.... and God is so far—so far——"
"You are unhappy."
"No."
"You grieve for somebody?"
"No, I do not grieve."