The Pathfinder; Or, The Inland Sea

by James Fenimore Cooper

  CHAPTER XIX.

  Thus was this place A happy rural seat of various view. MILTON.

  Mabel was in waiting on the beach, and the canoe was soon launched.Pathfinder carried the party out through the surf in the same skillfulmanner that he had brought it in; and though Mabel's color heightenedwith excitement, and her heart seemed often ready to leap out of hermouth again, they reached the side of the _Scud_ without having receivedeven a drop of spray.

  Ontario is like a quick-tempered man, sudden to be angered, and as soonappeased. The sea had already fallen; and though the breakers boundedthe shore, far as the eye could reach, it was merely in lines ofbrightness, that appeared and vanished like the returning waves producedby a stone which had been dropped into a pool. The cable of the _Scud_was scarcely seen above the water, and Jasper had already hoisted hissails, in readiness to depart as soon as the expected breeze from theshore should fill the canvas.

  It was just sunset as the cutter's mainsail flapped and its stem beganto sever the water. The air was light and southerly, and the head of thevessel was kept looking up along the south shore, it being the intentionto get to the eastward again as fast as possible. The night thatsucceeded was quiet; and the rest of those who slept deep and tranquil.

  Some difficulty occurred concerning the command of the vessel, butthe matter had been finally settled by an amicable compromise. Asthe distrust of Jasper was far from being appeased, Cap retained asupervisory power, while the young man was allowed to work the craft,subject, at all times, to the control and interference of the oldseaman. To this Jasper consented, in preference to exposing Mabel anylonger to the dangers of their present situation for, now that theviolence of the elements had ceased, he well knew that the _Montcalm_would be in search of them. He had the discretion, however, not toreveal his apprehensions on this head; for it happened that the verymeans he deemed the best to escape the enemy were those which wouldbe most likely to awaken new suspicions of his honesty in the mindsof those who held the power to defeat his intentions. In other words,Jasper believed that the gallant young Frenchman, who commanded the shipof the enemy, would quit his anchorage under the fort at Niagara, andstand up the lake, as soon as the wind abated, in order to ascertain thefate of the _Scud_, keeping midway between the two shores as the bestmeans of commanding a broad view; and that, on his part, it would beexpedient to hug one coast or the other, not only to avoid a meeting,but as affording a chance of passing without detection by blending hissails and spars with objects on the land. He preferred the south becauseit was the weather shore, and because he thought it was that which theenemy would the least expect him to take, though it necessarily led nearhis settlements, and in front of one of the strongest posts he held inthat part of the world.

  Of all this, however, Cap was happily ignorant, and the Sergeant's mindwas too much occupied with the details of his military trust to enterinto these niceties, which so properly belonged to another profession.No opposition was made, therefore, and before morning Jasper hadapparently dropped quietly into all his former authority, issuing hisorders freely, and meeting with obedience without hesitation or cavil.

  The appearance of day brought all on board on deck again; and, as isusual with adventurers on the water, the opening horizon was curiouslyexamined, as objects started out of the obscurity, and the panoramabrightened under the growing light. East, west, and north nothing wasvisible but water glittering in the rising sun; but southward stretchedthe endless belt of woods that then held Ontario in a setting of forestverdure. Suddenly an opening appeared ahead, and then the massive wallsof a chateau-looking house, with outworks, bastions, blockhouses, andpalisadoes, frowned on a headland that bordered the outlet of a broadstream. Just as the fort became visible, a little cloud rose overit, and the white ensign of France was seen fluttering from a loftyflagstaff.

  Cap gave an ejaculation as he witnessed this ungrateful exhibition, andhe cast a quick suspicious glance at his brother-in-law.

  "The dirty tablecloth hung up to air, as my name is Charles Cap!" hemuttered; "and we hugging this d----d shore as if it were our wife andchildren met on the return from an India v'y'ge! Hark'e, Jasper, areyou in search of a cargo of frogs, that you keep so near in to this NewFrance?"

  "I hug the land, sir, in the hope of passing the enemy's ship withoutbeing seen, for I think she must be somewhere down here to leeward."

  "Ay, ay, this sounds well, and I hope it may turn out as you say. Itrust there is no under-tow here?"

  "We are on a weather shore, now," said Jasper, smiling; "and I think youwill admit, Master Cap, that a strong under-tow makes an easy cable: weowe all our lives to the under-tow of this very lake."

  "French flummery!" growled Cap, though he did not care to be heard byJasper. "Give me a fair, honest, English-Yankee-American tow, aboveboard, and above water too, if I must have a tow at all, and none ofyour sneaking drift that is below the surface, where one can neithersee nor feel. I daresay, if the truth could be come at, that this lateescape of ours was all a contrived affair."

  "We have now a good opportunity, at least, to reconnoitre the enemy'spost at Niagara, brother, for such I take this fort to be," put inthe Sergeant. "Let us be all eyes in passing, and remember that we arealmost in face of the enemy."

  This advice of the Sergeant needed nothing to enforce it; for theinterest and novelty of passing a spot occupied by human beings were ofthemselves sufficient to attract deep attention in that scene of a vastbut deserted nature. The wind was now fresh enough to urge the _Scud_through the water with considerable velocity, and Jasper eased her helmas she opened the river, and luffed nearly into the mouth of that noblestrait, or river, as it is termed. A dull, distant, heavy roar came downthrough the opening in the banks, swelling on the currents of the air,like the deeper notes of some immense organ, and occasionally seeming tocause the earth itself to tremble.

  "That sounds like surf on some long unbroken coast!" exclaimed Cap, as aswell, deeper than common, came to his ears.

  "Ay, that is such surf as we have in this quarter of the world,"Pathfinder answered. "There is no under-tow there, Master Cap; but allthe water that strikes the rocks stays there, so far as going back againis consarned. That is old Niagara that you hear, or this noble streamtumbling down a mountain."

  "No one will have the impudence to pretend that this fine broad riverfalls over yonder hills?"

  "It does, Master Cap, it does; and all for the want of stairs, or a roadto come down by. This is natur', as we have it up hereaway, though Idaresay you beat us down on the ocean. Ah's me, Mabel! a pleasant hourit would be if we could walk on the shore some ten or fifteen miles upthis stream, and gaze on all that God has done there."

  "You have, then, seen these renowned falls, Pathfinder?" the girleagerly inquired.

