Oak Openings

ight of hi

rt but of

at pulls the

ine auld clo

ESPE

avellers to the end of their journey at so late a period. As they drew nearer and nearer to the place where Gershom had left his wife and sister, le Bourdon detected in his companion signs of an interest in the welfare of the two

point, and the hut came into view; "else I never could have left two women by them-selves in so lonesome a place. God be praised! there is

s you say, there is certain

comfort in that! If there's a fire, there must be them that lighted it; and a fire at this season, too, says that there's somethin' to eat,

ershom, has commonly b

it warn't as true as it is; but reason and

e, and that the man's feelings were keenly connected with the cause, whatever that might be. Looking eagerly around in quest of the explanation, le Bourdon saw a

first glimpse of my miserable body, as it came back to her. Sich is woman, Bourdon; and God forgive me, if I have ever forgotten their natur', when

rn-that a woman-nay, women; for you tell me your sister is one of the family-but the man whom DECENT women can follow to

choked by the effort he made to speak without betraying his own emotion. "Put the canoe into the p'int, and let me land

much le Bourdon saw by a hasty glance as his companion landed, for a feeling of delicacy prevented him from taking a longer look at the woman. As Gershom ascended the bank to meet his wife, le Bourdon paddled on, and landed just below the grove in which was the chiente. It might have been his long exclusion from all of the other sex, and most especially from that portion of it which retains its better looks, but the being wh

brother; while in HER countenance, in addition to the softened expression of her sex and years, there was nothing to denote any physical or moral infirmity, to form a drawback to its witchery and regularity. Her eyes were blue, and her hair as near golden as human tresses well could be. Exercise, a life of change, and of dwelling much in the open air, had given to this unusually charming girl not only health, but its appearance. Still, she was in no respect coarse, or had anything in the least about her that indicated her being accustomed to toil, with some slight exception in her hand

d satisfaction; surprise that any one should have been met by Gershom, in such a wilderness, a

pectful and friendly that she could not refuse it, even while she doubted the propriety of thus rec

rdon gazed on her with delight. "We are SO glad that he has come back! Five terrible ni

om; but there is still an enemy

has been near us, since Gershom went after the bee-hunter, w

ll you there is an enemy here, in

ne of them since we reached this river. What is the name

is hut, in casks. Show me the place, that I may dest

me pale as death. Compressing her lips intensely, she stood irresolute-now gazing at the pleasing and seemingly well-disposed stranger before

t length asked, point

y be reasoned with. For the sake of us

casks that you will find und

oor, that opened in its rear. There were the two barrels, and by their side an axe. His first impulse was to dash in the heads of the casks where they stood; but a moment's reflection told him that the odor, so near the cabi

ed over and over, until hitting a rock about half-way down the declivity, the hoops gave way, when the staves went over the little precipice, and the water of the stream was tumbling through all that remained of the cask, at the next instant. A slight exclamation of delight behind him caused the bee-hunter to look round, and he saw Margery watching his movement with an absorbed interest. Her smile was one of joy, not unmingled with terror; and she rather whispered than sa

carried down the torrent, driving before them those of the sister cask, unti

st fragment of the wreck was taken out of sight. "No man w

anger, when he has been drinking, from what he is when he ha

must not call me stranger, sweet Margery; for, now that you

no effort to conceal. Dolly was not as beautiful as her sister-in-law; still, she was a comely woman, though one who had been stricken by sorrow. She was still young, and might have been in the pride of her good looks, had it not been for the manner in which she had grieved ove

s right, hereabouts. Three canoe-loads of Injins passed along shore, goin' up the lake, she tells me, this very a'ternoon; but t

p, as would have happened had there been any one among them who could show the others a cabin. Houses an't so plenty, in this part of the country, t

nd the others, and that a warrior in that canoe DID look up to

the one that came last held but four warriors. They were a mile apart, and the last canoe seemed to be trying to overtake the others. I did

nd was rising on the lake, and it was ahead for the canoes; should the savages feel the necessity of making a harbor, they might return to the mouth of the Kalamazoo; a step that would endanger all their lives, in the event of these Indians proving to belong to those, whom there was now reason to believe were in British pay. In times of peace, the inte

