Her father did not answer her at once. He looked at Tall John. Tall John nodded.

Then Sarah’s father took both her hands in his and looked down into her eyes.

“Sarah,” he said. “You have been brave, and now you will have to be braver. I must go to fetch your mother and the children. It is too far for you to go and it will be better if you stay here.”

“Stay here? Alone? I am afraid.”

She heard herself say “afraid” and it was the first time she had said the word out loud.

“I have lost my courage,” said Sarah Noble.

“To be afraid and to be brave is the best courage of all,” said her father. “But you need not be afraid and you will not be alone. Dry your tears, Sarah. Tall John and his squaw will take care of you.”

“You mean,” said Sarah not quite believing the words, “You mean I am to live with the Indians?”

“That is what I mean,” her father said. “Does it seem very hard to you?”

Sarah thought it over. The Indian children were her friends. She loved Tall John and his squaw. But to stay with them, to live in their house, while her father was away—that was quite another matter. And again, Sarah was afraid. But she knew that Thomas would be needed to carry goods when her father brought the family back—Thomas and other horses. Of course there would be no place for Sarah to ride.

The next morning Sarah was very quiet as she stirred the mush for breakfast.

“Sarah,” said her father. “You will be safe with Tall John and his family.”

“But,” said Sarah, “what if the Indians from the North come? Tall John is afraid of them.”

“The Indians have not come from the North for a long time,” her father said. “You know the Indians on Guarding Hill keep watch all the time. I would not leave you, Sarah, if I did not think it was safe.”

But to himself he said, “Am I doing right to leave her?” There was worry in his mind.

The frost was on the ground when Sarah stood, holding Tall John’s hand, to watch her father start on his journey. Her cloak was wrapped tightly around her. She was not saying anything, but her mind, always busy, was making pictures. Trees . . . trees . . . dark trees . . . narrow paths through the forest . . . wolves . . . bears. Suppose her father never came back and she had to live with the Indians all her life?

Now her father was mounting Thomas. Sarah patted the horse’s nose. His long, solemn face seemed suddenly very dear to her.

John Noble rode quickly away—turning once, twice, three times to wave to a very small girl in a red-brown cloak.

Keep up your courage, Sarah Noble.

Now he was far away—farther away. The trees hid him and he was out of sight.

Keep up your courage, Sarah Noble.

Sarah’s fingers were cold in Tall John’s hand and the tears she had been holding back splashed on her cloak. Tall John swung her up on his shoulder. Then they went, with long strides, down the hill, across the river, to Tall John’s house.