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Show DO matlc me resoh•c to brave tl1c death wl1ich thrc t~tc n c d me which<' 1'0r way I tu1 ned- that, if I pcris!J cd, it should still be in tho stru;:rgle once more to behold the peopl e of my lo\·c." IIOI\' closely did th cy press tile poor fellow to their hearts ! "You should not huvc perished," said Nicholas llnrr6, bohlly. "I, for on e, have become tired of this tyranny, undr,r which we no longer breathe in snfcty. I am rcsoh·cd to bear it no longer tl1an I can. There az·c oth ers who have resolved like me. But of this hereafter. T ell us, Lnchane, how you contrived to swim across this great stretch of sea ?11 " By the mercy of God which made me dcspcrato- which made the seas calm-which gnvc me a. favoring current, and wldch threw yon frn_;ment of a ship's spar within my reacll. Dut I nearly sunk. Twice did I feel the waters going over me; but I thought of Fmnce, and all, and th e strength came ba ck to I can say r:o more. 1 am weak-very weak. Give me to en~.'' A fla~k of generous wine with which tl1 ey lmd provid ed th em· sch·cs, cheered and inspirited the suff~J re r. They hlid him down at the foot of a. broad palmetto, while one of them bJ"Ought food from tl1e canoe. l\luch it rrj oiccd them to sec him cat. Ere he had sa tisfi ed l1is lmngcr, Lachanc spoke again as follows : "I re-j oice to hear tlmt you, and others, have rcsoh·cd to submit no longer to this tyranny. It was not the desire of food, or fdendship, only, th:tt strengthened me to throw myself into the S"'a, in the desperate desire to sec the garrison once more. llut wbi! l} my head flam ed beneath the sun's downward blaze upon that waste of sand, while mine eyes burned like living coals fre sh from the furnnc t> , and my blood leaped and bounded like a mad thing about my temples nnd in all my veins, I saw all the terrible suffer- LACIIAN"F.1 TilE DELIVERER. 91 iogs of our poor Oucrnachc an ew. I heard his '·oice-his bitt:!r reproaches-and then the terriblo scream of the poor Indian woman wl1 cn the hca,-y rods descended upon her shoulder. Then I frlt that I had not done what my soul commanded !- thrtt I had abandoned my innocent comrade like a lamb to the butcher. I swore to do myself justice-to seck the garrison at Fort Charles, if, for no other purpo:-c, to hrwe revenge upon Albort. I ver ily believe, nus a111is, that it was that oath that strcngthenr-d me in tho sca-tlmt lifted mo when the waves went over mt , and my heart was sinking with my body. I thought of tl1e blows which might yet be st ruck for vengeance and freedom. I thought of Oucrnache and his murdercr1- nnd I rose,-! struck out. I had no fear ! I got a strength which 1 had not at the beginn ing; nnd I nm here; the merciful God be praised forever more-ready to strike a fuir blow at the tyrant, though I die the moment after!" "That blow must now be struck very soon," snid kieholns DarrC. "'Yo arc no longer safe. Albert rules.us just ns it pleases him, by his mere humor, nnd not according 1.0 the laws or u sa~es of :F rance. Every day wit nesses against him. Some new tyranny-some new cruelty-adds hourly to our nffiictions, and makes life, on such terms, endurable no longer. \Ve arc not men if we submit to it.'' "Jlcar me," said Laclmne; "you have not laid tho plan for his overthrow?" " Not yet! But we are ready for it. All's ripe. The proper spirit is nt work." "Let it work! All right; but look you, comrades, it is for this hand to strike the blow. 1 demand tbl) r ight, because Gucr- |