His murmurs were, perhaps, natural; for those who concede least to the feelings of others invariably exact most for their own.
It is true that Lord H----, occupied with thoughts that engrossed him altogether, dismissed the aide-de-camp without remembrance of his needs, as well as without any feeling of resentment, and omitted a courtesy which no resentment, assuredly, could have curtailed. But the young man, swelling with indignation and offended dignity, mounted sullenly, and proceeded but slowly on his way. He had not gone one-half the distance, however, between Mr. Prevost's house and Fort Edward, when Lord H---- and the commissary passed him at great speed; and he did not reach headquarters till half an hour after they had announced their own return.
CHAPTER XXV
The storm prognosticated from the red aspect of the setting sun the night before had not descended when Edith Prevost left the door of her father's house. No raindrops, fell, no breeze even stirred the trees, and it was only a sort of misty obscurity to the westward which gave token, to eyes well acquainted with the forest, that the promise of the preceding sunset would yet be fulfilled. Overhead all was clear and blue, and the sun, though there was some haze around the broad disk, was powerful for the season of the year.
Edith's companions were only Chaudo the negro, the good woman Sister Bab (whose kindness, faithfulness and intelligence had all been tried), and Woodchuck, who refused to take a horse from the stable, but set out on foot by the beautiful girl's side.
"You can't canter a step of the way, Miss Edith," he said, "so I can keep up with you, I guess; for the road, such as it is, is better fitted for two feet than four."
There were tears in Edith's eyes as she turned from the door, arising from many a mingled source. She had seen her father and him whom she loved as well, though differently, depart suddenly to danger and to battle. Her brother was far away; and still she could not help thinking him in peril. Not only was the future of all uncertain--for that the future of everyone is--but the uncertainty was dark, and, as it were, more tangible than is generally the case with the dim, misty valley of the coming time. There was not only a cloud, but the cloud was threatening.
The moment of departing from her father's door was one of those pausing places of the mind for Edith Prevost. She did not cast her thoughts far back; she took in but a little range; six months was the limit. But she remembered how calmly happy she had been in that dwelling six months before.
She mused sadly, gazing down upon the horse's neck, and hardly seeing or thinking of the way she took. In the meantime, Woodchuck trudged on by her side, with his head erect, his face lifted toward the sky, his pace steady and assured. Edith suddenly and almost unconsciously turned her eyes toward him. There was a tranquil elevation of his countenance, a lofty resolution in his look, which gave her thoughts, in a moment, another direction. She was parting from a well loved home and cherished associations, with some clouds hanging over her, some anxieties dogging her path, but with a probability of soon returning, and with many a sweet promise of future happiness. Yet she was sad and downcast. He was marching onward, wittingly and voluntarily, to a certain and terrible death; and yet his march was tranquil, firm, and resolute. She felt ashamed of her tears. Nay, more, as thought ran on, she said to herself: "There is something more in life--something higher, nobler, grander, than any human passion, than any mortal enjoyment, than any mere earthly peace can give--something that comes from heaven to aid and support us in our struggles here below. He knows, he feels that he is doing his duty, that he is acting according to the commandment of his God, and he is calm and firm in the presence of death, and in the separation from all earthly things. And I--what have I to suffer? What have I to fear in comparison with him?"
She made a great effort, she shook off her sadness, she wiped the tears from her eyes, and said a few words to her companion in a quiet tone. He answered briefly to her actual words, but then turned at once to the feelings which he believed to be in her heart.