any of the great "expounders" turn out to be "thumbs," however, exhibiting clumsiness, rather than that adroit lightness which usually characterizes the dexterity of men who are in the habit of rummaging other people's pockets, for their own especial purposes. It must be somewhat up-hill work to persuade any disinterested and clear-headed man, that a political power to "regulate commerce" goes the length of making harbors; the one being in a great measure a moral, while the other is exclusively a physical agency; any more than it goes the length of making ware-houses, and cranes, and carts, and all the other physical implements for carrying on trade. Now, what renders all this "thumbing" of the Constitution so much t

sible, but highly probable, that the canoes would return. According to the account of the females, they had passed only two hours before, and the breeze had been gradually gathering strength ever since. It was not unlikely, indeed, that the attention paid to the river by the warrior in the last canoe may have had

along the lake shore. Thither Margery now hastened to look after the canoes. Boden accompanied her; and together they proceeded, side by

to look at the barrels! Before he went into the openings, he never entered the house without drinking; and sometimes he wo

should he fall into his old ways. One is never sure of a man o

ing!" rejoined the sister, in a touching manner. "We love him

d have come into this wilderne

come of Dorothy if I were to quit her, too! She has lost most of her friends, since

less surprising-ah, there is my canoe, in plain sight of all wh

Just there, beneath the burr-oak. Hours and hours have I sat on th

e was she while

eech-tree, where you first saw her, looking if brother was not com

your case, pretty Margery,

t which had brought them there. Three canoes were in sight, close in with the land, but so distant as to render it for some time doubtful which way they were moving. At first, the bee-hunter said that they were still going slowly to the southward; but he habitually carried his little glass, and, on le

hich we are writing; as, indeed, it is to be found in nearly all the shallow waters of those regions. There was a good deal of this rice at hand; and the bee-hunter, paddling his own canoe and towing the other, entered this vegetable thicket, choosing a channel that had been formed by some accident of nature, and which wound through the herbage in a way soon to conceal all th

e taken?" were the first words uttered by the bee-h

the chiente, for the Indians must soon be here; but wife s

o destroy all they find in it, and that they do not carry off. Besides, the discovery of the least article belonging to a white man will set them on our trail; for scalps will soon bear a price at Montreal. In half an hour,

h a wigwam so near by, and should they come here, what is to

all wear moccasins, which is a great advantage just now. But every moment is precious, and we should be stirrin

n the till of Margery's chest, being her portion of this species of property. The Americans, generally, have very little plate; though here and there marked exceptions do exist; nor do the humbler classes lay out much of their earnings in jewelry, while they commonly dress far beyond their means in all other ways. In this respect, the European female of the same class in life frequently possesses as much in massive golden personal ornaments as would make an humble little fortune, while her attire is as homely as cumbrous petticoats, coarse cloth, and a vile taste can render it. On the other hand, the American matron that has not a set-one half-dozen-of silver tea-spoons must be poor indeed, and can hardly be said to belong to the order of housekeepers at all. By means of a careful mother, both Gershom and his sister had the half-dozen mentioned; an

was a narrow but practicable entrance on the side the least likely to be visited. When all was accomplished the four went to the lookout to ascertain how far the canoes had come. It was soon ascertained that they were within a mile, driving down before a strong breeze and following sea, and impelled by as many paddles as there were living beings in them. Ten minutes would certainly bring them up with the bar, and five mo

ticles that would probably be wanted; that of the bee-hunter in particular furnishing food in abundance, as well as diverse other things that would be exceedingly useful to persons in their situation. The great advantage of the canoes, however, in the mind of le Bourdon, was the facilities they offered for flight. He hardly hoped that Indian sagacity would be so far blinded as to prevent the discovery of the many footsteps they must have left in their hurried movements, and he anticipated that with the return of day something would occur to render it necessary

height of a man, or which was not seen from some adjacent elevation. Most of the land near the mouth of the river was low, and the few spots which formed exceptions had been borne in mind when the canoes were taken into the field.

nto the hands of the savages, and an awful time they'll make with t

eager husband, the bee-hunter quiet

e shed behind the hut, and whiskey enough to set a whole tribe

Bourdon, coolly. "I foresaw the danger, and rolled the casks down the hill, where they were dashed t

ough; but even that was better than to have it drunk by savages without receiving any re-turns. After groaning and lamenting over the loss

els, give a chance to those in the boat which might escape, of having wherewithal to comfort and console themselves. As soon as this new arrangement was completed, le Bourdon ran up to a tree that offered the desired facilities, and springing in