happiness, and that is a great deal, and
I shall be able to bear my own sorrow all the better for it. No,--I'll
never kiss you ag'in, Mabel, I'll never kiss you ag'in. Here's my hand,
Jasper,--squeeze it, boy, squeeze it; no fear of its giving way, for
it's the hand of a man;--and now, Mabel, do you take it,--nay, you must
not do this,"--preventing Mabel from kissing it and bathing it in her
tears,--"you must not do this--"

"Pathfinder," asked Mabel, "when shall we see you again?"

"I've thought of that, too; yes, I've thought of that, I have. If the
time should ever come when I can look upon you altogether as a sister,
Mabel, or a child,--it might be better to say a child, since you're
young enough to be my daughter,--depend on it I'll come back; for
it would lighten my very heart to witness your gladness. But if I
cannot,--farewell--farewell,--the Sergeant was wrong,--yes, the Sergeant
was wrong!"

This was the last the Pathfinder ever uttered to the ears of Jasper
Western and Mabel Dunham. He turned away, as if the words choked him,
and was quickly at the side of his friend. As soon as the latter saw him
approach, he shouldered his own burthen, and glided in among the trees,
without waiting to be spoken to. Mabel, her husband, and June all
watched the form of the Pathfinder, in the hope of receiving a parting
gesture, or a stolen glance of the eye; but he did not look back.
Once or twice they thought they saw his head shake, as one trembles in
bitterness of spirit; and a toss of the hand was given, as if he knew
that he was watched; but a tread, whose vigor no sorrow could enfeeble,
soon bore him out of view, and was lost in the depths of the forest.

Neither Jasper nor his wife ever beheld the Pathfinder again. They
remained for another year on the banks of Ontario; and then the pressing
solicitations of Cap induced them to join him in New York, where Jasper
eventually became a successful and respected merchant. Thrice Mabel
received valuable presents of furs at intervals of years; and her
feelings told her whence they came, though no name accompanied the gift.
Later in life still, when the mother of several youths, she had occasion
to visit the interior; and found herself on the banks of the Mohawk,
accompanied by her sons, the eldest of whom was capable of being her
protector. On that occasion she observed a man in a singular guise,
watching her in the distance, with an intentness that induced her to
inquire