  "I have--yes, I have; and an awful sight I witnessed at that same time.The Sarpent and I were out scouting about the garrison there, when hetold me that the traditions of his people gave an account of a mightycataract in this neighborhood, and he asked me to vary from the lineof march a little to look at the wonder. I had heard some marvelsconsarning the spot from the soldiers of the 60th, which is my nat'ralcorps like, and not the 55th, with which I have sojourned so much oflate; but there are so many terrible liars in all rijiments that Ihardly believed half they had told me. Well, we went; and though weexpected to be led by our ears, and to hear some of that awful roaringthat we hear to-day, we were disappointed, for natur' was not thenspeaking in thunder, as she is this morning. Thus it is in the forest,Master Cap; there being moments when God seems to be walking abroad inpower, and then, again, there is a calm over all, as if His spirit layin quiet along the 'arth. Well, we came suddenly upon the stream, ashort distance above the fall, and a young Delaware, who was in ourcompany, found a bark canoe, and he would push into the current to reachan island that lies in the very centre of the confusion and strife.We told him of his folly, we did; and we reasoned with him on thewickedness of tempting Providence by se
eking danger that led to no ind;but the youth among the Delawares are very much the same as the youthamong the soldiers, risky and vain. All we could say did not change hismind, and the lad had his way. To me it seems, Mabel, that whenevera thing is really grand and potent, it has a quiet majesty about it,altogether unlike the frothy and flustering manner of smaller matters,and so it was with them rapids. The canoe was no sooner fairly in them,than down it went, as it might be, as one sails through the air on the'arth, and no skill of the young Delaware could resist the stream. Andyet he struggled manfully for life, using the paddle to the last, likethe deer that is swimming to cast the hounds. At first he shot acrossthe current so swiftly, that we thought he would prevail; but he hadmiscalculated his distance, and when the truth really struck him, heturned the head upstream, and struggled in a way that was fearful tolook at. I could have pitied him even had he been a Mingo. For a fewmoments his efforts were so frantic that he actually prevailed overthe power of the cataract; but natur' has its limits, and one falteringstroke of the paddle set him back, and then he lost ground, foot byfoot, inch by inch, until he got near the spot where the river lookedeven and green, and as if it were made of millions of threads of water,all bent over some huge rock, when he shot backwards like an arrow anddisappeared, the bow of the canoe tipping just enough to let us see whathad become of him. I met a Mohawk some years later who had witnessed thewhole affair from the bed of the stream below, and he told me that theDelaware continued to paddle in the air until he was lost in the mistsof the falls."

  "And what became of the poor wretch?" demanded Mabel, who had beenstrongly interested by the natural eloquence of the speaker.

  "He went to the happy hunting-grounds of his people, no doubt; forthough he was risky and vain, he was also just and brave. Yes, hedied foolishly, but the Manitou of the red-skins has compassion on hiscreatur's as well as the God of a Christian."

  A gun at this moment was discharged from a blockhouse near the fort; andthe shot, one of light weight, came whistling over the cutter's mast,an admonition to approach no nearer. Jasper was at the helm, and he keptaway, smiling at the same time as if he felt no anger at the rudeness ofthe salutation. The _Scud_ was now in the current, and her outwardset soon carried her far enough to leeward to avoid the danger of arepetition of the shot, and then she quietly continued her course alongthe land. As soon as the river was fairly opened, Jasper ascertainedthat the _Montcalm_ was not at anchor in it; and a man sent aloft camedown with the report that the horizon showed no sail. The hope was nowstrong that the artifice of Jasper had succeeded, and that the Frenchcommander had missed them by keeping the middle of the lake as hesteered towards its head.

  All that day the wind hung to the southward, and the cutter continuedher course about a league from the land, running six or eight knots thehour in perfectly smooth water. Although the scene had one featureof monotony, the outline of unbroken forest, it was not without itsinterest and pleasures. Various headlands presented themselves, and thecutter, in running from one to another, stretched across bays so deep asalmost to deserve the name of gulfs. But nowhere did the eye meet withthe evidences of civilization rivers occasionally poured their tributeinto the great reservoir of the lake, but their banks could be tracedinland for miles by the same outlines of trees; and even large bays,that lay embosomed in woods, communicating with Ontario only by narrowoutlets, appeared and disappeared, without bringing with them a singletrace of a human habitation.

  Of all on board, the Pathfinder viewed the scene with the most unmingleddelight. His eyes feasted on the endless line of forest, and more thanonce that day, notwithstanding he found it so grateful to be near Mabel,listening to her pleasant voice, and echoing, in feelings at least, herjoyous laugh, did his soul pine to be wandering beneath the high archesof the maples, oaks, and lindens, where his habits had induced himto fancy lasting and true joys were only to be found. Cap viewed theprospect differently; more than once he expressed his disgust at therebeing no lighthouses, church-towers, beacons, or roadsteads with theirshipping. Such another coast, he protested, the world did not contain;and, taking the Sergeant aside, he gravely assured him that the regioncould never come to anything, as the havens were neglected, the rivershad a deserted and useless look, and that even the breeze had a smell ofthe forest about it, which spoke ill of its properties.

  But the humors of the different individuals in her did not stay thespeed of the _Scud_: when the sun was setting, she was already a hundredmiles on her route towards Oswego, into which river Sergeant Dunham nowthought it his duty to go, in order to receive any communications thatMajor Duncan might please to make. With a view to effect this purpose,Jasper continued to hug the shore all night; and though the wind beganto fail him towards morning, it lasted long enough to carry the cutterup to a point that was known to be but a league or two from the fort.Here the breeze came out light at the northward, and the cutter hauled alittle from the land, in order to obtain a safe offing should it come onto blow, or should the weather again get to be easterly.

  When the day dawned, the cutter had the mouth of the Oswego well underthe lee, distant about two miles; and just as the morning gun from thefort was fired, Jasper gave the order to ease off the sheets, and tobear up for his port. At that moment a cry from the forecastle drew alleyes towards the point on the eastern side of the outlet, and there,just without the range of shot from the light guns of the works, withher canvas reduced to barely enough to keep her stationary, lay the_Montcalm_, evidently in waiting for their appearance.

  To pass her was impossible, for by filling her sails the French shipcould have intercepted them in a few minutes; and the circumstancescalled for a prompt decision. After a short consultation, the Sergeantagain changed his plan, determining to make the best of his way towardsthe station for which he had been originally destined, trusting to thespeed of the _Scud_ to throw the enemy so far astern as to leave no clueto her movements.

  The cutter accordingly hauled upon a wind with the least possible delay,with everything set that would draw. Guns were fired from the fort,ensigns shown, and the ramparts were again crowded. But sympathy was allthe aid that Lundie could lend to his party; and the _Montcalm_, alsofiring four or five guns of defiance, and throwing abroad several of thebanners of France, was soon in chase under a cloud of canvas.

  For several hours the two vessels were pressing through the water asfast as possible, making short stretches to windward, apparently with aview to keep the port under their lee, the one to enter it if possible,and the other to intercept it in the attempt.

  At meridian the French ship was hull down, dead to leeward, thedisparity of sailing on a wind being very great, and some islands werenear by, behind which Jasper said it would be possible for the cutterto conceal her future movements. Although Cap and the Sergeant, andparticularly Lieutenant Muir, to judge by his language, still felt agood deal of distrust of the young man, and Frontenac was not distant,this advice was followed; for time pressed, and the Quartermasterdiscreetly observed that Jasper could not well betray them withoutrunning openly into the enemy's harbor, a step they could at any timeprevent, since the only cruiser of force the French possessed atthe moment was under their lee and not in a situation to do them anyimmediate injury.

