As the reader must, by this time, have a pretty accurate
idea of our manner of marching in the wilderness, I shall
not dwell on this part of our proceedings any longer. On
we went, and at a rapid rate, the guide having abandoned
the common route, which had got to be a pretty visible trail,
and taking another on which, as it appeared to me, he had
no other clue than an instinct. Guert had told Susquesus
of the ravine, and how desirable it was to reach it, getting
for an answer a quiet nod of the head, and a low ejaculation.
It was understood, however, that we were to approach
Herman Mordaunt's fortress, by that avenue.

[figure description] Page 167.[end figure description]

It was past the turn of the day when we quitted Mooseridge,
and none of us hoped to reach Ravensnest before
dark. It fell out, as we expected, night drawing its veil
over the scene, about half an hour before the Trackless
plunged into the northern, or forest-end of the ravine. Thus
far, we had got no evidence whatever of the proximity of
foes. Our march had been silent, rapid, and watchful, but
it proved to be perfectly undisturbed. We knew, however,
that the critical portion of it was still before us; and just as
the sun set, we had made a halt, in order to look to our
arms. It may now be well to say a word or two on the
subject of the position of Herman Mordaunt's `garrison,' as
well as of the adjacent settlement. I call Ravensnest the
`garrison,' for that is the word which New York custom has
long applied to the fortress itself, as well as those who defend
it. Some critics pretend there is authority to justify
the practice, and I see by the dictionaries that they are not
entirely in the wrong.

The Nest stood quite half a mile from the nearest point
of the forest, a belt of trees that fringed the margin, and
which filled the cavity of the ravine, excepted. Near it,
and in plain sight, was the heart of the settlement itself,
which extended, in an east and west direction, fully four
miles. This area, however, was cleared only in a settlement
fashion; having patches of virgin forest scattered
pretty profusely over its surface. The mill-lot, as Jason's
purchase was termed, lay at the most distant extremity of
the view, but, as yet, the axe had not been applied to it. I
had remarked in my last visit to the place, that, standing
before Herman Mordaunt's door, something like a dozen
log cabins were to be seen at a time in different parts of the
settlement, and that this number might have been increased
to twenty, by varying the observer's position.

Of course, the whole of the open space was more or less
disfigured by stumps, dead and girdled trees, charred stubs,
log-heaps, brush, and all the other unseemly accompaniments
of the first eight or ten years of the existence of a
new settlement. This period, in the history of a country,
may be likened to the hobbledehoy condition in ourselves,
when we have lost the graces of childhood, without having
attained the finished forms of men.

[figure description] Page 168.[end figure description]

Herman Mordaunt's settlement would have been thought
a strong country, in one sense, for a field fight, had there
been men enough to contend with a hostile party of any
force. But, I had heard him say that he had but about
seventeen rifles and muskets that could be in the least relied
on, inasmuch as some of his people were Europeans, and
had no knowledge of fire-arms, while experience had shown
that others, on the occurrence of an alarm, invariably fled
to the woods, with their families, instead of rallying around
the settlement colours. Such delinquencies usually take
place, I believe, on all emergencies; love of life being even
a stronger instinct than love of property. Here and there
a sturdy fellow, however, would bar himself in, with a determination
to go for the whole, under his own bark roof;
and, occasionally, defences were made that would do credit
to a hero.

It should be apparent to those who have any accurate
notion of savage warfare, that the ravine, being, as it was,
the only wooded spot near Herman Mordaunt's fortress,
would be the place of all others most likely to contain an
enemy who made his approaches against a garrison, by
means of natural facilities alone. We were aware of this;
and Guert, who took an active command among us, as we
drew near to danger, issued his commands for every man to be
on the alert, in order that there might be no confusion. We
were instructed as to the manner of proceeding the moment
an alarm was given; and Guert, who was a capital mimic,
had previously taught us several calls and rallying signals,
all of which were good imitations of the cries of different
tenants of the woods, principally birds. These signals had
their origin with the red-man, who often resorted to them,
and were said to be more successfully practised by our own
hunters and riflemen than even by those with whom they
originated.

