Chapter 20

Wandering, I found on my ruinous walk,
By the dial stone, aged and green,
One rose of the wilderness, left on its stalk,
To mark where a garden had been.
CAMPBELL.

It was not only broad daylight when Mabel awoke, but the sun had
actually been up some time. Her sleep had been tranquil, for she
rested on an approving conscience, and fatigue contributed to render
it sweet; and no sound of those who had been so early in motion
had interfered with her rest. Springing to her feet and rapidly
dressing herself, the girl was soon breathing the fragrance of
the morning in the open air. For the first time she was sensibly
struck with the singular beauties, as well as with the profound
retirement, of her present situation. The day proved to be one of
those of the autumnal glory, so common to a climate that is more
abused than appreciated, and its influence was every way inspiriting
and genial. Mabel was benefitted by this circumstance; for, as she
fancied, her heart was heavy on account of the dangers to which a
father, whom she now began to love as women love when confidence
is created, was exposed.

But the island seemed absolutely deserted. The previous night,
the bustle of the arrival had given the spot an appearance of life
which was now entirely gone; and our heroine had turned her eyes
nearly around on every object in sight, before she caught a view of
a single human being to remove the sense of utter solitude. Then,
indeed, she beheld all who were left behind, collected in a group
around a fire which might be said to belong to the camp. The
person of her uncle, to whom she was so much accustomed, reassured
Mabel; and she examined the remainder with a curiosity natural to
her situation. Besides Cap and the Quartermaster, there were the
Corporal, the three soldiers, and the woman who was cooking. The
huts were silent and empty; and the low but tower-like summit of
the blockhouse rose above the bushes, by which it was half concealed,
in picturesque beauty. The sun was just casting its brightness
into the open places of the glade, and the vault over her head
was impending in the soft sublimity of the blue void. Not a cloud
was visible, and she secretly fancied the circumstance might be
taken as a harbinger of peace and security.

Perceiving that all the others were occupied with that great concern
of human nature, a breakfast, Mabel walked, unobserved, towards
an end of the island where she was completely shut out of view by
the trees and bushes. Here she got a stand on the very edge of
the water, by forcing aside the low branches, and stood watching
the barely perceptible flow and re-flow of the miniature waves
which laved the shore; a sort of physical echo to the agitation