from
the quarter in which the others were menaced, they kept their ground.
    »Be wise, my pretty Mabel, be wise,« exclaimed the former, »and no be
provoking a useless contention. In the name of all the Kings of Albin, who have
ye closeted with you in that wooden tower, that seemeth so bloody-minded? -
There is necromancy about this matter, and all our characters may be involved in
the explanation!«
    »What do ye think of the Pathfinder, Master Muir, for a garrison to so
strong a post!« cried Mabel, resorting to an equivocation that the circumstances
rendered very excusable. »What will your French and Indian companions think of
the aim of Pathfinder's rifle.«
    »Bear gently on the unfortunate, Pretty Mabel, and do not confound the
King's servants, may Heaven bless him and all his royal lineage, with the King's
enemies. If Pathfinder be indeed in the block-house, let him speak, and we will
hold our negotiations directly with him. He knows us as friends, and we fear no
evil at his hands, and least of all to myself; for a generous mind is apt to
render rivalry in a certain interest a sure ground of respect and amity; since
admiration of the same woman proves a community of feeling and tastes.«
    The reliance on Pathfinder's friendship did not extend beyond the Quarter
Master and Cap, however, for even the French officer, who had hitherto stood his
ground so well, shrunk back at the sound of the terrible name. So unwilling,
indeed, did this individual, a man of iron nerves, and one long accustomed to
the dangers of the peculiar warfare in which he was engaged, appear to be to
remain exposed to the assaults of Killdeer, whose reputation throughout all that
frontier was as well established, as that of Marlborough in Europe, that he did
not disdain to seek a cover, insisting that his two prisoners should follow him.
Mabel was too glad to be rid of her enemies to lament the departure of her
friends, though she kissed her hand to Cap, through the loop, and called out to
him in the terms of affection as he moved slowly and unwillingly away.
    The enemy now seemed disposed to abandon all attempts on the block-house for
the present, and June, who had ascended to a trap in the roof, whence the best
view was to be obtained, reported that the whole party, had assembled to eat, on
a distant and sheltered part of the island, where Muir and Cap