Wandering, I found on my ruinous walk, By the dial stone, aged and green, One rose of the wilderness, left on its stalk, To mark where a garden had been.
CAMPBELL.
It was not only broad daylight when Mabel awoke, but the sun had actually been up some time.Her sleep had beeu tranquil, for she rested on an approving conscience, and fatigue contributed to render it sweet; and no sound of those who had been so early in motion had interfered with her rest.Springing to her feet and rapidly dressing herself, the girl was soon breathing the fragrance of the morning in the open air.For the first time she was sen-sibly struck with the singular beauties, as well as with the profound retirement, of her present situation.The day proved to be one of those of the autumnal glory, so com-mon to a climate that is more abused than appreciated, and its influence was every way inspiriting and genial.
Mabel was benefitted by this circumstance; for, as she fancied, her heart was heavy on account of the dangers to which a father, whom she now began to love as women love when confidence is created, was exposed.
But the island seemed absolutely deserted.The previ-ous night, the bustle of the arrival had given the spot an appearance of life which was now entirely gone; and our heroine had turned her eyes nearly around on every object in sight, before she caught a view of a single human being to remove the sense of utter solitude.Then, indeed, she beheld all who were left behind, collected in a group around a fire which might be said to belong to the camp.
The person of her uncle, to whom she was so much accus-tomed, reassured Mabel; and she examined the remainder with a curiosity natural to her situation.Besides Cap and the Quartermaster, there were the Corporal, the three sol-diers, and the woman who was cooking.The huts were silent and empty; and the low but tower-like summit of the blockhouse rose above the bushes, by which it was half concealed, in picturesque beauty.The sun was just cast-ing its brightness into the open places of the glade, and the vault over her head was impending in the soft sub-limity of the blue void.Not a cloud was visible, and she secretly fancied the circumstance might be taken as a har-binger of peace and security.
Perceiving that all the others were occupied with that great concern of human nature, a breakfast, Mabel walked, unobserved, towards an end of the island where she was completely shut out of view by the trees and bushes.Here she got a stand on the very edge of the water, by forcing aside the low branches, and stood watching the barely perceptible flow and re-flow of the miniature waves which laved the shore; a sort of physical echo to the agitation that prevailed on the lake fifty miles above her.The glimpses of natural scenery that offered were very soft and pleasing; and our heroine, who had a quick eye for all that was lovely in nature, was not slow in selecting the most striking bits of landscape.She gazed through the different vistas formed by the openings between the islands, and thought she had never looked on aught more lovely.
While thus occupied, Mabel was suddenly alarmed by fancying that she caught a glimpse of a human form among the bushes that lined the shore of the island which lay directly before her.The distance across the water was not a hundred yards; and, though she might be mistaken, and her fancy was wandering when the form passed be-fore her sight, still she did not think she could be deceived.
Aware that her sex would be no protection against a rifle bullet, should an Iroquois get a view of her, the girl in-stinctively drew back, taking care to conceal person as much as possible by the leaves, while she kept her own look riveted on the opposite shore, vainly waiting for some time in the expectation of the stranger.She was about to quit her post in the bushes and hasten to her uncle, in order to acquaint him of her suspicions, when she saw the branch of an alder thrust beyond the fringe of bushes on the other island, and waved towards her significantly, and as she fancied in token of amity.This was a breathless and a trying moment to one as inexperienced in frontier warfare as our heroine and yet she felt the great necessity that existed for preserving her recollection, and of acting with steadiness and discretion.
It was one of the peculiarities of the exposure to which those who dwelt on the frontiers of America were liable, to bring out the moral qualities of the women to a degree which they must themselves, under other circumstances, have believed they were incapable of manifesting; and Mabel well knew that the borderers loved to dwell in their legends on the presence of mind, fortitude, and spirit that their wives and sisters had displayed under circumstances the most trying.Her emulation had been awakened by what she had heard on such subjects; and it at once struck her that now was the moment for her to show that she was truly Sergeant Dunham's child.The motion of the branch was such as she believed indicated amity; and, after a moment's hesitation, she broke off a twig, fastened it to a stick and, thrusting it through an opening, waved it in return, imitating as closely as possible the manner of the other.
