.

"Pretty well that, sir, for a red-skin," said Joyce, smiling "If there
isn't white blood, ay, and Yankee blood in that chap's arm, I'll give
him some of my own to help colour it. Step this way, your honour--only
a foot or two--there, sir; by looking through the opening just above
the spot where that very make-believe Injin is scattering his chips as
if they were so many kernels of corn that he was tossing to the
chickens, you will get a sight of the Hut."

The fact was so. By altering his own position a little on the rock,
Captain Willoughby got a full view of the entire buildings of the
Knoll. It is true, he could not see the lawn without the works, nor
quite all of the stockade, but the whole of the western wing, or an
entire side-view of the dwellings, was obtained. Everything seemed as
tranquil and secure, in and around them, as if they vegetated in a
sabbath in the wilderness. There was something imposing even, in the
solemn silence of their air, and the captain now saw that if he had
been struck, and rendered uneasy by the mystery that accompanied the
inaction and quiet of his invaders, they, in their turns, might
experience some such sensations as they gazed on the repose of the Hut,
and the apparent security of its garrison. But for Joel's desertion,
indeed, and the information he had carried with him, there could be
little doubt that the stranger must have felt the influence of such
doubts to a very material extent. Alas! as things were, it was not
probable they could be long imposed on, by any seeming calm.

Captain Willoughby felt a reluctance to tear himself away from the
spectacle of that dwelling which contained so many that were dear to
him. Even Joyce gazed at the house with pleasure, for it had been his
quarters, now, so many years, and he had looked forward to the time
when he should breathe his last in it. Connected with his old commander
by a tie that was inseparable, so far as human wishes could control
human events, it was impossible that the serjeant could go from the
place where they had left so many precious beings almost in the keeping
of Providence, at a moment like that, altogether without emotion. While
each was thus occupied in mind, there was a perfect stillness. The men
of the party had been so far drilled, as to speak in low voices, and
nothing they said was audible on the rock. The axes alone broke the
silence of the woods, and to ears so accustomed to their blows, they
offered no