Page:A Colonial Wooing.djvu/216

 "And why not I as well? Friend Pearson could not manage a canoe."

"But, John, alone, here."

The meaning of her words flashed across John's mind, and he was dumb. Could the world be so cruel? he thought. "Speak, Ruth, speak to me; it was the only way to thwart thy father's plans and save thee from a worse fate perhaps than the breath of scandal. Does thee put no trust in me?"

John's pleading brought Ruth to her better senses.

"Trust thee, dear; who then, John, might I trust? To thee and Cousin Robert I owe my life."

"And thee shall be in thy cousin's charge before thee thinks," replied John, cheerily. "Put on my outer coat that I brought thee, if thee can without much moving, for the night is chilly; but don't upset us." And John spoke in a way that was for the first time that day wholly natural.

"I think I have been pretty well upset already," replied Ruth; and hearing her words, free from all trace of fear or feeling of shame,