Chapter 9

A moment gazed adown the dale,
A moment snuffed the tainted gale,
A moment listened to the cry,
That thickened as the chase drew nigh;
Then, as the headmost foe appeared,
With one brave bound the copse he cleared,
And, stretching forward free and far,
Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var.
--_Lady of the Lake._

The party under Captain Lawton had watched the retiring foe to his boats
with the most unremitting vigilance, without finding any fit opening for
a charge. The experienced successor of Colonel Wellmere knew too well
the power of his enemy to leave the uneven surface of the heights, until
compelled to descend to the level of the water. Before he attempted this
hazardous movement, he threw his men into a compact square, with its
outer edges bristling with bayonets. In this position, the impatient
trooper well understood that brave men could never be assailed by
cavalry with success, and he was reluctantly obliged to hover near them,
without seeing any opportunity of stopping their slow but steady march
to the beach. A small schooner, which had been their convoy from the
city, lay with her guns bearing on the place of embarkation. Against
this combination of force and discipline, Lawton had sufficient prudence
to see it would be folly to contend, and the English were suffered to
embark without molestation. The dragoons lingered on the shore till the
last moment, and then they reluctantly commenced their own retreat back
to the main body of the corps.

The gathering mists of the evening had begun to darken the valley, as
the detachment of Lawton made its reappearance, at its southern
extremity. The march of the troops was slow, and their line extended for
the benefit of ease. In the front rode the captain, side by side with
his senior subaltern, apparently engaged in close conference, while the
rear was brought up by a young cornet, humming an air, and thinking of
the sweets of a straw bed after the fatigues of a hard day's duty.

"Then it struck you too?" said the captain. "The instant I placed my
eyes on her I remembered the face; it is one not easily forgotten. By my
faith, Tom, the girl does no discredit to the major's taste."

"She would do honor to the corps," replied the lieutenant, with some
warmth. "Those blue eyes might easily win a man to gentler employments
than this trade of ours. In sober truth, I can easily imagine such a
girl might tempt even me to quit the broadsword and saddle, for a
darning-needle and pillion."

"Mutiny, sir, mutiny," cried the other, laughing. "What, you, Tom Mason,
dare to rival the gay, admired, and withal rich, Major Dunwoodie in his
love! You, a lieutenant of cavalry, with but