say nothing about it.
Sergeant Dunham is _hors de combat_--"

"Anan?" said the guide.

"Why, the Sergeant can command no longer, and it will hardly do to leave
a corporal at the head of a victorious party like this; for flowers that
will bloom in a garden will die on a heath; and I was just thinking I
would claim the authority that belongs to one who holds a lieutenant's
commission. As for the men, they'll no dare to raise any objaction;
and as for yoursal', my dear friend, now that ye've so much honor, and
Mabel, and the consciousness of having done yer duty, which is more
precious than all, I expect to find an ally rather than one to oppose
the plan."

"As for commanding the soldiers of the 55th, Lieutenant, it is your
right, I suppose, and no one here will be likely to gainsay it; though
you've been a prisoner of war, and there are men who might stand out
ag'in giving up their authority to a prisoner released by their own
deeds. Still no one here will be likely to say anything hostile to your
wishes."

"That's just it, Pathfinder; and when I come to draw up the report of
our success against the boats, and the defence of the block, together
with the general operations, including the capitulation, ye'll no' find
any omission of your claims and merits."

"Tut for my claims and merits, Quartermaster! Lundie knows what I am in
the forest and what I am in the fort; and the General knows better than
he. No fear of me; tell your own story, only taking care to do justice
by Mabel's father, who, in one sense, is the commanding officer at this
very moment."

Muir expressed his entire satisfaction with this arrangement, as well as
his determination to do justice by all, when the two went to the group
assembled round the fire. Here the Quartermaster began, for the first
time since leaving Oswego, to assume some of the authority that might
properly be supposed to belong to his rank. Taking the remaining
corporal aside, he distinctly told that functionary that he must in
future be regarded as one holding the king's commission, and directed
him to acquaint his subordinates with the new state of things. This
change in the dynasty was effected without any of the usual symptoms of
a revolution; for, as all well understood the Lieutenant's legal claims
to command, no one felt disposed to dispute his orders. For reasons best
known to themselves, Lundie and the Quartermaster had originally made a
different disposition; and now, fo