  Left to himself, Jasper Western soon proved how much was really in him.He weathered upon the islands, passed them, and on coming out to theeastward, kept broad away, with nothing in sight in his wake or toleeward. By sunset again the cutter was up with the first of the islandsthat lie in the outlet of the lake; and ere it was dark she was runningthrough the narrow channels on her way to the long-sought station. Atnine o'clock, however, Cap insisted that they should anchor; for themaze of islands became so complicated and obscure, that he feared,at every opening, the party would find themselves under the guns ofa French fort. Jasper consented cheerfully, it being a part of hisstanding instructions to approach the station under such circumstancesas would prevent the men from obtaining any very accurate notions of itsposition, l
est a deserter might betray the little garrison to the enemy.

  The _Scud_ was brought to in a small retired bay, where it would havebeen difficult to find her by daylight, and where she was perfectlyconcealed at night, when all but a solitary sentinel on deck soughttheir rest. Cap had been so harassed during the previous eight-and-fortyhours, that his slumbers were long and deep; nor did he awake fromhis first nap until the day was just beginning to dawn. His eyes werescarcely open, however, when his nautical instinct told him that thecutter was under way. Springing up, he found the _Scud_ threading theislands again, with no one on deck but Jasper and the pilot, unless thesentinel be excepted, who had not in the least interfered with movementsthat he had every reason to believe were as regular as they werenecessary.

  "How's this, Master Western?" demanded Cap, with sufficient fiercenessfor the occasion "are you running us into Frontenac at last, and we allasleep below, like so many mariners waiting for the 'sentry go'?"

  "This is according to orders, Master Cap, Major Duncan having commandedme never to approach the station unless at a moment when the people werebelow; for he does not wish there should be more pilots in those watersthan the king has need of."

  "Whe-e-e-w! a pretty job I should have made of running down among thesebushes and rocks with no one on deck! Why, a regular York branch couldmake nothing of such a channel."

  "I always thought, sir," said Jasper, smiling, "you would have donebetter had you left the cutter in my hands until she had safely reachedher place of destination."

  "We should have done it, Jasper, we should have done it, had it notbeen for a circumstance; these circumstances are serious matters, and noprudent man will overlook them."

  "Well, sir, I hope there is now an end of them. We shall arrive inless than an hour if the wind holds, and then you'll be safe from anycircumstances that I can contrive."

  "Humph!"

  Cap was obliged to acquiesce; and, as everything around him had theappearance of Jasper's being sincere, there was not much difficulty inmaking up his mind to submit. It would not have been easy indeed for aperson the most sensitive on the subject of circumstances to fancy thatthe _Scud_ was anywhere in the vicinity of a port so long establishedand so well known on the frontiers as Frontenac. The islands might nothave been literally a thousand in number, but they were so numerous andsmall as to baffle calculation, though occasionally one of larger sizethan common was passed. Jasper had quitted what might have been termedthe main channel, and was winding his way, with a good stiff breeze anda favorable current, through passes that were sometimes so narrow thatthere appeared to be barely room sufficient for the _Scud's_ spars toclear the trees, while at other moments he shot across little bays, andburied the cutter again amid rocks, forests, and bushes. The water wasso transparent that there was no occasion for the lead, and being ofvery equal depth, little risk was actually run, though Cap, with hismaritime habits, was in a constant fever lest they should strike.

  "I give it up, I give it up, Pathfinder!" the old seaman at lengthexclaimed, when the little vessel emerged in safety from the twentiethof these narrow inlets through which she had been so boldly carried;"this is defying the very nature of seamanship, and sending all its lawsand rules to the d---l!"

  "Nay, nay, Saltwater, 'tis the perfection of the art. You perceive thatJasper never falters, but, like a hound with a true nose, he runs withhis head high as if he had a strong scent. My life on it, the lad bringsus out right in the ind, as he would have done in the beginning had wegiven him leave."

  "No pilot, no lead, no beacons, buoys, or lighthouses, no--"

  "Trail," interrupted Pathfinder; "for that to me is the most mysteriouspart of the business. Water leaves no trail, as every one knows; and yethere is Jasper moving ahead as boldly as if he had before his eyes theprints of the moccasins on leaves as plainly as we can see the sun inthe heaven."

  "D---me, if I believe there is even any compass!"

  "Stand by to haul down the jib," called out Jasper, who merely smiled atthe remarks of his companion. "Haul down--starboard your helm--starboardhard--so--meet her--gently there with the helm--touch her lightly--nowjump ashore with the fast, lad--no, heave; there are some of our peopleready to take it."

  All this passed so quickly as barely to allow the spectator time to notethe different evolutions, ere the _Scud_ had been thrown into the winduntil her mainsail shivered, next cast a little by the use of the rudderonly, and then she set bodily alongside of a natural rocky quay, whereshe was immediately secured by good fasts run to the shore. In a word,the station was reached, and the men of the 55th were greeted by theirexpecting comrades, with the satisfaction which a relief usually brings.

  Mabel sprang up on the shore with a delight which she did not care toexpress; and her father led his men after her with an alacrity whichproved how wearied he had become of the cutter. The station, as theplace was familiarly termed by the soldiers of the 55th, was indeed aspot to raise expectations of enjoyment among those who had been coopedup so long in a vessel of the dimensions of the _Scud_. None of theislands were high, though all lay at a sufficient elevation above thewater to render them perfectly healthy and secure. Each had more or lessof wood; and the greater number at that distant day were clothed withthe virgin forest. The one selected by the troops for their purposewas small, containing about twenty acres of land, and by some of theaccidents of the wilderness it had been partly stripped of its trees,probably centuries before the period of which we are writing, and alittle grassy glade covered nearly half its surface.

  The shores of Station Island were completely fringed with bushes, andgreat care had been taken to preserve them, as they answered as a screento conceal the persons and things collected within their circle. Favoredby this shelter, as well as by that of several thickets of trees anddifferent copses, some six or eight low huts had been erected to be usedas quarters for the officer and his men, to contain stores, and to servethe purposes of kitchen, hospital, etc. These huts were built of logs inthe usual manner, had been roofed by bark brought from a distance, lestthe signs of labor should attract attention, and, as they had nowbeen inhabited some months, were as comfortable as dwellings of thatdescription usually ever get to be.

  At the eastern extremity of the island, however, was a small,densely-wooded peninsula, with a thicket of underbrush so closely mattedas nearly to prevent the possibility of seeing across it, so long asthe leaves remained on the branches. Near the narrow neck that connectedthis acre with the rest of the island, a small blockhouse had beenerected, with some attention to its means of resistance. The logs werebullet-proof, squared and jointed with a care to leave no defencelesspoints; the windows were loopholes, the door massive and small, and theroof, like the rest of the structure, was framed of hewn timber, coveredproperly with bark to exclude the rain. The lower apartment as usualcontained stores and provisions; here indeed the party kept all theirsupplies; the second story was intended for a dwelling, as well as forthe citadel, and a low garret was subdivided into two or three rooms,and could hold the pallets of some ten or fifteen persons. All thearrangements were exceedingly simple and cheap, but they were sufficientto protect the soldiers against the effects of a surprise. As the wholebuilding was considerably less than forty feet high, its summit wasconcealed by the tops of the trees, except from the eyes of those whohad reached the interior of the island. On that side the view was openfrom the upper loops, though bushes even there, more or less, concealedthe base of the wooden tower.

