第55章

"You are quite right, sir; Pathfinder is well advanced towards forty, and Mabel has every prospect of happiness that a young woman can derive from the certainty of pos-sessing an experienced husband.I was quite forty myself, your honor, when I married her mother.""But will your daughter be as likely to admire a green hunting-shirt, such as that our worthy guide wears, with a fox-skin cap, as the smart uniform of the 55th?""Perhaps not, sir; and therefore she will have the merit of self-denial, which always makes a young woman wiser and better.""And are you not afraid that she may be left a widow while still a young woman? what between wild beasts, and wilder savages, Pathfinder may be said to carry his life in his hand.""'Every bullet has its billet,' Lundie," for so the Major was fond of being called in his moments of condescension, and when not engaged in military affairs; "and no man in the 55th can call himself beyond or above the chances of sudden death.In that particular, Mabel would gain nothing by a change.Besides, sir, if I may speak freely on such a subject, I much doubt if ever Pathfinder dies in battle, or by any of the sudden chances of the wilderness.""And why so, Sergeant?" asked the Major."He is a soldier, so far as danger is concerned, and one that is much more than usually exposed; and, being free of his person, why should he expect to escape when others do not?""I do not believe, your honor, that the Pathfinder con-siders his own chances better than any one's else, but the man will never die by a bullet.I have seen him so often handling his rifle with as much composure as if it were a shepherd's crook, in the midst of the heaviest showers of bullets, and under so many extraordinary circumstances, that I do not think Providence means he should ever fall in that manner.And yet, if there be a man in his Majesty's dominions who really deserves such a death, it is Path-finder."

"We never know, Sergeant," returned Lundie, with a countenance grave with thought; "and the less we say about it, perhaps, the better.But will your daughter --Mabel, I think, you call her -- will Mabel be as willing to accept one who, after all, is a mere hanger-on of the army, as to take one from the service itself? There is no hope of promotion for the guide, Sergeant.""He is at the head of his corps already, your honor.In short, Mabel has made up her mind on this subject; and, as your honor has had the condescension to speak to me about Mr.Muir, I trust you will be kind enough to say that the girl is as good as billeted for life.""Well, well, this is your own matter, and, now -- Ser-geant Dunham!"

"Your honor," said the other, rising, and giving the customary salute.

"You have been told it is my intention to send you down among the Thousand Islands for the next month.

All the old subalterns have had their tours of duty in that quarter -- all that I like to trust at least; and it has at length come to your turn.Lieutenant Muir, it is true, claims his right; but, being quartermaster, I do not like to break up well-established arrangements.Are the men drafted?""Everything is ready, your honor.The draft is made, and I understood that the canoe which got in last night brought a message to say that the party already below is looking out for the relief.""It did; and you must sail the day after to-morrow, if not to-morrow night.It will be wise, perhaps, to sail in the dark.""So Jasper thinks, Major Duncan; and I know no one more to be depended on in such an affair than young Jasper Western.""Young Jasper Eau-douce!" said Lundie, a slight smile gathering around his usually stern mouth."Will that lad be of your party, Sergeant?""Your honor will remember that the _Scud_ never quits port without him.""True; but all general rules have their exceptions.

Have I not seen a seafaring person about the fort within the last few days?""No doubt, your honor; it is Master Cap, a brother-in-law of mine, who brought my daughter from below.""Why not put him in the _Scud_ for this cruise, Sergeant, and leave Jasper behind? Your brother-in-law would like the variety of a fresh-water cruise, and you would enjoy more of his company.""I intended to ask your honor's permission to take him along; but he must go as a volunteer.Jasper is too brave a lad to be turned out of his command without a reason, Major Duncan; and I'm afraid brother Cap despises fresh water too much to do duty on it.""Quite right, Sergeant, and I leave all this to your own discretion.Eau-douce must retain his command, on sec-ond thoughts.You intend that Pathfinder shall also be of the party?""If your honor approves of it.There will be service for both the guides, the Indian as well as the white man.""I think you are right.Well, Sergeant, I wish you good luck in the enterprise; and remember the post is to be destroyed and abandoned when your command is with-drawn.It will have done its work by that time, or we shall have failed entirely, and it is too ticklish a position to be maintained unnecessarily.You can retire."Sergeant Dunham gave the customary salute, turned on his heels as if they bad been pivots, and had got the door nearly drawn to after him, when he was suddenly recalled.