“The attraction is of another sort, then. Cupid flies his arrows in these woods as well as the red warrior.”
Maggie blushed and the Colonel, forgetting his anger, gallantly came to her rescue. “And if he does, madam, I would say to Master Cupid, give me the maiden who, like our fair Maggie, would dare the dragons of the field and flood to save her lover.”
“Oh!” retorted Mrs Scott, “that is as much as to say, I would not do that and more for you. What thankless monsters you men are!”
“Nay, spare me, Helen, and as by what she has told us, she has walked from Oka today, perhaps you will take her with you and play the hostess.”
“She has done more than walk from Oka today,” said Hemlock, “she killed a bear and saved my life.”
“What!” cried Mrs Scott in astonishment, and Hemlock told the story of the encounter. When he had done the Colonel stepped forward and grasping Maggie’s hands he said, “I honor you as a brave man honors a brave woman, and if there is any possibility of saving Mr Morton’s life, it shall be done.”
Maggie was too overcome to reply, and Mrs Scott, slipping her arm into hers, led her away to her husband’s quarters, leaving Hemlock and the Colonel in eager converse, which lasted until daylight had nearly faded and until a servant came with word that dinner was waiting the Colonel. Ordering the servant to call one of the sergeants, the Colonel committed Hemlock to his hospitable care and then entered his own quarters. Maggie spent one of the most delightful evenings of her life in the company of the Colonel and his wife, forgetting her weariness and the excitement she had passed through in the enjoyment of social converse of a brighter and wider scope than she had been accustomed. When bedtime came she was solicitous about being called early so that Hemlock might not be kept waiting, when the Colonel assured her he would take her restoration to her home by the Chateaugay into his own hands. When she made her appearance next day, she found her entertainers seated on the veranda, and was concerned to learn that it was near noon and that Hemlock had left at sunrise. The anxious look that flitted across her face, the Colonel relieved by telling her that Hemlock had chosen a route she could not have followed, across the great swamp that lay between the St Lawrence and the Chateaugay, and that he carried a letter to her father, telling where she was and that she would go home by the first safe opportunity.
“And now, my dear Maggie,” said Mrs Scott, “You need not be concerned about those at home but be my companion for a few days. Buried away here in these romantic wilds, you cannot conceive what a treat it is to me to have your society.”
“You are welcome, Miss Forsyth,” added the Colonel, “and you will get a chance before long of a convoy to Annfield, for I expect one from Kingston by the end of the week.”
“But they may be needing me at home, Colonel; my mother is frail and if the Yankees have crossed she will be sore in need of my help.”