"Did you so ;" returned O'Carroll.

" Then I suppose she had no instructer but Ohmeina, who having taught her to pipe upon a reed, she found it no difficult matter to blow through the hole of a flageolet."

Grahame made no reply, evidently to the disappointment of O'Carroll, who by some farther observations, attempted to renew the subject. But the Colonel disregarded his remarks, or answered them, with a brevity and coldness, which showed him displeased with the inquisition of O'Carroll, and resolved not to gratify his curiosity.

Catherine, urged by Grahame, again touched the keys of her harpsichord, and found them more attuned to harmony, than she had fancied them, before his entrance. He joined his voice with hers, in many of his favorite airs, and, in the intervals of music, their conversation, their attention, their thoughts even, were devoted so exclusively to each other, that they seemed unconscious of the presence of any other persons.

O'Carroll had gradually become so deeply interested in the game, as to confine his attention entirely to it; but the Major remarked, with pain, the abstraction and uneasiness of Captain Talbot, and but too well informed of the cause, he felt excessively vexed by the mutual enjoyment, which Grahame and Catherine appeared to derive from their uninterrupted tete-a-tete.

Supposing themselves quite disregarded by the card party, they felt no longer the necessity of that disguise, and reserve, which involuntarily restrained them, when Catherine imagined that Talbot's jealous eye was upon her, and Grahame, that O'Carroll was watching every word and look, which might furnish him food for raillery, or a subject for grave remark and animadversion. Their conversation was losing its desultory character, and becoming serious and deeply interesting, when it was suddenly interrupted by the abrupt entrance of Ohmeina, whom Hugh ushered without ceremony into the parlor.

With his usual profound gravity, but somewhat less than his accustomed moderation, the Indian saluted the

company, and then advancing to the Colonel, commenced speaking in the Mohawk tongue, with an earnest and rapid utterance. Grahame's attention was

instantly rivetted, and an expression of concern and anxiety marked his features, as Ohmeina continued speaking. When he ceased, the Colonel answered him briefly, and then prepared to take his leave, observing only, that he regretted being compelled to quit his friends at so early an hour. He then bade them good night and departed.

It was however, much later than he imagined, and as the last game at cards was just concluded, they agreed to break up the table. For the last hour, no one excepting O'Carroll had enjoyed the amusement, and his inclination for playing longer, was now entirely superseded by his intense desire to know the purport of Ohmeina's message, which had at once changed the animated expression of Grahame's countenance, and called him so abruptly from them. He hazarded a thousand wild conjectures, which he was suffered to express without interruption. The Major however, who in uncommonly ill humor was rapidly traversing the apartment, at last exclaimed, with an air of bitter

ness,

"For a man of truth, honor, and courage, this redoubtable Grahame is shrouded in a great deal of mystery! I confess I do not like it at all; I feel my confidence very much weakened by the night walks, the broken hints, cloudy looks, and above all, by the gibberish of this barbarous Mohawk, which sounds like the very language of treachery and darkness."

Catherine, persuaded that whatever mystery might appear to surround Grahame, he was too virtuous and too honorable to be concerned in any unworthy transaction, and that the suspicions of her father, were of course unjust, felt hurt by the harshness with which he had expressed himself, and raising her eyes calmly to his darkening brow, she said,

"Perhaps, sir, the circumstances, which appear mysterious in Colonel Grahame's conduct, are such as it

would be improper for him to explain to us. They may affect the interests of his country. In any event we have no grounds for supposing them of a personal nature; and being prisoners of war, cannot expect to be admitted to share the secrets of the American camp."

"It is a strange kind of military discipline," replied the Major, with an ironical smile, "which sends an officer half a dozen miles, on a cold night, to talk with a half civilized Indian, in a dark forest, when one would think he might say all that was necessary, especially if it concerns the public good, in his own tent. It is stranger still, this playing of flageolets, this concealing of names, this coloring and hesitation! No, Kate; all the arguments in the world will fail to persuade me there is not something wrong in this business; and much as I owe to Grahame, and greatly as I have, and still do admire his talents and his courage, I must harbor my suspicions, till I find more cause than I am like to have at present, for their dismission. Trust me, this nonpareil of ours has a touch of frail mortality, as well as the rest of us."

