The manly voice of the speaker soon brought Martha and her aunt down stairs; and the lamp being speedily relighted, the former advanced towards the speaker and taking his extended hand, with a bright eye and a flushed cheek, heard all he had to say on the subject which occasioned his unceremonious visit.
“One of us will stay with you,” he continued, while she thanked him for his goodness, “until Mr. Wilson arrives; and although he is not over social in his habits, I am sure he will not misconstrue the anxiety we feel for the safety of his family.”
“Thank you! thank you, Mr. Evans,” returned Martha; “we shall feel so grateful for your protection; and as to my uncle, I am satisfied he cannot be otherwise than obliged to you for this great kindness.”
“You stay then, Harry,” observed the other stranger, “for I shall move on to Ridgeway, as I want to hear what’s afloat there. There are troops, I know, at Port Colborne, and they ought to be apprised of the whereabouts of the enemy, and so should the inhabitants of this neighborhood. Mr. Graham, the Collector of Fort Erie, has, I am informed, proceeded with information of the enemy to Port Colborne; but still there is not yet anything known of their precise location, so contradictory are the rumors, not only as to where they are encamped, but in relation to their numbers.”
“I can satisfy you as to both these circumstances,” broke in the Kid, with a voice as bland as if murder had not visited his heart for an age, “for I heard this evening that they were encamped about four hundred strong at Newbiggin’s farm, four or five miles down the river from Fort Erie; and that they intended to move on towards Chippewa about ten o’clock; branching off in the direction of Ridgeway, in the hope of meeting the troops coming from Port Colborne, and defeating them before they formed a junction with those expected from Chippewa.”
“As my cousin Harry will sit up with the family for the remainder of the night, then, perhaps you would not mind walking as far as Ridgeway,” replied the young fellow who had last spoken, “as we are sure to have news there; from the fact of the village being on the line of the Grand Trunk.”
Seeing that his murderous plot was for the time defeated, the Kid made no objection to this request; feeling that the darkness and the night, as well as any whirl of excitement or debauch, were more in accordance with the infernal tone of his spirit, than the conversation of two beings, Martha and Evans, whom his keen eye at once discovered to be lovers. So bidding the family good night, and not waiting to partake of the refreshments offered him after his journey from the Fenian camp, he sallied forth with his new acquaintance on the road leading to the village.
“Henry,” said Martha, when the sound of their receding footsteps had died in the distance, “do you know anything of the man Smith who has just left us, for you seemed to eye him very intently from the moment the lamp was relighted until the door closed behind him this moment? We know now, and have often suspected, him to be a villain; but circumstances over which we had no control—that is, my aunt and myself—have thrown us occasionally into the society of the wretch, whom we both loathe and detest.”
This interrogatory was put in the absence of Mrs. Wilson, who had again sought the apartment of Kate to tell her all that had just transpired. It seemed to embarrass the young man for a moment; but recovering himself, he frankly replied—
“I have seen that man frequently in Buffalo. Not long since, he was pointed out to me as a most dangerous character who was under the surveillance of the police; and, as you may be well assured, I was astounded to find him here and at such an hour.”