There was comfort in the strong clasp of his hand.
She was not proof against it, and her dark head fell on his shoulder.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Alfred Clarke had indeed made his reappearance in Fort Henry.

The preceding October when he left the settlement to go on the expedition up the Monongahela River his intention had been to return to the fort as soon as he had finished his work, but what he did do was only another illustration of that fatality which affects everything.

Man hopefully makes his plans and an inexorable destiny works out what it has in store for him.
The men of the expedition returned to Fort Henry in due time, but Alfred had been unable to accompany them.

He had sustained a painful injury and had been compelled to go to Fort Pitt for medical assistance.

While there he had received word that his mother was lying very ill at his old home in Southern Virginia and if he wished to see her alive he must not delay in reaching her bedside.