eceded the period
when they were to have been united heart and mind and thought in one
common destiny, would he start from her side, his brain whirling with
very intoxication, and then obeying another wild impulse, rush once
more into her embrace; and clasping his beloved Madeline to his heart,
entreat her again to pour forth all the melody of that confession in
his enraptured ear. Artless and unaffected as she was generous and
impassioned, the fond and noble girl never hesitated to gratify him
whom alone she loved; and deep and fervent was the joy of the soldier,
when he found that each passionate entreaty, far from being met with
caprice, only drew from the lips of his cousin warmer and more
affectionate expressions of her attachment. Such expressions, coming
from any woman, must have been rapturous and soothing in the extreme;
but, when they flowed from a voice whose very sound was melody, they
acted on the heart of Captain de Haldimar with a potency that was as
irresistible as the love itself which she inspired.

Such was the position of things just before the commencement of the
Indian war. Madeline de Haldimar had been for some time on a visit to
Detroit, and her marriage with her cousin was to have taken place
within a few days. The unexpected arrival of intelligence from
Michilimackinac that her father was dangerously ill, however, retarded
the ceremony; and, up to the present period, their intercourse had been
completely suspended. If Madeline de Haldimar was capable of strong
attachment to her lover, the powerful ties of nature were no less
deeply rooted in her heart, and commiseration and anxiety for her
father now engrossed every faculty of her mind. She entreated her
cousin to defer the solemnisation of their nuptials until her parent
should be pronounced out of danger, and, having obtained his consent to
the delay, instantly set off for Michilimackinac, accompanied by her
cousin Clara, whom, she had prevailed on the governor to part with
until her own return. Hostilities were commenced very shortly
afterwards, and, although Major de Haldimar speedily recovered from his
illness, the fair cousins were compelled to share the common
imprisonment of the garrison.

When Miss de Haldimar joined her more youthful cousin at the window,
through which the latter was gazing thoughtfully on the scene before
her, she flung her arm around her waist with the protecting manner of a
mother. The mild blue eyes of Clara met