No canoe was nigh, and this emboldened them to draw nearer
and nearer, until they had gone round the piles and reached the
platform.
"Do you go into the house, Hetty," said Judith, "and see that the
savages are gone. They will not harm you, and if any of them are
still here you can give me the alarm. I do not think they will
fire on a poor defenceless girl, and I at least may escape, until
I shall be ready to go among them of my own accord."
Hetty did as desired, Judith retiring a few yards from the platform
the instant her sister landed, in readiness for flight. But the
last was unnecessary, not a minute elapsing before Hetty returned
to communicate that all was safe.
"I've been in all the rooms, Judith," said the latter earnestly,
"and they are empty, except father's; he is in his own chamber,
sleeping, though not as quietly as we could wish."
"Has any thing happened to father?" demanded Judith, as her foot
touched the platform; speaking quickly, for her nerves were in a
state to be easily alarmed.
Hetty seemed concerned, and she looked furtively about her as if
unwilling any one but a child should hear what she had to communicate,
and even that she should learn it abruptly.
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