Chapter 30 - Page 2

that name, and
drop the desperate familiarity of 'Bob,'--"yet, Robert, there would be
a melancholy satisfaction in making our vows at the altar of the little
chapel, where we have so often worshipped together--the loved ones who
are gone and we who alone remain."

"True, dearest Maud; and there is another reason why we should quit
this place only as man and wife. Beekman has owned that a question will
probably be raised among the authorities at Albany concerning the
nature of my visit here. It might relieve him from an appeal to more
influence than would be altogether pleasant, did I appear as a
bridegroom rather than as a spy."

The word "spy" settled the matter. All ordinary considerations were
lost sight of, under the apprehensions it created, and Maud frankly
consented to become a wife that very day. The ceremony was performed by
Mr. Woods accordingly, and the little chapel witnessed tears of bitter
recollections mingling with the smiles with which the bride received
the warm embrace of her husband, after the benediction was pronounced.
Still, all felt that, under the circumstances, delay would have been
unwise. Maud saw a species of holy solemnity in a ceremony so closely
connected with scenes so sad.

A day or two after the marriage, all that remained of those who had so
lately crowded the Hut, left the valley together. The valuables were
packed and transported to boats lying in the stream below the mills.
All the cattle, hogs, &c., were collected and driven towards the
settlements; and horses were prepared for Maud and the females, who
were to thread the path that led to Fort Stanwix. In a word, the Knoll
was to be abandoned, as a spot unfit to be occupied in such a war. None
but labourers, indeed, could, or would remain, and Beekman thought it
wisest to leave the spot entirely to nature, for the few succeeding
years.

There had been some rumours of confiscations by the new state, and
Willoughby had come to the conclusion that it would be safer to
transfer this property to one who would be certain to escape such an
infliction, than to retain it in his own hands. Little Evert was
entitled to receive a portion of the captain's estate by justice, if
not by law. No will had been found, and the son succeeded as heir-at-
law. A deed was accordingly drawn up by Mr. Woods, who understood such
matters, and being duly executed, the Beaver Dam property was vested in
fee in the child. His own thirty thousand pounds, the personals he
inherited from his mother, and Maud's fortune, to say nothing of the
major's commission, formed an ample support for the new-married pair.
When all was settled, and made productive, indeed, Willoughby found
himself the