  The object being purely defence, care had been taken to place theblockhouse so near an opening in the limestone rock that formed the baseof the island as to admit of a bucket being dropped into the water, inorder to obtain that great essential in the event of a siege. In orderto facilitate this operation, and to enfilade the base of the building,the upper stories projected several feet beyond the lower in the mannerusual to blockhouses, and pieces of wood filled the apertures cut in thelog flooring, which were intended as loops and traps. The communicationsbetwe
en the different stories were by means of ladders. If we add thatthese blockhouses were intended as citadels for garrisons or settlementsto retreat to, in the cases of attacks, the general reader will obtain asufficiently correct idea of the arrangements it is our wish to explain.

  But the situation of the island itself formed its principal merit as amilitary position. Lying in the midst of twenty others, it was notan easy matter to find it; since boats might pass quite near, and, byglimpses caught through the openings, this particular island would betaken for a part of some other. Indeed, the channels between the islandswhich lay around the one we have been describing were so narrow that itwas even difficult to say which portions of the land were connected,or which separated, even as one stood in the centre, with the expressdesire of ascertaining the truth. The little bay in particular, whichJasper used as a harbor, was so embowered with bushes and shut in withislands, that, the sails of the cutter being lowered, her own people onone occasion had searched for hours before they could find the _Scud_,in their return from a short excursion among the adjacent channels inquest of fish. In short, the place was admirably adapted to its presentobjects, and its natural advantages had been as ingeniously improved aseconomy and the limited means of a frontier post would very well allow.

  The hour which succeeded the arrival of the _Scud_ was one of hurriedexcitement. The party in possession had done nothing worthy of beingmentioned, and, wearied with their seclusion, they were all eager toreturn to Oswego. The Sergeant and the officer he came to relieve had nosooner gone through the little ceremonies of transferring the command,than the latter hurried on board the _Scud_ with his whole party; andJasper, who would gladly have passed the day on the island, was requiredto get under way forthwith, the wind promising a quick passage up theriver and across the lake. Before separating, however, Lieutenant Muir,Cap, and the Sergeant had a private conference with the ensign who hadbeen relieved, in which the last was made acquainted with the suspicionsthat existed against the fidelity of the young sailor. Promising duecaution, the officer embarked, and in less than three hours from thetime when she had arrived the cutter was again in motion.

  Mabel had taken possession of a hut; and with female readiness andskill she made all the simple little domestic arrangements of which thecircumstances would admit, not only for her own comfort, but for that ofher father. To save labor, a mess-table was prepared in a hut set apartfor that purpose, where all the heads of the detachment were to eat, thesoldier's wife performing the necessary labor. The hut of the Sergeant,which was the best on the island, being thus freed from any of thevulgar offices of a household, admitted of such a display of womanlytaste, that, for the first time since her arrival on the frontier,Mabel felt proud of her home. As soon as these important duties weredischarged, she strolled out on the island, taking a path which ledthrough the pretty glade, and which conducted to the only point notcovered with bushes. Here she stood gazing at the limpid water, whichlay with scarcely a ruffle on it at her feet, musing on the novelsituation in which she was placed, and permitting a pleasing and deepexcitement to steal over her feelings, as she remembered the scenesthrough which she had so lately passed, and conjectured those whichstill lay veiled in the future.

  "You're a beautiful fixture, in a beautiful spot, Mistress Mabel," saidDavid Muir, suddenly appearing at her elbow; "and I'll no' engage you'renot just the handsomest of the two."

  "I will not say, Mr. Muir, that compliments on my person are altogetherunwelcome, for I should not gain credit for speaking the truth,perhaps," answered Mabel with spirit; "but I will say that if you wouldcondescend to address to me some remarks of a different nature, I maybe led to believe you think I have sufficient faculties to understandthem."

  "Hoot! your mind, beautiful Mabel, is polished just like the barrel ofa soldier's musket, and your conversation is only too discreet and wisefor a poor d---l who has been chewing birch up here these four years onthe lines, instead of receiving it in an application that has the virtueof imparting knowledge. But you are no' sorry, I take it, young lady,that you've got your pretty foot on _terra firma_ once more."

  "I thought so two hours since, Mr. Muir; but the _Scud_ looks sobeautiful as she sails through these vistas of trees, that I almostregret I am no longer one of her passengers."

  As Mabel ceased speaking, she waved her handkerchief in return to asalutation from Jasper, who kept his eyes fastened on her form until thewhite sails of the cutter had swept round a point, and were nearly lostbehind its green fringe of leaves.

  "There they go, and I'll no' say 'joy go with them;' but may they havethe luck to return safely, for without them we shall be in dangerof passing the winter on this island; unless, indeed, we have thealternative of the castle at Quebec. Yon Jasper Eau-douce is a vagrantsort of a lad, and they have reports of him in the garrison that itpains my very heart to hear. Your worthy father, and almost as worthyuncle, have none of the best opinion of him."

  "I am sorry to hear it, Mr. Muir; I doubt not that time will remove alltheir distrust."

  "If time would only remove mine, pretty Mabel," rejoined theQuartermaster in a wheedling tone, "I should feel no envy of thecommander-in-chief. I think if I were in a condition to retire, theSergeant would just step into my shoes."

  "If my dear father is worthy to step into your shoes, Mr. Muir,"returned the girl, with malicious pleasure, "I'm sure that thequalification is mutual, and that you are every way worthy to step intohis."

  "The deuce is in the child! you would not reduce me to the rank of anon-commissioned officer, Mabel?"

  "No, indeed, sir; I was not thinking of the army at all as you spoke ofretiring. My thoughts were more egotistical, and I was thinking howmuch you reminded me of my dear father, by your experience, wisdom, andsuitableness to take his place as the head of a family."

  "As its bridegroom, pretty Mabel, but not as its parent or naturalchief. I see how it is with you, loving your repartee, and brilliantwith wit. Well, I like spirit in a young woman, so it be not the spiritof a scold. This Pathfinder is all extraordinair, Mabel, if truth may besaid of the man."

  "Truth should be said of him or nothing. Pathfinder is my friend--myvery particular friend, Mr. Muir, and no evil can be said of him in mypresence that I shall not deny."

  "I shall say nothing evil of him, I can assure you, Mabel; but, at thesame time, I doubt if much good can be said in his favor."

  "He is at least expert with the rifle," returned Mabel, smiling. "Thatyou cannot deny."

  "Let him have all the credit of his exploits in that way if you please;but he is as illiterate as a Mohawk."

  "He may not understand Latin, but his knowledge of Iroquois is greaterthan that of most men, and it is the more useful language of the two inthis part of the world."

  "If Lundie himself were to call on me for an opinion which I admiremore, your person or your wit, beautiful and caustic Mabel, I should beat a loss to answer. My admiration is so nearly divided between them,that I often fancy this is the one that bears off the palm, and then theother! Ah! the late Mrs. Muir was a paragon in that way also."

  "The latest Mrs. Muir, did you say, sir?" asked Mabel, looking upinnocently at her companion.