On entering the ravine, the order of our march was
changed. While Susquesus and Jumper were still kept in
advance, Guert, Dirck, Jaap and myself moved abreast, and
quite close together. The density of the foliage, and the
deep obscurity that prevailed in the bottom of this dell-like
hollow, rendered this precaution necessary. It soon became
so dark, indeed, that our only guide was the brook that

[figure description] Page 169.[end figure description]

gurgled along the bottom of the ravine, and which we knew
issued into the open ground at its termination, to join a small
river that meandered through some natural meadows to the
westward of the Nest, but which, in the language of the
country, was called a `creek.' This abuse of good old
English words, I am sorry to say, is getting to be only too
common among us; yet, I have heard Americans boast that
we speak the language better than the mother country! That
we have no class among us that uses an unintelligible dialect,
like that of Lancashire or Yorkshire, is true enough;
and, that we have fewer persons who use decided vulgarisms,
in the way of false grammar, than is the case in England,
may be also accurate; but, it might be well for us to correct
a great many faults into which we have certainly fallen, before
we declaim with so much confidence about the purity
of our English.[12] To return to the ravine.

We had gone so far in the hollow, dark dell, as to have
reached a point where the faint light of the open ground
and the stars in the firmament became visible to us, when
we suddenly found ourselves alongside of the Trackless
and Jumper. These Indians had halted; for their quick,
jealous, eagle-like glances had detected the signs of enemies.
Nor was this discovery very difficult to make, though some
pains had actually been taken to conceal what was going
on in our front. A party of some forty savages, every man
of whom was in his war-paint, had lighted a fire beneath a
shelving rock, and were gathered around it at supper. The
fire had already done its duty, and was now merely

[figure description] Page 170.[end figure description]

smouldering, throwing a faint, flickering light on the dark, fierce
features of the group that was clustered round. We might
have approached the spot in any other direction, without
seeing the danger in time to avoid it; but a kind Providence
had carried the two Indians directly to a point where the
dying embers immediately caught their attention, and where
they halted as has been said. I do not think we were more
than forty yards from this fearful band of savages, when
they first met my eye; and, hardened as I had certainly
somewhat become, by the service and scenes I had so lately
gone through, I will confess that my blood was a little chilled
at the sight.

Our conference was in whispers. There we stood, huddled
together beneath a huge oak, the shade of which rendered
the darkness that formed our only safeguard, so much the
more intense. So close were we, in fact, that even Jaap's
body was in absolute contact with my own. Susquesus
proposed making a detour, by crossing the brook, which,
fortunately, tumbled down some rocks at this point, making
a very favourable noise, and thus pass our enemies, who
would not probably end their meal until we had time to
reach the `garrison.' To this Guert applied his veto. He
was of opinion, and I have always thought it was the decision
of a man born to be a soldier, that we were exactly in
the position we might desire to occupy, in order to be of
great service to the family, and to strike the enemy with a
panic. By attacking, we should certainly surprise the party
in our front, and might make such an impression as would
induce them to abandon the settlement. Both Dirck and
myself coincided in this opinion, which even received the
support of Jaap's voice.

“Yes, sah! — yes, Masser Corny, now 'e time to wengeance
poor Pete!” he muttered, and that rather louder than
was thought quite prudent.

As soon as the Trackless found how things were going,
he and Jumper prepared for the conflict, as coolly as any
of us. Our arrangements were very simple, and were soon
made. We were to deliver a single fire from the spot where
we stood, shout, and charge with the knife and tomahawk.
No time was to be wasted, however; and, instead of remaining
near the light, small as it was, we were to push for the

[figure description] Page 171.[end figure description]

mouth of the ravine, and thence make the best of our way,
singly or in company, as chance should offer, to the gate
of Ravensnest. In a moment we were in open files, and
had our orders.

“Remember Traverse!” said Guert, sternly—“remember
poor Sam, and all our murteret frients!”

The reader knows that Guert was apt to be very Dutch,
when much excited. We did remember the dead; and I
have often thought, but never knew precisely, that each of
us sacrificed a victim to the manes of our lost companions,
on that stern occasion. Our rifles rang, or cracked would
be the better word, almost simultaneously; a yell arose from
the savages around the fire; our own shouts mingled with
that yell, and forward we went, endeavouring to make our
numbers appear as if we were a hundred.

