And tell him to bring a dozen colored blankets with him."
In a few minutes all these things were attended to, and then, just
as they were going out of the house, Sarah came up, her face
swollen with crying.
"Won't you take a cup of tea and just something to eat, sir? You've
had nothing yet, and you will want it. It is all ready in the
dining-room."
"Thank you, Sarah. You are right. Come, boys, try and make a good
breakfast. We must keep up our hearts, you know, and we will bring
our little woman back ere long."
Mr. Hardy spoke more cheerfully, and the boys soon, too, felt their
spirits rising a little. The bustle of making preparations, the
prospect of the perilous adventure before them, and the thought
that they should assuredly, sooner or later, come up with the
Indians, all combined to give them hope. Mr. Hardy had little fear
of finding the body of his child under the ruins of the Mercers'
house. The Indians never deliberately kill white women, always
carrying them off; and Mr. Hardy felt confident that, unless Ethel
had been accidentally killed in the assault, this was the fate
which had befallen her.
A hasty meal was swallowed, and then, just as they were starting,
Mrs. Hardy and Maud came out to say "Good-by," and an affecting
scene occurred.
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