diff options
Diffstat (limited to '1880.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 1880.txt | 18776 |
1 files changed, 18776 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/1880.txt b/1880.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd57521 --- /dev/null +++ b/1880.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18776 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pathfinder, by James Fenimore Cooper + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Pathfinder + The Inland Sea + +Author: James Fenimore Cooper + +Posting Date: November 3, 2008 [EBook #1880] +Release Date: September, 1999 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PATHFINDER *** + + + + +Produced by Nigel Lacey + + + + + +THE PATHFINDER + +or, THE INLAND SEA + +By James Fenimore Cooper + + + + +PREFACE. + +The plan of this tale suggested itself to the writer many years since, +though the details are altogether of recent invention. The idea of +associating seamen and savages in incidents that might be supposed +characteristic of the Great Lakes having been mentioned to a Publisher, +the latter obtained something like a pledge from the Author to carry +out the design at some future day, which pledge is now tardily and +imperfectly redeemed. + +The reader may recognize an old friend under new circumstances in the +principal character of this legend. If the exhibition made of this old +acquaintance, in the novel circumstances in which he now appears, should +be found not to lessen his favor with the Public, it will be a source +of extreme gratification to the writer, since he has an interest in the +individual in question that falls little short of reality. It is not +an easy task, however, to introduce the same character in four separate +works, and to maintain the peculiarities that are indispensable +to identity, without incurring a risk of fatiguing the reader with +sameness; and the present experiment has been so long delayed quite as +much from doubts of its success as from any other cause. In this, as +in every other undertaking, it must be the "end" that will "crown the +work." + +The Indian character has so little variety, that it has been my +object to avoid dwelling on it too much on the present occasion; its +association with the sailor, too, it is feared, will be found to have +more novelty than interest. + +It may strike the novice as an anachronism to place vessels on the +Ontario in the middle of the eighteenth century; but in this particular +facts will fully bear out all the license of the fiction. Although the +precise vessels mentioned in these pages may never have existed on that +water or anywhere else, others so nearly resembling them are known to +have navigated that inland sea, even at a period much earlier than +the one just mentioned, as to form a sufficient authority for their +introduction into a work of fiction. It is a fact not generally +remembered, however well known it may be, that there are isolated spots +along the line of the great lakes that date as settlements as far back +as many of the older American towns, and which were the seats of a +species of civilization long before the greater portion of even the +older States was rescued from the wilderness. + +Ontario in our own times has been the scene of important naval +evolutions. Fleets have manoeuvered on those waters, which, half a +century ago, were as deserted as waters well can be; and the day is not +distant when the whole of that vast range of lakes will become the +seat of empire, and fraught with all the interests of human society. A +passing glimpse, even though it be in a work of fiction, of what that +vast region so lately was, may help to make up the sum of knowledge by +which alone a just appreciation can be formed of the wonderful means by +which Providence is clearing the way for the advancement of civilization +across the whole American continent. + + + + +THE PATHFINDER. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + The turf shall be my fragrant shrine; + My temple, Lord! that arch of thine; + My censer's breath the mountain airs, + And silent thoughts my only prayers. + MOORE + + +The sublimity connected with vastness is familiar to every eye. The +most abstruse, the most far-reaching, perhaps the most chastened of the +poet's thoughts, crowd on the imagination as he gazes into the depths +of the illimitable void. The expanse of the ocean is seldom seen by the +novice with indifference; and the mind, even in the obscurity of night, +finds a parallel to that grandeur, which seems inseparable from images +that the senses cannot compass. With feelings akin to this admiration +and awe--the offspring of sublimity--were the different characters with +which the action of this tale must open, gazing on the scene before +them. Four persons in all,--two of each sex,--they had managed to ascend +a pile of trees, that had been uptorn by a tempest, to catch a view +of the objects that surrounded them. It is still the practice of the +country to call these spots wind-rows. By letting in the light of heaven +upon the dark and damp recesses of the wood, they form a sort of oases +in the solemn obscurity of the virgin forests of America. The particular +wind-row of which we are writing lay on the brow of a gentle acclivity; +and, though small, it had opened the way for an extensive view to those +who might occupy its upper margin, a rare occurrence to the traveller +in the woods. Philosophy has not yet determined the nature of the power +that so often lays desolate spots of this description; some ascribing it +to the whirlwinds which produce waterspouts on the ocean, while others +again impute it to sudden and violent passages of streams of the +electric fluid; but the effects in the woods are familiar to all. On the +upper margin of the opening, the viewless influence had piled tree on +tree, in such a manner as had not only enabled the two males of the +party to ascend to an elevation of some thirty feet above the level of +the earth, but, with a little care and encouragement, to induce their +more timid companions to accompany them. The vast trunks which had been +broken and driven by the force of the gust lay blended like jack-straws; +while their branches, still exhaling the fragrance of withering leaves, +were interlaced in a manner to afford sufficient support to the hands. +One tree had been completely uprooted, and its lower end, filled with +earth, had been cast uppermost, in a way to supply a sort of staging for +the four adventurers, when they had gained the desired distance from the +ground. + +The reader is to anticipate none of the appliances of people of +condition in the description of the personal appearances of the group +in question. They were all wayfarers in the wilderness; and had they not +been, neither their previous habits, nor their actual social positions, +would have accustomed them to many of the luxuries of rank. Two of the +party, indeed, a male and female, belonged to the native owners of the +soil, being Indians of the well-known tribe of the Tuscaroras; while +their companions were--a man, who bore about him the peculiarities of +one who had passed his days on the ocean, and was, too, in a station +little, if any, above that of a common mariner; and his female +associate, who was a maiden of a class in no great degree superior to +his own; though her youth, sweetness and countenance, and a modest, but +spirited mien, lent that character of intellect and refinement which +adds so much to the charm of beauty in the sex. On the present occasion, +her full blue eye reflected the feeling of sublimity that the scene +excited, and her pleasant face was beaming with the pensive expression +with which all deep emotions, even though they bring the most grateful +pleasure, shadow the countenances of the ingenuous and thoughtful. + +And truly the scene was of a nature deeply to impress the imagination +of the beholder. Towards the west, in which direction the faces of the +party were turned, the eye ranged over an ocean of leaves, glorious +and rich in the varied and lively verdure of a generous vegetation, and +shaded by the luxuriant tints which belong to the forty-second degree of +latitude. The elm with its graceful and weeping top, the rich varieties +of the maple, most of the noble oaks of the American forest, with +the broad-leaved linden known in the parlance of the country as the +basswood, mingled their uppermost branches, forming one broad and +seemingly interminable carpet of foliage which stretched away towards +the setting sun, until it bounded the horizon, by blending with the +clouds, as the waves and the sky meet at the base of the vault of +heaven. Here and there, by some accident of the tempests, or by a +caprice of nature, a trifling opening among these giant members of the +forest permitted an inferior tree to struggle upward toward the light, +and to lift its modest head nearly to a level with the surrounding +surface of verdure. Of this class were the birch, a tree of some +account in regions less favored, the quivering aspen, various generous +nut-woods, and divers others which resembled the ignoble and vulgar, +thrown by circumstances into the presence of the stately and great. Here +and there, too, the tall straight trunk of the pine pierced the vast +field, rising high above it, like some grand monument reared by art on a +plain of leaves. + +It was the vastness of the view, the nearly unbroken surface of verdure, +that contained the principle of grandeur. The beauty was to be traced +in the delicate tints, relieved by graduations of light and shade; while +the solemn repose induced the feeling allied to awe. + +"Uncle," said the wondering, but pleased girl, addressing her male +companion, whose arm she rather touched than leaned on, to steady her +own light but firm footing, "this is like a view of the ocean you so +much love!" + +"So much for ignorance, and a girl's fancy, Magnet,"--a term of +affection the sailor often used in allusion to his niece's personal +attractions; "no one but a child would think of likening this handful +of leaves to a look at the real Atlantic. You might seize all these +tree-tops to Neptune's jacket, and they would make no more than a +nosegay for his bosom." + +"More fanciful than true, I think, uncle. Look thither; it must be miles +on miles, and yet we see nothing but leaves! what could one behold, if +looking at the ocean?" + +"More!" returned the uncle, giving an impatient gesture with the elbow +the other touched, for his arms were crossed, and the hands were thrust +into the bosom of a vest of red cloth, a fashion of the times,--"more, +Magnet! say, rather, what less? Where are your combing seas, your blue +water, your rollers, your breakers, your whales, or your waterspouts, +and your endless motion, in this bit of a forest, child?" + +"And where are your tree-tops, your solemn silence, your fragrant +leaves, and your beautiful green, uncle, on the ocean?" + +"Tut, Magnet! if you understood the thing, you would know that green +water is a sailor's bane. He scarcely relishes a greenhorn less." + +"But green trees are a different thing. Hist! that sound is the air +breathing among the leaves!" + +"You should hear a nor-wester breathe, girl, if you fancy wind aloft. +Now, where are your gales, and hurricanes, and trades, and levanters, +and such like incidents, in this bit of a forest? And what fishes have +you swimming beneath yonder tame surface?" + +"That there have been tempests here, these signs around us plainly show; +and beasts, if not fishes, are beneath those leaves." + +"I do not know that," returned the uncle, with a sailor's dogmatism. +"They told us many stories at Albany of the wild animals we should fall +in with, and yet we have seen nothing to frighten a seal. I doubt if any +of your inland animals will compare with a low latitude shark." + +"See!" exclaimed the niece, who was more occupied with the sublimity and +beauty of the "boundless wood" than with her uncle's arguments; "yonder +is a smoke curling over the tops of the trees--can it come from a +house?" + +"Ay, ay; there is a look of humanity in that smoke," returned the old +seaman, "which is worth a thousand trees. I must show it to Arrowhead, +who may be running past a port without knowing it. It is probable there +is a caboose where there is a smoke." + +As he concluded, the uncle drew a hand from his bosom, touched the male +Indian, who was standing near him, lightly on the shoulder, and pointed +out a thin line of vapor which was stealing slowly out of the wilderness +of leaves, at a distance of about a mile, and was diffusing itself in +almost imperceptible threads of humidity in the quivering atmosphere. +The Tuscarora was one of those noble-looking warriors oftener met with +among the aborigines of this continent a century since than to-day; and, +while he had mingled sufficiently with the colonists to be familiar with +their habits and even with their language, he had lost little, if any, +of the wild grandeur and simple dignity of a chief. Between him and +the old seaman the intercourse had been friendly, but distant; for the +Indian had been too much accustomed to mingle with the officers of the +different military posts he had frequented not to understand that his +present companion was only a subordinate. So imposing, indeed, had been +the quiet superiority of the Tuscarora's reserve, that Charles Cap, for +so was the seaman named, in his most dogmatical or facetious moments, +had not ventured on familiarity in an intercourse which had now lasted +more than a week. The sight of the curling smoke, however, had struck +the latter like the sudden appearance of a sail at sea; and, for the +first time since they met, he ventured to touch the warrior, as has been +related. + +The quick eye of the Tuscarora instantly caught a sight of the smoke; +and for full a minute he stood, slightly raised on tiptoe, with +distended nostrils, like the buck that scents a taint in the air, and +a gaze as riveted as that of the trained pointer while he waits his +master's aim. Then, falling back on his feet, a low exclamation, in the +soft tones that form so singular a contrast to its harsher cries in +the Indian warrior's voice, was barely audible; otherwise, he was +undisturbed. His countenance was calm, and his quick, dark, eagle +eye moved over the leafy panorama, as if to take in at a glance every +circumstance that might enlighten his mind. That the long journey they +had attempted to make through a broad belt of wilderness was necessarily +attended with danger, both uncle and niece well knew; though neither +could at once determine whether the sign that others were in their +vicinity was the harbinger of good or evil. + +"There must be Oneidas or Tuscaroras near us, Arrowhead," said Cap, +addressing his Indian companion by his conventional English name; "will +it not be well to join company with them, and get a comfortable berth +for the night in their wigwam?" + +"No wigwam there," Arrowhead answered in his unmoved manner--"too much +tree." + +"But Indians must be there; perhaps some old mess-mates of your own, +Master Arrowhead." + +"No Tuscarora--no Oneida--no Mohawk--pale-face fire." + +"The devil it is? Well, Magnet, this surpasses a seaman's philosophy: +we old sea-dogs can tell a lubber's nest from a mate's hammock; but I +do not think the oldest admiral in his Majesty's fleet can tell a king's +smoke from a collier's." + +The idea that human beings were in their vicinity, in that ocean of +wilderness, had deepened the flush on the blooming cheek and brightened +the eye of the fair creature at his side; but she soon turned with a +look of surprise to her relative, and said hesitatingly, for both +had often admired the Tuscarora's knowledge, or, we might almost say, +instinct,-- + +"A pale-face's fire! Surely, uncle, he cannot know _that_?" + +"Ten days since, child, I would have sworn to it; but now I hardly know +what to believe. May I take the liberty of asking, Arrowhead, why you +fancy that smoke, now, a pale-face's smoke, and not a red-skin's?" + +"Wet wood," returned the warrior, with the calmness with which the +pedagogue might point out an arithmetical demonstration to his puzzled +pupil. "Much wet--much smoke; much water--black smoke." + +"But, begging your pardon, Master Arrowhead, the smoke is not black, nor +is there much of it. To my eye, now, it is as light and fanciful a smoke +as ever rose from a captain's tea-kettle, when nothing was left to make +the fire but a few chips from the dunnage." + +"Too much water," returned Arrowhead, with a slight nod of the head; +"Tuscarora too cunning to make fire with water! Pale-face too much book, +and burn anything; much book, little know." + +"Well, that's reasonable, I allow," said Cap, who was no devotee of +learning: "he means that as a hit at your reading, Magnet; for the chief +has sensible notions of things in his own way. How far, now, Arrowhead, +do you make us, by your calculation, from the bit of a pond that you +call the Great Lake, and towards which we have been so many days shaping +our course?" + +The Tuscarora looked at the seaman with quiet superiority as he +answered, "Ontario, like heaven; one sun, and the great traveller will +know it." + +"Well, I have been a great traveller, I cannot deny; but of