CHAPTER IX.
Now, my co-mates and partners in exile, Hath not old custom made this life more sweet Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods More free from peril than the envious court? Here feel we but the penalty of Adam. _As You Like It._
Sergeant Dunham made no empty vaunt when he gave the promise conveyedin the closing words of the last chapter. Notwithstanding the remotefrontier position of the post they who lived at it enjoyed a table that,in many respects, kings and princes might have envied. At the Period ofour tale, and, indeed, for half a century later, the whole of that vastregion which has been called the West, or the new countries since thewar of the revolution, lay a comparatively unpeopled desert, teemingwith all the living productions of nature that properly belonged to theclimate, man and the domestic animals excepted. The few Indiansthat roamed its forests then could produce no visible effects on theabundance of the game; and the scattered garrisons, or occasionalhunters, that here and there were to be met with on that vast surface,had no other influence than the bee on the buckwheat field, or thehumming-bird on the flower.
The marvels that have descended to our own times, in the way oftradition, concerning the quantities of beasts, birds, and fishesthat were then to be met with, on the shores of the great lakes inparticular, are known to be sustained by the experience of livingmen, else might we hesitate about relating them; but having beeneye-witnesses of some of these prodigies, our office shall be dischargedwith the confidence that certainty can impart. Oswego was particularlywell placed to keep the larder of an epicure amply supplied. Fish ofvarious sorts abounded in its river, and the sportsman had only to casthis line to haul in a bass or some other member of the finny tribe,which then peopled the waters, as the air above the swamps of thisfruitful latitude are known to be filled with insects. Among others wasthe salmon of the lakes, a variety of that well-known species, that isscarcely inferior to the delicious salmon of northern Europe. Of thedifferent migratory birds that frequent forests and waters, there wasthe same affluence, hundreds of acres of geese and ducks being oftenseen at a time in the great bays that indent the shores of the lake.Deer, bears, rabbits, and squirrels, with divers other quadrupeds, amongwhich was sometimes included the elk, or moose, helped to complete thesum of the natural supplies on which all the posts depended, more orless, to relieve the unavoidable privations of their remote frontierpositions.
In a place where viands that would elsewhere be deemed great luxurieswere so abundant, no one was excluded from their enjoyment. The meanestindividual at Oswego habitually feasted on game that would have formedthe boast of a Parisian table; and it was no more than a healthfulcommentary on the caprices of taste, and of the waywardness of humandesires, that the very diet which in other scenes would have been deemedthe subject of envy and repinings got to pall on the appetite. Thecoarse and regular food of the army, which it became necessary tohusband on account of the difficulty of transportation, rose in theestimation of the common soldier; and at any time he would cheerfullydesert his venison, and ducks, and pigeons, and salmon, to banquet onthe sweets of pickled pork, stringy turnips, and half-cooked cabbage.
The table of Sergeant Dunham, as a matter of course, partook of theabundance and luxuries of the frontier, as well as of its privations. Adelicious broiled salmon smoked on a homely platter, hot venison steakssent up their appetizing odors, and several dishes of cold meats, all ofwhich were composed of game, had been set before the guests, in honorof the newly arrived visitors, and in vindication of the old soldier'shospitality.
"You do not seem to be on short allowance in this quarter of theworld, Sergeant," said Cap, after he had got fairly initiated intothe mysteries of the different dishes; "your salmon might satisfy aScotsman."
"It fails to do it, notwithstanding, brother Cap; for among two or threehundred of the fellows that we have in this garrison there are not halfa dozen who will not swear that the fish is unfit to be eaten. Even someof the lads, who never tasted venison except as poachers at home, turnup their noses at the fattest haunches that we get here."
"Ay, that is Christian natur'," put in Pathfinder; "and I must say itis none to its credit. Now, a red-skin never repines, but is alwaysthankful for the food he gets, whether it be fat or lean, venison orbear, wild turkey's breast or wild goose's wing. To the shame of uswhite men be it said, that we look upon blessings without satisfaction,and consider trifling evils as matters of great account."