One retains but very indistinct notions of a charge like
that, made as it was, in the dark, beyond its general characteristics.
We swept directly among the slain and
wounded, and I heard Jaap dealing one or two awful blows
on the bodies; but no one opposed us. A moment after we
had passed the smouldering fire, three or four shot were
discharged at us, but there was no sign of their telling on
any of our party. The distance from the fire to the mouth
of the ravine, might have been a hundred yards; and the
external light, or lesser darkness may be a better expression,
served us for a guide. Thither we pushed, fast as we could,
though by no means in compact order.

For this part of the affair, I can only speak for myself.
I saw men moving swiftly among the trees, and I supposed
them to be my companions; but we had become separated,
it being understood that each man was now to shift for himself.
As our rifles were discharged, and there was no time
to reload them, there was little use, indeed, in any halt.
Perceiving this, I did not issue from the ravine at the brook,
but clinging more to its side, left it at a little height above
the level of the adjacent plain. Here I paused to load, the
cover being good, and the position every way favourable.
While thus employed, I found time to look around me, and
to ascertain the situation of things in the settlement, so far
as the hour and the obscurity would permit.

The plain was glimmering with the remains of a dozen

[figure description] Page 172.[end figure description]

large fires, the ruins of so many log-houses and barns.
Their light amounted to no more than to render the darkness
of the night distinctly visible, and to afford some small clues
to the extent of the ravages that had been already committed.
The house of Ravensnest, however, was untouched. There
it stood, looking dark and gloomy; for, having no external
windows, no other light was to be seen than a single candle,
that was probably placed in a loophole as a signal. Profound
stillness reigned in and around the building, producing
a species of mystery that was, in itself, under such circumstances,
an element of force. There was not light enough
to distinguish objects at any distance, and, having reloaded
my rifle, I thought it wisest to make the best of my way to
the gate. At that moment, the stillness in my rear seemed
to possess something affirmatively fearful about it.

It was certainly a somewhat hazardous thing to break
cover, at such a moment, and under such circumstances;
but it was absolutely necessary to incur its risks. My first
leap carried me half-way down the declivity, and I was soon
on the level land. In my front were two men, one of whom
seemed to me to be in the grasp of the other. As they were
moving, though slowly, in the direction of the house, I ventured
to ask `Who goes there?'

“Oh, Corny, my lad, is that you?” answered Guert.
“Got be praised! you seem unhurt, and are just in time to
help me along with this Huron, on whom I blundered in the
dark, and have disarmed and captured. Give him a kick
or a push, if you please; for the fellow holds back like a
hog.”

I had too much knowledge of Indian vindictiveness, however,
to adopt the means recommended; but seizing the
captive by one arm, while Guert held the other, we ran him
up to the abbatis that covered the gate of the “garrison,”
with very little difficulty. Here we found Herman Mordaunt
and a dozen of his people, all armed, ready to receive us.
They were in expectation of our appearance, both on account
of the hour, and on account of the clamour in the ravine,
which had been distinctly heard at the house. In less than
a minute everybody was in, safe and unharmed. The fact
was, that our attack had been so sudden as to sweep everything
before it, and the enemy had not time to recover from

[figure description] Page 173.[end figure description]

his panic, before we were all snugly housed. Once within
the gate of Ravensnest we ran no risks, beyond those which
were common to all such log fortresses in the warfare of the
wilderness.

