hanging
where they ought to be; so, you see, nothing was lost by doing right,
either in the way of honor or in that of profit."

Cap grunted an assent, though the distinctions in his companion's
morality, it must be owned, were not exactly clear to his understanding.
The two had occasionally moved towards the block as they conversed, and
then stopped again as some matter of more interest than common brought
them to a halt. They were now so near the building, however, that
neither thought of pursuing the subject any further; but each prepared
himself for the final scene with Sergeant Dunham.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Thou barraine ground, whom winter's wrath hath wasted,
Art made a mirror to behold my plight:
Whilome thy fresh spring flower'd: and after hasted
Thy summer prowde, with daffodillies dight;
And now is come thy winter's stormy state,
Thy mantle mar'd wherein thou maskedst late.
SPENSER.

Although the soldier may regard danger and even death with indifference
in the tumult of battle, when the passage of the soul is delayed to
moments of tranquillity and reflection the change commonly brings with
it the usual train of solemn reflections; of regrets for the past, and
of doubts and anticipations for the future. Many a man has died with a
heroic expression on his lips, but with heaviness and distrust at his
heart; for, whatever may be the varieties of our religious creeds, let
us depend on the mediation of Christ, the dogmas of Mahomet, or the
elaborated allegories of the East, there is a conviction, common to
all men, that death is but the stepping-stone between this and a more
elevated state of being. Sergeant Dunham was a brave man; but he was
departing for a country in which resolution could avail him nothing; and
as he felt himself gradually loosened from the grasp of the world, his
thoughts and feelings took the natural direction; for if it be true that
death is the great leveller, in nothing is it more true than that it
reduces all to the same views of the vanity of life.

Pathfinder, though a man of peculiar habits and opinions, was always
thoughtful, and disposed to view the things around him with a shade of
philosophy, as well as with seriousness. In him, therefore, the scene
in the blockhouse awakened no very novel feelings. But the case was
different with Cap: rude, opinionated, dogmatical, and boisterous, the
old sailor was little accustomed to view even