"And what may be your age, Lieutenant Muir, if I may_presume to ask so delicate a question? " "Forty-seven; I'll no deny it, Lundie; and if I get Mabel, there'll be just a wife for every twa lustrums. But I did'na think Sergeant Dunham would be so humble-minded, as to dream of giving that sweet lass of his to one like the Pathfinder." 66 There's no dream about it, Davy; the man is as serious as a soldier about to be flogged." "Well, well, Major, we are auld friends,"--both ran into the Scotch or avoided it, as they approached or drew away from their younger days, in the dialogue,and ought to know how to take and give a joke, off duty. It is possible the worthy man has not understood my hints, or he never would have thought of such a thing. The difference between an officer's consort and a guide's woman is as vast as that between the antiquity of Scotland and the antiquity of America. I'm auld blood, too, Lundie." "Take my word for it, Davy, your antiquity will do you no good in this affair; and as for your blood, it is not older than your bones. Well, well, man, ye know the Sergeant's answer; and so ye perceive that my influence, on which ye counted so much, can do nought for ye. Let us take a glass the'gither, Davy, for auld acquaintance sake; and then ye'll be doing well to remember the party that marches the morrow, and to forget Mabel Dunham as fast as ever you can." Ah! Major, I have always found it easier to forget a wife than to forget a sweetheart. When a couple are fairly married, all is settled but the death, as one may say, which must finally part us all and it seems to me awfu' irreverent to disturb the departed; whereas, there is so much anxiety and hope, and felicity, in expectation like, with the lassie, that it keeps thought alive. That is just my idea of your situation, Davy; for I never supposed you expected any more felicity with either of your wives. Now, I've heard of fellows who were so stupid as to look forward to happiness with their wives even beyond the grave. I drink to your success, or to your speedy recovery from this attack, Lieutenant; and I admonish you to be more cautious in future, as some of these violent cases may yet carry you off." 66 Many thanks, dear Major; and a speedy termination to an old courtship, of which I know something. This is real mountain-dew, Lundie, and it warms the heart like a gleam of bonny Scotland. As for the men you've just mentioned, they could have had but one wife a-piece; for where there are several, the deeds of the women, themselves, may carry them different ways. I think a reasonable husband ought to be satisfied with passing his allotted time with any particular wife in this world, and not to go about moping for things unattainable. I'm infinitely obliged to you, Major Duncan, for this and all your other acts of friendship; and if you could but add another, I should think you had not altogether forgotten the playfellow of your boyhood." "Well, Davy, if the request be reasonable, and such as a superior ought to grant, out with it, man." 66 If ye could only contrive a little service for me, down among the Thousand Isles, for a fortnight or so, I think this matter might be settled to the satisfaction of all parties. Just remember, Lundie, the lassie is the only marriageable white female on this frontier." There is always duty for one in your line, at a post, however small; but this below can be done by the Sergeant as well as by the Quarter-master-general, and better too." There But not better than by a regimental officer. is great waste, in common, among the orderlies." "I'll think of it, Muir," said the Major, laughing, "and you shall have my answer in the morning. Here will be a fine occasion, man, the morrow, to show yourself off before the lady; you are expert with the rifle, and prizes are to be won. Make up your mind to display your skill, and who knows what may yet happen before the Scud sails." "I'm thinking most of the young men will try their hands in this sport, Major! " "That will they, and some of the old ones, too, if you appear. To keep you in countenance, I'll try a shot or two myself, Davy; and you know I have some name that way." "It might, indeed, do good. The female heart, Major Duncan, is susceptible in many different modes, and sometimes in a way that the rules of philosophy might reject. Some require a suitor to sit down before them, as it might be, in a regular siege, and only capitulate when the place can hold out no longer; others again like to be carried by storm; while there, are hussies who can only be caught by leading them into an ambush. The first is the most creditable and officer-like process, perhaps; but I must say, I think the last the most pleasing." An opinion formed from experience, out of all question. And what of the storming parties?" 66 'They may do for younger men, Lundie," returned the Quarter-master, rising and winking, a liberty that he often took with his commanding officer, on the score of a long intimacy; "every period of life has its necessities, and at forty-seven it's just as well to trust a little to the head. I wish you a very good even, Major Duncan, and freedom from gout, with a sweet and refreshing sleep." "The same to yourself, Mr. Muir, with many thanks. Remember the passage of arms for the morrow." The Quarter-master withdrew, leaving Lundie in his library to reflect on what had just passed. Use had so accustomed Major Duncan to Lieutenant Muir and all his traits and humours, that the conduct of the latter did not strike the former with the same force, as it will probably the reader. In truth, while all men act under one common law that is termed nature, the varieties in their dispositions, modes of judging, feelings, and selfishness are infinite. CHAPTER XI. Compel the hawke to sit that is unmann'd, It is not often that hope is rewarded by fruition, so completely as the wishes of the young men of the garrison were met by the state of the weather, on the succeeding day. The heats of summer were little felt at Oswego, at the period of which we are writing; for the shade of the forest, added to the refreshing breezes from the lake, so far reduced the influence of the sun, as to render the nights always cool, and the days seldom oppressive. 66 It was now September, a month in which the strong gales of the coast often appear to force themselves across the country as far as the great lakes, where the inland sailor sometimes feels that genial influence which characterises the winds of the ocean, invigorating his frame, cheering his spirits, and arousing his moral force. Such a day was that on which the garrison of Oswego assembled, to witness what its commander had jocularly called a passage of arms.” Lundie was a scholar, in military matters at least, and it was one of his sources of honest pride to direct the reading and thoughts of the young men under his orders to the more intellectual parts of their profession. For one in his situation his library was both good and extensive, and its books were freely lent to all who desired to use them. Among other whims that had found their way into the garrison through these means, was a relish for the sort of amusement in which it was now about to indulge; and around which some chronicles of the days of chivalry had induced them to throw a parade and romance not unsuited to the characters and habits of soldiers, or to the insulated and wild post occupied by this particular garrison. While so earnestly bent on pleasure, however, they on whom that duty devolved did not neglect the safety of the garrison. One standing on the ramparts of the fort, and gazing on the waste of glittering water that bounded the view all along the northern horizon, and on the slumbering and seemingly boundless forest which filled the other half of the panorama, would have fancied the spot the very abode of peacefulness and security; but Duncan of Lundie too well knew that the woods might, at any moment, give up their hundreds, bent on the destruction of the fort and all it contained; and that even the treacherous lake offered a highway of easy approach, by which his more civilised, and scarcely less wily foes, the French, could come upon him, at an unguarded moment. Parties were sent out under old and vigilant officers, men who cared little for the sports of the day, to scour the forest; and one entire company held the fort, under arms, with orders to maintain a vigilance as strict as if an enemy of superior force was known to be near. With these precautions the remainder of the officers and men abandoned themselves, without apprehension, to the business of the morning. The spot selected for the sports was a sort of esplanade, a little west of the fort, and on the immediate bank of the lake. It had been cleared of its trees and stumps, that it might answer the purpose of a paradeground, as it possessed the advantages of having its rear protected by the water, and one of its flanks by the works. Men drilling on it could be attacked, consequently, on two sides only and as the cleared space beyond it, in the direction of the west and south, was large, any assailants would be compelled to quit the cover of the woods, before they could make an approach sufficiently near to render them dangerous. Although the regular arms of the regiment were muskets, some fifty rifles were produced on the present occasion. Every officer had one, as a part of his private provision for amusement; many belonged to the scouts and friendly Indians, of whom more or less were always hanging about the fort; and there was a public provision of them, for the use of those who followed the game with the express object of obtaining supplies. Among |