CHAPTER XXVII.
The only amaranthian flower on earth Is virtue; the only lasting treasure, truth. COWPER.
The reader must imagine some of the occurrences that followed the suddendeath of Muir. While his body was in the hands of his soldiers, wholaid it decently aside, and covered it with a greatcoat, Chingachgooksilently resumed his place at the fire, and both Sanglier and Pathfinderremarked that he carried a fresh and bleeding scalp at his girdle. Noone asked any questions; and the former, although perfectly satisfiedthat Arrowhead had fallen, manifested neither curiosity nor feeling. Hecontinued calmly eating his soup, as if the meal had been tranquil asusual. There was something of pride and of an assumed indifference tofate, imitated from the Indians, in all this; but there was more thatreally resulted from practice, habitual self-command, and constitutionalhardihood. With Pathfinder the case was a little different infeeling, though much the same in appearance. He disliked Muir, whosesmooth-tongued courtesy was little in accordance with his own frank andingenuous nature; but he had been shocked at his unexpected and violentdeath, though accustomed to similar scenes, and he had been surprisedat the exposure of his treachery. With a view to ascertain the extentof the latter, as soon as the body was removed, he began to questionthe Captain on the subject. The latter, having no particular motivefor secrecy now that his agent was dead, in the course of the breakfastrevealed the following circumstances, which will serve to clear up someof the minor incidents of our tale.
Soon after the 55th appeared on the frontiers, Muir had volunteered hisservices to the enemy. In making his offers, he boasted of his intimacywith Lundie, and of the means it afforded of furnishing more accurateand important information than usual. His terms had been accepted, andMonsieur Sanglier had several interviews with him in the vicinity of thefort at Oswego, and had actually passed one entire night secreted in thegarrison. Arrowhead, however, was the usual channel of communicationand the anonymous letter to Major Duncan had been originally written byMuir, transmitted to Frontenac, copied, and sent back by the Tuscarora,who was returning from that errand when captured by the _Scud_. It isscarcely necessary to add that Jasper was to be sacrificed in order toconceal the Quartermaster's treason, and that the position of theisland had been betrayed to the enemy by the latter. An extraordinarycompensation--that which was found in his purse--had induced him toaccompany the party under Sergeant Dunham, in order to give the signalsthat were to bring on the attack. The disposition of Muir towards thesex was a natural weakness, and he would have married Mabel, or any oneelse who would accept his hand; but his admiration of her was in a greatdegree feigned, in order that he might have an excuse for accompanyingthe party without sharing in the responsibility of its defeat, orincurring the risk of having no other strong and seemingly sufficientmotive. Much of this was known to Captain Sanglier, particularly thepart in connection with Mabel, and he did not fail to let his auditorsinto the whole secret, frequently laughing in a sarcastic manner, as herevealed the different expedients of the luckless Quartermaster.
"_Touchez-la_," said the cold-blooded partisan, holding out his sinewyhand to Pathfinder, when he ended his explanations; "you be _honnete_,and dat is _beaucoup_. We tak' de spy as we tak' _la medicine_, for degood; _mais, je les deteste! Touchez-la._"
"I'll shake your hand, Captain, I will; for you're a lawful and nat'ralinimy," returned Pathfinder, "and a manful one; but the body of theQuartermaster shall never disgrace English ground. I did intend to carryit back to Lundie that he might play his bagpipes over it, but now itshall lie here on the spot where he acted his villainy, and have his owntreason for a headstone. Captain Flinty-heart, I suppose this consortingwith traitors is a part of a soldier's regular business; but, I tell youhonestly, it is not to my liking, and I'd rather it should be you thanI who had this affair on his conscience. What an awful sinner! To plot,right and left, ag'in country, friends, and the Lord! Jasper, boy, aword with you aside, for a single minute."
Pathfinder now led the young man apart; and, squeezing his hand, withthe tears in his own eyes, he continued:
"You know me, Eau-douce, and I know you," said he, "and this news hasnot changed my opinion of you in any manner. I never believed theirtales, though it looked solemn at one minute, I will own; yes, it didlook solemn, and it made me feel solemn too. I never suspected you fora minute, for I know your gifts don't lie that-a-way; but, I must own, Ididn't suspect the Quartermaster neither."