all my +v'y'ges this has been the longest, the least profitable, and the +farthest inland. If this body of fresh water is so nigh, Arrowhead, and +so large, one might think a pair of good eyes would find it out; for +apparently everything within thirty miles is to be seen from this +lookout." + +"Look," said Arrowhead, stretching an arm before him with quiet grace; +"Ontario!" + +"Uncle, you are accustomed to cry 'Land ho!' but not 'Water ho!' and you +do not see it," cried the niece, laughing, as girls will laugh at their +own idle conceits. + +"How now, Magnet! dost suppose that I shouldn't know my native element +if it were in sight?" + +"But Ontario is not your native element, dear uncle; for you come from +the salt water, while this is fresh." + +"That might make some difference to your young mariner, but none to the +old one. I should know water, child, were I to see it in China." + +"Ontario," repeated Arrowhead, with emphasis, again stretching his hand +towards the north-west. + +Cap looked at the Tuscarora, for the first time since their +acquaintance, with something like an air of contempt, though he did not +fail to follow the direction of the chief's eye and arm, both of which +were directed towards a vacant point in the heavens, a short distance +above the plain of leaves. + +"Ay, ay; this is much as I expected, when I left the coast in search of +a fresh-water pond," resumed Cap, shrugging his shoulders like one whose +mind was made up, and who thought no more need be said. "Ontario may +be there, or, for that matter, it may be in my pocket. Well, I suppose +there will be room enough, when we reach it, to work our canoe. But +Arrowhead, if there be pale-faces in our neighborhood, I confess I +should like to get within hail of them." + +The Tuscarora now gave a quiet inclination of his head, and the whole +party descended from the roots of the up-torn tree in silence. When they +reached the ground, Arrowhead intimated his intention to go towards the +fire, and ascertain who had lighted it; while he advised his wife and +the two others to return to a canoe, which they had left in the adjacent +stream, and await his return. + +"Why, chief, this might do on soundings, and in an offing where one knew +the channel," returned old Cap; "but in an unknown region like this I +think it unsafe to trust the pilot alone too far from the ship: so, with +your leave, we will not part company." + +"What my brother want?" asked the Indian gravely, though without taking +offence at a distrust that was sufficiently plain. + +"Your company, Master Arrowhead, and no more. I will go with you and +speak these strangers." + +The Tuscarora assented without difficulty, and again he directed his +patient and submissive little wife, who seldom turned her full rich +black eye on him but to express equally her respect, her dread, and +her love, to proceed to the boat. But here Magnet raised a difficulty. +Although spirited, and of unusual energy under circumstances of trial, +she was but woman; and the idea of being entirely deserted by her two +male protectors, in the midst of a wilderness that her senses had just +told her was seemingly illimitable, became so keenly painful, that she +expressed a wish to accompany her uncle. + +"The exercise will be a relief, dear sir, after sitting so long in the +canoe," she added, as the rich blood slowly returned to a cheek that had +paled in spite of her efforts to be calm; "and there may be females with +the strangers." + +"Come, then, child; it is but a cable's length, and we shall return an +hour before the sun sets." + +With this permission, the girl, whose real name was Mabel Dunham, +prepared to be of the party; while the Dew-of-June, as the wife of +Arrowhead was called, passively went her way towards the canoe, too much +accustomed to obedience, solitude, and the gloom of the forest to feel +apprehension. + +The three who remained in the wind-row now picked their way around its +tangled maze, and gained the margin of the woods. A few glances of the +eye sufficed for Arrowhead; but old Cap deliberately set the smoke by +a pocket-compass, before he trusted himself within the shadows of the +trees. + +"This steering by the nose, Magnet, may do well enough for an Indian, +but your thoroughbred knows the virtue of the needle," said the uncle, +as he trudged at the heels of the light-stepping Tuscarora. "America +would never have been discovered, take my word for it, if Columbus had +been nothing but nostrils. Friend Arrowhead, didst ever see a machine +like this?" + +The Indian turned, cast a glance at the compass, which Cap held in a +way to direct his course, and gravely answered, "A pale-face eye. The +Tuscarora see in his head. The Salt-water (for so the Indian styled his +companion) all eye now; no tongue." + +"He means, uncle, that we had needs be silent, perhaps he distrusts the +persons we are about to meet." + +"Ay, 'tis an Indian's fashion of going to quarters. You perceive he has +examined the priming of his rifle, and it may be as well if I look to +that of my own pistols." + +Without betraying alarm at these preparations, to which she had become +accustomed by her long journey in the wilderness, Mabel followed with a +step as elastic as that of the Indian, keeping close in the rear of +her companions. For the first half mile no other caution beyond a rigid +silence was observed; but as the party drew nearer to the spot where the +fire was known to be, much greater care became necessary. + +The forest, as usual, had little to intercept the view below the +branches but the tall straight trunks of trees. Everything belonging to +vegetation had struggled towards the light, and beneath the leafy canopy +one walked, as it might be, through a vast natural vault, upheld by +myriads of rustic columns. These columns or trees, however, often served +to conceal the adventurer, the hunter, or the foe; and, as Arrowhead +swiftly approached the spot where his practised and unerring senses told +him the strangers ought to be, his footstep gradually became lighter, +his eye more vigilant, and his person was more carefully concealed. + +"See, Saltwater," said he exulting, pointing through the vista of trees; +"pale-face fire!" + +"By the Lord, the fellow is right!" muttered Cap; "there they are, sure +enough, and eating their grub as quietly as if they were in the cabin of +a three-decker." + +"Arrowhead is but half right!" whispered Mabel, "for there are two +Indians and only one white man." + +"Pale-faces," said the Tuscarora, holding up two fingers; "red man," +holding up one. + +"Well," rejoined Cap, "it is hard to say which is right and which is +wrong. One is entirely white, and a fine comely lad he is, with an air +of respectability about him; one is a red-skin as plain as paint and +nature can make him; but the third chap is half-rigged, being neither +brig nor schooner." + +"Pale-faces," repeated Arrowhead, again raising two fingers, "red man," +showing but one. + +"He must be right, uncle; for his eye seems never to fail. But it is now +urgent to know whether we meet as friends or foes. They may be French." + +"One hail will soon satisfy us on that head," returned Cap. "Stand you +behind the tree, Magnet, lest the knaves take it into their heads to +fire a broadside without a parley, and I will soon learn what colors +they sail under." + +The uncle had placed his two hands to his mouth to form a trumpet, and +was about to give the promised hail, when a rapid movement from the hand +of Arrowhead defeated the intention by deranging the instrument. + +"Red man, Mohican," said the Tuscarora; "good; pale-faces, Yengeese." + +"These are heavenly tidings," murmured Mabel, who little relished the +prospect of a deadly fray in that remote wilderness. "Let us approach at +once, dear uncle, and proclaim ourselves friends." + +"Good," said the Tuscarora "red man cool, and know; pale-face hurried, +and fire. Let the squaw go." + +"What!" said Cap in astonishment; "send little Magnet ahead as a +lookout, while two lubbers, like you and me, lie-to to see what sort of +a landfall she will make! If I do, I--" + +"It is wisest, uncle," interrupted the generous girl, "and I have no +fear. No Christian, seeing a woman approach alone, would fire upon +her; and my presence will be a pledge of peace. Let me go forward, as +Arrowhead wishes, and all will be well. We are, as yet, unseen, and the +surprise of the strangers will not partake of alarm." + +"Good," returned Arrowhead, who did not conceal his approbation of +Mabel's spirit. + +"It has an unseaman-like look," answered Cap; "but, being in the woods, +no one will know it. If you think, Mabel--" + +"Uncle, I know. There is no cause to fear for me; and you are always +nigh to protect me." + +"Well, take one of the pistols, then--" + +"Nay, I had better rely on my youth and feebleness," said the girl, +smiling, while her color heightened under her feelings. "Among Christian +men, a woman's best guard is her claim to their protection. I know +nothing of arms, and wish to live in ignorance of them." + +The uncle desisted; and, after receiving a few cautious instructions +from the Tuscarora, Mabel rallied all her spirit, and advanced alone +towards the group seated near the fire. Although the heart of the +girl beat quick, her step was firm, and her movements, seemingly, were +without reluctance. A death-like silence reigned in the forest, for they +towards whom she approached were too much occupied in appeasing their +hunger to avert their looks for an instant from the important business +in which they were all engaged. When Mabel, however, had got within a +hundred feet of the fire, she trod upon a dried stick, and the trifling +noise produced by her light footstep caused the Mohican, as Arrowhead +had pronounced the Indian to be, and his companion, whose character had +been thought so equivocal, to rise to their feet, as quick as thought. +Both glanced at the rifles that leaned against a tree; and then each +stood without stretching out an arm, as his eyes fell on the form of the +girl. The Indian uttered a few words to his companion, and resumed his +seat and his meal as calmly as if no interruption had occurred. On the +contrary, the white man left the fire, and came forward to meet Mabel. + +The latter saw, as the stranger approached that she was about to be +addressed by one of her own color, though his dress was so strange a +mixture of the habits of the two races, that it required a near look +to be certain of the fact. He was of middle age; but there was an open +honesty, a total absence of guile, in his face, which otherwise would +not have been thought handsome, that at once assured Magnet she was in +no danger. Still she paused. + +"Fear nothing, young woman," said the hunter, for such his attire would +indicate him to be; "you have met Christian men in the wilderness, +and such as know how to treat all kindly who are disposed to peace and +justice. I am a man well known in all these parts, and perhaps one of my +names may have reached your ears. By the Frenchers and the red-skins on +the other side of the Big Lakes, I am called La Longue Carabine; by the +Mohicans, a just-minded and upright tribe, what is left of them, Hawk +Eye; while the troops and rangers along this side of the water call me +Pathfinder, inasmuch as I have never been known to miss one end of the +trail, when there was a Mingo, or a friend who stood in need of me, at +the other." + +This was not uttered boastfully, but with the honest confidence of one +who well knew that by whatever name others might have heard of him, +who had no reason to blush at the reports. The effect on Mabel was +instantaneous. The moment she heard the last _sobriquet_ she clasped her +hands eagerly and repeated the word "Pathfinder!" + +"So they call me, young woman, and many a great lord has got a title +that he did not half so well merit; though, if truth be said, I rather +pride myself in finding my way where there is no path, than in finding +it where there is. But the regular troops are by no means particular, +and half the time they don't know the difference between a trail and a +path, though one is a matter for the eye, while the other is little more +than scent." + +"Then you are the friend my father promised to send to meet us?" + +"If you are Sergeant Dunham's daughter, the great Prophet of the +Delawares never uttered more truth." + +"I am Mabel; and yonder, hid by the trees, are my uncle, whose name is +Cap, and a Tuscarora called Arrowhead. We did not hope to meet you until +we had nearly reached the shores of the lake." + +"I wish a juster-minded Indian had been your guide," said Pathfinder; +"for I am no lover of the Tuscaroras, who have travelled too far from +the graves of their fathers always to remember the Great Spirit; and +Arrowhead is an ambitious chief. Is the Dew-of-June with him?" + +"His wife accompanies us, and a humble and mild creature she is." + +"Ay, and true-hearted; which is more than any who know him will say of +Arrowhead. Well, we must take the fare that Providence bestows, while we +follow the trail of life. I suppose worse guides might have been found +than the Tuscarora; though he has too much Mingo blood for one who +consorts altogether with the Delawares." + +"It is, then, perhaps, fortunate we have met," said Mabel. + +"It is not misfortunate, at any rate; for I promised the Sergeant I +would see his child safe to the garrison, though I died for it. We +expected to meet you before you reached the Falls, where we have left +our own canoe; while we thought it might do no harm to come up a few +miles, in order to be of service if wanted. It is lucky we did, for I +doubt if Arrowhead be the man to shoot the current." + +"Here come my uncle and the Tuscarora, and our parties can now join." +As Mabel concluded, Cap and Arrowhead, who saw that the conference was +amicable, drew nigh; and a few words sufficed to let them know as much +as the girl herself had learned from the strangers. As soon as this was +done, the party proceeded towards the two who still remained near the +fire. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Yea! long as Nature's humblest child + Hath kept her temple undefiled + By simple sacrifice, + Earth's fairest scenes are all his own, + He is a monarch and his throne + Is built amid the skies! + WILSON. + + +The Mohican continued to eat, though the second white man rose, and +courteously took off his cap to Mabel Dunham. He was young, healthful, +and manly in appearance; and he wore a dress which, while it was less +rigidly professional than that of the uncle, also denoted one accustomed +to the water. In that age, real seamen were a class entirely apart from +the rest of mankind, their ideas, ordinary language, and attire being as +strongly indicative of their calling as the opinions, speech, and dress +of a Turk denote a Mussulman. Although the Pathfinder was scarcely in +the prime of life, Mabel had met him with a steadiness that may have +been the consequence of having braced her nerves for the interview; but +when her eyes encountered those of the young man at the fire, they fell +before the gaze of admiration with which she saw, or fancied she saw, +he greeted her. Each, in truth, felt that interest in the other which +similarity of age, condition, mutual comeliness, and their novel +situation would be likely to inspire in the young and ingenuous. + +"Here," said Pathfinder, with an honest smile bestowed on Mabel, "are +the friends your worthy father has sent to meet you. This is a great +Delaware; and one who has had honors as well as troubles in his day. He +has an Indian name fit for a chief, but, as the language is not always +easy for the inexperienced to pronounce we naturally turn it into +English, and call him the Big Sarpent. You are not to suppose, however, +that by this name we wish to say that he is treacherous, beyond what +is lawful in a red-skin; but that he is wise, and has the cunning which +becomes a warrior. Arrowhead, there, knows what I mean." + +While the Pathfinder was delivering this address, the two Indians gazed +on each other steadily, and the Tuscarora advanced and spoke to the +other in an apparently friendly manner. + +"I like to see this," continued Pathfinder; "the salutes of two +red-skins in the woods, Master Cap, are like the hailing of friendly +vessels on the ocean. But speaking of water, it reminds me of my young +friend, Jasper Western here, who can claim to know something of these +matters, seeing that he has passed his days on Ontario." + +"I am glad to see you, friend," said Cap, giving the young fresh-water +sailor a cordial grip; "though you must have something still to learn, +considering the school to which you have been sent. This is my niece +Mabel; I call her Magnet, for a reason she never dreams of, though +you may possibly have education enough to guess at it, having some +pretentions to understand the compass, I suppose." + +"The reason is easily comprehended," said the young man, involuntarily +fastening his keen dark eye, at the same time, on the suffused face of +the girl; "and I feel sure that the sailor who steers by your Magnet +will never make a bad landfall." + +"Ha! you do make use of some of the terms, I find, and that with +propriety; though, on the whole, I fear you have seen more green than +blue water." + +"It is not surprising that we should get some of the phrases which +belong to the land; for we are seldom out of sight of it twenty-four +hours at a time." + +"More's the pity, boy, more's the pity! A very little land ought to go +a great way with a seafaring man. Now, if the truth were known, Master +Western, I suppose there is more or less land all round your lake." + +"And, uncle, is there not more or less land around the ocean?" said +Magnet quickly; for she dreaded a premature display of the old seaman's +peculiar dogmatism, not to say pedantry. + +"No, child, there is more or less ocean all round the land; that's what +I tell the people ashore, youngster. They are living, as it might be, in +the midst of the sea, without knowing it; by sufferance, as it were, the +water being so much the more powerful and the largest. But there is +no end to conceit in this world: for a fellow who never saw salt water +often fancies he knows more than one who has gone round the Horn. No, +no, this earth is pretty much an island; and all that can be truly said +not to be so is water." + +Young Western had a profound deference for a mariner of the ocean, on +which he had often pined to sail; but he had also a natural regard +for the broad sheet on which he had passed his life, and which was not +without its beauties in his eyes. + +"What you say, sir," he answered modestly, "may be true as to the +Atlantic; but we have a respect for the land up here on Ontario." + +"That is because you are always land-locked," returned Cap, laughing +heartily; "but yonder is the Pathfinder, as they call him, with some +smoking platters, inviting us to share in his mess; and I will confess +that one gets no venison at sea. Master Western, civility to girls, at +your time of life, comes as easy as taking in the slack of the ensign +halyards; and if you will just keep an eye to her kid and can, while I +join the mess of the Pathfinder and our 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. + +"There must be satisfaction in this life of yours, no doubt, Mr. +Pathfinder," continued Cap, when the hunger of the travellers was so far +appeased that they began to pick and choose among the savory morsels; +"it has some of the chances and luck that we seamen like; and if ours is +all water, yours is all land." + +"Nay, we have water too, in our journeyings and marches," returned his +white companion; "we bordermen handle the paddle and the spear almost as +much as the rifle and the hunting-knife." + +"Ay; but do you handle the brace and the bow-line, the wheel and the +lead-line, the reef-point and the top-rope? The paddle is a good thing, +out of doubt, in a canoe; but of what use is it in the ship?" + +"Nay, I respect all men in their callings, and I can believe the things +you mention have their uses. One who has lived, like myself, in company +with many tribes, understands differences in usages. The paint of a +Mingo is not the paint of a Delaware; and he who should expect to see a +warrior in the dress of a squaw might be disappointed. I am not yet +very old, but I have lived in the woods, and have some acquaintance with +human natur'. I never believe much in the learning of them that dwell +in towns, for I never yet met with one that had an eye for a rifle or a +trail." + +"That's my manner of reasoning, Master Pathfinder, to a yarn. Walking +about streets, going to church of Sundays, and hearing sermons, never +yet made a man of a human being. Send the boy out upon the broad ocean, +if you wish to open his eyes, and let him look upon foreign nations, or +what I call the face of nature, if you wish him to understand his own +character. Now, there is my brother-in-law, the Sergeant: he is as good +a fellow as ever broke a biscuit, in his way; but what is he, after all? +Why, nothing but a soldier. A sergeant, to be sure, but that is a sort +of a soldier, you know. When he wished to marry poor Bridget, my sister, +I told the girl what he was, as in duty bound, and what she might expect +from such a husband; but you know how it is with girls when their minds +are jammed by an inclination. It is true, the Sergeant has risen in his +calling, and they say he is an important man at the fort; but his +poor wife has not lived to see it all, for she has now been dead these +fourteen years." + +"A soldier's calling is honorable, provided he has fi't only on the side +of right," returned the Pathfinder; "and as the Frenchers are always +wrong, and his sacred Majesty and these colonies are always right, I +take it the Sergeant has a quiet conscience as well as a good character. +I have never slept more sweetly than when I have fi't the Mingos, though +it is the law with me to fight always like a white man and never like +an Indian. The Sarpent, here, has his fashions, and I have mine; and yet +have we fi't side by side these many years; without either thinking a +hard thought consarning the other's ways. I tell him there is but one +heaven and one hell, notwithstanding his traditions, though there are +many paths to both." + +"That is rational; and he is bound to believe you, though, I fancy, most +of the roads to the last are on dry land. The sea is what my poor sister +Bridget used to call a 'purifying place,' and one is out of the way of +temptation when out of sight of land. I doubt if as much can be said in +favor of your lakes up hereaway." + +"That towns and settlements lead to sin, I will allow; but our lakes are +bordered by the forests, and one is every day called upon to worship +God in such a temple. That men are not always the same, even in the +wilderness, I must admit for the difference between a Mingo and a +Delaware is as plain to be seen as the difference between the sun and +the moon. I am glad, friend Cap, that we have met, however, if it be +only that you may tell the Big Sarpent here that there are lakes in +which the water is salt. We have been pretty much of one mind since our +acquaintance began, and if the Mohican has only half the faith in me +that I have in him, he believes all that I have told him touching the +white men's ways and natur's laws; but it has always seemed to me that +none of the red-skins have given as free a belief as an honest man likes +to the accounts of the Big Salt Lakes, and to that of their being rivers +that flow up stream." + +"This comes of getting things wrong end foremost," answered Cap, with +a condescending nod. "You have thought of your lakes and rifts as the +ship; and of the ocean and the tides as the boat. Neither Arrowhead +nor the Serpent need doubt what you have said concerning both, though +I confess myself to some difficulty in swallowing the tale about there +being inland seas at all, and still more that there is any sea of fresh +water. I have come this long journey as much to satisfy my own eyes +concerning these facts, as to oblige the Sergeant and Magnet, though the +first was my sister's husband, and I love the last like a child." + +"You are wrong, friend Cap, very wrong, to distrust the power of God +in any thing," returned Pathfinder earnestly. "They that live in the +settlements and the towns have confined and unjust opinions consarning +the might of His hand; but we, who pass our time in His very presence, +as it might be, see things differently--I mean, such of us as have white +natur's. A red-skin has his notions, and it is right that it should be +so; and if they are not exactly the same as a Christian white man's, +there is no harm in it. Still, there are matters which belong altogether +to the ordering of God's providence; and these salt and fresh-water +lakes are some of them. I do not pretend to account for these things, +but I think it the duty of all to believe in them." + +"Hold on there, Master Pathfinder," interrupted Cap, not without some +heat; "in the way of a proper and manly faith, I will turn my back on no +one, when afloat. Although more accustomed to make all snug aloft, and +to show the proper canvas, than to pray when the hurricane comes, I know +that we are but helpless mortals at times, and I hope I pay reverence +where reverence is due. All I mean to say is this: that, being +accustomed to see water in large bodies salt, I should like to taste it +before I can believe it to be fresh." + +"God has given the salt lick to the deer; and He has given to man, +red-skin and white, the delicious spring at which to slake his thirst. +It is unreasonable to think that He may not have given lakes of pure +water to the west, and lakes of impure water to the east." + +Cap was awed, in spite of his overweening dogmatism, by the earnest +simplicity of the Pathfinder, though he did not relish the idea of +believing a fact which, for many years, he had pertinaciously insisted +could not be true. Unwilling to give up the point and, at the same time, +unable to maintain it against a reasoning to which he was unaccustomed, +and which possessed equally the force of truth, faith, and probability, +he was glad to get rid of the subject by evasion. + +"Well, well, friend Pathfinder," said he, "we will leave the argument +where it is; and we can try the water when we once reach it. Only mark +my words--I do not say that it may not be fresh on the surface; the +Atlantic is sometimes fresh on the surface, near the mouths of great +rivers; but, rely on it, I shall show you a way of tasting the water +many fathoms deep, of which you never dreamed; and then we shall know +more about it." + +The guide seemed content to let the matter rest, and the conversation +changed. + +"We are not over-conceited consarning our gifts," observed the +Pathfinder, after a short pause, "and well know that such as live in the +towns, and near the sea--" + +"On the sea," interrupted Cap. + +"On the sea, if you wish it, friend--have opportunities which do not +befall us of the wilderness. Still, we know our own callings, and they +are what I consider natural callings, and are not parvarted by vanity +and wantonness. Now, my gifts are with the rifle, and on a trail, and +in the way of game and scouting; for, though I can use the spear and the +paddle, I pride not myself on either. The youth Jasper, there, who is +discoursing with the Sergeant's daughter, is a different cratur'; for +he may be said to breathe the water, as it might be, like a fish. The +Indians and Frenchers of the north shore call him Eau-douce, on account +of his gifts in this particular. He is better at the oar, and the rope +too, than in making fires on a trail." + +"There must be something about these gifts of which you speak, after +all," said Cap. "Now this fire, I will acknowledge, has overlaid all +my seamanship. Arrowhead, there, said the smoke came from a pale-face's +fire, and that is a piece of philosophy which I hold to be equal to +steering in a dark night by the edges of the sand." + +"It's no great secret," returned Pathfinder, laughing with great inward +glee, though habitual caution prevented the emission of any noise. +"Nothing is easier to us who pass our time in the great school of +Providence than to larn its lessons. We should be as useless on a trail, +or in carrying tidings through the wilderness, as so many woodchucks, +did we not soon come to a knowledge of these niceties. Eau-douce, as we +call him, is so fond of the water, that he gathered a damp stick or +two for our fire; and wet will bring dark smoke, as I suppose even you +followers of the sea must know. It's no great secret, though all is +mystery to such as doesn't study the Lord and His mighty ways with +humility and thankfulness." + +"That must be a keen eye of Arrowhead's to see so slight a difference." + +"He would be but a poor Indian if he didn't. No, no; it is war-time, and +no red-skin is outlying without using his senses. Every skin has its own +natur', and every natur' has its own laws, as well as its own skin. +It was many years before I could master all these higher branches of +a forest education; for red-skin knowledge doesn't come as easy to +white-skin natur', as what I suppose is intended to be white-skin +knowledge; though I have but little of the latter, having passed most of +my time in the wilderness." + +"You have been a ready scholar, Master Pathfinder, as is seen by your +understanding these things so well. I suppose it would be no great +matter for a man regularly brought up to the sea to catch these trifles, +if he could only bring his mind fairly to bear upon them." + +"I don't know that. The white man has his difficulties in getting +red-skin habits, quite as much as the Indian in getting white-skin ways. +As for the real natur', it is my opinion that neither can actually get +that of the other." + +"And yet we sailors, who run about the world so much, say there is but +one nature, whether it be in the Chinaman or a Dutchman. For my own +part, I am much of that way of thinking too; for I have generally found +that all nations like gold and silver, and most men relish tobacco." + +"Then you seafaring men know little of the red-skins. Have you ever +known any of your Chinamen who could sing their death-songs, with their +flesh torn with splinters and cut with knives, the fire raging around +their naked bodies, and death staring them in the face? Until you can +find me a Chinaman, or a Christian man, that can do all this, you cannot +find a man with a red-skin natur', let him look ever so valiant, or know +how to read all the books that were ever printed." + +"It is the savages only that play each other such hellish tricks," +said Master Cap, glancing his eyes about him uneasily at the apparently +endless arches of the forest. "No white man is ever condemned to undergo +these trials." + +"Nay, therein you are again mistaken," returned the Pathfinder, coolly +selecting a delicate morsel of the venison as his _bonne bouche_; "for +though these torments belong only to the red-skin natur', in the way of +bearing them like braves, white-skin natur' may be, and often has been, +agonized by them." + +"Happily," said Cap, with an effort to clear his throat, "none of his +Majesty's allies will be likely to attempt such damnable cruelties on +any of his Majesty's loyal subjects. I have not served much in the royal +navy, it is true; but I have served, and that is something; and, in the +way of privateering and worrying the enemy in his ships and cargoes, +I've done my full share. But I trust there are no French savages on this +side the lake, and I think you said that Ontario is a broad sheet of +water?" + +"Nay, it is broad in our eyes," returned Pathfinder, not caring to +conceal the smile which lighted a face which had been burnt by exposure +to a bright red; "though I mistrust that some may think it narrow; and +narrow it is, if you wish it to keep off the foe. Ontario has two ends, +and the enemy that is afraid to cross it will be certain to come round +it." + +"Ah! that comes of your d----d fresh-water ponds!" growled Cap, hemming +so loudly as to cause him instantly to repent the indiscretion. "No +man, now, ever heard of a pirate or a ship getting round one end of the +Atlantic!" + +"Mayhap the ocean has no ends?" + +"That it hasn't; nor sides, nor bottom. The nation which is snugly +moored on one of its coasts need fear nothing from the one anchored +abeam, let it be ever so savage, unless it possesses the art of ship +building. No, no! the people who live on the shores of the Atlantic need +fear but little for their skins or their scalps. A man may lie down at +night in those regions, in the hope of finding the hair on his head in +the morning, unless he wears a wig." + +"It isn't so here. I don't wish to flurry the young woman, and therefore +I will be in no way particular, though she seems pretty much listening +to Eau-douce, as we call him; but without the edication I have received, +I should think it at this very moment, a risky journey to go over the +very ground that lies between us and the garrison, in the present state +of this frontier. There are about as many Iroquois on this side of +Ontario as there are on the other. It is for this very reason, friend +Cap, that the Sergeant has engaged us to come out and show you the +path." + +"What! do the knaves dare to cruise so near the guns of one of his +Majesty's works?" + +"Do not the ravens resort near the carcass of the deer, though the +fowler is at hand? They come this-a-way, as it might be, naturally. +There are more or less whites passing between the forts and the +settlements, and they are sure to be on their trails. The Sarpent has +come up one side of the river, and I have come up the other, in order to +scout for the outlying rascals, while Jasper brought up the canoe, like +a bold-hearted sailor as he is. The Sergeant told him, with tears in his +eyes, all about his child, and how his heart yearned for her, and how +gentle and obedient she was, until I think the lad would have dashed +into a Mingo camp single-handed, rather than not a-come." + +"We thank him, and shall think the better of him for his readiness; +though I suppose the boy has run no great risk, after all." + +"Only the risk of being shot from a cover, as he forced the canoe up a +swift rift, or turned an elbow in the stream, with his eyes fastened on +the eddies. Of all the risky journeys, that on an ambushed river is the +most risky, in my judgment, and that risk has Jasper run." + +"And why the devil has the Sergeant sent for me to travel a hundred and +fifty miles in this outlandish manner? Give me an offing, and the enemy +in sight, and I'll play with him in his own fashion, as long as he +pleases, long bows or close quarters; but to be shot like a turtle +asleep is not to my humor. If it were not for little Magnet there, I +would tack ship this instant, make the best of my way back to York, and +let Ontario take care of itself, salt water or fresh water." + +"That wouldn't mend the matter much, friend mariner, as the road to +return is much longer, and almost as bad as the road to go on. Trust to +us, and we will carry you through safely, or lose our scalps." + +Cap wore a tight solid queue, done up in eelskin, while the top of his +head was nearly bald; and he mechanically passed his hand over both +as if to make certain that each was in its right place. He was at the +bottom, however, a brave man, and had often faced death with coolness, +though never in the frightful forms in which it presented itself under +the brief but graphic picture of his companion. It was too late to +retreat; and he determined to put the best face on the matter, though he +could not avoid muttering inwardly a few curses on the indiscretion with +which his brother-in-law, the Sergeant, had led him into his present +dilemma. + +"I make no doubt, Master Pathfinder," he answered, when these thoughts +had found time to glance through his mind, "that we shall reach port in +safety. What distance may we now be from the fort?" + +"Little more than fifteen miles; and swift miles too, as the river runs, +if the Mingos let us go clear." + +"And I suppose the woods will stretch along starboard and larboard, as +heretofore?" + +"Anan?" + +"I mean that we shall have to pick our way through these damned trees." + +"Nay, nay, you will go in the canoe, and the Oswego has been cleared of +its flood-wood by the troops. It will be floating down stream, and that, +too, with a swift current." + +"And what the devil is to prevent these minks of which you speak from +shooting us as we double a headland, or are busy in steering clear of +the rocks?" + +"The Lord!