"It is so with the 55th, as I can answer, though I cannot say as muchfor their Christianity," returned the Sergeant. "Even the major himself,old Duncan of Lundie, will sometimes swear that an oatmeal cake isbetter fare than the Oswego bass, and sigh for a swallow of Highlandwater, when, if so minded, he has the whole of Ontario to quench histhirst in."
"Has Major Duncan a wife and children?" asked Mabel, whose thoughtsnaturally turned towards her own sex in her new situation.
"Not he, girl; though they do say that he has a betrothed at home. Thelady, it seems, is willing to wait, rather than suffer the hardships ofservice in this wild region all of which, brother Cap, is not accordingto my notions of a woman's duties. Your sister thought differently."
"I hope, Sergeant, you do not think of Mabel for a soldier's wife,"returned Cap gravely. "Our family has done its share in that wayalready, and it's high time that the sea was again remembered."
"I do not think of finding a husband for the girl in the 55th, or anyother regiment, I can promise you, brother; though I do think it gettingto be time that the child were respectably married."
"Father!"
"'Tis not their gifts, Sergeant, to talk of these matters in so open amanner," said the guide; "for I've seen it verified by experience,that he who would follow the trail of a virgin's good-will must not goshouting out his thoughts behind her. So, if you please, we will talk ofsomething else."
"Well, then, brother Cap, I hope that bit of a cold roasted pig is toyour mind; you seem to fancy the food."
"Ay, ay; give me civilized grub if I must eat," returned thepertinacious seaman. "Venison is well enough for your inland sailors,but we of the ocean like a little of that which we understand."
Here Pathfinder laid down his knife and fork, and indulged in a heartylaugh, though in his always silent manner; then he asked, with a littlecuriosity in his manner,--
"Don't, you miss the skin, Master Cap? don't you miss the skin?"
"It would have been better for its jacket, I think myself, Pathfinder;but I suppose it is a fashion of the woods to serve up shoats in thisstyle."
"Well, well, a man may go round the 'arth and not know everything. Ifyou had had the skinning of that pig, Master Cap, it would have left yousore hands. The cratur' is a hedgehog!"
"Blast me, if I thought it wholesome natural pork either!" returned Cap."But then I believed even a pig might lose some of its good qualities uphereaway in the woods."
"If the skinning of it, brother, does not fall to my duty. Pathfinder, Ihope you didn't find Mabel disobedient on the march?"
"Not she, not she. If Mabel is only half as well satisfied with Jasperand Pathfinder as the Pathfinder and Jasper are satisfied with her,Sergeant, we shall be friends for the remainder of our days."
As the guide spoke, he turned his eyes towards the blushing girl, witha sort of innocent desire to know her opinion and then, with an inborndelicacy, which proved he was far superior to the vulgar desire toinvade the sanctity of feminine feeling, he looked at his plate, andseemed to regret his own boldness.
"Well, well, we must remember that women are not men, my friend,"resumed the Sergeant, "and make proper allowances for nature andeducation. A recruit is not a veteran. Any man knows that it takeslonger to make a good soldier than it takes to make anything else."
"This is new doctrine, Sergeant," said Cap with some spirit. "We oldseamen are apt to think that six soldiers, ay, and capital soldiers too,might be made while one sailor is getting his education."
"Ay, brother Cap, I've seen s
omething of the opinions which seafaringmen have of themselves," returned the brother-in-law, with a smile asbland as comported with his saturnine features; "for I was many yearsone of the garrison in a seaport. You and I have conversed on thesubject before and I'm afraid we shall never agree. But if you wish toknow what the difference is between a real soldier and man in what Ishould call a state of nature, you have only to look at a battalion ofthe 55th on parade this afternoon, and then, when you get back to York,examine one of the militia regiments making its greatest efforts."
