Resolute as she was both by nature and habit, Judith
scarce breathed, while poor Hetty hid her face and trembled.
"That was a woman's cry, Hetty," said the former solemnly, 'and it
was a cry of anguish! If the ark has moved from this spot it can
only have gone north with this air, and the gun and shriek came
from the point. Can any thing have befallen Hist?"
"Let us go and see, Judith; she may want our assistance - for,
besides herself, there are none but men in the ark."
It was not a moment for hesitation, and ere Judith had ceased
speaking her paddle was in the water. The distance to the point,
in a direct line, was not great, and the impulses under which the
girls worked were too exciting to allow them to waste the precious
moments in useless precautions. They paddled incautiously for them,
but the same excitement kept others from noting their movements.
Presently a glare of light caught the eye of Judith through
an opening in the bushes, and steering by it, she so directed the
canoe as to keep it visible, while she got as near the land as was
either prudent or necessary.
The scene that was now presented to the observation of the
girls was within the woods, on the side of the declivity so often
mentioned, and in plain view from the boat.
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