"Well, it was just that then; her eyes were laughing with all their might, as it were; and in the midst of all her fun, she broke out with an 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 is of no more account than that of most others."
"Then I'll no' tell ye, but just keep discretion on the subject; and why should a man be telling another what his friends say of him, especially when they happen to say that which may not be pleasant to hear?
I'll not add another word to this present communication."
"I cannot make you speak, Quartermaster, if you are not so minded, and perhaps it is better for me not to know Mabel's opinion, as you seem to think 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 in our characters and knowledge and appearance.
One may be rude and coarse and ignorant, and yet happy, if he does not know it; but it is hard to see our own failings in the strongest light, just as we wish to hear the least about them."
"That's just the rationale, as the French say, of the matter; and so I was telling Mabel, when she ran away and left me.
You noticed the manner in which she skipped off as you approached?"
"It was very observable," answered Pathfinder, drawing a long breath and clenching the barrel of his rifle as if the fingers would bury themselves in the iron.
"It was more than observable -- it was flagrant; that's just the word, and the dictionary wouldn't supply a better, after an hour's search.
Well, you must know, Pathfinder, -- for I cannot reasonably deny you the gratification of hearing this, -- so you must know the minx bounded off in that manner in preference to hearing what I had to say in your justification."
"And what could you find to say in my behalf, Quartermaster?"
"Why, d'ye understand, my friend, I was ruled by circumstances, and no' ventured indiscreetly into generalities, but was preparing to meet particulars, as it might be, with particulars.
If you were thought wild, half-savage, or of a frontier formation, I could tell her, ye know, that it came of the frontier, wild and half-savage life ye'd led; and all her objections must cease at once, or there would be a sort of a misunderstanding with Providence."
"And did you tell her this, Quartermaster?"
"I'll no' swear to the exact words, but the idea was prevalent in my mind, ye'll understand.
The girl was impatient, and would not hear the half 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 to listen no longer.
I fear her mind may be said to have come to its conclusion?"
"I fear it has indeed, Quartermaster, and her father, after all, is mistaken.
Yes, yes; the Sergeant has fallen into a grievous error."
"Well, man, why need ye lament, and undo all the grand reputation ye've been 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 breathing that 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, that women, after all, are very much the sort of creatures we do not imagine them to be.
Now, if you would really mortify Mabel, here is as glorious an 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's human nature to desire to give unpleasant feelings to them that give unpleasant feelings to us.
But a better occasion never offered to make your friends love you, than is to be had at this very moment, and that is the certain means of causing one's enemies to envy us."
"Quartermaster, Mabel is not my inimy; and if she was, the last thing I could desire would be to give her an uneasy moment."
"Ye say so, Pathfinder, ye say so, and I daresay ye think so; but reason and nature are both against you, as ye'll find in the end.
Ye've heard the saying 'love me, love my dog:' well, now, that means, read backwards, 'don't love me, don't love my dog.'
Now, listen to what is in your power to do.
You know we occupy an exceedingly precarious and uncertain postion 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 this island is not a jaw -- unless, indeed, it may prove to be, what I greatly fear may come true, the jaw-bone of an ass."
Here the Quartermaster indulged in a sneering laugh, that proclaimed anything but respect and admiration for his friend Lundie's sagacity in selecting 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, in a small way; and his father was a great laird, with the same qualification.
I was born on the estate, and have followed the Major so long that I've got to reverence all he says and does: that's just my weakness, ye'll know, Pathfinder.
Well, this post may be the post of an ass, or of a Solomon, as men fancy; but it's most critically placed, as is apparent by all Lundie's precautions and injunctions.
There are savages out scouting through these Thousand Islands and over the forest, searching for this very spot, as is known to Lundie himself, on certain information; and the greatest service you can render the 55th is to discover their trails and lead them off on a false scent.
Unhappily Sergeant Dunham has taken up the notion that the danger is to be apprehended from up-stream, because Frontenac lies above us; whereas all experience tells us that Indians come on the side which is most contrary to reason, and, consequently, are to be expected from below.
Take your canoe, therefore, and go down-stream among the islands, that we may have notice if any danger approaches from that quarter."
"The Big Sarpent is on the look-out in that quarter; and as he knows the station well, no doubt he will give us timely notice, should any wish to sarcumvent us in that direction."
"He is but an Indian, after all, Pathfinder; and this is an affair that calls for the knowledge of a white man.
Lundie will be eternally grateful to the man who shall help this little enterprise to come off with flying colors.
To tell you the truth, my friend, he is conscious it should never have been attempted; but he has too much of the old laird's obstinacy about him to own an error, though it be as manifest as the morning star."
The Quartermaster then continued to reason with his companion, in order to induce him to quit the island without delay, using such arguments as first suggested themselves, sometimes contradicting himself, and not unfrequently urging at one moment a motive that at the next was directly opposed by another.