he can have no concern with our friendship; let us talk of yourself, and of the manner in which you intend to pass the winter.""Ah's me! -- I'm little worth at the best, Mabel, unless it may be on a trail or with the rifle; and less worth now that I have discovered the Sergeant's mistake.There is no need, therefore, of talking of me.It has been very pleasant to me to be near you so long, and even to fancy that the Sergeant was right; but that is all over now.I shall go down the lake with Jasper, and then there will be business to occupy us, and that will keep useless thoughts out of the mind.""And you will forget this -- forget me -- no, not forget me, either, Pathfinder; but you will resume your old pur-suits, and cease to think a girl of sufficient importance to disturb your peace?""I never knowed it afore, Mabel; but girls are of more account in this life than I could have believed.Now, afore I knowed you, the new-born babe did not sleep more sweetly than I used; my head was no sooner on the root, or the stone, or mayhap on the skin, than all was lost to the senses, unless it might be to go over in the night the business of the day in a dream like; and there I lay till the moment came to be stirring, and the swallows were not more certain to be on the wing with the light, than Ito be afoot at the moment I wished to be.All this seemed a gift, and might be calculated on even in the midst of a Mingo camp; for I've been outlying in my time, in the very villages of the vagabonds.""And all this will return to you, Pathfinder, for one so upright and sincere will never waste his happiness on a mere fancy.You will dream again of your hunts, of the deer you have slain, and of the beaver you have taken.""Ah's me, Mabel, I wish never to dream again! Before we met, I had a sort of pleasure in following up the hounds, in fancy, as it might be; and even in striking a trail of the Iroquois -- nay, I've been in skrimmages aud ambushments, in thought like, and found satisfaction in it, according to my gifts; but all those things have lost their charms since I've made acquaintance with you.Now, I think no longer of anything rude in my dreams; but the very last night we stayed in the garrison I imagined I had a cabin in a grove of sugar maples, and at the root of every tree was a Mabel Dunham, while the birds among the branches sang ballads instead of the notes that natur' gave, and even the deer stopped to listen.I tried to shoot a fa'n, but Kill-deer missed fire, and the creatur' laughed in my face, as pleasantly as a young girl laughs in her merriment, and then it bounded away, looking back as if expecting me follow.""No more of this, Pathfinder; we'll talk no more of these things," said Mabel, dashing the tears from her eyes:
for the simple, earnest manner in which this hardy woods-man betrayed the deep hold she had taken of his feelings nearly proved too much for her own generous heart.
"Now, let us look for my father; he cannot be distant, as I heard his gun quite near.""The Sergeant was wrong -- yes, he was wrong, and it's of no avail to attempt to make the dove consort with the wolf.""Here comes my dear father," interrupted Mabel."Let us look cheerful and happy, Pathfinder, as such good friends ought to look, and keep each other's secrets."A pause succeeded; the Sergeant's foot was heard crush-ing the dried twigs hard by, and then his form appeared shoving aside the bushes of a copse just near.As he issued into the open ground, the old soldier scrutinized his daughter and her companion, and speaking good-naturedly, he said, "Mabel, child, you are young aud light of foot --look for a bird that I've shot that fell just beyond the thicket of young hemlocks on the shore; and, as Jasper is showing signs of an intention of getting under way, you need not take the trouble to clamber up this hill again, but we will meet you on the beach in a few minutes."Mabel obeyed, bounding down the hill with the elastic step of youth and health.But, notwithstanding the light-ness of her steps, the heart of the girl was heavy, and no sooner was she hid from observation by the thicket, than she threw herself on the root of a tree and wept as if her heart would break.The Sergeant watched her until she disappeared, with a father's pride, and then turned to his companion with a smile as kind and as familiar as his habits would allow him to use towards any.
"She has her mother's lightness and activity, my friend, with somewhat of her father's force," said he."Her mother was not quite so handsome, I think myself; but the Dunhams were always thought comely, whether men or women.Well, Pathfinder, I take it for granted you've not overlooked the opportunity, but have spoken plainly to the girl? women like frankness in matters of this sort.""I believe Mabel and I understand each other at last, Sergeant," returned the other, looking another way to avoid the soldier's face.
"So much the better.Some people fancy that a little doubt and uncertainty makes love all the livelier; but Iam one of those who think the plainer the tongue speaks the easier the mind will comprehend.Was Mabel sur-prised?"
"I fear she was, Sergeant; I fear she was taken quite by surprise -- yes, I do.""Well, well, surprises in love are like an ambush in war, and quite as lawful; though it is not so easy to tell when a woman is surprised, as to tell when it happens to an en-emy.Mabel did not run away, my worthy friend, did she?""No, Sergeant, Mabel did not try to escape; _that_ I can say with a clear conscience.""I hope the girl was too willing, neither! Her mother was shy and coy for a month, at least; but frank-ness, after all, is a recommendation in a man or woman.""That it is, that it is; and judgment, too.""You are not to look for too much judgment in a young creature of twenty, Pathfinder, but it will come with ex-perience.A mistake in you or me, for instance, might not be so easily overlooked; but in a girl of Mabel's years, one is not to strain at a gnat lest they swallow a camel."The reader will remember that Sergeant Dunham was not a Hebrew scholar.