  "Hoot, hoot! That is some of Pathfinder's scandal. Now I daresay thatthe fellow has been trying to persuade you, Mabel, that I have had morethan one wife already."

  "In that case his time would have been thrown away, sir, as everybodyknows that you have been so unfortunate as to have had four."

  "Only three, as sure as my name is David Muir. The fourth is purescandal--or rather, pretty Mabel, she is yet _in petto_, as they say atRome; and that means, in matters of love, in the heart, my dear."

  "Well, I'm glad I'm not that fourth person, _in petto_, or in anythingelse, as I should not like to be a scandal."

  "No fear of that, charming Mabel; for were you the fourth, all theothers would be forgotten, and your wonderful beauty and merit would atonce elevate you to be the first. No fear of your being the fourth inany thin
g."

  "There is consolation in that assurance, Mr. Muir," said Mabel,laughing, "whatever there may be in your other assurance; for I confessI should prefer being even a fourth-rate beauty to being a fourth wife."

  So saying she tripped away, leaving the Quartermaster to meditate on hissuccess. Mabel had been induced to use her female means of defence thusfreely, partly because her suitor had of late been so pointed as tostand in need of a pretty strong repulse, and partly on account of hisinnuendoes against Jasper and the Pathfinder. Though full of spiritand quick of intellect, she was not naturally pert; but on the presentoccasion she thought circumstances called for more than usual decision.When she left her companion, therefore, she believed she was now finallyreleased from attentions which she thought as ill-bestowed as they werecertainly disagreeable. Not so, however, with David Muir; accustomed torebuffs, and familiar with the virtue of perseverance, he saw no reasonto despair, though the half-menacing, half-self-satisfied manner inwhich he shook his head towards the retreating girl might have betrayeddesigns as sinister as they were determined. While he was thus occupied,the Pathfinder approached, and got within a few feet of him unseen.

  "'Twill never do, Quartermaster, 'twill never do," commenced the latter,laughing in his noiseless way; "she is young and active, and none but aquick foot can overtake her. They tell me you are her suitor, if you arenot her follower."

  "And I hear the same of yourself, man, though the presumption would beso great that I scarcely can think it true."

  "I fear you're right, I do; yes, I fear you're right;--when I considermyself, what I am, how little I know, and how rude my life has been, Ialtogether distrust my claim, even to think a moment of one so tutored,and gay, and light of heart, and delicate--"

  "You forget handsome," coarsely interrupted Muir.

  "And handsome, too, I fear," returned the meek and self-abased guide;"I might have said handsome at once, among her other qualities; for theyoung fa'n, just as it learns to bound, is not more pleasant to the eyeof the hunter than Mabel is lovely in mine. I do indeed fear that allthe thoughts I have harbored about her are vain and presumptuous."

  "If you think this, my friend, of your own accord and natural modesty,as it might be, my duty to you as an old fellow-campaigner compels me tosay--"

  "Quartermaster," interrupted the other, regarding his companion keenly,"you and I have lived together much behind the ramparts of forts, butvery little in the open woods or in front of the enemy."

  "Garrison or tent, it all passes for part of the same campaign, youknow, Pathfinder; and then my duty keeps me much within sight ofthe storehouses, greatly contrary to my inclinations, as ye may wellsuppose, having yourself the ardor of battle in your temperament. Buthad ye heard what Mabel had just been saying of you, ye'd nothink another minute of making yourself agreeable to the saucy anduncompromising hussy."

  Pathfinder looked earnestly at the lieutenant, for it was impossible heshould not feel an interest in what might be Mabel's opinion but he hadtoo much of the innate and true feeling of a gentleman to ask to hearwhat another had said of him. Muir, however, was not to be foiled bythis self-denial and self-respect; for, believing he had a man of greattruth and simplicity to deal with, he determined to practise on hiscredulity, as one means of getting rid of his rivalry. He thereforepursued the subject, as soon as he perceived that his companion'sself-denial was stronger than his curiosity.

  "You ought to know her opinion, Pathfinder," he continued; "and I thinkevery man ought to hear what his friends and acquaintances say of him:and so, by way of proving my own regard for your character and feelings,I'll just tell you in as few words as possible. You know that Mabel hasa wicked, malicious way with them eyes of her own, when she has a mindto be hard upon one's feelings."

  "To me her eyes, Lieutenant Muir, have always seemed winning and soft,though I will acknowledge that they sometimes laugh; yes, I have knownthem to laugh, and that right heartily, and with downright goodwill."

  "Well, it was just that then; her eyes were laughing with all theirmight, as it were; and in the midst of all her fun, she broke out withan exclamation to this effect:--I hope 'twill no' hurt your sensibility,Pathfinder?"

  "I will not say Quartermaster, I will not say. Mabel's opinion of me isof no more account than that of most others."

  "Then I'll no' tell ye, but just keep discretion on the subject; and whyshould a man be telling another what his friends say of him, especiallywhen they happen to say that which may not be pleasant to hear? I'll notadd another word to this present communication."

  "I cannot make you speak, Quartermaster, if you are not so minded, andperhaps it is better for me not to know Mabel's opinion, as you seem tothink it is not in my favor. Ah's me! if we could be what we wish to be,instead of being only what we are, there would be a great difference inour characters and knowledge and appearance. One may be rude and coarseand ignorant, and yet happy, if he does not know it; but it is hard tosee our own failings in the strongest light, just as we wish to hear theleast about them."

  "That's just the _rationale_, as the French say, of the matter; and so Iwas telling Mabel, when she ran away and left me. You noticed the mannerin which she skipped off as you approached?"

  "It was very observable," answered Pathfinder, drawing a long breathand clenching the barrel of his rifle as if the fingers would burythemselves in the iron.

  "It was more than observable--it was flagrant; that's just the word, andthe dictionary wouldn't supply a better, after an hour's search.Well, you must know, Pathfinder,--for I cannot reasonably deny you thegratification of hearing this,--so you must know the minx bounded offin that manner in preference to hearing what I had to say in yourjustification."

  "And what could you find to say in my behalf, Quartermaster?"

  "Why, d'ye understand, my friend, I was ruled by circumstances, andno' ventured indiscreetly into generalities, but was preparing to meetparticulars, as it might be, with particulars. If you were thought wild,half-savage, or of a frontier formation, I could tell her, ye know, thatit came of the frontier, wild and half-savage life ye'd led; and allher objections must cease at once, or there would be a sort of amisunderstanding with Providence."

  "And did you tell her this, Quartermaster?"

  "I'll no' swear to the exact words, but the idea was prevalent in mymind, ye'll understand. The girl was impatient, and would not hear thehalf I had to say; but away she skipped, as ye saw with your own eyes,Pathfinder, as if her opinion were fully made up, and she cared tolisten no longer. I fear her mind may be said to have come to itsconclusion?"

  "I fear it has indeed, Quartermaster, and her father, after all, ismistaken. Yes, yes; the Sergeant has fallen into a grievous error."

  "Well, man, why need ye lament, and undo all the grand reputation ye'vebeen so many weary years making? Shoulder the rifle that ye use so well,and off into the woods with ye, for there's not the female breathingthat is worth a heavy heart for a minute, as I know from experience.Tak' the word of one who knows the sax, and has had two wives, thatwomen, after all, are very much the sort of creatures we do not imaginethem to be. Now, if you would really mortify Mabel, here is as gloriousan occasion as any rejected lover could desire."

