ugh the winter. I think I can see my pup will not last beyond that
time, for I have judgment in these matters, since many is the friend,
both hound and Red-skin, that I have seen depart in my day, though the
Lord hath not yet seen fit to order his angels to sound forth my name."

"Take him, take him," cried Middleton; "take all, or any thing!"

The old man whistled the younger dog to the land; and then he proceeded
to the final adieus. Little was said on either side. The trapper took
each person solemnly by the hand, and uttered something friendly and
kind to all. Middleton was perfectly speechless, and was driven to
affect busying himself among the baggage. Paul whistled with all
his might, and even Obed took his leave with an effort that bore the
appearance of desperate philosophical resolution. When he had made the
circuit of the whole, the old man, with his own hands, shoved the boat
into the current, wishing God to speed them. Not a word was spoken, nor
a stroke of the oar given, until the travellers bad floated past a knoll
that hid the trapper from their view. He was last seen standing on the
low point, leaning on his rifle, with Hector crouched at his feet, and
the younger dog frisking along the sands, in the playfulness of youth
and vigour.

CHAPTER XXXIV

--Methought, I heard a voice.
--Shakspeare.

The water-courses were at their height, and the boat went down the swift
current like a bird. The passage proved prosperous and speedy. In less
than a third of the time, that would have been necessary for the same
journey by land, it was accomplished by the favour of those rapid
rivers. Issuing from one stream into another, as the veins of the human
body communicate with the larger channels of life, they soon entered the
grand artery of the western waters, and landed safely at the very door
of the father of Inez.

The joy of Don Augustin, and the embarrassment of the worthy father
Ignatius, may be imagined. The former wept and returned thanks
to Heaven; the latter returned thanks, and did not weep. The mild
provincials were too happy to raise any questions on the character of so
joyful a restoration; and, by a sort of general consent, it soon came to
be an admitted opinion that the bride of Middleton had been kidnapped
by a villain, and that she was restored to her friends by human agency.
There were, as respects this belief, certain