“that my present condition invests me with in the eyes of a very young man.”

The rudeness of the fling burnt my face, but I answered civilly:

“A scalping party may be anywhere in these woods. It is the season; and neither Oneida Lake nor Fort Niagara itself are so distant that their far-hurled hatchets may not strike us here.”

“I will not go with you,” said she, making of her bundle a pillow. Then, very coolly, she extended her slim body and laid her head on the bundle.

I made no answer, nor any movement for fully an hour. Then, very stealthily, I leaned forward to see if she truly slept. And found her eyes wide open.

“You waste time mounting sentry over me,”