It would not be easy for a pen as unskilful as mine, to
portray the change, from the gloom of the ravine, the short
but bloody assault, the shouts, the rush, and the retreat, of
the outer world, to the scene of domestic security we found
within the Nest, embellished, as was the last, by woman's
loveliness and graces, and, in many respects, by woman's
elegance. Anneke and her friend received us in a bright,
cheerful, comfortable apartment, that was rendered so much
the more attractive by their tears and their smiles, neither of
which were spared. I could see that both had been dreadfully
agitated; but joy restored their colour, and brought
back the smiles to their sweet faces. The situation of the
place was such, perhaps, as to render cheerfulness neither
very lasting nor very lively; but the tenderest female can
find her heart suddenly so lightened from its burthen of
apprehensions, as to be able to seem momentarily happy,
even when environed by the horrors of war. Such, in a
measure, was the character of the reception we now received,
together with a thousand thanks for having so promptly
answered their letters in person. The dear creatures had
the ingenuity not to seem to ascribe that prompt obedience
to their own requests, which we had manifested, to any care
for ourselves, but solely to a wish to oblige and protect them.
The reader will understand that all explanations still remained
to be made, on both sides. These soon came, however;
facts pressing themselves on the attention, at such times,
with a weight that is irresistible. The ice was broken by
Herman Mordaunt's entering the room, and speaking to us,
like one who felt that a great omission had been made.

“We had closed the gate, and set the look-out at the
loops again,” he said, “before I ascertained that all your
party is not here. I see nothing of Traverse and his chainbearers, nor of Sam or Tom, your hunters! Surely, they
are not left behind in the forest?”

Neither of us three spoke. Our looks must have told the
sad story, for Herman Mordaunt seemed to understand us
on the instant.

[figure description] Page 174.[end figure description]

“No!” he exclaimed — “Can it be possible? Not all,
surely!”

“All, Mr. Mordaunt, even to my poor slave, Petrus,”
answered Guert, solemnly. “They were set upon, while
dispersed, I suppose, and have been murdered, while we were
still absent, on our expedition.”

The dear girls clasped their hands, and I thought Anneke's
pallid lips moved, as if in prayer. Her father shook his
head, and for some time he paced the room in silence. Then
rousing himself, like one conscious of the necessity of
calmness and exertion, he resumed the discourse.

“Thank God, Mr. Bulstrode reached us safely last evening,
just after we despatched the runner; and he is beyond
the reach of these demons for the present!”

After this we were enabled to converse more connectedly,
exchanging such statements as enabled each party to understand
the precise condition of the other. We were then
carried to Bulstrode's room, for he had expressed a desire to
see us, as soon as we could be spared. Our fellow-campaigner
received us in good spirits, for one in his situation,
speaking of the events in front of Ticonderoga sensibly,
and without any attempt to conceal the mortification that he
felt, in common with the whole British empire. His hurt
was by no means a bad one; likely to cripple him for a few
weeks, but the leg was in no danger.

“I have had the resolution and address, Corny, to work
my way into good quarters, this unexpected siege excepted,”
he observed to me, when the others had withdrawn, leaving
us alone. “This rivalry of ours is a generous one, and
may now have fair play. If we quit this Nest of Herman
Mordaunt's without ascertaining the true state of Anneke's
feelings, we shall deserve to be condemned to celibacy for
the remainder of our days. There never were two such
opportunities for wooing to advantage!”

“I confess our situation does not strike me as being quite
as favourable, Mr. Bulstrode,” I answered. “Anneke must
have too many apprehensions on her own account, and on
account of others, to be as sensible to the tender sentiments
of love, as might be the case in the peace and security of
Lilacsbush.”

“Ah! It is very evident you know nothing of the female

[figure description] Page 175.[end figure description]

sex, Corny, by that remark. I will grant you, that unwooed
previously, and without any foundation laid, if I may
express myself so irreverently, your theory might turn out
to be true; but not so under actual circumstances. Here is
a young lady in her nineteenth year, who knows she is not
only sought, but has long been sought, ay warmly, ardently
sought, by two reasonably unobjectionable young men, placed
in the very situation to have all her sensibilities excited, by
one or the other, and, depend on it, the matter will be determined
within this blessed week. If I should prove to be the
fortunate man, I hope to be able to manifest a generous sympathy;
and, vice versâ, I shall expect the same. Though
this sad, sad business before Ty has been a good preparative
for humiliation.”

I could not avoid smiling at Bulstrode's singular views
of our suit; but, as Anneke was ever with me an engrossing
theme, spite of our situation, which certainly was not
particularly appropriate to love, I did not feel equal to quitting
it abruptly. The matter was consequently pursued.
As I asked Bulstrode to explain himself, I got from him the
following account of his theory.