--He who has so often helped others in greater difficulties. +Many and many is the time that my head would have been stripped of +hair, skin, and all, hadn't the Lord fi't of my side. I never go into a +skrimmage, friend mariner, without thinking of this great ally, who can +do more in battle than all the battalions of the 60th, were they brought +into a single line." + +"Ay, ay, this may do well enough for a scouter; but we seamen like our +offing, and to go into action with nothing in our minds but the business +before us--plain broadside and broadside work, and no trees or rocks to +thicken the water." + +"And no Lord too, I dare to say, if the truth were known. Take my word +for it, Master Cap, that no battle is the worse fi't for having the Lord +on your side. Look at the head of the Big Sarpent, there; you can see +the mark of a knife all along by his left ear: now nothing but a bullet +from this long rifle of mine saved his scalp that day; for it had +fairly started, and half a minute more would have left him without +the war-lock. When the Mohican squeezes my hand, and intermates that I +befriended him in that matter, I tell him no; it was the Lord who led me +to the only spot where execution could be done, or his necessity be made +known, on account of the smoke. Sartain, when I got the right position, +I finished the affair of my own accord. For a friend under the tomahawk +is apt to make a man think quick and act at once, as was my case, or +the Sarpent's spirit would be hunting in the happy land of his people at +this very moment." + +"Come, come, Pathfinder, this palaver is worse than being skinned from +stem to stem; we have but a few hours of sun, and had better be drifting +down this said current of yours while we may. Magnet dear, are you not +ready to get under way?" + +Magnet started, blushed brightly, and made her preparations for +immediate departure. Not a syllable of the discourse just related +had she heard; for Eau-douce, as young Jasper was oftener called than +anything else, had been filling her ears with a description of the yet +distant part towards which she was journeying, with accounts of her +father, whom she had not seen since a child, and with the manner of +life of those who lived in the frontier garrisons. Unconsciously she +had become deeply interested, and her thoughts had been too intently +directed to these matters to allow any of the less agreeable subjects +discussed by those so near to reach her ears. The bustle of departure +put an end to the conversation, and, the baggage of the scouts or guides +being trifling, in a few minutes the whole party was ready to proceed. +As they were about to quit the spot, however, to the surprise of even +his fellow-guides, Pathfinder collected a quantity of branches and threw +them upon the embers of the fire, taking care even to see that some +of the wood was damp, in order to raise as dark and dense a smoke as +possible. + +"When you can hide your trail, Jasper," said he, "a smoke at leaving +an encampment may do good instead of harm. If there are a dozen Mingos +within ten miles of us, some of 'em are on the heights, or in the trees, +looking out for smokes; let them see this, and much good may it do them. +They are welcome to our leavings." + +"But may they not strike and follow on our trail?" asked the youth, +whose interest in the hazard of his situation had much increased since +the meeting with Magnet. "We shall leave a broad path to the river." + +"The broader the better; when there, it will surpass Mingo cunning, +even, to say which way the canoe has gone--up stream or down. Water is +the only thing in natur' that will thoroughly wash out a trail, and even +water will not always do it when the scent is strong. Do you not see, +Eau-douce, that if any Mingos have seen our path below the falls, +they will strike off towards this smoke, and that they will naturally +conclude that they who began by going up stream will end by going up +stream. If they know anything, they now know a party is out from the +fort, and it will exceed even Mingo wit to fancy that we have come up +here just for the pleasure of going back again, and that, too, the same +day, and at the risk of our scalps." + +"Certainly," added Jasper, who was talking apart with the Pathfinder, +as they moved towards the wind-row, "they cannot know anything about the +Sergeant's daughter, for the greatest secrecy has been observed on her +account." + +"And they will learn nothing here," returned Pathfinder, causing his +companion to see that he trod with the utmost care on the impression +left on the leaves by the little foot of Mabel; "unless this old +salt-water fish has been taking his niece about in the wind-row, like a +fa'n playing by the side of the old doe." + +"Buck, you mean, Pathfinder." + +"Isn't he a queerity? Now I can consort with such a sailor as yourself, +Eau-douce, and find nothing very contrary in our gifts, though yours +belong to the lakes and mine to the woods. Hark'e, Jasper," continued +the scout, laughing in his noiseless manner; "suppose we try the temper +of his blade and run him over the falls?" + +"And what would be done with the pretty niece in the meanwhile?" + +"Nay, nay, no harm shall come to her; she must walk round the portage, +at any rate; but you and I can try this Atlantic oceaner, and then all +parties will become better acquainted. We shall find out whether his +flint will strike fire; and he may come to know something of frontier +tricks." + +Young Jasper smiled, for he was not averse to fun, and had been a little +touched by Cap's superciliousness; but Mabel's fair face, light, agile +form, and winning smiles, stood like a shield between her uncle and the +intended experiment. + +"Perhaps the Sergeant's daughter will be frightened," said he. + +"Not she, if she has any of the Sergeant's spirit in her. She doesn't +look like a skeary thing, at all. Leave it to me, then, Eau-douce, and I +will manage the affair alone." + +"Not you, Pathfinder; you would only drown both. If the canoe goes over, +I must go in it." + +"Well, have it so, then: shall we smoke the pipe of agreement on the +bargain?" + +Jasper laughed, nodded his head by way of consent, and then the subject +was dropped, as the party had reached the canoe so often mentioned, and +fewer words had determined much greater things between the parties. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Before these fields were shorn and till'd, + Full to the brim our rivers flow'd; + The melody of waters fill'd + The fresh and boundless wood; + And torrents dash'd, and rivulets play'd, + And fountains spouted in the shade. + BRYANT. + + +It is generally known that the waters which flow into the southern side +of Ontario are, in general, narrow, sluggish, and deep. There are some +exceptions to this rule, for many of the rivers have rapids, or, as they +are termed in the language of the region, "rifts," and some have falls. +Among the latter was the particular stream on which our adventurers were +now journeying. The Oswego is formed by the junction of the Oneida and +the Onondaga, both of which flow from lakes; and it pursues its way, +through a gently undulating country, some eight or ten miles, until it +reaches the margin of a sort of natural terrace, down which it tumbles +some ten or fifteen feet, to another level, across which it glides with +the silent, stealthy progress of deep water, until it throws its tribute +into the broad receptacle of the Ontario. The canoe in which Cap and his +party had travelled from Fort Stanwix, the last military station of the +Mohawk, lay by the side of this river, and into it the whole party now +entered, with the exception of Pathfinder, who remained on the land, in +order to shove the light vessel off. + +"Let her starn drift down stream, Jasper," said the man of the woods +to the young mariner of the lake, who had dispossessed Arrowhead of his +paddle and taken his own station as steersman; "let it go down with the +current. Should any of these infarnals, the Mingos, strike our trail, or +follow it to this point they will not fail to look for the signs in the +mud; and if they discover that we have left the shore with the nose of +the canoe up stream, it is a natural belief to think we went up stream." + +This direction was followed; and, giving a vigorous shove, the +Pathfinder, who was in the flower of his strength and activity, made a +leap, landing lightly, and without disturbing its equilibrium, in the +bow of the canoe. As soon as it had reached the centre of the river or +the strength of the current, the boat was turned, and it began to glide +noiselessly down the stream. + +The vessel in which Cap and his niece had embarked for their long and +adventurous journey was one of the canoes of bark which the Indians are +in the habit of constructing, and which, by their exceeding lightness +and the ease with which they are propelled, are admirably adapted to a +navigation in which shoals, flood-wood, and other similar obstructions +so often occur. The two men who composed its original crew had several +times carried it, when emptied of its luggage, many hundred yards; and +it would not have exceeded the strength of a single man to lift its +weight. Still it was long, and, for a canoe, wide; a want of steadiness +being its principal defect in the eyes of the uninitiated. A few hours +practice, however, in a great measure remedied this evil, and both Mabel +and her uncle had learned so far to humor its movements, that they now +maintained their places with perfect composure; nor did the additional +weight of the three guides tax its power in any particular degree, the +breath of the rounded bottom allowing the necessary quantity of water +to be displaced without bringing the gunwale very sensibly nearer to the +surface of the stream. Its workmanship was neat; the timbers were small, +and secured by thongs; and the whole fabric, though it was so slight to +the eye, was probably capable of conveying double the number of persons +which it now contained. + +Cap was seated on a low thwart, in the centre of the canoe; the Big +Serpent knelt near him. Arrowhead and his wife occupied places forward +of both, the former having relinquished his post aft. Mabel was half +reclining behind her uncle, while the Pathfinder and Eau-douce stood +erect, the one in the bow, and the other in the stern, each using a +paddle, with a long, steady, noiseless sweep. The conversation was +carried on in low tones, all the party beginning to feel the necessity +of prudence, as they drew nearer to the outskirts of the fort, and had +no longer the cover of the woods. + +The Oswego, just at that place, was a deep dark stream of no great +width, its still, gloomy-looking current winding its way among +overhanging trees, which, in particular spots, almost shut out the light +of the heavens. Here and there some half-fallen giant of the forest lay +nearly across its surface, rendering care necessary to avoid the limbs; +and most of the distance, the lower branches and leaves of the trees +of smaller growth were laved by its waters. The picture so beautifully +described by our own admirable poet, and which we have placed at the +head of this chapter, was here realized; the earth fattened by the +decayed vegetation of centuries, and black with loam, the stream that +filled the banks nearly to overflowing, and the "fresh and boundless +wood," being all as visible to the eye as the pen of Bryant has +elsewhere vividly presented them to the imagination. In short, the +entire scene was one of a rich and benevolent nature, before it had +been subjected to the uses and desires of man; luxuriant, wild, full +of promise, and not without the charm of the picturesque, even in its +rudest state. It will be remembered that this was in the year 175-, or +long before even speculation had brought any portion of western New York +within the bounds of civilization. At that distant day there were two +great channels of military communication between the inhabited portion +of the colony of New York and the frontiers which lay adjacent to the +Canadas,--that by Lakes Champlain and George, and that by means of the +Mohawk, Wood Creek, the Oneida, and the rivers we have been describing. +Along both these lines of communication military posts had been +established, though there existed a blank space of a hundred miles +between the last fort at the head of the Mohawk and the outlet of the +Oswego, which embraced most of the distance that Cap and Mabel had +journeyed under the protection of Arrowhead. + +"I sometimes wish for peace again," said the Pathfinder, "when one can +range the forest without searching for any other enemy than the beasts +and fishes. Ah's me! many is the day that the Sarpent, there, and I have +passed happily among the streams, living on venison, salmon, and trout +without thought of a Mingo or a scalp! I sometimes wish that them +blessed days might come back, for it is not my real gift to slay my own +kind. I'm sartain the Sergeant's daughter don't think me a wretch that +takes pleasure in preying on human natur'?" + +As this remark, a sort of half interrogatory, was made, Pathfinder +looked behind him; and, though the most partial friend could scarcely +term his sunburnt and hard features handsome, even Mabel thought his +smile attractive, by its simple ingenuousness and the uprightness that +beamed in every lineament of his honest countenance. + +"I do not think my father would have sent one like those you mention +to see his daughter through the wilderness," the young woman answered, +returning the smile as frankly as it was given, but much more sweetly. + +"That he wouldn't; the Sergeant is a man of feeling, and many is the +march and the fight that we have had--stood shoulder to shoulder in, +as _he_ would call it--though I always keep my limbs free when near a +Frencher or a Mingo." + +"You are, then, the young friend of whom my father has spoken so often +in his letters?" + +"His _young_ friend--the Sergeant has the advantage of me by thirty +years; yes, he is thirty years my senior, and as many my better." + +"Not in the eyes of the daughter, perhaps, friend Pathfinder;" put in +Cap, whose spirits began to revive when he found the water once more +flowing around him. "The thirty years that you mention are not often +thought to be an advantage in the eyes of girls of nineteen." + +Mabel colored; and, in turning aside her face to avoid the looks of +those in the bow of the canoe, she encountered the admiring gaze of the +young man in the stern. As a last resource, her spirited but soft blue +eyes sought refuge in the water. Just at this moment a dull, heavy sound +swept up the avenue formed by the trees, borne along by a light air that +hardly produced a ripple on the water. + +"That sounds pleasantly," said Cap, pricking up his ears like a dog that +hears a distant baying; "it is the surf on the shores of your lake, I +suppose?" + +"Not so--not so," answered the Pathfinder; "it is merely this river +tumbling over some rocks half a mile below us." + +"Is there a fall in the stream?" demanded Mabel, a still brighter flush +glowing in her face. + +"The devil! Master Pathfinder, or