In Duffel’s absence, she had, on several occasions, searched the rooms of the cave in which she was confined, to see if there was no secret passage which communicated with the outer world.  Her search had proved unavailing; but instead of the outlet she was seeking, she found a small, jewel-hilted dagger in a rich and costly case.  It struck her at once that this weapon might prove of great value to her, and with much care she concealed it in the folds of her dress, where it was made fast.  It was this dagger that served her so excellently in the interview with Duffel, recorded in a preceding chapter.

During the interview just referred to, it will be remembered how admirably she sustained her part, and how triumphantly she thwarted Duffel in all his villainous calculations, and especially in his attack upon her person.  After the wretch was gone, and she found herself alone, a train of sad reflections came crowding in upon her mind.  Was Hadley indeed dead? she thought—­and then the circumstantial narrative of the two accomplices of her captor arose fresh in her mind.

“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed, “can it be that ravenous beasts fed upon his flesh? that those arms upon which I have leaned, and which I hoped would protect me, were torn from his body? that those lips which have smiled so sweetly and spoken so hopefully and tenderly, and that noble face and brow were gloated over by howling and bloody jaws!  No, no; it cannot be!  God is just! and the wicked shall not triumph.”

She tried to drive the horrible picture from her thoughts, and after a time succeeded; for she felt the necessity of self-control in her trying situation, and bent all her energies to that point.  Then she reflected upon all that had transpired that day, and she felt that with Duffel there was no mercy.  But she was not overcome by the thought.  If worst come to worst, she resolved that death should save her from the spoiler.

As these reflections occupied her mind, she remembered the declaration of the villain concerning the secret communication between the two apartments in which she was imprisoned.  Until now it had been a source of no small consolation to her, that, in case of an emergency, she could retreat to her own room, and there abide in safety.  But now this small comfort was taken from her, and she felt how completely she was in the power of her adversary.  This feeling, however, did not crush her spirit; for she had already brought herself to the sublime point of martyrdom, and was prepared to die for virtue, rather than yield, in any case, to become the victim of sin, or to the wishes of the base wretch who hoped to conquer her.

Life is sweet, and it will never be surrendered by one who has a correct appreciation of its Author, until every consistent effort has been made to preserve it.  Hence, Eveline determined to use every means to save herself before having recourse to this last resort.