, or Jasper Eau
douce, as he is called; who it alleges has been bought by the enemy, and giving
me reason to expect that further and more precise information will soon be
sent.«
    »Letters without signatures to them, sir, are scarcely to be regarded in
war.«
    »Or in peace, Dunham. No one can entertain a lower opinion of the writer of
an anonymous letter, in ordinary matters, than myself. The very act denotes
cowardice, meanness, and baseness, and it usually is a token of falsehood, as
well as of other vices. But, in matters of war, it is not exactly the same
thing. Besides, several suspicious circumstances have been pointed out to me -«
    »Such as is fit for an orderly to know, your honor?«
    »Certainly, one in whom I confide as much, as in yourself, Dunham. It is
said for instance, that your daughter and her party were permitted to escape the
Iroquois, when they came in, merely to gain Jasper credit with me. I am told
that the gentry at Frontenac will care more for the capture of the Scud, with
Serjeant Dunham and a party of men, together with the defeat of our favorite
plan, than for the capture of a girl, and the scalp of her uncle.«
    »I understand the hint, sir, but I do not give it credit. Jasper can hardly
be true, and Pathfinder false; and, as for the last, I would as soon distrust
your honor, as distrust him!«
    »It would seem so, serjeant; it would indeed seem so. But Jasper is not the
Pathfinder after all, and I will own, Dunham, I should put more faith in the
lad, if he did'n't speak French!«
    »It's no recommendation in my eyes, I assure your honor, but the boy learned
it by compulsion, as it were, and ought not to be condemned too hastily, for the
circumstance, by your honor's leave. If he does speak French, it's because he
can't well help it.«
    »It's a d--d lingo, and never did any one good - at least no British
subject; for I suppose the French themselves must talk together, in some
language or other. I should have much more faith in this Jasper, did he know
nothing of their language. This letter has made me uneasy, and were there
another, to whom I could trust the cutter, I would devise