you, Mr. Eau-douce" (for so Cap began +to style Jasper), "had you not better give the canoe a sheer, and get +nearer to the shore? These waterfalls have generally rapids above them, +and one might as well get into the Maelstrom at once as to run into +their suction." + +"Trust to us, friend Cap," answered Pathfinder; "we are but fresh-water +sailors, it is true, and I cannot boast of being much even of that; but +we understand rifts and rapids and cataracts; and in going down these we +shall do our endeavors not to disgrace our edication." + +"In going down!" exclaimed Cap. "The devil, man! you do not dream of +going down a waterfall in this egg shell of bark!" + +"Sartain; the path lies over the falls, and it is much easier to shoot +them than to unload the canoe and to carry that and all it contains +around a portage of a mile by hand." + +Mabel turned her pallid countenance towards the young man in the stern +of the canoe; for, just at that moment, a fresh roar of the fall was +borne to her ears by a new current of the air, and it really sounded +terrific, now that the cause was understood. + +"We thought that, by landing the females and the two Indians," Jasper +quietly observed, "we three white men, all of whom are used to the +water, might carry the canoe over in safety, for we often shoot these +falls." + +"And we counted on you, friend mariner, as a mainstay," said Pathfinder, +winking to Jasper over his shoulder; "for you are accustomed to see +waves tumbling about; and without some one to steady the cargo, all the +finery of the Sergeant's daughter might be washed into the river and be +lost." + +Cap was puzzled. The idea of going over a waterfall was, perhaps, more +serious in his eyes than it would have been in those of one totally +ignorant of all that pertained to boats; for he understood the power of +the element, and the total feebleness of man when exposed to its fury. +Still his pride revolted at the thought of deserting the boat, while +others not only steadily, but coolly, proposed to continue in it. +Notwithstanding the latter feeling, and his innate as well as acquired +steadiness in danger, he would probably have deserted his post; had not +the images of Indians tearing scalps from the human head taken so +strong hold of his fancy as to induce him to imagine the canoe a sort of +sanctuary. + +"What is to be done with Magnet?" he demanded, affection for his niece +raising another qualm in his conscience. "We cannot allow Magnet to land +if there are enemy's Indians near?" + +"Nay, no Mingo will be near the portage, for that is a spot too public +for their devilries," answered the Pathfinder confidently. "Natur' +is natur', and it is an Indian's natur' to be found where he is least +expected. No fear of him on a beaten path; for he wishes to come upon +you when unprepared to meet him, and the fiery villains make it a point +to deceive you, one way or another. Sheer in, Eau-douce, and we will +land the Sergeant's daughter on the end of that log, where she can reach +the shore with a dry foot." + +The injunction was obeyed, and in a few minutes the whole party had +left the canoe, with the exception of Pathfinder and the two sailors. +Notwithstanding his professional pride, Cap would have gladly followed; +but he did not like to exhibit so unequivocal a weakness in the presence +of a fresh-water sailor. + +"I call all hands to witness," said he, as those who had landed moved +away, "that I do not look on this affair as anything more than canoeing +in the woods. There is no seamanship in tumbling over a waterfall, +which is a feat the greatest lubber can perform as well as the oldest +mariner." + +"Nay, nay, you needn't despise the Oswego Falls, neither," put in +Pathfinder; "for, though they may not be Niagara, nor the Genessee, +nor the Cahoos, nor Glenn's, nor those on the Canada, they are narvous +enough for a new beginner. Let the Sergeant's daughter stand on yonder +rock, and she will see the manner in which we ignorant backwoodsmen get +over a difficulty that we can't get under. Now, Eau-douce, a steady hand +and a true eye, for all rests on you, seeing that we can count Master +Cap for no more than a passenger." + +The canoe was leaving the shore as he concluded, while Mabel went +hurriedly and trembling to the rock that had been pointed out, talking +to her companion of the danger her uncle so unnecessarily ran, while +her eyes were riveted on the agile and vigorous form of Eau-douce, as he +stood erect in the stern of the light boat, governing its movements. As +soon, however, as she reached a point where she got a view of the fall, +she gave an involuntary but suppressed scream, and covered her eyes. +At the next instant, the latter were again free, and the entranced girl +stood immovable as a statue, a scarcely breathing observer of all that +passed. The two Indians seated themselves passively on a log, hardly +looking towards the stream, while the wife of Arrowhead came near Mabel, +and appeared to watch the motions of the canoe with some such interest +as a child regards the leaps of a tumbler. + +As soon as the boat was in the stream, Pathfinder sank on his knees, +continuing to use the paddle, though it was slowly, and in a manner not +to interfere with the efforts of his companion. The latter still stood +erect; and, as he kept his eye on some object beyond the fall, it was +evident that he was carefully looking for the spot proper for their +passage. + +"Farther west, boy; farther west," muttered Pathfinder; "there where +you see the water foam. Bring the top of the dead oak in a line with the +stem of the blasted hemlock." + +Eau-douce made no answer; for the canoe was in the centre of the stream, +with its head pointed towards the fall, and it had already begun to +quicken its motion by the increased force of the current. At that moment +Cap would cheerfully have renounced every claim to glory that could +possibly be acquired by the feat, to have been safe again on shore. +He heard the roar of the water, thundering, as it might be, behind a +screen, but becoming more and more distinct, louder and louder, and +before him he saw its line cutting the forest below, along which +the green and angry element seemed stretched and shining, as if the +particles were about to lose their principle of cohesion. + +"Down with your helm, down with your helm, man!" he exclaimed, unable +any longer to suppress his anxiety, as the canoe glided towards the edge +of the fall. + +"Ay, ay, down it is sure enough," answered Pathfinder, looking behind +him for a single instant, with his silent, joyous laugh,--"down we go, +of a sartinty! Heave her starn up, boy; farther up with her starn!" + +The rest was like the passage of the viewless wind. Eau-douce gave the +required sweep with his paddle, the canoe glanced into the channel, and +for a few seconds it seemed to Cap that he was tossing in a caldron. He +felt the bow of the canoe tip, saw the raging, foaming water careering +madly by his side, was sensible that the light fabric in which he +floated was tossed about like an egg-shell, and then, not less to his +great joy than to his surprise, he discovered that it was gliding across +the basin of still water below the fall, under the steady impulse of +Jasper's paddle. + +The Pathfinder continued to laugh; but he arose from his knees, and, +searching for a tin pot and a horn spoon, he began deliberately to +measure the water that had been taken in the passage. + +"Fourteen spoonfuls, Eau-douce; fourteen fairly measured spoonfuls. I +have, you must acknowledge, known you to go down with only ten." + +"Master Cap leaned so hard up stream," returned Jasper seriously, "that +I had difficulty in trimming the canoe." + +"It may be so; no doubt it _was_ so, since you say it; but I have known +you go over with only ten." + +Cap now gave a tremendous hem, felt for his queue as if to ascertain its +safety, and then looked back in order to examine the danger he had +gone through. His safety is easily explained. Most of the river fell +perpendicularly ten or twelve feet; but near its centre the force of the +current had so far worn away the rock as to permit the water to shoot +through a narrow passage, at an angle of about forty or forty five +degrees. Down this ticklish descent the canoe had glanced, amid +fragments of broken rock, whirlpools, foam, and furious tossings of +the element, which an uninstructed eye would believe menaced inevitable +destruction to an object so fragile. But the very lightness of the +canoe had favored its descent; for, borne on the crest of the waves, and +directed by a steady eye and an arm full of muscle, it had passed like a +feather from one pile of foam to another, scarcely permitting its glossy +side to be wetted. There were a few rocks to be avoided, the proper +direction was to be rigidly observed, and the fierce current did the +rest. (1) + + (1) Lest the reader suppose we are dealing purely in + fiction, the writer will add that he has known a long + thirty-two pounder carried over these same falls in perfect + safety. + +To say that Cap was astonished would not be expressing half his +feelings; he felt awed: for the profound dread of rocks which most +seamen entertain came in aid of his admiration of the boldness of the +exploit. Still he was indisposed to express all he felt, lest it might +be conceding too much in favor of fresh water and inland navigation; +and no sooner had he cleared his throat with the afore-said hem, than he +loosened his tongue in the usual strain of superiority. + +"I do not gainsay your knowledge of the channel, Master Eau-douce, and, +after all, to know the channel in such a place is the main point. I have +had cockswains with me who could come down that shoot too, if they only +knew the channel." + +"It isn't enough to know the channel," said Pathfinder; "it needs narves +and skill to keep the canoe straight, and to keep her clear of the rocks +too. There isn't another boatman in all this region that can shoot the +Oswego, but Eau-douce there, with any sartainty; though, now and then, +one has blundered through. I can't do it myself unless by means of +Providence, and it needs Jasper's hand and eye to make sure of a dry +passage. Fourteen spoonfuls, after all, are no great matter, though +I wish it had been but ten, seeing that the Sergeant's daughter was a +looker-on." + +"And yet you conned the canoe; you told him how to head and how to +sheer." + +"Human frailty, master mariner; that was a little of white-skin natur'. +Now, had the Sarpent, yonder, been in the boat, not a word would he have +spoken, or thought would he have given to the public. An Indian knows how +to hold his tongue; but we white folk fancy we are always wiser than our +fellows. I'm curing myself fast of the weakness, but it needs time to +root up the tree that has been growing more than thirty years." + +"I think little of this affair, sir; nothing at all to speak my mind +freely. It's a mere wash of spray to shooting London Bridge which is +done every day by hundreds of persons, and often by the most delicate +ladies in the land. The king's majesty has shot the bridge in his royal +person." + +"Well, I want no delicate ladies or king's majesties (God bless 'em!) in +the canoe, in going over these falls; for a boat's breadth, either way, +may make a drowning matter of it. Eau-douce, we shall have to carry the +Sergeant's brother over Niagara yet, to show him what may be done in a +frontier." + +"The devil! Master Pathfinder, you must be joking now! Surely it is not +possible for a bark canoe to go over that mighty cataract?" + +"You never were more mistaken, Master Cap, in your life. Nothing is +easier and many is the canoe I have seen go over it with my own eyes; +and if we both live I hope to satisfy you that the feat can be done. For +my part, I think the largest ship that ever sailed on the ocean might be +carried over, could she once get into the rapids." + +Cap did not perceive the wink which Pathfinder exchanged with Eau-douce, +and he remained silent for some time; for, sooth to say, he had never +suspected the possibility of going down Niagara, feasible as the thing +must appear to every one on a second thought, the real difficulty +existing in going up it. + +By this time the party had reached the place where Jasper had left +his own canoe, concealed in the bushes, and they all re-embarked; Cap, +Jasper, and his niece in one boat and Pathfinder, Arrowhead, and the +wife of the latter in the other. The Mohican had already passed down the +banks of the river by land, looking cautiously and with the skill of his +people for the signs of an enemy. + +The cheek of Mabel did not recover all its bloom until the canoe was +again in the current, down which it floated swiftly, occasionally +impelled by the paddle of Jasper. She witnessed the descent of the falls +with a degree of terror which had rendered her mute; but her fright +had not been so great as to prevent admiration of the steadiness of the +youth who directed the movement from blending with the passing terror. +In truth, one much less sensitive might have had her feelings awakened +by the cool and gallant air with which Eau-douce had accomplished this +clever exploit. He had stood firmly erect, notwithstanding the plunge; +and to those on the shore it was evident that, by a timely application +of his skill and strength, the canoe had received a sheer which alone +carried it clear of a rock over which the boiling water was leaping in +_jets d'eau_,--now leaving the brown stone visible, and now covering it +with a limpid sheet, as if machinery controlled the play of the element. +The tongue cannot always express what the eyes view; but Mabel saw +enough, even in that moment of fear, to blend for ever in her mind the +pictures presented by the plunging canoe and the unmoved steersman. She +admitted that insidious feeling which binds woman so strongly to man, by +feeling additional security in finding herself under his care; and, for +the first time since leaving Fort Stanwix, she was entirely at her ease +in the frail bark in which she travelled. As the other canoe kept quite +near her own, however, and the Pathfinder, by floating at her side, +was most in view, the conversation was principally maintained with +that person; Jasper seldom speaking unless addressed, and constantly +exhibiting a wariness in the management of his own boat, which might +have been remarked by one accustomed to his ordinarily confident, +careless manner. + +"We know too well a woman's gifts to think of carrying the Sergeant's +daughter over the falls," said Pathfinder, looking at Mabel, while he +addressed her uncle; "though I've been acquainted with some of her sex +that would think but little of doing the thing." + +"Mabel is faint-hearted, like her mother," returned Cap; "and you did +well, friend, to humor her weakness. You will remember the child has +never been at sea." + +"No, no, it was easy to discover that; by your own fearlessness, any one +might have seen how little you cared about the matter. I went over once +with a raw hand, and he jumped out of the canoe just as it tipped, and +you many judge what a time he had of it." + +"What became of the poor fellow?" asked Cap, scarcely knowing how to +take the other's manner, which was so dry, while it was so simple, that +a less obtuse subject than the old sailor might well have suspected its +sincerity. "One who has passed the place knows how to feel for him." + +"He was a _poor_ fellow, as you say; and a poor frontierman too, though +he came out to show his skill among us ignoranters. What became of him? +Why, he went down the falls topsy-turvey like, as would have happened to +a court-house or a fort." + +"If it should jump out of at canoe," interrupted Jasper, smiling, +though he was evidently more disposed than his friend to let the +passage of the falls be forgotten. + +"The boy is right," rejoined Pathfinder, laughing in Mabel's face, the +canoes being now so near that they almost touched; "he is sartainly +right. But you have not told us what you think of the leap we took?" + +"It was perilous and bold," said Mabel; "while looking at it, I could +have wished that it had not been attempted, though, now it is over, I +can admire its boldness and the steadiness with which it was made." + +"Now, do not think that we did this thing to set ourselves off in female +eyes. It may be pleasant to the young to win each other's good opinions +by doing things which may seem praiseworthy and bold; but neither +Eau-douce nor myself is of that race. My natur' has few turns in it, and +is a straight natur'; nor would it be likely to lead me into a vanity of +this sort while out on duty. As for Jasper, he would sooner go over the +Oswego Falls, without a looker-on, than do it before a hundred pair of +eyes. I know the lad well from much consorting, and I am sure he is not +boastful or vainglorious." + +Mabel rewarded the scout with a smile, which served to keep the canoes +together for some time longer; for the sight of youth and beauty was so +rare on that remote frontier, that even the rebuked and self-mortified +feelings of this wanderer of the forest were sensibly touched by the +blooming loveliness of the girl. + +"We did it for the best," Pathfinder continued; "'twas all for the best. +Had we waited to carry the