“Do you mean the Frenchers by the lion, and this island as his jaws, Lieutenant?”

“Metaphorically only, my friend, for the French are no lions, and this island is not a jaw —­ unless, indeed, it may prove to be, what I greatly fear may come true, the jaw-bone of an ass.”

Here the Quartermaster indulged in a sneering laugh, that proclaimed anything but respect and admiration for his friend Lundie’s sagacity in selecting that particular spot for his operations.

“The post is as well chosen as any I ever put foot in,” said Pathfinder, looking around him as one surveys a picture.

“I’ll no’ deny it, I’ll no’ deny it.  Lundie is a great soldier, in a small way; and his father was a great laird, with the same qualification.  I was born on the estate, and have followed the Major so long that I’ve got to reverence all he says and does:  that’s just my weakness, ye’ll know, Pathfinder.  Well, this post may be the post of an ass, or of a Solomon, as men fancy; but it’s most critically placed, as is apparent by all Lundie’s precautions and injunctions.  There are savages out scouting through these Thousand Islands and over the forest, searching for this very spot, as is known to Lundie himself, on certain information; and the greatest service you can render the 55th is to discover their trails and lead them off on a false scent.  Unhappily Sergeant Dunham has taken up the notion that the danger is to be apprehended from up-stream, because Frontenac lies above us; whereas all experience tells us that Indians come on the side which is most contrary to reason, and, consequently, are to be expected from below.  Take your canoe, therefore, and go down-stream among the islands, that we may have notice if any danger approaches from that quarter.”

“The Big Sarpent is on the look-out in that quarter; and as he knows the station well, no doubt he will give us timely notice, should any wish to sarcumvent us in that direction.”

“He is but an Indian, after all, Pathfinder; and this is an affair that calls for the knowledge of a white man.  Lundie will be eternally grateful to the man who shall help this little enterprise to come off with flying colors.  To tell you the truth, my friend, he is conscious it should never have been attempted; but he has too much of the old laird’s obstinacy about him to own an error, though it be as manifest as the morning star.”

The Quartermaster then continued to reason with his companion, in order to induce him to quit the island without delay, using such arguments as first suggested themselves, sometimes contradicting himself, and not unfrequently urging at one moment a motive that at the next was directly opposed by another.  The Pathfinder, simple as he was, detected these flaws in the Lieutenant’s philosophy, though he was far from suspecting that they proceeded from a desire to clear the coast of Mabel’s suitor.  He did not exactly suspect the secret objects of Muir, but he was far from being blind to his sophistry.  The result was that the two parted, after a long dialogue, unconvinced, and distrustful of each other’s motives, though the distrust of the guide, like all that was connected with the man, partook of his own upright, disinterested, and ingenuous nature.