  "The last wish I have, Lieutenant, would be to mortify Mabel."

  "Well, ye'll come to that in the end, notwithstanding; for it'shuman nature to desire to give unpleasant feelings to them that giveunpleasant feelings to us. But a better occasion never offered to makeyour friends love you, than is to be had at this very moment, and thatis the certain means of causing one's enemies to envy us."

  "Quartermaster, Mabel is not my inimy; and if she was, the last thing Icould desire would be to give her an uneasy moment."

  "Ye say so, Pathfinder, ye say so, and I daresay ye think so; but reasonand nature are both against you, as ye'll find in the end. Ye'veheard the saying 'love me, love my dog:' well, now, that means, readbackwards, 'don't love me, don't love my dog.' Now, listen to what isin your power to do. Y
ou know we occupy an exceedingly precarious anduncertain position here, almost in the jaws of the lion, as it were?"

  "Do you mean the Frenchers by the lion, and this island as his jaws,Lieutenant?"

  "Metaphorically only, my friend, for the French are no lions, and thisisland is not a jaw--unless, indeed, it may prove to be, what I greatlyfear may come true, the jaw-bone of an ass."

  Here the Quartermaster indulged in a sneering laugh, that proclaimedanything but respect and admiration for his friend Lundie's sagacity inselecting that particular spot for his operations.

  "The post is as well chosen as any I ever put foot in," said Pathfinder,looking around him as one surveys a picture.

  "I'll no' deny it, I'll no' deny it. Lundie is a great soldier, ina small way; and his father was a great laird, with the samequalification. I was born on the estate, and have followed the Majorso long that I've got to reverence all he says and does: that's just myweakness, ye'll know, Pathfinder. Well, this post may be the post of anass, or of a Solomon, as men fancy; but it's most critically placed,as is apparent by all Lundie's precautions and injunctions. There aresavages out scouting through these Thousand Islands and over the forest,searching for this very spot, as is known to Lundie himself, on certaininformation and the greatest service you can render the 55th is todiscover their trails and lead them off on a false scent. UnhappilySergeant Dunham has taken up the notion that the danger is to beapprehended from up-stream, because Frontenac lies above us; whereas allexperience tells us that Indians come on the side which is most contraryto reason, and, consequently, are to be expected from below. Take yourcanoe, therefore, and go down-stream among the islands, that we may havenotice if any danger approaches from that quarter."

  "The Big Sarpent is on the look-out in that quarter; and as he knows thestation well, no doubt he will give us timely notice, should any wish tosarcumvent us in that direction."

  "He is but an Indian, after all, Pathfinder; and this is an affairthat calls for the knowledge of a white man. Lundie will be eternallygrateful to the man who shall help this little enterprise to come offwith flying colors. To tell you the truth, my friend, he is conscious itshould never have been attempted; but he has too much of the old laird'sobstinacy about him to own an error, though it be as manifest as themorning star."

  The Quartermaster then continued to reason with his companion, in orderto induce him to quit the island without delay, using such argumentsas first suggested themselves, sometimes contradicting himself, and notunfrequently urging at one moment a motive that at the next was directlyopposed by another. The Pathfinder, simple as he was, detected theseflaws in the Lieutenant's philosophy, though he was far from suspectingthat they proceeded from a desire to clear the coast of Mabel's suitor.He did not exactly suspect the secret objects of Muir, but he was farfrom being blind to his sophistry. The result was that the two parted,after a long dialogue, unconvinced, and distrustful of each other'smotives, though the distrust of the guide, like all that was connectedwith the man, partook of his own upright, disinterested, and ingenuousnature.

  A conference that took place soon after between Sergeant Dunham and theLieutenant led to more consequences. When it was ended, secret orderswere issued to the men, the blockhouse was taken possession of, the hutswere occupied, and one accustomed to the movements of soldiers mighthave detected that an expedition was in the wind. In fact, just as thesun was setting, the Sergeant, who had been much occupied at what wascalled the harbor, came into his own hut, followed by Pathfinder andCap; and as he took his seat at the neat table which Mabel had preparedfor him, he opened the budget of his intelligence.

  "You are likely to be of some use here, my child," the old soldiercommenced, "as this tidy and well-ordered supper can testify; and Itrust, when the proper moment arrives, you will show yourself to be thedescendant of those who know how to face their enemies."

  "You do not expect me, dear father, to play Joan of Arc, and to lead themen to battle?"

  "Play whom, child? Did you ever hear of the person Mabel mentions,Pathfinder?"

  "Not I, Sergeant; but what of that? I am ignorant and unedicated, andit is too great a pleasure to me to listen to her voice, and take in herwords, to be particular about persons."

  "I know her," said Cap decidedly; "she sailed a privateer out of Morlaixin the last war; and good cruises she made of them."

  Mabel blushed at having inadvertently made an allusion that went beyondher father's reading, to say nothing of her uncle's dogmatism, and,perhaps, a little at the Pathfinder's simple, ingenuous earnestness; butshe did not forbear the less to smile.

  "Why, father, I am not expected to fall in with the men, and to helpdefend the island?"

  "And yet women have often done such things in this quarter of the world,girl, as our friend, the Pathfinder here, will tell you. But lest youshould be surprised at not seeing us when you awake in the morning, itis proper that I now tell you we intend to march in the course of thisvery night."

  "_We_, father! and leave me and Jennie on this island alone?"

  "No, my daughter; not quite as unmilitary as that. We shall leaveLieutenant Muir, brother Cap, Corporal M'Nab, and three men to composethe garrison during our absence. Jennie will remain with you in thishut, and brother Cap will occupy my place."

  "And Mr. Muir?" said Mabel, half unconscious of what she uttered, thoughshe foresaw a great deal of unpleasant persecution in the arrangement.

  "Why, he can make love to you, if you like it, girl; for he is anamorous youth, and, having already disposed of four wives, is impatientto show how much he honors their memories by taking a fifth."

  "The Quartermaster tells me," said Pathfinder innocently, "that when aman's feelings have been harassed by so many losses, there is no wiserway to soothe them than by ploughing up the soil anew, in such a manneras to leave no traces of what have gone over it before."

  "Ay, that is just the difference between ploughing and harrowing,"returned the Sergeant, with a grim smile. "But let him tell Mabel hismind, and there will be an end of his suit. I very well know that _my_daughter will never be the wife of Lieutenant Muir."

  This was said in a way that was tantamount to declaring that no daughterof his ever _should_ become the wife of the person in question. Mabelhad colored, trembled, half laughed, and looked uneasy; but, rallyingher spirit, she said, in a voice so cheerful as completely to concealher agitation, "But, father, we might better wait until Mr. Muirmanifests a wish that your daughter would have him, or rather a wish tohave your daughter, lest we get the fable of sour grapes thrown into ourfaces."

  "And what is that fable, Mabel?" eagerly demanded Pathfinder, who wasanything but learned in the ordinary lore of white men. "Tell it to us,in your own pretty way; I daresay the Sergeant never heard it."

