“And how is Blount?” questioned Bell, eagerly.
“Dying, poor fellow!” said our hero, with a sigh. “He’s paid dearly for his stubbornness. But let us hasten to him. Kate should close his eyes.”
Doc Bell turned to the cave.
“It’s no use,” he said. “Oll’s dead; when I left ’im somethin’ told me that I would never see ’im erlive ag’in; an’ it hasn’t lied.”
Kate Blount was eager to greet her parent, and with her hand clasped in that of her lover, she descended into the cavern.
During the descent, Bob had told her that her father had received a severe wound from a stray ball, during the siege, and bade her prepare for the worst.
Reaching the bottom of the cavern, her eye caught sight of a figure lying in the light of the fire, and with a cry of joy she sprung forward.
“Father!” she cried, bending over the loved form. “Father, speak! ’Tis I, your pet—your Kate!”
Oliver Blount heard the voice, and opened his dying eyes spasmodically.
Then he tried to clasp her to his heart, but failed; his arms fell powerless at his side, and, as he gasped her beloved name, his orbs closed again, and a long-drawn breath told the trader’s child that she was an orphan!