Preparing their arms with the utmost care, they advanced with steadiness to the brake.

Nerves less often tried than those of the young borderers might have shrunk before the dangers of so uncertain an undertaking.

As they proceeded, the howls of the dogs became more shrill and plaintive.

The vultures and buzzards settled so low as to flap the bushes with their heavy wings, and the wind came hoarsely sweeping along the naked prairie, as if the spirits of the air had also descended to witness the approaching development.
There was a breathless moment, when the blood of the undaunted Esther flowed backward to her heart, as she saw her sons push aside the matted branches of the thicket and bury themselves in its labyrinth.

A deep and solemn pause succeeded.