canoe across the portage, time would have +been lost, and nothing is so precious as time when you are mistrustful +of Mingos." + +"But we have little to fear now. The canoes move swiftly, and two hours, +you have said, will carry us down to the fort." + +"It shall be a cunning Iroquois who hurts a hair of your head, pretty +one; for all here are bound to the Sergeant, and most, I think, to +yourself, to see you safe from harm. Ha, Eau-douce! what is that in the +river, at the lower turn, yonder, beneath the bushes,--I mean standing +on the rock?" + +"'Tis the Big Serpent, Pathfinder; he is making signs to us in a way I +don't understand." + +"'Tis the Sarpent, as sure as I'm a white man, and he wishes us to drop +in nearer to his shore. Mischief is brewing, or one of his deliberation +and steadiness would never take this trouble. Courage, all! We are men, +and must meet devilry as becomes our color and our callings. Ah, I never +knew good come of boasting! And here, just as I was vaunting of our +safety, comes danger to give me the lie." + + + +CHAPTER IV + + Art, stryving to compare + With nature, did an arber greene dispred, + Fram'd of wanton yvie flowing fayre, + Through which the fragrant eglantines did spred. + SPENSER. + + +The Oswego, below the falls, is a more rapid, unequal stream than it +is above them. There are places where the river flows in the quiet +stillness of deep water, but many shoals and rapids occur; and at that +distant day, when everything was in its natural state, some of the +passes were not altogether without hazard. Very little exertion was +required on the part of those who managed the canoes, except in those +places where the swiftness of the current and the presence of the rocks +required care; then, indeed, not only vigilance, but great coolness, +readiness, and strength of arm became necessary, in order to avoid +the dangers. Of all this the Mohican was aware, and he had judiciously +selected a spot where the river flowed tranquilly to intercept the +canoes, in order to make his communication without hazard to those he +wished to speak. + +The Pathfinder had no sooner recognized the form of his red friend, +than, with a strong sweep of his paddle, he threw the head of his own +canoe towards the shore, motioning for Jasper to follow. In a minute +both boats were silently drifting down the stream, within reach of the +bushes that overhung the water, all observing a profound silence; some +from alarm, and others from habitual caution. As the travellers drew +nearer the Indian, he made a sign for them to stop; and then he and +Pathfinder had a short but earnest conference. + +"The Chief is not apt to see enemies in a dead log," observed the white +man to his red associate; "why does he tell us to stop?" + +"Mingos are in the woods." + +"That we have believed these two days: does the chief know it?" + +The Mohican quietly held up the head of a pipe formed of stone. + +"It lay on a fresh trail that led towards the garrison,"--for so it +was the usage of that frontier to term a military work, whether it was +occupied or not. + +"That may be the bowl of a pipe belonging to a soldier. Many use the +red-skin pipes." + +"See," said the Big Serpent, again holding the thing he had found up to +the view of his friend. + +The bowl of the pipe was of soap-stone, and was carved with great care +and with a very respectable degree of skill; in its centre was a small +Latin cross, made with an accuracy which permitted no doubt of its +meaning. + +"That does foretell devilry and wickedness," said the Pathfinder, who +had all the provincial horror of the holy symbol in question which +then pervaded the country, and which became so incorporated with its +prejudices, by confounding men with things, as to have left its traces +strong enough on the moral feeling of the community to be discovered +even at the present hour; "no Indian who had not been parvarted by the +cunning priests of the Canadas would dream of carving a thing like that +on his pipe. I'll warrant ye, the knave prays to the image every time he +wishes to sarcumvent the innocent, and work his fearful wickedness. It +looks fresh, too, Chingachgook?" + +"The tobacco was burning when I found it." + +"That is close work, chief. Where was the trail?" + +The Mohican pointed to a spot not a hundred yards from that where they +stood. + +The matter now began to look very serious, and the two principal guides +conferred apart for several minutes, when both ascended the bank, +approached the indicated spot, and examined the trail with the utmost +care. After this investigation had lasted a quarter of an hour, the +white man returned alone, his red friend having disappeared in the +forest. + +The ordinary expression of the countenance of the Pathfinder was that of +simplicity, integrity, and sincerity, blended in an air of self-reliance +which usually gave great confidence to those who found themselves under +his care; but now a look of concern cast a shade over his honest face, +that struck the whole party. + +"What cheer, Master Pathfinder?" demanded Cap, permitting a voice that +was usually deep, loud, and confident to sink into the cautious tones +that better suited the dangers of the wilderness. "Has the enemy got +between us and our port?" + +"Anan?" + +"Have any of these painted scaramouches anchored off the harbor towards +which we are running, with the hope of cutting us off in entering?" + +"It may be all as you say, friend Cap, but I am none the wiser for your +words; and in ticklish times the plainer a man makes his English the +easier he is understood. I know nothing of ports and anchors; but there +is a direful Mingo trail within a hundred yards of this very spot, and +as fresh as venison without salt. If one of the fiery devils has passed, +so have a dozen; and, what is worse, they have gone down towards the +garrison, and not a soul crosses the clearing around it that some +of their piercing eyes will not discover, when sartain bullets will +follow." + +"Cannot this said fort deliver a broadside, and clear everything within +the sweep of its hawse?" + +"Nay, the forts this-a-way are not like forts in the settlements, and +two or three light cannon are all they have down at the mouth of the +river; and then, broadsides fired at a dozen outlying Mingoes, lying +behind logs and in a forest, would be powder spent in vain. We have but +one course, and that is a very nice one. We are judgmatically placed +here, both canoes being hid by the high bank and the bushes, from all +eyes, except those of any lurker directly opposite. Here, then, we may +stay without much present fear; but how to get the bloodthirsty devils +up the stream again? Ha! I have it, I have it! if it does no good, it +can do no harm. Do you see the wide-topped chestnut here, Jasper, at the +last turn in the river--on our own side of the stream, I mean?" + +"That near the fallen pine?" + +"The very same. Take the flint and tinderbox, creep along the bank, and +light a fire at that spot; maybe the smoke will draw them above us. In +the meanwhile, we will drop the canoes carefully down beyond the point +below, and find another shelter. Bushes are plenty, and covers are +easily to be had in this region, as witness the many ambushments." + +"I will do it, Pathfinder," said Jasper, springing to the shore. "In ten +minutes the fire shall be lighted." + +"And, Eau-douce, use plenty of damp wood this time," half whispered the +other, laughing heartily, in his own peculiar manner; "when smoke is +wanted, water helps to thicken it." + +The young man was soon off, making his way rapidly towards the desired +point. A slight attempt of Mabel to object to the risk was disregarded, +and the party immediately prepared to change its position, as it could +be seen from the place where Jasper intended to light his fire. The +movement did not require haste, and it was made leisurely and with care. +The canoes were got clear of the bushes, then suffered to drop down with +the stream until they reached the spot where the chestnut, at the foot +of which Jasper was to light the fire, was almost shut out from view, +when they stopped, and every eye was turned in the direction of the +adventurer. + +"There goes the smoke!" exclaimed the Pathfinder, as a current of air +whirled a little column of the vapor from the land, allowing it to +rise spirally above the bed of the river. "A good flint, a small bit +of steel, and plenty of dry leaves makes a quick fire. I hope Eau-douce +will have the wit to bethink him of the damp wood now when it may serve +us all a good turn." + +"Too much smoke--too much cunning," said Arrowhead sententiously. + +"That is gospel truth, Tuscarora, if the Mingoes didn't know that they +are near soldiers; but soldiers commonly think more of their dinner at +a halt than of their wisdom and danger. No, no; let the boy pile on his +logs, and smoke them well too; it will all be laid to the stupidity of +some Scotch or Irish blunderer, who is thinking more of his oatmeal or +his potatoes than of Indian sarcumventions or Indian rifles." + +"And yet I should think, from all we have heard in the towns, that the +soldiers on this frontier are used to the artifices of their enemies," +said Mabel, "and become almost as wily as the red men themselves." + +"Not they. Experience makes them but little wiser; and they wheel, and +platoon, and battalion it about, here in the forest, just as they did +in their parks at home, of which they are all so fond of talking. One +red-skin has more cunning in his natur' than a whole regiment from the +other side of the water; that is, what I call cunning of the woods. But +there is smoke enough, of all conscience, and we had better drop into +another cover. The lad has thrown the river on his fire, and there is +danger that the Mingoes will believe a whole regiment is out." + +While speaking, the Pathfinder permitted his canoe to drift away from +the bush by which it had been retained, and in a couple of minutes the +bend in the river concealed the smoke and the tree. Fortunately a small +indentation in the shore presented itself, within a few yards of the +point they had just passed; and the two canoes glided into it, under the +impulsion of the paddles. + +A better spot could not have been found for the purpose. The bushes +were thick, and overhung the water, forming a complete canopy of leaves. +There was a small gravelly strand at the bottom of the little bay, where +most of the party landed to be more at their ease, and the only position +from which they could possibly be seen was a point on the river directly +opposite. There was little danger, however, of discovery from that +quarter, as the thicket there was even denser than common, and the land +beyond it was so wet and marshy as to render it difficult to be trodden. + +"This is a safe cover," said the Pathfinder, after he had taken a +scrutinizing survey of his position; "but it may be necessary to make it +safer. Master Cap, I ask nothing of you but silence, and a quieting of +such gifts as you may have got at sea, while the Tuscarora and I make +provision for the evil hour." + +The guide then went a short distance into the bushes, accompanied by +the Indian, where the two cut off the larger stems of several alders +and other bushes, using the utmost care not to make a noise. The ends of +these little trees were forced into the mud, outside of the canoes, the +depth of the water being very trifling; and in the course of ten minutes +a very effectual screen was interposed between them and the principal +point of danger. Much ingenuity and readiness were manifested in making +this simple arrangement, in which the two workmen were essentially +favored by the natural formation of the bank, the indentation in the +shore, the shallowness of the water, and the manner in which the tangled +bushes dipped into the stream. The Pathfinder had the address to look +for bushes which had curved stems, things easily found in such a place; +and by cutting them some distance beneath the bend, and permitting the +latter to touch the water, the artificial little thicket had not the +appearance of growing in the stream, which might have excited suspicion; +but one passing it would have thought that the bushes shot out +horizontally from the bank before they inclined upwards towards the +light. In short, none but an unusually distrustful eye would have been +turned for an instant towards the spot in quest of a hiding-place. + +"This is the best cover I ever yet got into," said the Pathfinder, with +his quiet laugh, after having been on the outside to reconnoitre; "the +leaves of our new trees fairly touch those of the bushes over our heads. +Hist!--yonder comes Eau-douce, wading, like a sensible boy, as he is, to +leave his trail in the water; and we shall soon see whether our cover is +good for anything or not." + +Jasper had indeed returned from his duty above; and missing the canoes, +he at once inferred that they had dropped round the next bend in the +river, in order to get out of sight of the fire. His habits of caution +immediately suggested the expediency of stepping into the water, in +order that there might exist no visible communication between the marks +left on the shore by the party and the place where he believed them to +have taken refuge below. Should the Canadian Indians return on their own +trail, and discover that made by the Pathfinder and the Serpent in their +ascent from and descent to the river, the clue to their movements would +cease at the shore, water leaving no prints of footsteps. The young man +had therefore waded, knee-deep, as far as the point, and was now seen +making his way slowly down the margin of the stream, searching curiously +for the spot in which the canoes were hid. + +It was in the power of those behind the bushes, by placing their eyes +near the leaves, to find many places to look through while one at a +little distance lost this advantage. To those who watched his motions +from behind their cover, and they were all in the canoes, it was evident +that Jasper was totally at a loss to imagine where the Pathfinder had +secreted himself. When fairly round the curvature in the shore, and out +of sight of the fire he had lighted above, the young man stopped and +began examining the bank deliberately and with great care. Occasionally +he advanced eight or ten paces, and then halted again, to renew the +search. The water being much shallower than common, he stepped aside, +in order to walk with greater ease to himself and came so near the +artificial plantation that he might have touched it with his hand. Still +he detected nothing, and was actually passing the spot when Pathfinder +made an opening beneath the branches, and called to him in a low voice +to enter. + +"This is pretty well," said the Pathfinder, laughing; "though pale-face +eyes and red-skin eyes are as different as human spy-glasses. I would +wager, with the Sergeant's daughter here, a horn of powder against a +wampum-belt for her girdle, that her father's rijiment should march by +this embankment of ours and never find out the fraud! But if the Mingoes +actually get down into the bed of the river where Jasper passed, I +should tremble for the plantation. It will do for their eyes, even +across the stream, however, and will not be without its use." + +"Don't you think, Master Pathfinder, that it would be wisest, after +all," said Cap, "to get under way at once, and carry sail hard down +stream, as soon as we are satisfied that these rascals are fairly astern +of us? We seamen call a stern chase a long chase." + +"I wouldn't move from this spot until we hear from the Sarpent with the +Sergeant's pretty daughter here in our company, for all the powder in +the magazine of the fort below. Sartain captivity or sartain death would +follow. If a tender fa'n, such as the maiden we have in charge, could +thread the forest like old deer, it might, indeed, do to quit the +canoes; for by making a circuit we could reach the garrison before +morning." + +"Then let it be done," said Mabel, springing to her feet under the +sudden impulse of awakened energy. "I am young, active, used to +exercise, and could easily out-walk my dear uncle. Let no one think me +a hindrance. I cannot bear that all your lives should be exposed on my +account." + +"No, no, pretty one; we think you anything but a hindrance or anything +that is unbecoming, and would willingly run twice this risk to do you +and the honest Sergeant a service. Do I not speak your mind, Eau-douce?" + +"To do _her_ a service!" said Jasper with emphasis. "Nothing shall tempt +me to desert Mabel Dunham until she is safe in her father's arms." + +"Well said, lad; bravely and honestly said, too; and I join in it, heart +and hand. No, no! you are not the first of your sex I have led +through the wilderness, and never but once did any harm befall any +of them:--that was a sad day, certainly, but its like may never come +again." + +Mabel looked from one of her protectors to the other, and her fine eyes +swam in tears. Frankly placing a hand in that of each, she answered +them, though at first her voice was choked, "I have no right to expose +you on my account. My dear father will thank you, I thank you, God will +reward you; but let there be no unnecessary risk. I can walk far, and +have often gone miles on some girlish fancy; why not now exert myself +for my life?