The Governor let his fingers rest upon the arm of his chair, and raised his head.

“He is dead, Master Rolfe,” he said. “There can be no other conclusion, — a brave man lost to you and to the colony. We mourn with you, sir.”

“We too have searched, Jack,” put in West. “We have not been idle, though well-nigh all men believe that the Indians, who we know had a grudge against him, murdered him and his man that night, then threw their bodies into the river, and themselves made off out of our reach. But we hoped against hope that when your party returned he would be in your midst.”

“As for this latest loss,” continued the Governor, “within an hour of its discovery this morning search