"And he holding his Majesty's commission, Pathfinder!"
"It isn't so much that, Jasper Western, it isn't so much that. He helda commission from God to act right, and to deal fairly with hisfellow-creaturs, and he has failed awfully in his duty."
"To think of his pretending love for one like Mabel, too, when he feltnone."
"That was bad, sartainly; the fellow must have had Mingo blood in hisveins. The man that deals unfairly by a woman can be but a mongrel, lad;for the Lord has made them helpless on purpose that we may gain theirlove by kindness and sarvices. Here is the Sergeant, poor man, on hisdying bed; he has given me his daughter for a wife, and Mabel, deargirl, she has consented to it; and it makes me feel that I have twowelfares to look after, two natur's to care for, and two hearts togladden. Ah's me, Jasper! I sometimes feel that I'm not good enough forthat sweet child!"
Eau-douce had nearly gasped for breath when he first heard thisintelligence; and, though he succeeded in suppressing any other outwardsigns of agitation, his cheek was blanched nearly to the paleness ofdeath. Still he found means to answer not only with firmness, but withenergy,--
"Say not so, Pathfinder; you are good enough for a queen."
"Ay, ay, boy, according to your idees of my goodness; that is to say, Ican kill a deer, or even a Mingo at need, with any man on the lines; orI can follow a forest-path with as true an eye, or read the stars,when others do not understand them. No doubt, no doubt, Mabel will havevenison enough, and fish enough, and pigeons enough; but will shehave knowledge enough, and will she have idees enough, and pleasantconversation enough, when life comes to drag a little, and each of usbegins to pass for our true value?"
"If you pass for your value, Pathfinder, the greatest lady in theland would be happy with you. On that head you have no reason to feelafraid."
"Now, Jasper, I dare to say _you_ think so, nay, I _know_ you do; forit is nat'ral, and according to friendship, for people to lookover-favorably at them they love. Yes, yes; if I had to marry you, boy,I should give myself no consarn about my being well looked upon, foryou have always shown a disposition to see me and all I do with friendlyeyes. But a young gal, after all, must wish to marry a man that isnearer to her own age and fancies, than to have one old enough to be herfather, and rude enough to frighten her. I wonder, Jasper, that Mabelnever took a fancy to you, now, rather than setting her mind on me."
"Take, a fancy to me, Pathfinder!" returned the young man, endeavoringto clear his voice without betraying himself; "what is there about me toplease such a girl as Mabel Dunham? I have all that you find fault within yourself, with none of that excellence that makes even the generalsrespect you."
"Well, well, it's all chance, say what we will about it. Here haveI journeyed and guided through the woods female after female, andconsorted with them in the garrisons, and never have I even felt aninclination for any, until I saw Mabel Dunham. It's true the poorSergeant first set me to thinking about his daughter; but after we got alittle acquainted like, I'd no need of being spoken to, to think of hernight and day. I'm tough, Jasper; yes, I'm very tough; and I'm risoluteenough, as you all know; and yet I do think it would quite break medown, now, to lose Mabel Dunham!"
"We will talk no more of it, Pathfinder," said Jasper, returning hisfriend's squeeze of the hand, and moving back towards the fire, thoughslowly, and in the manner of one who cared little where he went; "wewill talk no more of it. You are worthy of Mabel, and Mabel is worthy ofyou--you like Mabel, and Mabel likes you--her father has chosen youfor her husband, and no one has a right to int
erfere. As for theQuartermaster, his feigning love for Mabel is worse even than histreason to the king."
By this time they were so near the fire that it was necessary to changethe conversation. Luckily, at that instant, Cap, who had been in theblock in company with his dying brother-in-law, and who knew nothingof what had passed since the capitulation, now appeared, walking witha meditative and melancholy air towards the group. Much of that heartydogmatism, that imparted even to his ordinary air and demeanoran appearance of something like contempt for all around him, haddisappeared, and he seemed thoughtful, if not meek.
"This death, gentlemen," said he, when he had got sufficiently near,"is a melancholy business, make the best of it. Now, here is SergeantDunham, a very good soldier, I make no question, about to slip hiscable; and yet he holds on to the better end of it, as if he wasdetermined it should never run out of the hawse-hole; and all because heloves his daughter, it seems to me. For my part, when a friend is reallyunder the necessity of making a long journey, I always wish him well andhappily off."