--nay, for your precious lives?" + +"She is a true dove, Jasper" said the Pathfinder, neither relinquishing +the hand he held until the girl herself, in native modesty, saw fit to +withdraw it, "and wonderfully winning! We get to be rough, and sometimes +even hard-hearted, in the woods, Mabel; but the sight of one like you +brings us back again to our young feelings, and does us good for the +remainder of our days. I daresay Jasper here will tell you the same; +for, like me in the forest, the lad sees but few such as yourself on +Ontario, to soften his heart and remind him of love for his kind. Speak +out now, Jasper, and say if it is not so?" + +"I question if many like Mabel Dunham are to be found anywhere," +returned the young man gallantly, an honest sincerity glowing in his +face that spoke more eloquently than his tongue; "you need not mention +the woods and lakes to challenge her equals, but I would go into +settlements and towns." + +"We had better leave the canoes," Mabel hurriedly rejoined; "for I feel +it is no longer safe to be here." + +"You can never do it; you can never do it. It would be a march of more +than twenty miles, and that, too, of tramping over brush and roots, and +through swamps, in the dark; the trail of such a party would be wide, +and we might have to fight our way into the garrison after all. We will +wait for the Mohican." + +Such appearing to be the decision of him to whom all, in their present +strait, looked up for counsel, no more was said on the subject. The +whole party now broke up into groups: Arrowhead and his wife sitting +apart under the bushes, conversing in a low tone, though the man spoke +sternly, and the woman answered with the subdued mildness that marks the +degraded condition of a savage's wife. Pathfinder and Cap occupied one +canoe, chatting of their different adventures by sea and land; while +Jasper and Mabel sat in the other, making greater progress in intimacy +in a single hour than might have been effected under other circumstances +in a twelvemonth. Notwithstanding their situation as regards the enemy, +the time flew by swiftly, and the young people, in particular, were +astonished when Cap informed them how long they had been thus occupied. + +"If one could smoke, Master Pathfinder," observed the old sailor, "this +berth would be snug enough; for, to give the devil his due, you have got +the canoes handsomely landlocked, and into moorings that would defy a +monsoon. The only hardship is the denial of the pipe." + +"The scent of the tobacco would betray us; and where is the use of +taking all these precautions against the Mingo's eyes, if we are to tell +him where the cover is to be found through the nose? No, no; deny your +appetites; and learn one virtue from a red-skin, who will pass a week +without eating even, to get a single scalp. Did you hear nothing, +Jasper?" + +"The Serpent is coming." + +"Then let us see if Mohican eyes are better than them of a lad who +follows the water." + +The Mohican had indeed made his appearance in the same direction as that +by which Jasper had rejoined his friends. Instead of coming directly on, +however, no sooner did he pass the bend, where he was concealed from any +who might be higher up stream, than he moved close under the bank; and, +using the utmost caution, got a position where he could look back, with +his person sufficiently concealed by the bushes to prevent its being +seen by any in that quarter. + +"The Sarpent sees the knaves!" whispered Pathfinder. "As I'm a Christian +white man, they have bit at the bait, and have ambushed the smoke!" + +Here a hearty but silent laugh interrupted his words, and nudging +Cap with his elbow, they all continued to watch the movements of +Chingachgook in profound stillness. The Mohican remained stationary as +the rock on which he stood full ten minutes; and then it was apparent +that something of interest had occurred within his view, for he drew +back with a hurried manner, looked anxiously and keenly along the margin +of the stream, and moved quickly down it, taking care to lose his trail +in the shallow water. He was evidently in a hurry and concerned, now +looking behind him, and then casting eager glances towards every spot on +the shore where he thought a canoe might be concealed. + +"Call him in," whispered Jasper, scarcely able to restrain his +impatience,--"call him in, or it will be too late! See! he is actually +passing us." + +"Not so, not so, lad; nothing presses, depend on it;" returned his +companion, "or the Sarpent would begin to creep. The Lord help us and +teach us wisdom! I _do_ believe even Chingachgook, whose sight is as +faithful as the hound's scent, overlooks us, and will not find out the +ambushment we have made!" + +This exultation was untimely; for the words were no sooner spoken than +the Indian, who had actually got several feet lower down the stream than +the artificial cover, suddenly stopped; fastened a keen-riveted glance +among the transplanted bushes; made a few hasty steps backward; and, +bending his body and carefully separating the branches, he appeared +among them. + +"The accursed Mingos!" said Pathfinder, as soon as his friend was near +enough to be addressed with prudence. + +"Iroquois," returned the sententious Indian. + +"No matter, no matter; Iroquois, devil, Mingo, Mengwes, or furies--all +are pretty much the same. I call all rascals Mingos. Come hither, chief, +and let us convarse rationally." + +When their private communication was over, Pathfinder rejoined the rest, +and made them acquainted with all he had learned. + +The Mohican had followed the trail of their enemies some distance +towards the fort, until the latter caught a sight of the smoke of +Jasper's fire, when they instantly retraced their steps. It now became +necessary for Chingachgook, who ran the greatest risk of detection, to +find a cover where he could secrete himself until the party might pass. +It was perhaps fortunate for him that the savages were so intent on this +recent discovery, that they did not bestow the ordinary attention on the +signs of the forest. At all events, they passed him swiftly, fifteen in +number, treading lightly in each other's footsteps; and he was enabled +again to get into their rear. After proceeding to the place where the +footsteps of Pathfinder and the Mohican had joined the principal trail, +the Iroquois had struck off to the river, which they reached just as +Jasper had disappeared behind the bend below. The smoke being now +in plain view, the savages plunged into the woods and endeavored to +approach the fire unseen. Chingachgook profited by this occasion to +descend to the water, and to gain the bend in the river also, which +he thought had been effected undiscovered. Here he paused, as has been +stated, until he saw his enemies at the fire, where their stay, however, +was very short. + +Of the motives of the Iroquois the Mohican could judge only by their +acts. He thought they had detected the artifice of the fire, and were +aware that it had been kindled with a view to mislead them; for, after +a hasty examination of the spot, they had separated, some plunging again +into the woods, while six or eight had followed the footsteps of Jasper +along the shore, and come down the stream towards the place where the +canoes had landed. What course they might take on reaching that spot was +only to be conjectured; for the Serpent had felt the emergency to be +too pressing to delay looking for his friends any longer. From some +indications that were to be gathered from their gestures, however, he +thought it probable that their enemies might follow down in the margin +of the stream, but could not be certain. + +As the Pathfinder related these facts to his companions, the +professional feelings of the two other white men came uppermost, and +both naturally reverted to their habits, in quest of the means of +escape. + +"Let us run out the canoes at once," said Jasper eagerly; "the current +is strong, and by using the paddles vigorously we shall soon be beyond +the reach of these scoundrels!" + +"And this poor flower, that first blossomed in the clearings--shall it +wither in the forest?" objected his friend, with a poetry which he had +unconsciously imbibed by his long association with the Delawares. + +"We must all die first," answered the youth, a generous color mounting +to his temples; "Mabel and Arrowhead's wife may lie down in the canoes, +while we do our duty, like men, on our feet." + +"Ay, you are active at the paddle and the oar, Eau-douce, I will allow, +but an accursed Mingo is more active at his mischief; the canoes are +swift, but a rifle bullet is swifter." + +"It is the business of men, engaged as we have been by a confiding +father, to run this risk--" + +"But it is not their business to overlook prudence." + +"Prudence! a man may carry his prudence so far as to forget his +courage." + +The group was standing on the narrow strand, the Pathfinder leaning on +his rifle, the butt of which rested on the gravelly beach, while both +his hands clasped the barrel at the height of his own shoulders. As +Jasper threw out this severe and unmerited imputation, the deep red of +his comrade's face maintained its hue unchanged, though the young man +perceived that the fingers grasped the iron of the gun with the tenacity +of a vice. Here all betrayal of emotion ceased. + +"You are young and hot-headed," returned Pathfinder, with a dignity that +impressed his listeners with a keen sense of his moral superiority; "but +my life has been passed among dangers of this sort, and my experience +and gifts are not to be mastered by the impatience of a boy. As for +courage, Jasper, I will not send back an angry and unmeaning word to +meet an angry and an unmeaning word; for I know that you are true in +your station and according to your knowledge; but take the advice of one +who faced the Mingos when you were a child, and know that their cunning +is easier sarcumvented by prudence than outwitted by foolishness." + +"I ask your pardon, Pathfinder," said the repentant Jasper, eagerly +grasping the hand that the other permitted him to seize; "I ask your +pardon, humbly and sincerely. 'Twas a foolish, as well as wicked thing +to hint of a man whose heart, in a good cause, is known to be as firm as +the rocks on the lake shore." + +For the first time the color deepened on the cheek of the Pathfinder, +and the solemn dignity which he had assumed, under a purely natural +impulse, disappeared in the expression of the earnest simplicity +inherent in all his feelings. He met the grasp of his young friend +with a squeeze as cordial as if no chord had jarred between them, and a +slight sternness that had gathered about his eye disappeared in a look +of natural kindness. + +"'Tis well, Jasper," he answered, laughing; "I bear no ill-will, nor +shall any one on my behalf. My natur' is that of a white man, and that +is to bear no malice. It might have been ticklish work to have said half +as much to the Sarpent here, though he is a Delaware, for color will +have its way--" + +A touch on his shoulder caused the speaker to cease. Mabel was standing +erect in the canoe, her light, but swelling form bent forward in an +attitude of graceful earnestness, her finger on her lips, her head +averted, her spirited eyes riveted on an opening in the bushes, and +one arm extended with a fishing-rod, the end of which had touched the +Pathfinder. The latter bowed his head to a level with a look-out near +which he had intentionally kept himself and then whispered to Jasper,-- + +"The accursed Mingos! Stand to your arms, my men, but lay quiet as the +corpses of dead trees!" + +Jasper advanced rapidly, but noiselessly, to the canoe, and with a +gentle violence induced Mabel to place herself in such an attitude as +concealed her entire body, though it would have probably exceeded his +means to induce the girl so far to lower her head that she could not +keep her gaze fastened on their enemies. He then took his own post near +her, with his rifle cocked and poised, in readiness to fire. Arrowhead +and Chingachgook crawled to the cover, and lay in wait like snakes, with +their arms prepared for service, while the wife of the former bowed her +head between her knees, covered it with her calico robe, and remained +passive and immovable. Cap loosened both his pistols in their belt, but +seemed quite at a loss what course to pursue. The Pathfinder did not +stir. He had originally got a position where he might aim with deadly +effect through the leaves, and where he could watch the movements of +his enemies; and he was far too steady to be disconcerted at a moment so +critical. + +It was truly an alarming instant. Just as Mabel touched the shoulder of +her guide, three of the Iroquois had appeared in the water, at the bend +of the river, within a hundred yards of the cover, and halted to +examine the stream below. They were all naked to the waist, armed for +an expedition against their foes, and in their warpaint. It was apparent +that they were undecided as to the course they ought to pursue in order +to find the fugitives. One pointed down the river, a second up the +stream, and the third towards the opposite bank. They evidently doubted. + + + +CHAPTER V + + Death is here and death is there, + Death is busy everywhere. + SHELLEY + + +It was a breathless moment. The only clue the fugitives possessed to the +intentions of their pursuers was in their gestures and the indications +which escaped them in the fury of disappointment. That a party had +returned already, on their own footsteps, by land, was pretty certain; +and all the benefit expected from the artifice of the fire was +necessarily lost. But that consideration became of little moment just +then; for the party was menaced with an immediate discovery by those who +had kept on a level with the river. All the facts presented themselves +clearly, and as it might be by intuition, to the mind of Pathfinder, who +perceived the necessity of immediate decision and of being in readiness +to act in concert. Without making any noise, therefore, he managed +to get the two Indians and Jasper near him, when he opened his +communications in a whisper. + +"We must be ready, we must be ready," he said. "There are but three of +the scalping devils, and we are five, four of whom may be set down as +manful warriors for such a skrimmage. Eau-douce, do you take the fellow +that is painted like death; Chingachgook, I give you the chief; and +Arrowhead must keep his eye on the young one. There must be no mistake, +for two bullets in the same body would be sinful waste, with one like +the Sergeant's daughter in danger. I shall hold myself in resarve +against accident, lest a fourth reptile appear, for one of your hands +may prove unsteady. By no means fire until I give the word; we must not +let the crack of the rifle be heard except in the last resort, since +all the rest of the miscreants are still within hearing. Jasper, boy, +in case of any movement behind us on the bank, I trust to you to run out +the canoe with the Sergeant's daughter, and to pull for the garrison, by +God's leave." + +The Pathfinder had no sooner given these directions than the near +approach of their enemies rendered profound silence necessary. The +Iroquois in the river were slowly descending the stream; keeping of +necessity near the bushes which overhung the water, while the rustling +of leaves and the snapping of twigs soon gave fearful evidence that +another party was moving along the bank, at an equally graduated pace; +and directly abreast of them. In consequence of the distance between +the bushes planted by the fugitives and the true shore, the two parties +became visible to each other when opposite that precise point. Both +stopped, and a conversation ensued, that may be said to have passed +directly over the heads of those who were concealed. Indeed, nothing +sheltered the travellers but the branches and leaves of plants, so +pliant that they yielded to every current of air, and which a puff of +wind a little stronger than common would have blown away. Fortunately +the line of sight carried the eyes of the two parties of savages, +whether they stood in the water or on the land, above the bushes, and +the leaves appeared blended in a way to excite no suspicion. Perhaps the +very boldness of the expedient alone prevented an immediate exposure. +The conversation which took place was conducted earnestly, but in +guarded tones, as if those who spoke wished to defeat the intentions +of any listeners. It was in a dialect that both the Indian warriors +beneath, as well as the Pathfinder, understood. Even Jasper comprehended +a portion of what was said. + +"The trail is washed away by the water!" said one from below, who stood +so near the artificial cover of the fugitives, that he might have been +struck by the salmon-spear that lay in the bottom of Jasper's canoe. +"Water has washed it so clear that a Yengeese hound could not follow." + +"The pale-faces have left the shore in their canoes," answered the +speaker on the bank. + +"It cannot be. The rifles of our warriors below are certain." + +The Pathfinder gave a significant glance at Jasper, and he clinched his +teeth in order to suppress the sound of his own breathing. + +"Let my young men look as