sed and her
suspicions sharpened; she made no reply, however, but turned away, with
a toss of the head, and busied herself, quite fiercely, with her
household cares. From that moment, until the day of his departure, she
stubbornly avoided the subject, listening, but refusing to reply, when
her husband attempted to introduce it. When Cutler came--rather
unnecessarily, as Stone thought--to consult him about the organization
of a spy-company, to which both were attached, she paid no attention to
their conversation, but walked away down a road over which she knew
Cutler must pass on his return homeward. Whether this was by appointment
with him is not known: probably, however, it was her own motion.

We need not stay to detail all that took place between her and her
former suitor, when, as she had expected, they met in a wood some
hundreds of yards from her home; its result will sufficiently appear in
the sequel. One circumstance, however, we must not omit. She recurred to
a conversation which had passed sometime before, in relation to the
legality of her marriage; and though Cutler gave no positive opinion,
his parting advice was nearly in the following words:--

"If you think, from your three weeks' experience, that Stone cares
enough for you to make it prudent, I would advise you to have the
marriage ceremony performed by Parson Bowen, immediately upon his
return; and if you care enough for him to wish to retain him, you had
better have it performed _before he goes away_."

With these words, and without awaiting an answer, he passed on, leaving
her alone in the road. When she returned home, she did not mention the
subject; and though Parson Bowen returned to the neighborhood quite a
week before Stone went away, she never suggested a repetition of the
ceremony. When Stone manifested some anxiety on the subject, she turned
suddenly upon him and demanded--

"You do not think our marriage legal, then?"

He assured her that he only made the suggestion for her satisfaction,
entertaining no doubt, himself, that they were regularly and lawfully
married.

"I am content to remain as I am," she said, curtly, and the parson was
not summoned.

Five days afterward the troops took up the line of march for the
frontier. Hull had not yet surrendered Michigan; but Proctor had so
stirred up the Indians (who, until then, had been quiet since the battle
of Tippecanoe), as to cut off all communication with the advanced
settlements,