At a moment of less grief and desperation, Roland would have better appreciated the magnitude of the service which Nathan thus offered to attempt, and even hesitated to permit what must have manifestly seemed the throwing away of a human life.  But the emergency was too great to allow the operation of any but selfish feelings.  The existence of his companions, the life of his Edith, depended upon procuring relief, and this could be obtained in no other way.  If the undertaking was dangerous in the extreme, he saw it with the eyes of a soldier as well as a lover:  it was a feat he would himself have dared without hesitation, could it have promised, in his hands, any relief to his followers.

“Go, then, and God be with you,” he muttered, eagerly “you have our lives in your hand.  But it will be long, long before you can reach the band on foot.  Yet do not weary or pause by the way.  I have but little wealth; but with what I have I will reward you.”

“Friend,” said Nathan proudly, “what I do I do for no lucre of reward, but for pity of thee poor women; for truly I have seen the murdering and scalping of poor women before, and the seeing of the same has left blood upon my head, which is a mournful thing to think of.”

“Well, be not offended:  do what you can—­our lives may rest on a single minute.”

“I will do what I can, friend,” replied Nathan; “and if I can but pass safely through thee foes, there is scarce a horse in thee company, were it even thee war-horse, that shall run to thee friends more fleetly.  But, friend, do thee hold out the house:  use thee powder charily; keep up the spirits of thee two men, and be of good heart theeself, fighting valiantly, and slaying according to thee conscience; and then, friend, if it be Heaven’s will, I will return to thee, and help thee out of thee troubles.”

With these words, Nathan turned from the soldier, setting out upon his dangerous duty with a courage and self-devotion of which Roland did not yet know all the merit.  He threw himself upon the earth, and muttering to little Peter, “Now, Peter, as thee ever served thee master well and truly, serve him well and truly now,” began to glide away amongst the ruins, making his way from log to log, and bush to bush, close behind the animal, who seemed to determine the period and direction of every movement.  His course was down the river, the opposite of that by which the party had reached the ruin, in which quarter the woods were highest, and promised the most accessible, as well as the best shelter; though that could be reached only in the event of his successfully avoiding the different barbarians hidden among the bushes on its border.  He soon vanished, with his dog, from the eyes of the soldier; who now, in pursuance of instructions previously given him by Nathan, caused his two followers to let fly a volley among the trees, which had the expected effect of drawing another in return from the foes, accompanied by their