“Why, I reason in this wise, Corny. Anneke loves one
of us two, beyond all question. That she loves, I will
swear; her blushes, her beaming eyes, even her beauty is
replete with the loveliness of the sentiment. Now, it is not
possible that she should love any other person than one of
us two, for the simple reason that she has no other suitor.
I shall be frank with you, and confess that I think I am the
fevoured fellow, while, I dare say, you are just as sanguine
and think it is yourself.”

“I give you my honour, Major Bulstrode, so presuming,
so improper a thought has never—”

“Yes, yes—I understand all that. You are not worthy
of Anne Mordaunt's love, and therefore have never presumed
to imagine that she could bestow it on such a poor,
miserable, worthless, good-for-nothing a fellow as yourself.
I have a great deal of the same very proper feeling; but, at
the same time, each of us is quite confident of his own success,
or he would have given up the pursuit long since.”

“I do assure you, Bulstrode, anything but confidence

[figure description] Page 176.[end figure description]

mingles with my feelings on this subject. You may have
reasons for your own security, but I can boast of none.”

“I have no other than self-love, of which every man has
a just portion for his own comfort and peace of mind. I
say that hope is indispensable to love, and hope is allied to
confidence. My reasoning on these points is very simple.
And, now for the peculiar advantages we enjoy for bringing
matters to a crisis. In the first place, I am hurt, you will
understand; suffering under an honourable wound, received
in open battle, fighting for king and country. Then, I
have been brought fresh from the field, on my litter, into
the presence of my mistress, bearing on my person the evidence
of my risk, and, I hope, of my good conduct. There
is not one woman in a thousand, if she hesitated between
us, that would not decide in my favour, on these grounds
alone. You have no notion, Corny, how the hearts of these
sweet, gentle, devoted, generous little American girls melt to
sympathy, and the sufferings of a poor wretch that they
know adores them! Make a nurse of a female, and she is
yours, nine times out of ten. This has been a master-stroke
of mine, but I hope you will pardon it. Stratagems are
excusable in love, as in war.”

“I have no difficulty in understanding your policy, Bulstrode;
though I confess to some in understanding your
frankness. Such as it is, however, I trust you feel certain
it will not be abused. Now, as to my situation, what peculiar
countervailing advantages do I enjoy?”

“Those of a defender. Oh, that is a battering-ram of
itself! This confounded assault on the settlement, which
they tell me is rather serious, and may keep alive apprehensions
for some days yet, is a most unlucky thing for me,
while it is of great advantage to you. A wounded man
cannot excite one-half the interest he otherwise might, when
there is a chance that others may be slain, every minute.
Then, the character of a defender is a great deal; and
being a generous rival, as I have always told you, Corny,
my advice is to make the most of it. I conceal nothing,
and intend to do all I can with my wound.”

It was scarcely possible not to laugh at this strangely
frank, yet, I fully believe, strangely sincere communication;
for Bulstrode was a humorist, with all his conventionalism

[figure description] Page 177.[end figure description]

and London notions, and was more addicted to saying precisely
what he thought, than is common with men of his
class. After sitting and chatting with him half an hour
longer, on the subject of the late military operations, of
which he spoke with both feeling and good sense, I took my
leave for the night.

“God bless you, Corny,” he said, squeezing my hand,
as I left him; “improve the opportunity in your own way,
for I assure you I shall do it in mine. It is present valour
against past valour. If it were not my own case that is
concerned, there is not a man living to whom I should more
freely wish success.”

And I believe Bulstrode did not exceed the truth in his
declarations. That I should succeed with Anneke, he did
not think, as was apparent to me by his general manner,
and the consciousness he must have possessed of his own
advantages in the way of rank and fortune, as well as in
having Herman Mordaunt's good wishes. Oddly enough, in
quitting my rival, and under circumstances so very peculiar, I
was accidentally thrown into the presence of my mistress, and
that, too, alone! Anneke was the sole occupant of the little
room in which the girls habitually staid, when I returned to
it; Guert having managed to induce Mary Wallace to walk
with him in the court, the only place the ladies now possessed
for exercise; while Herman Mordaunt, Mr. Worden,
and Dirck, were together in the public-room, making some
arrangement with the confused body of the settlers, who had
crowded into the Nest, for the night-watch. I shall not stop
to express the delight I felt at finding Anneke there; nor was
it in any degree diminished, as I met the soft expression of
her sweet eyes, and saw the blushes that suffused her cheek.
The conversation I had just held, doubtless, had its effect;
for I determined, at once, that so favourable an occasion for
pressing my suit should not be lost. I was goaded on, if the
truth must be told, by apprehension of Bulstrode's wound.

