man with whom thou dwellest, young
woman, and thou also knowest the danger of being found in evil company. Abandon
then the trifling advantages of thy situation, and yield the rock peacably to
the will of those who accompany me - a legion, young woman, I do assure you, an
invincible and powerful legion. Render therefore the effects of this lawless,
and wicked squatter - nay, children, such disregard of human life, is frightful
in those who have so recently received the gift, in their own persons, point
those dangerous weapons aside, I entreat of you, more for your own sakes than
for mine. Hetty, hast thou forgotten who appeased thine anguish when thy
auricular nerves were tortured by the colds and damps, of the naked earth! and
thou, Phoebe, ungrateful, and forgetful Phoebe! but for this very arm, which you
would prostrate with an endless paralysis, thine incisores would still be giving
thee pain and sorrow! Lay, then, aside thy weapons, and hearken to the advice of
one who has always been thy friend. And, now, young woman,« still keeping a
jealous eye on the muskets, which the girl had suffered to be diverted a little
from their aim, »And now, young woman, for the last, and therefore the most
solemn, asking, I demand of thee, the surrender of this rock, without delay or
resistance, in the joint names of Power, of justice and of the -« Law, he would
have added; but recollecting that this ominous word would again provoke the
hostility of the squatter's children, he succeeded in swallowing it, in good
season and concluded with the less dangerous and more convertible term of
Reason.
    This extraordinary summons, failed however, of producing the desired effect.
It proved utterly unintelligible to his younger listeners, with the exception of
the few offensive terms, already sufficiently distinguished, and though Ellen
better comprehended the meaning of the herald, she appeared as little moved by
his rhetoric as her companions. At those passages, which he intended should be
tender and affecting, the intelligent girl, though tortured by painful feelings,
had even manifested a disposition to laugh, while to the threats she turned an
utterly insensible ear.
    »I know not the meaning of all you wish to say, Dr. Battius,« she quietly
replied, when he had ended, »but I am sure if it would teach me to betray my
trust, it is what I ought not to hear. I caution you to attempt no violence, for
let my wishes be what they may