refinement, more than the regimental station of her father still controlled her mode of address; "for His holy sake. Mistress Mabel, tell me if any of our friends are living? I think I hear groans that grow fainter and fainter, and fear that they will all be tomahawked!"

Mabel now remembered that one of the soldiers was this woman's husband, and she trembled at what might be the immediate effect of her sorrow, should his death become suddenly known to her. The groans, too, gave a little hope, though she feared they might come from her uncle, who lay out of view.

"We are in his holy keeping, Jennie," she answered. "We must trust in Providence, while we neglect none of its benevolent means of protecting ourselves. Be careful with the door; on no account open it, without my directions."

"Oh! tell me, Mistress Mabel, if you can anywhere see Sandy?-If I could only let him know that I'm in safety, the guid man would be easier in his mind, whether free or a prisoner !"

Sandy was Jennie's husband, and he lay dead in plain view of the loop, from which our heroine was then looking. "You no tell me if you're seeing of Sandy," the woman repeated from below, impatient at Mabel's silence.

"There are some of our people gathered about the body of McNab," was the answer, for it seemed sacrilegious in her eyes to tell a direct untruth, under the awful circumstances in which she was placed.

"Is Sandy amang them?" demanded the woman, in a voice that sounded appalling by its hoarseness and energy. "He may be certainly for I see, one, two, three, four, and all in the scarlet coats of the regiment.'

Sandy!" called out the woman frantically-" why d'ye no care for yoursal', Sandy? Come hither the instant, man, and share your wife's fortunes, in weal or woe. It's no a moment for your silly discipline, and vainglorious notions of honour! Sandy !-Sandy !"

Mabel heard the bar turn, and then the door creaked on its hinges. Expectation, not to say terror, held her in sus pense at the loop, and she soon beheld Jennie rushing through the bushes, in the direction of the cluster of dead. It took the woman but an instant to reach the fatal spot. So sudden

and unexpected had been the blow, that she, in her terror, did not appear to comprehend its weight. Some wild and half-frantic notion of a deception troubled her fancy, and she imagined that the men were trifling with her fears. She took her husband's hand, and it was still warm, while she thought a covert smile was struggling on his lip.

Why will ye fool life away, Sandy ?" she cried, pulling at the arm. "Ye'll all be murdered by these accursed Indians, and you no takin' to the block like trusty soldiers! Awa'!-awa', and no be losing the precious moments."

In her desperate efforts, the woman pulled the body of her husband in a way to cause the head to turn completely over, when the small hole in the temple, caused by the entrance of a rifle, bullet, and a few drops of blood trickling over the skin, revealed the meaning of her husband's silence. As the horrid truth flashed, in its full extent, on her mind, the woman clasped her hands, gave a shriek that pierced the glades of every island near, and fell at length on the dead body of the soldier. Thrilling, heart-reaching, appalling as was that shriek, it was melody to the cry that followed it so quickly as to blend the sounds. The terrific war-whoop arose out of the covers of the island, and some twenty savages, horrible in their paint, and the other devices of Indian ingenuity, rushed forward, eager to secure the coveted scalps. Arrowhead was foremost, and it was his tomahawk that brained the insensible Jennie, and her reeking hair was hanging at his girdle as a trophy, in less than two minutes after she had quitted the block-house. His companions were equally active, and McNab and his soldiers no longer presented the quiet aspect of men who slumbered. They were left in their gore, unequivocally butchered corpses.

All this passed in much less time than has been required to relate it, and all this did Mabel witness. She had stood riveted to the spot, gazing on the whole horrible scene, as if enchained by some charm, nor did the idea of self, or of her own danger, once obtrude itself on her thoughts. But no sooner did she perceive the place where the men had fallen, covered with savages, exulting in the success of their surprise, than it occurred to her, that Jennie had left the blockhouse door unbarred. Her heart beat violently, for that defence alone stood between her and immediate death, and she

sprang toward the ladder, with the intention of descending to make sure of it. Her foot had not yet reached the floor of the second story, however, when she heard the door grating on its hinges, and she gave herself up for lost. Sinking on her knees, the terrified but courageous girl, endeavoured to prepare herself for death, and to raise her thoughts to God. The instinct of life, however, was too strong for prayer, and while her lips moved, the jealous senses watched every sound beneath. When her ears heard the bars, which went on pivots, secured to the centre of the door, turning into their fastenings, not one, as she, herself, had directed, with a view to admit her uncle, should he apply, but all three, she started again to her feet, all spiritual contemplations vanishing in her actual temporal condition, and it seemed as if all her faculties were absorbed in the sense of hearing.