What I said precisely, in the commencement of that interview,
is more than I could record, did I think it would
redound to my advantage, as I fear it would not; but I made
myself understood, which is more, I fancy, than happens to
all lovers in such scenes. At first I was confesed and a
little incoherent, I suspect; but feeling so far got the better

[figure description] Page 178.[end figure description]

of these defects, as to enable me to utter what I wished to
express. Towards the end, if I spoke in the least as warmly
and distinctly as I felt, there must have been some slight
touch of eloquence about my manner and language. This
being the first occasion, too, on which I had ever had an
opportunity of urging my suit very directly, there was so
much to be said, so many things to be explained, and so
many seemingly slighted occasions to account for, that Anneke
had little else to do, for the first ten minutes, but to listen.
I have always ascribed the self-possession which my companion
was enabled to command during the remainder of
this interview, to the time that was thus accorded her to rally
her thoughts.

Dear, precious Anneke! How admirably did she behave
that memorable night! It was certainly an extraordinary
situation in which to speak of love; yet, I much question
if the feelings be not more likely to be true and natural at
such times, than when circumstances admit of more of the
expedients of every-day life. I could see that my sweet
listener was touched, from the moment I commenced, and
that her countenance betrayed a tender interest in what I
said. Presuming on this, or encouraged by her blushes and
her downcast eyes, I ventured to take a hand, and perceived I
was not repulsed. Then it was that I found words, that
actually brought tears to my companion's eyes, and Anneke
was enabled to answer me.

“This is so unusual — so extraordinary a time to speak
of such things, Corny,” she said, “that I hardly know what
ought to be my reply. Of one thing, however, I feel certain;
persons surrounded as we are by dangers that may,
at any instant, involve our destruction, have an unusual demand
on them for sincerity. Affection, I hope, I am never
much addicted to, and prudery I know you would condemn.
I have a feeling uppermost, at this instant, that I wish to
express, yet scarce know how—”

“Do not suppress it, beloved Anneke; be as generous as
I am certain you are sincere.”

“Corny, it is this. I know we are in danger — very
great danger of being overcome; captured, perhaps slain,
by the ruthless beings who are prowling around our dwelling,
and that no one in this house can count on a single day

[figure description] Page 179.[end figure description]

of existence even with the ordinary vain security of man.
Now, should anything befall you, after this, and I survive
you, I should survive for the remainder of my days to mourn
your loss, and to feel the keenest regrets that I had hesitated
to own how much interest I have long felt in you, and how
happy I have been with the consciousness of the preference
that you so frankly and honestly avowed in my favour,
months ago.”

As the tears, as well as blushes of Anneke, accompanied
these admissions, it was not possible for me to doubt what I
heard. From that moment, a world of confidence, and a
flow of pure, sweet, strong, natural feeling, bound us more
and more closely together. Guert was in a happy mood to
detain Mary Wallace, and business greatly befriended me,
as respected the others. More than an hour had I Anne
Mordaunt all to myself; and when the heart is open, how
much can be uttered and understood, on such a subject as
love, in an hour of unreserved confidence, and of strong
feeling! Anneke admitted to me, before we separated, that
she had often thought of the chivalrous boy, who had volunteered
to do battle in her behalf, when she was little more
than a child herself, and thought of him as a generousminded
girl would be apt to think of a lad, under the circumstances.
This very early preference had been much
quickened and increased by the affair of the lion, and our
subsequent intercourse. Bulstrode, that formidable, encouraged
rival, encouraged by her father if not by herself, had
never interested her in the least, beyond the feeling natural
to the affinity of blood; and I might have spared myself
many hours of anxious concern, on his account, could I
only have seen what was now so unreservedly told to me.
Poor Bulstrode! a feeling of commiseration came over me,
as I listened to my companion's assurances that he had
never in the least touched her heart, while, at the same time,
blushing very red, she confessed my own power over it.
An expression to this effect even escaped her aloud—