"Well, to my eye, Sergeant, there is very little difference, not morethan you'll find between a brig and a snow. To me they seem alike: allscarlet, and feathers, and powder, and pipeclay."
"So much, sir, for the judgment of a sailor," returned the Sergeant withdignity; "but perhaps you are not aware that it requires a year to teacha true soldier how to eat?"
"So much the worse for him. The militia know how to eat at starting; forI have often heard that, on their marches, they commonly eat all beforethem, even if they do nothing else."
"They have their gifts, I suppose, like other men," observed Pathfinder,with a view to preserve the peace, which was evidently in some danger ofbeing broken by the obstinate predilection of each of the disputants infavor of his own calling; "and when a man has his gift from Providence,it is commonly idle to endeavor to bear up against it. The 55th,Sergeant, is a judicous regiment in the way of eating, as I know fromhaving been so long in its company, though I daresay militia corps couldbe found that would outdo them in feats of that natur' too."
"Uncle;" said Mabel, "if you have breakfasted, I will thank you to goout upon the bastion with me again. We have neither of us half seenthe lake, and it would be hardly seemly for a young woman to be walkingabout the fort, the first day of her arrival, quite alone."
Cap understood the motive of Mabel; and having, at the bottom, a heartyfriendship for his brother-in-law, he was willing enough to defer theargument until they had been longer together, for the idea of abandoningit altogether never crossed the mind of one so dogmatical and obstinate.He accordingly accompanied his niece, leaving Sergeant Dunham and hisfriend, the Pathfinder, alone together. As soon as his adversary hadbeat a retreat, the Sergeant, who did not quite so well understand themanoeuvre of his daughter, turned to his companion, and, with a smilewhich was not without triumph, he remarked,--
"The army, Pathfinder, has never yet done itself justice in the way ofasserting its rights; and though modesty becomes a man, whether he is ina red coat or a black one, or, for that matter, in his shirt-sleeves,I don't like to let a good opportunity slip of saying a word inits behalf. Well, my friend," laying his own hand on one of thePathfinder's, and giving it a hearty squeeze, "how do you like thegirl?"
"You have reason to be proud of her, Sergeant. I have seen many of hersex, and some that were great and beautiful; but never before did I meetwith one in whom I thought Providence had so well balanced the differentgifts."
"And the good opinion, I can tell you, Pathfinder, is mutual. Shetold me last night all about your coolness, and spirit, andkindness,--particularly the last, for kindness counts for more thanhalf with females, my friend,--and the first inspection seems to givesatisfaction on both sides. Brush up the uniform, and pay a little moreattention to the outside, Pathfinder, and you will have the girl heartand hand."
"Nay, nay, Sergeant, I've forgotten nothing that you have told me, andgrudge no reasonable pains to make myself as pleasant in the eyes ofMabel as she is getting to be in mine. I cleaned and brightened upKilldeer this morning as soon as the sun rose; and, in my judgment, thepiece never looked better than it does at this very moment."
"That is according to your hunting notions, Pathfinder; but firearmsshould sparkle and glitter in the sun, and I never yet could see anybeauty in a clouded barrel."
"Lord Howe thought otherwise, Sergeant; and he was accounted a goodsoldier."
"Very true; his lordship had all the barrels of his regiment darkened,and what good came of it? You can see his 'scutcheon hanging in theEnglish church at Albany. No, no, my worthy friend, a soldier shouldbe a soldier, and at no time ought he to be ashamed or afraid to carryabout him the signs and symbols of his honorable trade. Had you muchdiscourse with Mabel, Pathfinder, as you came along in the canoe?"
"There was not much opportunity, Sergeant, and then I found myself somuch beneath her in idees, that I was afraid to speak of much beyondwhat belonged to my own gifts."
