Mary?"

"That, perhaps, I may be tired of waiting myself," replied Mary, with a
smile.

"Upon that chance, then, I will live in hope," replied Captain Sinclair;
"if you will only reward me when you consider that my faithful service
demands it, I will serve as long as Jacob did for Rachel."

"Do so, and you shall not be deceived at the end of your services, as he
was," replied Mary; "but now let us return to the house."

Captain Sinclair departed the day afterward, quite satisfied with Mary's
resolution.

CHAPTER XXXII.

As Henry had predicted, during the autumn the whole family were fully
employed. The stock had increased very much, they had a large number of
young calves and heifers, and the sheep had lambed down very favorably.
Many of the stock were now turned into the bush, to save the feed on the
prairies. The sheep with their lambs, the cows which were in milk, and
the young calves only were retained. This gave them more leisure to
attend to the corn harvest, which was now ready, and it required all
their united exertions from daylight to sunset to get it in, for they
had a very large quantity of ground to clear. It was, however, got in
very successfully, and all stacked in good order. Then came the
thrashing of the wheat, which gave them ample employment; and as soon as
it could be thrashed out, it was taken to the mill in a wagon, and
ground down, for Mr. Campbell had engaged to supply a certain quantity
of flour to the fort before the winter set in. They occasionally
received a visit from Captain Sinclair and the Colonel, and some other
officers, for now they had gradually become intimate with many of them.
Captain Sinclair had confided to the Colonel his engagement to Mary
Percival, and in consequence the Colonel allowed him to visit at the
farm as often as he could, consistently with his duty. The other
officers who came to see them, perceiving how much Captain Sinclair
engrossed the company of Mary Percival, were very assiduous in their
attentions to Emma, who laughed with and at them, and generally
contrived to give them something to do for her during their visit, as
well as to render their attentions serviceable to the household. On
condition that Emma accompanied them, they were content to go into the
punt and fish for hours; and indeed, all the lake-fish which were caught
this year were taken by the officers. There were several very pleasant
young men among them and they were always well