"You wouldn't kill the Sergeant before his time?" Pathfinderreproachfully answered. "Life is sweet, even to the aged; and, for thatmatter, I've known some that seemed to set much store by it when it gotto be of the least value."
Nothing had been further from Cap's real thoughts than the wish tohasten his brother-in-law's end. He had found himself embarrassed withthe duties of smoothing a deathbed, and all he had meant was to expressa sincere desire that the Sergeant were happily rid of doubt andsuffering. A little shocked, therefore, at the interpretation that hadbeen put on his words, he rejoined with some of the asperity of theman, though rebuked by a consciousness of not having done his own wishesjustice. "You are too old and too sensible a person, Pathfinder," saidhe, "to fetch a man up with a surge, when he is paying out his ideas indistress, as it might be. Sergeant Dunham is both my brother-in-law andmy friend,--that is to say, as intimate a friend as a soldier well canbe with a seafaring man,--and I respect and honor him accordingly. Imake no doubt, moreover, that he has lived such a life as becomes aman, and there can be no great harm, after all, in wishing any one wellberthed in heaven. Well! we are mortal, the best of us, that you'll notdeny; and it ought to be a lesson not to feel pride in our strength andbeauty. Where is the Quartermaster, Pathfinder? It is proper he shouldcome and have a parting word with the poor Sergeant, who is only going alittle before us."
"You have spoken more truth, Master Cap, than you've been knowing to,all this time. You might have gone further, notwithstanding, and saidthat we are mortal, the _worst_ of us; which is quite as true, and agood deal more wholesome, than saying that we are mortal, the _best_of us. As for the Quartermaster's coming to speak a parting word tothe Sergeant, it is quite out of the question, seeing that he has goneahead, and that too with little parting notice to himself, or to any oneelse."
"You are not quite so clear as common in your language, Pathfinder. Iknow that we ought all to have solemn thoughts on these occasions, but Isee no use in speaking in parables."
"If my words are not plain, the idee is. In short, Master Cap, whileSergeant Dunham has been preparing himself for a long journey, like aconscientious and honest man as he is, deliberately, the Quartermasterhas started, in a hurry, before him; and, although it is a matter onwhich it does not become me to be very positive, I give it as my opinionthat they travel such different roads that they will never meet."
"Explain yourself, my friend," said the bewildered seaman, lookingaround him in search of Muir, whose absence began to excite hisdistrust. "I see nothing of the Quartermaster; but I think him too muchof a man to run away, now that the victory is gained. If the fight wereahead instead of in our wake, the case would be altered."
"There lies all that is left of him, beneath that greatcoat," returnedthe guide, who then briefly related the manner of the Lieutenant'sdeath. "The Tuscarora was as venemous in his blow as a rattler, thoughhe failed to give the warning," continued Pathfinder. "I've seen many adesperate fight, and several of these sudden outbreaks of savage temper;but never before did I see a human soul quit the body more unexpectedly,or at a worse moment for the hopes of the dying man. His breath wasstopped with the lie on his lips, and the spirit might be said to havepassed away in the very ardor of wickedness."
Cap listened with a gaping mouth; and he gave two or three violent hems,as the other concluded, like one who distrusted his own respiration.
"This is an uncertain and uncomfortable life of yours, MasterPathfinder, what between the fresh water and the savages," said he; "andthe sooner I get quit of it, the higher will be my opinion of myself.Now you mention it, I will say that the man ran for that berth in therocks, when the enemy first bore down upon us, with a sort of instinctthat I thought surprising in an officer; but I was in too great a hurryto follow, to log the whole matter accurately. God bless me! God blessme!--a traitor, do you say, and ready to sell his country, and to arascally Frenchman too?"
"To sell anything; country, soul, body, Mabel, and all our scalps; andno ways particular, I'll engage, as to the purchaser. The countrymen ofCaptain Flinty-heart here were the paymasters this time."
"Just like 'em; ever ready to buy when they can't thrash, and to runwhen they can do neither."
