Adventure and adventurers > Away in the wilderness, or, Life among the red Indians and fur-traders of North America

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AWAY IN THE WILDERNESS.
Whether it was the earnestness of his voice, or
the kiss which he printed on her forehead, or the
coolness of the evening air, I know not, but cer¬
tain it is that Marie recovered in the course of a
few minutes, and, on being convinced that Jasper
really was her old lover, she resigned herself,
wisely, to her fate, and held such an uncommonly
long conversation with the bold hunter, that the
moon was up and the stars were out before they
turned their steps towards the Fort.
“ Why, Jasper Derry,” cried Mr. Pemberton,
as the hunter entered the hall of Fort Erie,
“ where have you been. I’ve been expecting you
every moment for the last two hours.”
“ Well, you see, Mr. Pemberton, I just went
down the river a short bit to see an old friend
and I was kep’ longer than I expected,” said
Jasper, with a cool grave face, as he grasped and
shook the hand which was held out to him.
“ Ah ! I see, you hunters are more like brothers
than friends. No doubt you went to smoke a
pipe with Hawkeye, or to have a chat with the
Muskrat about old times,” said the fur-trader,
mentioning the names of two Indians who were
celebrated as being the best hunters in the
neighbourhood, and Who had been bosom friends
of Jasper when he resided there two, years
before.
“ No, I’ve not yet smoked a pipe with Hawk-