第35章

And is this -- Yarrow? -- this the stream Of which my fancy cherish'd So faithfully a waking dream?

An image that hath perish'd?

Oh that some minstrel's harp were near, To utter notes of gladness, And chase this silence from the air, That fills my heart with sadness.

WORDSWORTH.

THE scene was not without its sublimity, and the ardent, generous-minded Mabel felt her blood thrill in her veins and her cheeks flush, as the canoe shot into the strength of the stream, to quit the spot.The darkness of the night had lessened, by the dispersion of the clouds; but the overhanging woods rendered the shore so obscure, that the boats floated down the current in a belt of gloom that ef-fectually secured them from detection.Still, there was necessarily a strong feeling of insecurity in all on board them; and even Jasper, who by this time began to tremble, in behalf of the girl, at every unusual sound that arose from the forest, kept casting uneasy glances around him as he drifted on in company.The paddle was used lightly, and only with exceeding care; for the slightest sound in the breathing stillness of that hour and place might ap-prise the watchful ears of the Iroquois of their position.

All these accessories added to the impressive grandeur of her situation, and contributed to render the moment much the most exciting which had ever occurred in the brief existence of Mabel Dunham.Spirited, accustomed to self-reliance, and sustained by the pride of considering herself a soldier's daughter, she could hardly be said to be under the influence of fear, yet her heart often beat quicker than common, her fine blue eye lighted with an exhibition of a resolution that was wasted in the darkness, and her quickened feelings came in aid of the real sublimity that belonged to the scene and to the incidents of the night.

"Mabel!" said the suppressed voice of Jasper, as the two canoes floated so near each other that the hand of the young man held them together, "you have no dread? you trust freely to our care and willingness to protect you?""I am a soldier's daughter, as you know, Jasper Western, and ought to be ashamed to confess fear.""Rely on me -- on us all.Your uncle, Pathfinder, the Delaware, were the poor fellow here, I myself, will risk everything rather than harm should reach you.""I believe you, Jasper," returned the girl, her hand un-consciously playing in the water."I know that my uncle loves me, and will never think of himself until he has first thought of me; and I believe you are all my father's friends, and would willingly assist his child.But I am not so feeble and weak-minded as you may think; for, though only a girl from the towns, and, like most of that class, a little disposed to see danger where there is none, Ipromise you, Jasper, no foolish fears of mine shall stand in the way of your doing your duty.""The Sergeant's daughter is right, and she is worthy of being honest Thomas Dunham's child," put in the Path-finder."Ah's me, pretty one! many is the time that your father and I have scouted and marched together on the flanks and rear of the enemy, in nights darker than this, and that, too, when we did not know but the next momemt would lead us into a bloody ambushment.I was at his side when he got the wound in his shoulder; and the honest fellow will tell you, when you meet, the manner in which we contrived to cross the river which lay in our rear, in order to save his scalp.""He has told me," said Mabel, with more energy perhaps than her situation rendered prudent."I have his letters, in which he has mentioned all that, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the service.God will remem-ber it, Pathfinder; and there is no gratitude that you can ask of the daughter which she will not cheerfully repay for her father's life.""Ay, that is the way with all your gentle and pure-hearted creatures.I have seen some of you before, and have heard of others.The Sergeant himself has talked to me of his own young days, and of your mother, and of the manner in which he courted her, and of all the crossings and disappointments, until he succeeded at last.""My mother did not live long to repay him for what he did to win her," said Mabel, with a trembling lip.

"So he tells me.The honest Sergeant has kept nothing back; for, being so many years my senior, he has looked on me, in our many scoutings together, as a sort of son.""Perhaps, Pathfinder," observed Jasper, with a huski-ness in his voice that defeated the attempt at pleasantry, "he would be glad to have you for one in reality.""And if he did, Eau-douce, where would be the sin of it? He knows what I am on a trail or a scout, and he has seen me often face to face with the Frenchers.I have sometimes thought, lad, that we all ought to seek for wives; for the man that lives altogether in the woods, and in company with his enemies or his prey, gets to lose some of the feeling of kind in the end.It is not easy to dwell always in the presence of God and not feel the power of His goodness.I have attended church-sarvice in the gar-risons, and tried hard, as becomes a true soldier, to join in the prayers; for, though no enlisted sarvant of the king, I fight his battles and sarve his cause, and so I have en-deavored to worship garrison-fashion, but never could raise within me the solemn feelings and true affection that I feel when alone with God in the forest.There I seem to stand face to face with my Master; all around me is fresh and beautiful, as it came from His hand; and there is no nicety or doctrine to chill the feelings.No no; the woods are the true temple after all, for there the thoughts are free to mount higher even than the clouds.""You speak the truth, Master Pathfinder," said Cap, "and a truth that all who live much in solitude know.

What, for instance, is the reason that seafaring men in general are so religious and conscientious in all they do, but the fact that they are so often alone with Providence, and have so little to do with the wickedness of the land.