ructor for a British sailor,
notwithstanding."

"I beg your pardon, sir: Jasper Eau-douce was brought up under a real
English seaman, one that had sailed under the king's pennant, and may be
called a thorough-bred; that is to say, a subject born in the colonies,
but none the worse at his trade, I hope, Major Duncan, for that."

"Perhaps not, Sergeant, perhaps not; nor any better. This Jasper behaved
well, too, when I gave him the command of the _Scud_; no lad could have
conducted himself more loyally or better."

"Or more bravely, Major Duncan. I am sorry to see, sir, that you have
doubts as to the fidelity of Jasper."

"It is the duty of the soldier who is entrusted with the care of a
distant and important post like this, Dunham, never to relax in his
vigilance. We have two of the most artful enemies that the world has
ever produced, in their several ways, to contend with,--the Indians and
the French,--and nothing should be overlooked that can lead to injury."

"I hope your honor considers me fit to be entrusted with any particular
reason that may exist for doubting Jasper, since you have seen fit to
entrust me with this command."

"It is not that I doubt you, Dunham, that I hesitate to reveal all I may
happen to know; but from a strong reluctance to circulate an evil report
concerning one of whom I have hitherto thought well. You must think well
of the Pathfinder, or you would not wish to give him your daughter?"

"For the Pathfinder's honesty I will answer with my life, sir," returned
the Sergeant firmly, and not without a dignity of manner that struck his
superior. "Such a man doesn't know how to be false."

"I believe you are right, Dunham; and yet this last information
has unsettled all my old opinions. I have received an anonymous
communication, Sergeant, advising me to be on my guard against Jasper
Western, or Jasper Eau-douce, as he is called, who, it alleges, has been
bought by the enemy, and giving me reason to expect that further and
more precise information will soon be sent."

"Letters without signatures to them, sir, are scarcely to be regarded in
war."

"Or in peace, Dunham. No one can entertain a lower opinion of the writer
of an anonymous letter, in ordinary matters, than myself; the very act
denotes cowardice, meanness, and baseness; and it usually is a token of
falsehood, as well as of other vices. But in matters of war it is not
exactly the same thing. Besides, several suspicious circumst