  Mabel repeated the well-known fable, and, as her suitor had desired,in her own pretty way, which was a way to keep his eyes riveted on herface, and the whole of his honest countenance covered with a smile.

  "That was like a fox!" cried Pathfinder, when she had ceased; "ay, andlike a Mingo, too, cunning and cruel; that is the way with both theriptyles. As to grapes, they are sour enough in this part of thecountry, even to them that can get at them, though I daresay there areseasons and times and places where they are sourer to them that can't. Ishould judge, now, my scalp is very sour in Mingo eyes."

  "The sour grapes will be the other way, child, and it is Mr. Muir whowill make the complaint. You would never marry that man, Mabel?"

  "Not she," put in Cap; "a fellow who is only half a soldier after all.The story of them there grapes is quite a circumstance."

  "I think little of marrying any one, dear father and dear uncle, andwould rather talk about it less, if you please. But, did I think ofmarrying at all, I do believe a man whose affections have already beentried by three or four wives would scarcely be my choice."

  The Sergeant nodded at the guide, as much as to say, You see how theland lies; and then he had sufficient consideration for his daughte
r'sfeelings to change the subject.

  "Neither you nor Mabel, brother Cap," he resumed, "can have any legalauthority with the little garrison I leave behind on the island; but youmay counsel and influence. Strictly speaking, Corporal M'Nab will be thecommanding officer, and I have endeavored to impress him with a senseof his dignity, lest he might give way too much to the superior rank ofLieutenant Muir, who, being a volunteer, can have no right to interferewith the duty. I wish you to sustain the Corporal, brother Cap; forshould the Quartermaster once break through the regulations of theexpedition, he may pretend to command me, as well as M'Nab."

  "More particularly, should Mabel really cut him adrift while you areabsent. Of course, Sergeant, you'll leave everything that isafloat under my care? The most d----ble confusion has grown out ofmisunderstandings between commanders-in-chief, ashore and afloat."

  "In one sense, brother, though in a general way, the Corporal iscommander-in-chief. The Corporal must command; but you can counselfreely, particularly in all matters relating to the boats, of which Ishall leave one behind to secure your retreat, should there be occasion.I know the Corporal well; he is a brave man and a good soldier; and onethat may be relied on, if the Santa Cruz can be kept from him. But thenhe is a Scotchman, and will be liable to the Quartermaster's influence,against which I desire both you and Mabel to be on your guard."

  "But why leave us behind, dear father? I have come thus far to be acomfort to you, and why not go farther?"

  "You are a good girl, Mabel, and very like the Dunhams. But you musthalt here. We shall leave the island to-morrow, before the day dawns,in order not to be seen by any prying eyes coming from our cover, andwe shall take the two largest boats, leaving you the other and one barkcanoe. We are about to go into the channel used by the French, wherewe shall lie in wait, perhaps a week, to intercept their supply-boats,which are about to pass up on their way to Frontenac, loaded, inparticular, with a heavy amount of Indian goods."

  "Have you looked well to your papers, brother?" Cap anxiously demanded."Of course you know a capture on the high seas is piracy, unless yourboat is regularly commissioned, either as a public or a private armedcruiser."

  "I have the honor to hold the Colonel's appointment as sergeant-majorof the 55th," returned the other, drawing himself up with dignity, "andthat will be sufficient even for the French king. If not, I have MajorDuncan's written orders."

  "No papers, then, for a warlike cruiser?"

  "They must suffice, brother, as I have no other. It is of vastimportance to his Majesty's interests, in this part of the world, thatthe boats in question should be captured and carried into Oswego. Theycontain the blankets, trinkets, rifles, ammunition, in short, all thestores with which the French bribe their accursed savage allies tocommit their unholy acts, setting at nought our holy religion and itsprecepts, the laws of humanity, and all that is sacred and dear amongmen. By cutting off these supplies we shall derange their plans, andgain time on them; for the articles cannot be sent across the oceanagain this autumn."

  "But, father, does not his Majesty employ Indians also?" asked Mabel,with some curiosity.

  "Certainly, girl, and he has a right to employ them--God bless him! It'sa very different thing whether an Englishman or a Frenchman employs asavage, as everybody can understand."

  "But, father, I cannot see that this alters the case. If it be wrong ina Frenchman to hire savages to fight his enemies, it would seem to beequally wrong in an Englishman. _You_ will admit this, Pathfinder?"

  "It's reasonable, it's reasonable; and I have never been one of themthat has raised a cry ag'in the Frenchers for doing the very thing wedo ourselves. Still it is worse to consort with a Mingo than to consortwith a Delaware. If any of that just tribe were left, I should think itno sin to send them out ag'in the foe."

  "And yet they scalp and slay young and old, women and children!"

  "They have their gifts, Mabel, and are not to be blamed for followingthem; natur' is natur', though the different tribes have different waysof showing it. For my part I am white, and endeavor to maintain whitefeelings."

  "This is all unintelligible to me," answered Mabel. "What is right inKing George, it would seem, ought to be right in King Louis."

  As all parties, Mabel excepted, seemed satisfied with the course thediscussion had taken, no one appeared to think it necessary to pursuethe subject. Supper was no sooner ended than the Sergeant dismissedhis guests, and then held a long and confidential dialogue with hisdaughter. He was little addicted to giving way to the gentler emotions,but the novelty of his present situation awakened feelings that he wasunused to experience. The soldier or the sailor, so long as he actsunder the immediate supervision of a superior, thinks little of therisks he runs, but the moment he feels the responsibility of command,all the hazards of his undertaking begin to associate themselves in hismind: with the chances of success or failure. While he dwells lesson his own personal danger, perhaps, than when that is the principalconsideration, he has more lively general perceptions of all the risks,and submits more to the influence of the feelings which doubt creates.Such was now the case with Sergeant Dunham, who, instead of lookingforward to victory as certain, according to his usual habits, began tofeel the possibility that he might be parting with his child for ever.

  Never before had Mabel struck him as so beautiful as she appeared thatnight. Possibly she never had displayed so many engaging qualities toher father; for concern on his account had begun to be active in herbreast; and then her sympathies met with unusual encouragement throughthose which had been stirred up in the sterner bosom of the veteran.She had never been entirely at her ease with her parent, the greatsuperiority of her education creating a sort of chasm, which had beenwidened by the military severity of manner he had acquired by dealing solong with beings who could only be kept in subjection by an unremitteddiscipline. On the present occasion, however, the conversation betweenthe father and daughter became more confidential than usual, until Mabelrejoiced to find that it was gradually becoming endearing, a state offeeling that the warm-hearted girl had silently pined for in vain eversince her arrival.

  "Then mother was about my height?" Mabel said, as she held one of herfather's hands in both her own, looking up into his face with humideyes. "I had thought her taller."

  "That is the way with most children who get a habit of thinking of theirparents with respect, until they fancy them larger and more commandingthan they actually are. Your mother, Mabel, was as near your height asone woman could be to another."

  "And her eyes, father?"

  "Her eyes were like thine, child, too; blue and soft, and inviting like,though hardly so laughing."