"Therein you are partly right and partly wrong, my friend. Women lovetrifling discourse, though they like to have most of it to themselves.Now you know I'm a man that do not loosen my tongue at every giddythought; and yet there were days when I could see that Mabel's motherthought none the worse of me because I descended a little from mymanhood. It is true, I was twenty-two years younger then than I amto-day; and, moreover, instead of being the oldest sergeant in theregiment, I was the youngest. Dignity is commanding and useful, andthere is no getting on without it, as respects the men; but if youwould be thoroughly esteemed by a woman, it is necessary to condescend alittle on occasions."
"Ah's me, Sergeant, I sometimes fear it will never do."
"Why do you think so discouragingly of a matter on which I thought bothour minds were made up?"
"We did agree, if Mabel should prove what you told me she was, and ifthe girl could fancy a rude hunter and guide, that I should quit someof my wandering ways, and try to humanize my mind down to a wifeand children. But since I have seen the girl, I will own that manymisgivings have come over me."
"How's this?" interrupted the Sergeant sternly; "did I not understandyou to say that you were pleased?--and is Mabel a young woman todisappoint expectation?"
"Ah, Sergeant, it is not Mabel that I distrust, but myself. I am buta poor ignorant woodsman, after all; and perhaps I'm not, in truth, asgood as even you and I may think me."
"If you doubt your own judgment of yourself, Pathfinder, I beg you willnot doubt mine. Am I not accustomed to judge men's character? and am Ioften deceived? Ask Major Duncan, sir, if you desire any assurances inthis particular."
"But, Sergeant, we have long been friends; have fi't side by side adozen times, and have done each other many services. When this is thecase, men are apt to think over kindly of each other; and I fear me thatthe daughter may not be so likely to view a plain ignorant hunter asfavorably as the father does."
"Tut, tut, Pathfinder! You don't know yourself, man, and may put allfaith in my judgment. In the first place you have experience; and, asall girls must want that, no prudent young woman would overlook sucha qualification. Then you are not one of the coxcombs that strut aboutwhen they first join a regiment; but a man who has seen service, andwho carries the marks of it on his person and countenance. I daresayyou have been under fire some thirty or forty times, counting all theskirmishes and ambushes that you've seen."
"All of that, Sergeant, all of that; but what will it avail in gainingthe good-will of a tender-hearted young female?"
"It will gain the day. Experience in the field is as good in love as inwar. But you are as honest-hearted and as loyal a subject as the kingcan boast of--God bless him!"
"That may be too; but I'm afeared I'm too rude and too old and too wildlike to suit the fancy of such a young and delicate girl as Mabel, whohas been unused to our wilderness ways, and may think the settlementsbetter suited to her gifts and inclinations."
"These are new misgivings for you, my friend; and I wonder they werenever paraded before."
"Because I never knew my own worthlessness, perhaps, until I saw Mabel.I have travelled with some as fair, and have guided them through theforest, and seen them in their perils and in their gladness; but theywere always too much above me to make me think of them as more thanso many feeble ones I was bound to protect and defend. The case is nowdifferent. Mabel and I are so nearly alike, that I feel weighed downwith a load that is hard to bear, at finding us so unlike. I do wish,Sergeant, that I was ten years younger, more comely
to look at, andbetter suited to please a handsome young woman's fancy."
"Cheer up, my brave friend, and trust to a father's knowledge ofwomankind. Mabel half loves you already, and a fortnight's intercourseand kindness, down among the islands yonder will close ranks with theother half. The girl as much as told me this herself last night."
"Can this be so, Sergeant?" said the guide, whose meek and modest natureshrank from viewing himself in colors so favorable. "Can this be trulyso? I am but a poor hunter and Mabel, I see, is fit to be an officer'slady. Do you think the girl will consent to quit all her belovedsettlement usages, and her visitings and church-goings, to dwell witha plain guide and hunter up hereaway in the woods? Will she not in theend, crave her old ways, and a better man?"
