wilderness lore, and woodcraft.

Although Donald was generally liked by his brother officers, he had no
taste for the dissipations with which they sought to relieve the
monotony of their lives. In place of these, he chose to take gun or
fishing-rod and go off on long excursions in his canoe. On one of
these occasions, when far down the river and in vigorous pursuit of a
wounded duck, he had the misfortune to break his only paddle short off.
In a moment he was helplessly drifting with the powerful current toward
the open waters of Lake Erie. In this dilemma, his only resource was
to paddle with his hands, and attempt by this tedious method to force
his craft to the nearest shore. While he was thus awkwardly engaged,
there came it ripple of laughter from close beside him, and he started
up just in time to gaze squarely into the laughing face of an Indian
girl, who instantly impressed him as the most graceful creature he had
ever seen. She occupied, with a girl companion, a beautifully painted
and ornamented canoe, which had slipped up to him with the lightness of
a thistle-down. As the young soldier caught sight of her she was in
the very act of tossing a paddle into his own helpless craft.

Then the strange canoe darted away like an arrow, while the only answer
to the young man's fervently expressed thanks was a merry peal of
laughter, coupled with an exclamation, of which he caught but the
single word "ah-mo." These were wafted back to him as the flying canoe
disappeared behind the point of a small island. With a desire to learn
something more of the bewitching forest maiden, who had come so
opportunely to his aid, Donald urged his own craft vigorously in that
direction, but when he rounded the point there was no trace to be seen
of those whom he sought.

So deep an impression had the olive-tinted face, the laughing eyes, and
the jetty tresses of the girl who tossed the paddle to him made upon
the young ensign, that they haunted both his sleeping and his wakeful
hours; but, plan as he might, he could not succeed in seeing her again,
nor did his cautiously worded inquiries serve to elicit the slightest
information concerning her.

Perhaps it was well for the efficiency of the service that about this
time Major Gladwyn selected Donald to be the bearer of certain
despatches to Sir William Johnson, concerning the reinforcements and
supplies that he expected to receive by the spring brigade of boats
from Niagara.