  "Mine will never laugh again, dearest father, if you do not take care ofyourself in this expedition."

  "Thank you, Mabel--hem--thank you, child; but I must do my duty. I wishI had seen you comfortably married before we left Oswego; my mind wouldbe easier."

  "Married!--to whom, father?"

  "You know the man I wish you to love. You may meet with many gayer, andmany dressed in finer clother; but with none with so true a heart andjust a mind."

  "None father?"

  "I know of none; in these particulars Pathfinder has few equals atleast."

  "But I need not marry at all. You are single, and I can remain to takecare of you."

  "God bless you, Mabel! I know you would, and I do not say that thefeeling is not right, for I suppose it is; and yet I believe there isanother that is more so."

  "What can be more right than to honor one's parents?"

  "It is just as right to honor one's husband, my dear child."

  "But I have no husband, father."

  "Then take one as soon as possible, that you may have a husband tohonor. I cannot live for ever, Mabel, but must drop off in the course ofnature ere long, if I am not carried off in the course of war. You areyoung, and may yet live long; and it is proper that you should have amale protector, who can see you safe through life, and take care of youin age, as you now
wish to take care of me."

  "And do you think, father," said Mabel, playing with his sinewy fingerswith her own little hands, and looking down at them, as if they weresubjects of intense interest, though her lips curled in a slight smileas the words came from them,--"and do you think, father, that Pathfinderis just the man to do this? Is he not, within ten or twelve years, asold as yourself?"

  "What of that? His life has been one of moderation and exercise, andyears are less to be counted, girl, than constitution. Do you knowanother more likely to be your protector?"

  Mabel did not; at least another who had expressed a desire to thateffect, whatever might have been her hopes and her wishes.

  "Nay, father, we are not talking of another, but of the Pathfinder,"she answered evasively. "If he were younger, I think it would be morenatural for me to think of him for a husband."

  "'Tis all in the constitution, I tell you, child; Pathfinder is ayounger man than half our subalterns."

  "He is certainly younger than one, sir--Lieutenant Muir."

  Mabel's laugh was joyous and light-hearted, as if just then she felt nocare.

  "That he is--young enough to be his grandson he is younger in years,too. God forbid, Mabel, that you should ever become an officer's lady,at least until you are an officer's daughter!"

  "There will be little fear of that, father, if I marry Pathfinder,"returned the girl, looking up archly in the Sergeant's face again.

  "Not by the king's commission, perhaps, though the man is even now thefriend and companion of generals. I think I could die happy, Mabel, ifyou were his wife."

  "Father!"

  "'Tis a sad thing to go into battle with the weight of an unprotecteddaughter laid upon the heart."

  "I would give the world to lighten yours of its load, my dear sir."

  "It might be done," said the Sergeant, looking fondly at his child;"though I could not wish to put a burthen on yours in order to do so."

  The voice was deep and tremulous, and never before had Mabel witnessedsuch a show of affection in her parent. The habitual sternness of theman lent an interest to his emotions which they might otherwise havewanted, and the daughter's heart yearned to relieve the father's mind.

  "Father, speak plainly!" she cried, almost convulsively.

  "Nay, Mabel, it might not be right; your wishes and mine may be verydifferent."

  "I have no wishes--know nothing of what you mean. Would you speak of myfuture marriage?"

  "If I could see you promised to Pathfinder--know that you were pledgedto become his wife, let my own fate be what it might, I think I coulddie happy. But I will ask no pledge of you, my child; I will not forceyou to do what you might repent. Kiss me, Mabel, and go to your bed."

  Had Sergeant Dunham exacted of Mabel the pledge that he really so muchdesired, he would have encountered a resistance that he might have foundit difficult to overcome; but, by letting nature have its course,he enlisted a powerful ally on his side, and the warm-hearted,generous-minded Mabel was ready to concede to her affections much morethan she would ever have yielded to menace. At that touching moment shethought only of her parent, who was about to quit her, perhaps for ever;and all of that ardent love for him, which had possibly been as much fedby the imagination as by anything else, but which had received a littlecheck by the restrained intercourse of the last fortnight, now returnedwith a force that was increased by pure and intense feeling. Her fatherseemed all in all to her, and to render him happy there was no propersacrifice which she was not ready to make. One painful, rapid, almostwild gleam of thought shot across the brain of the girl, and herresolution wavered; but endeavoring to trace the foundation of thepleasing hope on which it was based, she found nothing positive tosupport it. Trained like a woman to subdue her most ardent feelings, herthoughts reverted to her father, and to the blessings that awaited thechild who yielded to a parent's wishes.

  "Father," she said quietly, almost with a holy calm, "God blesses thedutiful daughter."

  "He will, Mabel; we have the Good Book for that."

  "I will marry whomever you desire."

  "Nay, nay, Mabel, you may have a choice of your own--"

  "I have no choice; that is, none have asked me to have a choice,but Pathfinder and Mr. Muir; and between _them_, neither of us wouldhesitate. No, father; I will marry whomever you may choose."

  "Thou knowest my choice, beloved child; none other can make thee ashappy as the noble-hearted guide."

  "Well, then, if he wish it, if he ask me again--for, father, you wouldnot have me offer myself, or that any one should do that office for me,"and the blood stole across the pallid cheeks of Mabel as she spoke, forhigh and generous resolutions had driven back the stream of life to herheart; "no one must speak to him of it; but if he seek me again, and,knowing all that a true girl ought to tell the man she marries, he thenwishes to make me his wife, I will be his."

  "Bless you, my Mabel! God in heaven bless you, and reward you as a piousdaughter deserves to be rewarded!"

  "Yes, father, put your mind at peace; go on this expedition with alight heart, and trust in God. For me you will have now no care. Inthe spring--I must have a little time, father--but in the spring I willmarry Pathfinder, if that noble-hearted hunter shall then desire it."

  "Mabel, he loves you as I loved your mother. I have seen him weep like achild when speaking of his feelings towards you."

  "Yes, I believe it; I've seen enough to satisfy me that he thinks betterof me than I deserve; and certainly the man is not living for whom Ihave more respect than for Pathfinder; not even for you, dear father."

  "That is as it should be, child, and the union will be blessed. May Inot tell Pathfinder this?"

  "I would rather you would not, father. Let it come of itself, comenaturally." The smile that illuminated Mabel's handsome face wasangelic, as even her parent thought, though one better practisedin detecting the passing emotions, as they betray themselves in thecountenance, might have traced something wild and unnatural in it. "No,no, _we_ must let things take their course; father, you have my solemnpromise."

  "That will do, that will do, Mabel, now kiss me. God bless and protectyou, girl! you are a good daughter."

  Mabel threw herself into her father's arms--it was the first time in herlife--and sobbed on his bosom like an infant. The stern soldier's heartwas melted, and the tears of the two mingled; but Sergeant Dunham soonstarted, as if ashamed of himself, and, gently forcing his daughter fromhim, he bade her good-night, and sought his pallet. Mabel went sobbingto the rude corner that had been prepared for her reception and ina few minutes the hut was undisturbed by any sound, save the heavybreathing of the veteran.