Monsieur Sanglier lifted his cap with ironical gravity, and acknowledgedthe compliment with an expression of polite contempt that was altogetherlost on its insensible subject. But Pathfinder had too much nativecourtesy, and was far too just-minded, to allow the attack to gounnoticed.
"Well, well," he interposed, "to my mind there is no great difference'atween an Englishman and a Frenchman, after all. They talk differenttongues, and live under different kings, I will allow; but both arehuman, and feel like human beings, when there is occasion for it."
Captain Flinty-heart, as Pathfinder called him, made another obeisance;but this time the smile was friendly, and not ironical; for he felt thatthe intention was good, whatever might have been the mode of expressingit. Too philosophical, however, to heed what a man like Cap might say orthink, he finished his breakfast, without allowing his attention to beagain diverted from that important pursuit.
"My business here was principally with the Quartermaster," Capcontinued, as soon as he had done regarding the prisoner's pantomime."The Sergeant must be near his end, and I have thought he might wish tosay something to his successor in authority before he finally departed.It is too late, it would seem; and, as you say, Pathfinder, theLieutenant has truly gone before."
"That he has, though on a different path. As for authority, I supposethe Corporal has now a right to command what's left of the 55th;though a small and worried, not to say frightened, party it is. But, ifanything needs to be done, the chances are greatly in favor of my beingcalled on to do it. I suppose, however, we have only to bury our dead;set fire to the block and the huts, for they stand in the inimy'sterritory by position, if not by law, and must not be left for theirconvenience. Our using them again is out of the question for, nowthe Frenchers know where the island is to be found, it would be likethrusting the hand into a wolf-trap with our eyes wide open. This partof the work the Sarpent and I will see to, for we are as practysed inretreats as in advances."
"All that is very well, my good friend. And now for my poorbrother-in-law: though he is a soldier, we cannot let him slip without aword of consolation and a leave-taking, in my judgment. This has beenan unlucky affair on every tack; though I suppose it is what one had aright to expect, considering the state of the times and the nature ofthe navigation. We must make the best of it, and try to help theworthy man to unmoor, without straining his messengers. Death is acircumstance, after all, Master Pathfinder, and one of a very generalcharacter too, seeing that we must all submit to it, sooner or later."
"You say truth, you say truth; and for that reason I hold it to bewise to be always ready. I've often thought, Saltwater, that he is thehappiest who has the least to leave behind him when the summons comes.Now, here am I, a hunter and a scout and a guide, al
though I do not owna foot of land on 'arth, yet do I enjoy and possess more than the greatAlbany Patroon. With the heavens over my head to keep me in mind of thelast great hunt, and the dried leaves beneath my feet, I tramp overthe ground as freely as if I was its lord and owner; and what more needheart desire? I do not say that I love nothing that belongs to 'arth;for I do, though not much, unless it might be Mabel Dunham, that Ican't carry with me. I have some pups at the higher fort that I vallyconsiderable, though they are too noisy for warfare, and so we arecompelled to live separate for awhile; and then I think it would grieveme to part with Killdeer; but I see no reason why we should not beburied in the same grave, for we are as near as can be of the samelength--six feet to a hair's breadth; but, bating these, and a pipe thatthe Sarpent gave me, and a few tokens received from travellers, all ofwhich might be put in a pouch and laid under my head, when the ordercomes to march I shall be ready at a minute's warning; and, let me tellyou, Master Cap, that's what I call a circumstance too."
"'Tis just so with me," answered the sailor, as the two walked towardsthe block, too much occupied with their respective morality to rememberat the moment the melancholy errand they were on "that's just my way offeeling and reasoning. How often have I felt, when near shipwreck, therelief of not owning the craft! 'If she goes,' I have said to myself,'why, my life goes with her, but not my property, and there's greatcomfort in that.' I've discovered, in the course of boxing about theworld from the Horn to Cape North, not to speak of this run on a bit offresh water, that if a man has a few dollars, and puts them in a chestunder lock and key, he is pretty certain to fasten up his heart in thesame till; and so I carry pretty much all I own in a belt round mybody, in order, as I say, to keep the vitals in the right place. D---me,Pathfinder, if I think a man without a heart any better than a fish witha hole in his air-bag."