"A better man, Pathfinder, would be hard to find," returned the father."As for town usages, they are soon forgotten in the freedom of theforest, and Mabel has just spirit enough to dwell on a frontier. I'venot planned this marriage, my friend, without thinking it over, as ageneral does his campaign. At first, I thought of bringing you into theregiment, that you might succeed me when I retire, which must be sooneror later; but on reflection, Pathfinder, I think you are scarcely fittedfor the office. Still, if not a soldier in all the meanings of the word,you are a soldier in its best meaning, and I know that you have thegood-will of every officer in the corps. As long as I live, Mabel candwell with me, and you will always have a home when you return from yourscoutings and marches."
"This is very pleasant to think of, Sergeant, if the girl can only comeinto our wishes with good-will. But, ah's me! It does not seem thatone like myself can ever be agreeable in her handsome eyes. If I wereyounger, and more comely, now, as Jasper Western is, for instance, theremight be a chance--yes, then, indeed, there might be some chance."
"That for Jasper Eau-douce, and every younker of them in or about thefort!" returned the Sergeant, snapping his fingers. "If not actually ayounger, you are a younger-looking, ay, and a better-looking man thanthe _Scud's_ master--"
"Anan?" said Pathfinder, looking up at his companion with an expressionof doubt, as if he did not understand his meaning.
"I say if not actually younger in days and years, you look more hardyand like whipcord than Jasper, or any of them; and there will be moreof you, thirty years hence, than of all of them put together. A goodconscience will keep one like you a mere boy all his life."
"Jasper has as clear a conscience as any youth I know, Sergeant, and isas likely to wear on that account as any in the colony."
"Then you are my friend," squeezing the other's hand, "my tried, sworn,and constant friend."
"Yes, we have been friends, Sergeant, near twenty years before Mabel wasborn."
"True enough; before Mabel was born, we were well-tried friends; and thehussy would never dream of refusing to marry a man who was her father'sfriend before she was born."
"We don't know, Sergeant, we don't know. Like loves like. The youngprefer the young for companions, and the old the old."
"Not for wives, Pathfinder; I never knew an old man, now, who had anobjection to a young wife. Then you are respected and esteemed by everyofficer in the fort, as I have said already, and it will please herfancy to like a man that every one else likes."
"I hope I have no enemies but the Mingos," returned the guide, strokingdown his hair meekly and speaking thoughtfully. "I've tried to do right,and that ought to make friends, though it sometimes fails."
"And you may be said to keep the best company; for even old Duncan ofLundie is glad to see you, and you pass hours in his society. Of all theguides, he confides most in you."
"Ay, even greater than he is have marched by my side for days, and haveconversed with me as if I were their brother; but, Sergeant, I havenever been puffed up by their company, for I know that the woods oftenbring men to a level who would not be so in the settlements."
"And you are known to be the greatest rifle shot that ever pulledtrigger in all this region."
"If Mabel could fancy a man for that, I might have no great reason todespair; and yet, Sergeant, I sometimes think that it is all as muchowing to Killdeer as to any skill of my own. It is sartainly a wonderfulpiece, and might do as much in the hands of another."
"That is your own humble opinion of yourself, Pathfinder; but we haveseen too many fail with the same weapon, and you succeed too often withthe rifles of other men, to allow me to agree with you. We will get upa shooting match in a day or two, when you can show your skill, and whenMabel will form some judgment concerning your true character."
"Will that be fair, Sergeant? Everybody knows that Killdeer seldommisses; and ought we to make a trial of this sort when we all know whatmust be the result?"
"Tut, tut, man! I foresee I must do half this courting for you. Forone who is always inside of the smoke in a skirmish, you are thefaintest-hearted suitor I ever met with. Remember, Mabel comes of a boldstock; and the girl will be as likely to admire a man as her mother wasbefore her."
Here the Sergeant arose, and proceeded to attend to his never-ceasingduties, without apology; the terms on which the guide stood with all inthe garrison rendering this freedom quite a matter of course.
