Indian friends, I make no doubt she will remember it."

Master Cap uttered more than he was aware of at the time. Jasper
Western did attend to the wants of Mabel, and she long remembered
the kind, manly attention of the young sailor at this their first
interview. He placed the end of a log for a seat, obtained for
her a delicious morsel of the venison, gave her a draught of pure
water from the spring, and as he sat near her, fast won his way to
her esteem by his gentle but frank manner of manifesting his care;
homage that woman always wishes to receive, but which is never so
flattering or so agreeable as when it comes from the young to those
of their own age -- from the manly to the gentle. Like most of
those who pass their time excluded from the society of the softer
sex, young Western was earnest, sincere, and kind in his attentions,
which, though they wanted a conventional refinement, which, perhaps,
Mabel never missed, had those winning qualities that prove very
sufficient as substitutes. Leaving these two unsophisticated young
people to become acquainted through their feelings, rather than
their expressed thoughts, we will turn to the group in which the
uncle had already become a principal actor.

The party had taken their places around a platter of venison steaks,
which served for the common use, and the discourse naturally partook
of the characters of the different individuals which composed
it. The Indians were silent and industrious the appetite of the
aboriginal American for venison being seemingly inappeasable, while
the two white men were communicative, each of the latter being
garrulous and opinionated in his way. But, as the dialogue will
put the reader in possession of certain facts that may render the
succeeding narrative more clear, it will be well to record it.