amiliar with all our doings
and plans, and well know that the sun will not set before the worthy
Sergeant and his companions will be in their power. Aweel! Submission to
Providence is truly a Christian virtue!"

"Mr. Muir, you appear to be deceived in the strength of this work, and
to fancy it weaker than it is. Do you desire to see what I can do in the
way of defence, if so disposed?"

"I dinna mind if I do," answered the Quartermaster, who always grew
Scotch as he grew interested.

"What do you think of that, then? Look at the loop of the upper story!"

As soon as Mabel had spoken, all eyes were turned upward, and beheld the
muzzle of a rifle cautiously thrust through a hole, June having resorted
again to a _ruse_ which had already proved so successful. The result did
not disappoint expectation. No sooner did the Indians catch a sight of
the fatal weapon than they leaped aside, and in less than a minute every
man among them had sought a cover. The French officer kept his eye on
the barrel of the piece in order to ascertain that it was not pointed
in his particular direction, and he coolly took a pinch of snuff. As
neither Muir nor Cap had anything to apprehend 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 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 you think of the Pathfinder, Master Muir, for a garrison to
so strong a post?" cried Mabel, resorting to an equivocation which the
circumstances rendered very excusable. "What will your French and Indian
companions think of the aim of the 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 blockhouse, 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