sprang upon the shore with a delight which she did not care to
express, and her father led his men after her, with an alacrity which proved how
wearied he had become of the cutter. The station, as the place was familiarly
termed by the soldiers of the 55th, was indeed a spot to raise expectations of
enjoyment, among those who had been cooped up so long in a vessel of the
dimensions of the Scud. None of the islands were high, though all lay at a
sufficient elevation above the water, to render them perfectly healthy and
secure. Each had more or less of wood, and the greater number, at that distant
day, were clothed with the virgin forest. The one selected by the troops for
their purpose was small, containing about twenty acres of land, and by some of
the accidents of the wilderness it had been partly stripped of its trees,
probably centuries before the period of which we are writing, and a little
grassy glade covered nearly half its surface. It was the opinion of the officer
who had made the selection of this spot for a military post, that a sparkling
spring near by, had early caught the attention of the Indians, and that they had
long frequented this particular place, in their hunts, or when fishing for
salmon, a circumstance that had kept down the second growth, and given time for
the natural grasses to take root, and to gain dominion over the soil. Let the
cause be what it might, the effect was to render this island far more beautiful
than most of those around it, and to lend it an air of civilization that was
then wanting in so much of that vast region of country.
    The shores of Station Island were completely fringed with bushes, and great
care had been taken to preserve them, as they answered as a screen to conceal
the persons and things collected within their circle. Favored by this shelter,
as well as by that of several thickets of trees, and different copses, some six
or eight low huts had been erected, to be used as quarters for the officer and
his men, to contain stores, and to serve the purposes of kitchen, hospital etc.
These huts were built of logs, in the usual manner, had been roofed by bark
brought from a distance, lest the signs of labour should attract attention, and
as they had now been inhabited some months, were as comfortable as dwellings of
that description usually ever get to be.
    At the eastern extremity of the island, however, was a small densely wooded
peninsula, with thickets of under-brush so closely