"I don't know how that may be, Master Cap; but a man without aconscience is but a poor creatur', take my word for it, as any one willdiscover who has to do with a Mingo. I trouble myself but little withdollars or half-joes, for these are the favoryte coin in this part ofthe world; but I can easily believe, by what I've seen of mankind, thatif a man _has_ a chest filled with either, he may be said to lock up hisheart in the same box. I once hunted for two summers, during the lastpeace, and I collected so much peltry that I found my right feelingsgiving way to a craving after property; and if I have consarn inmarrying Mabel, it is that I may get to love such things too well, inorder to make her comfortable."
"You're a philosopher, that's clear, Pathfinder; and I don't know butyou're a Christian."
"I should be out of humor with the man that gainsayed the last, MasterCap. I have not been Christianized by the Moravians, like so many of theDelawares, it is true; but I hold to Christianity and white gifts. Withme, it is as on-creditable for a white man not to be a Christian as itis for a red-skin not to believe in his happy hunting-grounds; indeed,after allowing for difference in traditions, and in some variationsabout the manner in which the spirit will be occupied after death, Ihold that a good Delaware is a good Christian, though he never saw aMoravian; and a good Christian a good Delaware, so far as natur 'isconsarned. The Sarpent and I talk these matters over often, for he has ahankerin' after Christianity--"
"The d---l he has!" interrupted Cap. "And what does he intend to do in achurch with all the scalps he takes?"
"Don't run away with a false idee, friend Cap, don't run away with afalse idee. These things are only skin-deep, and all depend on edicationand nat'ral gifts. Look around you at mankind, and tell me why you see ared warrior here, a black one there, and white armies in another place?All this, and a great deal more of the same kind that I could point out,has been ordered for some special purpose; and it is not for us to flyin the face of facts and deny their truth. No, no; each color has itsgifts, and its laws, and its traditions; and one is not to condemnanother because he does not exactly comprehend it."
"You must have read a great deal, Pathfinder, to see things so clear asthis," returned Cap, not a little mystified by his companion's simplecreed. "It's all as plain as day to me now, though I must say I neverfell in with these opinions before. What denomination do you belong to,my friend?"
"Anan?"
"What sect do you hold out for? What particular church do you fetch upin?"
"Look about you, and judge for yourself. I'm in church now; I eat inchurch, drink in church, sleep in church. The 'arth is the temple of theLord, and I wait on Him hourly, daily, without ceasing, I humbly hope.No, no, I'll not deny my blood and color; but am Christian born, andshall die in the same faith. The Moravians tried me hard; and one ofthe King's chaplains has had his say too, though that's a class no waysstrenuous on such matters; and a missionary sent from Rome talked muchwith me, as I guided him through the forest, during the last peace; butI've had one answer for them all--I'm a Christian already, and want tobe neither Moravian, nor Churchman, nor Papist. No, no, I'll not deny mybirth and blood."
"I think a word from you might lighten the Sergeant over the shoals ofdeath, Master Pathfinder. He has no one with him but poor Mabel; andshe, you know, besides being his daughter, is but a girl and a childafter all."
"Mabel is feeble in body, friend Cap; but in matters of this natur' Idoubt if she may not be stronger than most men. But Sergeant Dunham ismy friend, and he is your brother-in-law; so, now the press of fightingand maintaining our rights is over, it is fitting we should both goand witness his departure. I've stood by many a dying man, Master Cap,"continued Pathfinder, who had a besetting propensity to enlarge on hisexperience, stopping and holding his companion by a button,--"I've stoodby many a dying man's side, and seen his last gasp, and heard his lastbreath; for, when the hurry and tumult of the battle is over, it is goodto bethink us of the misfortunate, and it is remarkable to witness howdifferently human natur' feels at such solemn moments. Some go theirway as stupid and ignorant as if God had never given them reason and anaccountable state; while others quit us rejoicing, like men who leaveheavy burthens behind them. I think that the mind sees clearly atsuch moments, my friend, and that past deeds stand thick before therecollection."
