第104章

"I believe you are happier when alone, Pathfinder, than when mingling with your fellow-creatures.""I will not say that, I will not say exactly that.I have seen the time when I have thought that God was sufficient for me in the forest, and that I have craved no more than His bounty and His care.But other feelings have got uppermost, and I suppose natur' will have its way.All other creaturs mate, Mabel, and it was intended man should do so too.""And have you never bethought you of seeking a wife, Pathfinder, to share your fortunes?" inquired the girl, with the directness and simplicity that the pure of heart and the undesigning are the most apt to manifest, and with that feeling of affection which is inbred in her sex."To me it seems you only want a home to return to from your wanderings to render your life completely happy.Were I a man, it would be my delight to roam through these forests at will, or to sail over this beautiful lake.""I understand you, Mabel; and God bless you for think-ing of the welfare of men as humble as we are.We have our pleasures, it is true, as well as our gifts, but we might be happier; yes, I do think we might be happier.""Happier! in what way, Pathfinder? In this pure air, with these cool and shaded forests to wander through, this lovely lake to gaze at and sail upon, with clear consciences, and abundance for all their real wants, men ought to be nothing less than as perfectly happy as their infirmities will allow.""Every creatur' has its gifts, Mabel, and men have theirs," answered the guide, looking stealthily at his beau-tiful companion, whose cheeks had flushed and eyes bright-ened under the ardor of feelings excited by the novelty of her striking situation; "and all must obey them.Do you see yonder pigeon that is just alightin' on the beach --here in a line with the fallen chestnut?""Certainly; it is the only thing stirring with life in it, besides ourselves, that is to be seen in this vast solitude.""Not so, Mabel, not so; Providence makes nothing that lives to live quite alone.Here is its mate, just rising on the wing; it has been feeding near the other beach, but it will not long be separated from its companion.""I understand you, Pathfinder," returned Mabel, smiling sweetly, though as calmly as if the discourse was with her father."But a hunter may find a mate, even in this wild region.The Indian girls are affectionate and true, I know;for such was the wife of Arrowhead, to a husband who oftener frowned than smiled.""That would never do, Mabel, and good would never come of it.Kind must cling to kind, and country to coun-try, if one would find happiness.If, indeed, I could meet with one like you, who would consent to be a hunter's wife, and who would not scorn my ignorance and rudeness, then, indeed, would all the toil of the past appear like the sport-ing of the young deer, and all the future like sunshine.""One like me! A girl of my years and indiscretion would hardly make a fit companion for the boldest scout and surest hunter on the lines.""Ah, Mabel! I fear me that I have been improving a red-skin's gifts with a pale-face's natur'? Such a character would insure a wife in an Indian village.""Surely, surely, Pathfinder, you would not think of choosing one so ignorant, so frivolous, so vain, and so in-experienced as I for your wife?" Mabel would have added, "and as young;" but an instinctive feeling of delicacy re-pressed the words.

"And why not, Mabel? If you are ignorant of frontier usages, you know more than all of us of pleasant anecdotes and town customs: as for frivolous, I know not what it means; but if it signifies beauty, ah's me! I fear it is no fault in my eyes.Vain you are not, as is seen by the kind manner in which you listen to all my idle tales about scoutings and trails; and as for experielice, that will come with years.Besides, Mabel, I fear men think little of these matters when they are about to take wives: I do.""Pathfinder, your words, -- your looks: -- surely all this is meant in trifling; you speak in pleasantry?""To me it is always agreeable to be near you, Mabel; and I should sleep sounder this blessed night than I have done for a week past, could I think that you find such discourse as pleasant as I do."We shall not say that Mabel Dunham had not believed herself a favorite with the guide.This her quick femi-nine sagacity had early discovered; and perhaps she had occasionally thought there had mingled with his regard and friendship some of that manly tenderness which the ruder sex must be coarse, indeed, not to show on occasions to the gentler; but the idea that he seriously sought her for his wife had never before crossed the mind of the spir-ited and ingenuous girl.Now, however, a gleam of some-thing like the truth broke in upon her imagination, less induced by the words of her companion, perhaps, than by his manner.Looking earnestly into the rugged, honest countenance of the scout, Mabel's own features became concerned and grave; and when she spoke again, it was with a gentleness of manner that attracted him to her even more powerfully than the words themselves were calculated to repel.

"You and I should understand each other, Pathfinder,"said she with an earnest sincerity; "nor should there be any cloud between us.You are too upright and frank to meet with anything but sincerity and frankness in return.

Surely, surely, all this means nothing, -- has no other con-nection with your feelings than such a friendship as one of your wisdom and character would naturally feel for a girl like me?""I believe it's all nat'ral, Mabel yes; I do: the Sergeant tells me he had such feelings towards your own mother, and I think I've seen something like it in the young people I have from time to time guided through the wilderness.