The thoughts are active, in a moment so fearful. At first Mabel fancied that her uncle had entered the block-house, and she was about to descend the ladder and throw herself into his arms; then the idea that it might be an Indian, who had barred the door to shut out intruders, while he plundered at leisure, arrested the movement. The profound stillness below, was unlike the bold, restless movements of Cap, and it seemed to savour more of the artifices of an enemy; if a friend, at all, it could only be her uncle, or the QuarterMaster; for the horrible conviction now presented itself to our heroine, that to these two, and herself, were the whole party suddenly reduced, if, indeed, the two latter survived. This consideration held Mabel in check, and for quite two minutes more, a breathless silence reigned in the building. During this time, the girl stood at the foot of the upper ladder, the trap which led to the lower opening on the opposite side of the floor; the eyes of Mabel were riveted on this spot, for she now began to expect to see, at each instant, the horrible sight of a savage face at the hole. This apprehension soon became so intense, that she looked about her for a place of concealment. The procrastination of the catastrophe she now fully expected, though it were only for a moment, afforded a relief. The room contained several barrels, and behind two of these, Mabel crouched, placing her eyes at an opening by which she could still watch the trap. She made another effort to pray, but the moment was too horrible for VOL. II.

10

that relief. She thought, too, that she heard a low rustling, as if one were ascending the lower ladder, with an effort at caution, so great, as to betray itself by its own excess; then followed a creaking, that she was certain came from one of the steps of the ladder, which had made the same noise, under her own light weight, as she ascended. This was one of those instants, into which are compressed the sensations of years of ordinary existence.-Life, death, eternity, and extreme bodily pain, were all standing out in bold relief, from the plane of every-day occurrences; and she might have been taken, at that moment, for a beautiful, pallid representation of herself, equally without motion, and without vitality. But, while such was the outward appearance of the form, never had there been a time, in her brief career, when Mabel heard more acutely, saw more clearly, or felt more vividly. As yet, nothing was visible at the trap; but her ears, rendered exquisitely sensitive by intense feeling, distinctly acquainted her that some one was within a few inches of the opening in the floor: next followed the evidence of her eyes, which beheld the dark hair of an Indian rising so slowly through the passage, that the movements of the head might be likened to that of the minute-hand of a clock; then came the dark skin and wild features, until the whole of the swarthy face had risen above the floor. The human countenance seldom appears to advantage, when partially concealed, and Mabel imagined many additional horrors, as she first saw the black, roving eyes, and the expression of wildness, as the savage countenance was revealed, as it might be, inch by inch; but, when the entire head was raised above the : floor, a second and a better look, assured our heroine that she saw the gentle, anxious, and even handsome, face of June.

CHAPTER VII.

"Spectre though I be,

I am not sent to scare thee or deceive;
But in reward of thy fidelity."

WORDSWORTH.

Ir would be difficult to say which evinced the most satisfaction, when Mabel sprang to her feet and appeared in the centre of the room,—our heroine on finding that her visiter was the wife of Arrowhead, and not Arrowhead himself, or June, at discovering that her advice had been followed, and that the block-house contained the person she had so anxiously and almost hopelessly sought. They embraced each other, and the unsophisticated Tuscarora woman laughed in her sweet accents, as she held her friend at arm's-length, and made certain of her presence.

"Block-house, good," said the young Indian-" got no scalp."

"It is, indeed, good, June," Mabel answered with a shudder, veiling her eyes at the same time, as if to shut out a view of the horrors she had so lately witnessed. "Tell me, for God's sake! if you know what has become of my dear uncle?—I have looked in all directions, without being able to see him."

"No here, in block-house?" June asked, with some curiosity.

"Indeed he is not-I am quite alone in this place; Jennie, the woman, who was with me, having rushed out to join her husband, and perishing for her imprudence."

“June know—June see; very bad, Arrowhead no feet for any wife-no feel for his own.'

"Ah! June; your life, at least, is safe!"

"Don't know-Arrowhead kill me, if he know all." "God bless and protect you, June-he will bless and protect you for this humanity. Tell me what is to be done, and if my poor uncle is still living?"

"Don't know. Salt-water has boat; maybe he go on river."