Catherine leaned her head upon her hand, and remained silent; for she saw, by her father's countenance and manner, that he was in no mood for pleasant argument, and she was aware that her defence of Grahame would only serve to increase his irritation.

O'Carroll, wary and observing, easily penetrated the cause of Major Courtland's ill humor; he had marked its progress, from the moment of Grahame's entrance; and observed it to increase, with every glance he cast towards the harpsichord, till it reach its climax, as the color heightened on Talbot's cheek, and the smiles became brighter on those of the Colonel and his daughter.

It was indeed, galling to the Major's pride, that Catherine should prefer the attentions of a rebel officer to those of a brave and loyal soldier; but that she should view this rebel with complacency, while he labored under suspicions which involved his character. in mystery, and neglect the affection of a virtuous and honorable man, filled him with displeasure and anxiety.

The sudden entrance of Ohmeina, and the departure of the Colonel, without assigning any explicit reason, completed his chagrin.

O'Carroll, finding the gloom of the party quite uncongenial with his feelings, took up his hat, and as the evening was clear and bright, sallied forth upon a walk. Talbot spiritless, and depressed by doubt and jealousy, soon after retired; and Catherine was left alone with her father and Amelia. The latter had ample food for sad reflection; and imagining, from her uncle's seriousness, that he might wish to converse alone with Catherine, she glided from the room. unheeded by her cousin, who in a pensive attitude, which she was seldom seen to assume, pursued her meditations, for some time, in uninterrupted silence.

Major Courtland, with quick and hasty steps, which evinced the discomposure of his mind, pursued his walk through the apartment. He several times looked earnestly at his daughter, as if desirous to address her; then turned away, with an air of hesitation, and again almost in the act of speaking, approached her.

The neglected fire was nearly extinguished, and the remaining brands were mouldering into ashes, when Catherine, reminded by the chilly air of the apartment, that the hour must be unusually late, rose from her seat to retire. Major Courtland understood her intention, and feeling that the opportunity must not be lost, his anxiety to converse with her, conquered the_repugnance which he had felt to give her pain. The irritation of his mind had subsided; but the anxious feelings of the father were more keenly alive than ever; and as his daughter bade him good night and turned to quit the room, he gently took her hand, and leading her back to the sofa seated himself beside her.

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Indulge me a few moments longer, with your society, my dear Catherine," he said. "It is late, I know, and the time which we might have spent in confidential intercourse has been consumed in sad and silent meditation."

"Silent, but not sad, my dear father," said Catherine, somewhat startled by the seriousness of his manner. Why should it have been sad? we have nothing to make us unhappy."

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"I have many anxious thoughts to make me so, my dear girl," said her father. "But since the enlargement of our family circle we know too little of each other; that delightful intercourse, which was once so dear to us both, seems quite suspended, and I sometimes fear that other objects have stolen from me those affections, which have been the balm and solace of my life."

"My dearest father," exclaimed Catherine, "what objects can ever supplant you in my affections? none surely; to you I owe my first earthly duties, and happy in your love, what else have I to wish for ?"

"Nay my child," returned the Major; "I am not so unreasonable, so irrational, as to expect that I shall always be the first and only object of your tenderness. Ι have neither the right nor the inclination to require this of you. I ask, I wish only to retain that filial confidence and affection, which have made me the happiest of fathers. I know that nearer and more tender claims must one day, be made upon your heart; and I would have it so. I would wish to see my Catherine filling those sacred oñices, and performing those endearing duties, which her mother fulfilled with such undeviating rectitude and fidelity. I would wish to see her form the happiness of a virtuous and honorable man; and it would gladden my heart to know, that when her natural guardian shall be called to forsake her, he may leave her in the arms of one, who will cherish her in his bosom, and be to her a father, guardian and friend." "My dear father," said Catherine, affected by the earnestness of his manner, and unable to determine for what purpose he thus addressed her; "why do you speak to me so seriously upon this subject? It is one, upon which I have scarcely yet thought; upon which, at present, I have no occasion to think."