bay in particular, which
Jasper used as a harbor, was so embowered with bushes and shut in with
islands, that, the sails of the cutter being lowered, her own people on
one occasion had searched for hours before they could find the _Scud_,
in their return from a short excursion among the adjacent channels in
quest of fish. In short, the place was admirably adapted to its present
objects, and its natural advantages had been as ingeniously improved as
economy and the limited means of a frontier post would very well allow.

The hour which succeeded the arrival of the _Scud_ was one of hurried
excitement. The party in possession had done nothing worthy of being
mentioned, and, wearied with their seclusion, they were all eager to
return to Oswego. The Sergeant and the officer he came to relieve had no
sooner gone through the little ceremonies of transferring the command,
than the latter hurried on board the _Scud_ with his whole party; and
Jasper, who would gladly have passed the day on the island, was required
to get under way forthwith, the wind promising a quick passage up the
river and across the lake. Before separating, however, Lieutenant Muir,
Cap, and the Sergeant had a private conference with the ensign who had
been relieved, in which the last was made acquainted with the suspicions
that existed against the fidelity of the young sailor. Promising due
caution, the officer embarked, and in less than three hours from the
time when she had arrived the cutter was again in motion.

Mabel had taken possession of a hut; and with female readiness and
skill she made all the simple little domestic arrangements of which the
circumstances would admit, not only for her own comfort, but for that of
her father. To save labor, a mess-table was prepared in a hut set apart
for that purpose, where all the heads of the detachment were to eat, the
soldier's wife performing the necessary labor. The hut of the Sergeant,
which was the best on the island, being thus freed from any of the
vulgar offices of a household, admitted of such a display of womanly
taste, that, for the first time since her arrival on the frontier,
Mabel felt proud of her home. As soon as these important duties were
discharged, she strolled out on the island, taking a path which led
through the pretty glade, and which conducted to the only point not
covered with bushes. Here she stood gazing at the limpid water, which
lay with scarcely a ruffle on it at her feet, musin