"I'll engage they do, Pathfinder. I have witnessed something of thismyself, and hope I'm the better man for it. I remember once thatI thought my own time had come, and the log was overhauled with adiligence I did not think myself capable of until that moment. I've notbeen a very great sinner, friend Pathfinder; that is to say, never on alarge scale; though I daresay, if the truth were spoken, a considerableamount of small matters might be raked up against me, as well as againstanother man; but then, I've never committed piracy, nor high treason,nor arson, nor any of them sort of things. As to smuggling, and the likeof that, why, I'm a seafaring man, and I suppose all callings have theirweak spots. I daresay your trade is not altogether without blemish,honorable and useful as it seems to be?"
"Many of the scouts and guides are desperate knaves; and, like theQuartermaster here, some of them take pay of both sides. I hope I'm notone of them, though all occupations lead to temptations. Thrice have Ibeen sorely tried in my life, and once I yielded a little, though Ihope it was not in a matter to disturb a man's conscience in his lastmoments. The first time was when I found in the woods a pack of skinsthat I knowed belonged to a Frencher who was hunting on our side of thelines, where he had no business to be; twenty-six as handsome beaversas ever gladdened human eyes. Well, that was a sore temptation for Ithought the law would have been almost with me, although it was in peacetimes. But then, I remembered that such laws wasn't made for us hunters,and bethought me that the poor man might have built great expectationsfor the next winter on the sale of his skins; and I left them wherethey lay. Most of our people said I did wrong; but the manner in which Islept that night convinced me that I had done right. The next trial waswhen I found the rifle that is sartainly the only one in this part ofthe world that can be calculated on as surely as Killdeer, and knowedthat by taking it, or even hiding it, I might at once rise to be thefirst shot in all
these parts. I was then young, and by no means soexpart as I have since got to be, and youth is ambitious and striving;but, God be praised! I mastered that feeling; and, friend Cap, what isalmost as good, I mastered my rival in as fair a shooting-match as wasever witnessed in a garrison he with his piece, and I with Killdeer,and before the General in person too!" Here Pathfinder stopped to laugh,his triumph still glittering in his eyes and glowing on his sunburnt andbrowned cheek. "Well, the next conflict with the devil was the hardestof them all; and that was when I came suddenly upon a camp of sixMingos asleep in the woods, with their guns and horns piled in away thatenabled me to get possession of them without waking a miscreant of themall. What an opportunity that would have been for the Sarpent, who wouldhave despatched them, one after another, with his knife, and had theirsix scalps at his girdle, in about the time it takes me to tell you thestory. Oh, he's a valiant warrior, that Chingachgook, and as honest ashe's brave, and as good as he's honest!"
"And what may _you_ have done in this matter, Master Pathfinder?"demanded Cap, who began to be interested in the result; "it seems to meyou had made either a very lucky, or a very unlucky landfall."
"'Twas lucky, and 'twas unlucky, if you can understand that. 'Twasunlucky, for it proved a desperate trial; and yet 'twas lucky, allthings considered, in the ind. I did not touch a hair of their heads,for a white man has no nat'ral gifts to take scalps; nor did I even makesure of one of their rifles. I distrusted myself, knowing that a Mingois no favorite in my own eyes."
"As for the scalps, I think you were right enough, my worthy friend; butas for the armament and the stores, they would have been condemned byany prize-court in Christendom."
"That they would, that they would; but then the Mingos would have goneclear, seeing that a white man can no more attack an unarmed than asleeping inimy. No, no, I did myself, and my color, and my religiontoo, greater justice. I waited till their nap was over, and they wellon their war-path again; and, by ambushing them here and flankingthem there, I peppered the blackguards intrinsically like" (Pathfinderoccasionally caught a fine word from his associates, and used it alittle vaguely), "that only one ever got back to his village, and hecame into his wigwam limping. Luckily, as it turned out, the greatDelaware had only halted to jerk some venison, and was following on mytrail; and when he got up he had five of the scoundrels' scalps hangingwhere they ought to be; so, you see, nothing was lost by doing right,either in the way of honor or in that of profit."
Cap grunted an assent, though the distinctions in his companion'smorality, it must be owned, were not exactly clear to his understanding.The two had occasionally moved towards the block as they conversed, andthen stopped again as some matter of more interest than common broughtthem to a halt. They were now so near the building, however, thatneither thought of pursuing the subject any further; but each preparedhimself for the final scene with Sergeant Dunham.
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