“Have no concern on Mr. Bulstrode's account, Corny,”
Anneke answered, smiling archly, like one who had well
weighed the pros and cons of the whole subject, in her own
mind; “he may be a little mortified, but his fancy will soon
be forgotten in rejoicing that he had not yielded to a passing

[figure description] Page 180.[end figure description]

inclination, and connected himself with a young, inexperienced
American girl, who is hardly suited to move in the
circles in which his wife must live — I do believe Mr. Bulstrode
prefers me, just now, to any other female he may
happen to know; but his attachment, if it deserve the name,
has not the heart in it, dear Corny, that I know is to be
found in your's. We women are said to be quick in discovering
when we are really loved, and I confess that my
own little experience inclines me to believe that the remark
does us no more than justice.”

I then spoke of Guert, and expressed a hope that his sincere,
obvious, manly devotion, might finally touch her heart,
and that my new friend, towards whom, however, I began
already to feel as towards an old friend, might finally meet
with a return for a passion that I was persuaded was as
deep and as sincere as my own; a comparison that I felt
was as strong as any I could make in Guert's behalf.

“On this subject, you are not to expect me to say much,
Corny,” answered Anneke, smiling. “Every woman is the
mistress of her own secrets on such a subject; and, did I
know fully Mary Wallace's mind or wishes in reference to
Mr. Ten Eyck, as I do not profess to know either, I should
not feel at liberty to betray her, even to you. I have no
longer any secret of my own, as respects Corny Littlepage,
but must not be expected to be as weak in betraying my
whole sex, as I have been in betraying myself!”

I was obliged to be satisfied with this sweet admission,
and with the knowledge that I had been long loved. When
Anneke left me, which, at the expiration of more than an
hour, she insisted on doing, under the consciousness of all
that had passed between us, I had a good deal of difficulty
in believing that I was not dreaming. This ecclaircissement
was so sudden, so totally unexpected I fancy to us both,
that well might it so seem to either; yet, I fancy we did not
part without a deep conviction that both were happier than
when we met. I solemnly declare, notwithstanding, that I felt
sorrow, almost regret, on behalf of Bulstrode. The poor
fellow had been so evidently confident of success, only an
hour or two before, that I could not have acquainted him
with my own success, had he been up, and able to prefer

[figure description] Page 181.[end figure description]

his own suit; in his actual situation, such a procedure would
have appeared brutal.

As for Guert Ten Eyck, he rejoined me sadder and more
despairing than ever.

“It struck me, Corny, that if Mary Wallace had the
smallest inclination in my behalf, she would manifest it at a
moment when we may all be said to be hanging between life
and deat'. I have often heard it said that the woman who
would trifle with a young fellow at a ball, or on a sleighride,
and use him like a dog, while every one was laughing
and making merry, would come round like one of the weather-cocks
on our Dutch barns, at a shift of the wind, the
instant that distress or unhappiness alighted on her suitor.
In other worts, that the very girl who would be capricious
and uncertain, in happiness and prosperity, would suddenly
become tender and truthful, as soon as sorrow touched the
man who wished to have her. On the strength of this, then,
I thought I would urge Mary, to the best of my poor abilities,
and you know they are no great matter, Corny, to give
me only a glimmering of hope; but without success. Not a
syllable more could I get out of her than that the time was
unseasonable to talk of such things; and I do think I should
be ready to go and meet these Huron devils, hand to hand,
were it not for the fact that the very girl who thus remonstrated,
staid with me quite two hours, listening to what I
had to say, though I spoke of nothing else. There was a
crumb of comfort in that, lad, or I do not understand human
nature.”

There was, truly. Still, I could not but compare Anne
Mordaunt's generous confessions, under the influence of the
same facts, and fancy that the prospects of the simpleminded,
warm-hearted, manly young Albanian, were far less
flattering than my own.

Previous section

Next section