The reader will have gathered from the conversation just related, one ofthe plans that Sergeant Dunham had in view in causing his daughter tobe brought to the frontier. Although necessarily much weaned from thecaresses and blandishments that had rendered his child so dear to himduring the first year or two of his widowerhood, he had still a strongbut somewhat latent love for her. Accustomed to command and to obey,without being questioned himself or questioning others, concerning thereasonableness of the mandates, he was perhaps too much disposed tobelieve that his daughter would marry the man he might select, while hewas far from being disposed to do violence to her wishes. The fact was;few knew the Pathfinder intimately without secretly believing him to beone of extraordinary qualities. Ever the same, simple-minded, faithful,utterly without fear, and yet prudent, foremost in all warrantableenterprises, or what the opinion of the day considered as such, andnever engaged in anything to call a blush to his cheek or censure onhis acts, it was not possible to live much with this being and not feelrespect and admiration for him which had no reference to his positionin life. The most surprising peculiarity about the man himself was theentire indifference with which he regarded all distinctions which didnot depend on personal merit. He was respectful to his superiors fromhabit; but had often been known to correct their mistakes and to reprovetheir vices with a fearlessness that proved how essentially he regardedthe more material points, and with a natural discrimination thatappeared to set education at defiance. In short, a disbeliever in theability of man to distinguish between good and evil without the aidof instruction, would have been staggered by the character of thisextraordinary inhabitant of the frontier. His feelings appeared topossess the freshness and nature of the forest in which he passed somuch of his time; and no casuist could have made clearer decisions inmatters relating to right and wrong; and yet he was not without hisprejudices, which, though few, and colored by the character and usagesof the individual, were deep-rooted, and almost formed a part of hisnature. But the most striking feature about the moral organization ofPathfinder was his beautiful and unerring sense of justice. This nobletrait--and without it no man can be truly great, with it no manother than respectable--probably had its unseen influence on all whoassociated with him; for the common and unprincipled brawler of the camphad been known to return from an expedition made in his company rebukedby his sentiments, softened by his language, and improved by hisexample. As might have been expected, with so elevated a quality hisfidelity was like the immovable rock; treachery in him was classed amongthe things which are impossible; and as he seldom retired before hisenemies, so was he never known, under any circumstances that admitted ofan alternative, to abandon a friend. The affinities of such a characterwere, as a matter of course, those of like for like. His associates andintimates, though more or less determined by chance, were
generally ofthe highest order as to moral propensities; for he appeared to possessa species of instinctive discrimination, which led him, insensibly tohimself, most probably, to cling closest to those whose characters wouldbest reward his friendship. In short, it was said of the Pathfinder, byone accustomed to study his fellows, that he was a fair example ofwhat a just-minded and pure man might be, while untempted by unruly orambitious desires, and left to follow the bias of his feelings, amid thesolitary grandeur and ennobling influences of a sublime nature; neitherled aside by the inducements which influence all to do evil amid theincentives of civilization, nor forgetful of the Almighty Being whosespirit pervades the wilderness as well as the towns.
Such was the man whom Sergeant Dunham had selected as the husband ofMabel. In making this choice, he had not been as much governed by aclear and judicious view of the merits of the individual, perhaps, asby his own likings; still no one knew the Pathfinder so intimately ashimself without always conceding to the honest guide a high place in hisesteem on account of these very virtues. That his daughter could findany serious objections to the match the old soldier did not apprehend;while, on the other hand, he saw many advantages to himself in dimperspective, connected with the decline of his days, and an evening oflife passed among descendants who were equally dear to him throughboth parents. He had first made the proposition to his friend, who hadlistened to it kindly, but who, the Sergeant was now pleased to find,already betrayed a willingness to come into his own views that wasproportioned to the doubts and misgivings proceeding from his humbledistrust of himself.
The Pathfinder; Or, The Inland Sea Page 9