her companion,
though she plainly perceived, that, could she have been guilty of the meanness,
she would have found the undertaking one of extreme difficulty. June however was
not required to exercise more than a discreet discrimination about what she
revealed, and the substance of the information she gave, may be summed up as
follows.
    Arrowhead had long been in communication with the French, though this was
the first occasion on which he had ever entirely thrown aside the mask. He no
longer intended to trust himself among the English, for he had discovered traces
of distrust, particularly in Pathfinder, and with Indian bravado, he now rather
wished to blazon, than to conceal his treachery. He had led the party of
warriors, in the attack on the island, subject however to the supervision of the
Frenchman who has been mentioned, though June declined saying whether he had
been the means of discovering the position of a place that had been thought to
be so concealed from the eyes of the enemy, or not. On this point, she would say
nothing, but she admitted that she and her husband had been watching the
departure of the Scud, at the time they were overtaken and captured by the
cutter. The French had obtained their information of the precise position of the
station, but very recently, and Mabel felt a pang like that of some sharp
instrument piercing her heart, when she thought that there was covert allusion
of the Indian woman, which would convey the meaning that the intelligence had
come from a pale face, in the employment of Duncan of Lundie. This was
intimated, however, rather than said, and when Mabel had time to reflect on her
companion's words, and to remember how sententious and brief her periods were,
she found room to hope that she had misunderstood her, and that Jasper Western
would yet come out of the affair freed from every injurious imputation.
    June did not hesitate to confess that she had been sent to the island to
ascertain the precise number, and the occupations of those who had been left on
it, though she also betrayed in her naïve way, that the wish to serve Mabel, had
induced her principally to consent to come. In consequence of her report, and
information otherwise obtained, the enemy was aware of precisely the force that
could be brought against them. They also knew the number of men that had gone
with Serjeant Dunham, and were acquainted with the object he had in view, though
they were ignorant of the spot where he expected to meet the French boats. It
would have been a pleasant sight to witness the eager desire