250 THE ADIRONDACK. 



I have tried in vain to make her say no or yes, but 

 she invariably turns to her father or Mitchell, and 

 makes them answer. This old man still roams the 

 forest, and stays where night overtakes him. 



It was sad to look upon his once powerful frame, 

 now bowed and tottering, while his thick gray hair 

 hung like a huge mat around his wrinkled and 

 seamed visage. His tremulous hand and faded eye 

 could no longer send the unerring rifle ball to its 

 mark, and he was^ compelled to rely on a rusty fowl- 

 ing-piece. Everything about him was in keeping — 

 even his dog was a mixture of the wolf and dog, and 

 was the quickest creature T ever saw move : his very 

 gambols frightened me, for when leaping to a caress, 

 his bound was so quick and eager, that he seemed 

 about to tear me in pieces — indeed it was always a 

 dubious matter with me, when I approached him, 

 whether he intended to play or fight. 



But poor old Peter cannot stand another winter, I 

 fear, — and some lonely night, in the lonely forest, 

 that dark-haired maiden will see him die, far from 

 human habitations ; and her slender arm will carry 

 his corpse many a weary mile, to rest among his tribe. 

 As I have seen her decked out with water-lilies, pad- 



