The Governor was in high good humour, and presently had the whole company in the same mood.

Of them all, Elspeth was the merriest.

She had the quickest wit and the deftest skill in mimicry, and there was that in her laughter which would infect the glummest.
That very day I had finished my preparations.

The train was now laid, and the men were ready, and a word from Lawrence would line the West with muskets.

But I had none of the satisfaction of a completed work.
It was borne in upon me that our task was scarcely begun, and that the peril that threatened us was far darker than we had dreamed.