if their eyes were eagles'," said the eldest +warrior among those who were wading in the river. "We have been a whole +moon on the war-path, and have found but one scalp. There is a maiden +among them, and some of our braves want wives." + +Happily these words were lost on Mabel; but Jasper's frown became +deeper, and his face fiercely flushed. + +The savages now ceased speaking, and the party which was concealed heard +the slow and guarded movements of those who were on the bank, as they +pushed the bushes aside in their wary progress. It was soon evident +that the latter had passed the cover; but the group in the water +still remained, scanning the shore with eyes that glared through their +war-paint like coals of living fire. After a pause of two or three +minutes, these three began also to descend the stream, though it was +step by step, as men move who look for an object that has been lost. In +this manner they passed the artificial screen, and Pathfinder opened +his mouth in that hearty but noiseless laugh that nature and habit had +contributed to render a peculiarity of the man. His triumph, however, +was premature; for the last of the retiring party, just at this moment +casting a look behind him, suddenly stopped; and his fixed attitude and +steady gaze at once betrayed the appalling fact that some neglected bush +had awakened his suspicions. + +It was perhaps fortunate for the concealed that the warrior who +manifested these fearful signs of distrust was young, and had still a +reputation to acquire. He knew the importance of discretion and modesty +in one of his years, and most of all did he dread the ridicule and +contempt that would certainly follow a false alarm. Without recalling +any of his companions, therefore, he turned on his own footsteps; +and, while the others continued to descend the river, he cautiously +approached the bushes, on which his looks were still fastened, as by a +charm. Some of the leaves which were exposed to the sun had drooped a +little, and this slight departure from the usual natural laws had caught +the quick eyes of the Indian; for so practised and acute do the senses +of the savage become, more especially when he is on the war-path, that +trifles apparently of the most insignificant sort often prove to be +clues to lead him to his object. + +The trifling nature of the change which had aroused the suspicion of +this youth was an additional motive for not acquainting his companions +with his discovery. Should he really detect anything, his glory would +be the greater for being unshared; and should he not, he might hope to +escape that derision which the young Indian so much dreads. Then there +were the dangers of an ambush and a surprise, to which every warrior of +the woods is keenly alive, to render his approach slow and cautious. In +consequence of the delay that proceeded from these combined causes, the +two parties had descended some fifty or sixty yards before the young +savage was again near enough to the bushes of the Pathfinder to touch +them with his hand. + +Notwithstanding their critical situation, the whole party behind the +cover had their eyes fastened on the working countenance of the young +Iroquois, who was agitated by conflicting feelings. First came the eager +hope of obtaining success where some of the most experienced of his +tribe had failed, and with it a degree of glory that had seldom fallen +to the share of one of his years or a brave on his first war-path; then +followed doubts, as the drooping leaves seemed to rise again and to +revive in the currents of air; and distrust of hidden danger lent its +exciting feeling to keep the eloquent features in play. So very slight, +however, had been the alteration produced by the heat on the bushes of +which the stems were in the water, that when the Iroquois actually laid +his hand on the leaves, he fancied that he had been deceived. As no man +ever distrusts strongly without using all convenient means of satisfying +his doubts, however, the young warrior cautiously pushed aside the +branches and advanced a step within the hiding-place, when the forms of +the concealed party met his gaze, resembling so many breathless statues. +The low exclamation, the slight start, and the glaring eye, were hardly +seen and heard, before the arm of Chingachgook was raised, and the +tomahawk of the Delaware descended on the shaven head of his foe. The +Iroquois raised his hands frantically, bounded backward, and fell +into the water, at a spot where the current swept the body away, the +struggling limbs still tossing and writhing in the agony of death. The +Delaware made a vigorous but unsuccessful attempt to seize an arm, with +the hope of securing the scalp; but the bloodstained waters whirled down +the current, carrying with them their quivering burden. + +All this passed in less than a minute, and the events were so sudden +and unexpected, that men less accustomed than the Pathfinder and his +associates to forest warfare would have been at a loss how to act. + +"There is not a moment to lose," said Jasper, tearing aside the bushes, +as he spoke earnestly, but in a suppressed voice. "Do as I do, Master +Cap, if you would save your niece; and you, Mabel, lie at your length in +the canoe." + +The words were scarcely uttered when, seizing the bow of the light boat +he dragged it along the shore, wading himself, while Cap aided behind, +keeping so near the bank as to avoid being seen by the savages below, +and striving to gain the turn in the river above him which would +effectually conceal the party from the enemy. The Pathfinder's canoe lay +nearest to the bank, and was necessarily the last to quit the shore. +The Delaware leaped on the narrow strand and plunged into the forest, +it being his assigned duty to watch the foe in that quarter, while +Arrowhead motioned to his white companion to seize the bow of the boat +and to follow Jasper. All this was the work of an instant; but when the +Pathfinder reached the current that was sweeping round the turn, he felt +a sudden change in the weight he was dragging, and, looking back, he +found that both the Tuscarora and his wife had deserted him. The thought +of treachery flashed upon his mind, but there was no time to pause, for +the wailing shout that arose from the party below proclaimed that the +body of the young Iroquois had floated as low as the spot reached by +his friends. The report of a rifle followed; and then the guide saw that +Jasper, having doubled the bend in the river, was crossing the stream, +standing erect in the stern of the canoe, while Cap was seated forward, +both propelling the light boat with vigorous strokes of the paddles. A +glance, a thought, and an expedient followed each other quickly in one +so trained in the vicissitudes of the frontier warfare. Springing into +the stern of his own canoe, he urged it by a vigorous shove into the +current, and commenced crossing the stream himself, at a point so much +lower than that of his companions as to offer his own person for a +target to the enemy, well knowing that their keen desire to secure a +scalp would control all other feelings. + +"Keep well up the current, Jasper," shouted the gallant guide, as he +swept the water with long, steady, vigorous strokes of the paddle; "keep +well up the current, and pull for the alder bushes opposite. Presarve +the Sergeant's daughter before all things, and leave these Mingo knaves +to the Sarpent and me." + +Jasper flourished his paddle as a signal of understanding, while shot +succeeded shot in quick succession, all now being aimed at the solitary +man in the nearest canoe. + +"Ay, empty your rifles like simpletons as you are," said the Pathfinder, +who had acquired a habit of speaking when alone, from passing so much +of his time in the solitude of the forest; "empty your rifles with an +unsteady aim, and give me time to put yard upon yard of river between +us. I will not revile you like a Delaware or a Mohican; for my gifts are +a white man's gifts, and not an Indian's; and boasting in battle is no +part of a Christian warrior; but I may say here, all alone by myself, +that you are little better than so many men from the town shooting at +robins in the orchards. That was well meant," throwing back his head, +as a rifle bullet cut a lock of hair from his temple; "but the lead that +misses by an inch is as useless as the lead that never quits the barrel. +Bravely done, Jasper! the Sergeant's sweet child must be saved, even if +we go in without our own scalps." + +By this time the Pathfinder was in the centre of the river, and almost +abreast of his enemies, while the other canoe, impelled by the vigorous +arms of Cap and Jasper, had nearly gained the opposite shore at the +precise spot that had been pointed out to them. The old mariner now +played his part manfully; for he was on his proper element, loved his +niece sincerely, had a proper regard for his own person, and was not +unused to fire, though his experience certainly lay in a very different +species of warfare. A few strokes of the paddles were given, and the +canoe shot into the bushes, Mabel was hurried to land by Jasper, and for +the present all three of the fugitives were safe. + +Not so with the Pathfinder: his hardy self-devotion had brought him +into a situation of unusual exposure, the hazards of which were much +increased by the fact that, just as he drifted nearest to the enemy the +party on the shore rushed down the bank and joined their friends who +still stood in the water. The Oswego was about a cable's length in width +at this point, and, the canoe being in the centre, the object was only a +hundred yards from the rifles that were constantly discharged at it; or, +at the usual target distance for that weapon. + +In this extremity the steadiness and skill of the Pathfinder did him +good service. He knew that his safety depended altogether on keeping in +motion; for a stationary object at that distance, would have been hit +nearly every shot. Nor was motion of itself sufficient; for, accustomed +to kill the bounding deer, his enemies probably knew how to vary the +line of aim so as to strike him, should he continue to move in any one +direction. He was consequently compelled to change the course of the +canoe,--at one moment shooting down with the current, with the swiftness +of an arrow; and at the next checking its progress in that direction, to +glance athwart the stream. Luckily the Iroquois could not reload their +pieces in the water, and the bushes that everywhere fringed the shore +rendered it difficult to keep the fugitive in view when on the land. +Aided by these circumstances, and having received the fire of all his +foes, the Pathfinder was gaining fast in distance, both downwards and +across the current, when a new danger suddenly, if not unexpectedly, +presented itself, by the appearance of the party that had been left in +ambush below with a view to watch the river. + +These were the savages alluded to in the short dialogue already related. +They were no less than ten in number; and, understanding all the +advantages of their bloody occupation, they had posted themselves at a +spot where the water dashed among rocks and over shallows, in a way to +form a rapid which, in the language of the country, is called a rift. +The Pathfinder saw that, if he entered this rift, he should be compelled +to approach a point where the Iroquois had posted themselves, for the +current was irresistible, and the rocks allowed no other safe passage, +while death or captivity would be the probable result of the attempt. +All his efforts, therefore, were turned toward reaching the western +shore, the foe being all on the eastern side of the river; but the +exploit surpassed human power, and to attempt to stem the stream would +at once have so far diminished the motion of the canoe as to render aim +certain. In this exigency the guide came to a decision with his usual +cool promptitude, making his preparations accordingly. Instead of +endeavoring to gain the channel, he steered towards the shallowest part +of the stream, on reaching which he seized his rifle and pack, leaped +into the water, and began to wade from rock to rock, taking the +direction of the western shore. The canoe whirled about in the furious +current, now rolling over some slippery stone, now filling, and then +emptying itself, until it lodged on the shore, within a few yards of the +spot where the Iroquois had posted themselves. + +In the meanwhile the Pathfinder was far from being out of danger; for +the first minute, admiration of his promptitude and daring, which are so +high virtues in the mind of an Indian, kept his enemies motionless; but +the desire of revenge, and the cravings for the much-prized trophy, soon +overcame this transient feeling, and aroused them from their stupor. +Rifle flashed after rifle, and the bullets whistled around the head of +the fugitive, amid the roar of the waters. Still he proceeded like one +who bore a charmed life; for, while his rude frontier garments were more +than once cut, his skin was not razed. + +As the Pathfinder, in several instances, was compelled to wade in water +which rose nearly to his arms, while he kept his rifle and ammunition +elevated above the raging current, the toil soon fatigued him, and he +was glad to stop at a large stone, or a small rock, which rose so high +above the river that its upper surface was dry. On this stone he placed +his powder-horn, getting behind it himself, so as to have the advantage +of a partial cover for his body. The western shore was only fifty feet +distant, but the quiet, swift, dark current that glanced through the +interval sufficiently showed that here he would be compelled to swim. + +A short cessation in the firing now took place on the part of the +Indians, who gathered about the canoe, and, having found the paddles, +were preparing to cross the river. + +"Pathfinder," called a voice from among the bushes, at the point nearest +to the person addressed, on the western shore. + +"What would you have, Jasper?" + +"Be of good heart--friends are at hand, and not a single Mingo shall +cross without suffering for his boldness. Had you not better leave the +rifle on the rock, and swim to us before the rascals can get afloat?" + +"A true woodsman never quits his piece while he has any powder in his +horn or a bullet in his pouch. I have not drawn a trigger this day, +Eau-douce, and shouldn't relish the idea of parting with those reptiles +without causing them to remember my name. A little water will not harm +my legs; and I see that blackguard, Arrowhead, among the scamps, and +wish to send him the wages he has so faithfully earned. You have not +brought the Sergeant's daughter down here in a range with their bullets, +I hope, Jasper?" + +"She is safe for the present at least; though all depends on our keeping +the river between us and the enemy. They must know our weakness now; +and, should they cross, no doubt some of their party will be left on the +other side." + +"This canoeing touches your gifts rather than mine, boy, though I will +handle a paddle with the best Mingo that ever struck a salmon. If they +cross below the rift, why can't we cross in the still water above, and +keep playing at dodge and turn with the wolves?" + +"Because, as I have said, they will leave a party on the other shore; +and then, Pathfinder, would you expose Mabel, to the rifles of the +Iroquois?" + +"The Sergeant's daughter must be saved," returned the guide, with calm +energy. "You are right, Jasper; she has no gift to authorize her in +offering her sweet face and tender body to a Mingo rifle. What can +be done, then? They must be kept from crossing for an hour or two, if +possible, when we must do our best in the darkness." + +"I agree with you, Pathfinder, if it can be effected; but are we strong +enough for such a purpose?" + +"The Lord is with us, boy, the Lord is with us; and it is unreasonable +to suppose that one like the Sergeant's daughter will be altogether +abandoned by Providence in such a strait. There is not a boat between +the falls and the garrison, except these two canoes, to my sartain +knowledge; and I think it will go beyond red-skin gifts to cross in +the face of two rifles like these of yourn and mine. I will not vaunt, +Jasper; but it is well known on all this frontier that Killdeer seldom +fails." + +"Your skill is admitted by all, far and near, Pathfinder; but a rifle +takes time to be loaded; nor are you on the land, aided by a good cover, +where you can work to the advantage you are used to. If you had our +canoe, might you not pass to the shore with a dry rifle?" + +"Can an eagle fly, Jasper?" returned the other, laughing in his usual +manner, and looking back as he spoke. "But it would be unwise to expose +yourself on the water; for them miscreants are beginning to bethink them +again of powder and bullets." + +"It can be done without any such chances. Master Cap has gone up to +the canoe, and will cast the branch of a tree into the river to try the +current, which sets from the point above in the direction of your rock. +See, there it comes already; if it float fairly, you must raise your +arm, when the canoe will follow. At all events, if the boat should pass +you, the eddy below will bring it up, and I can recover it." + +While Jasper was still speaking, the floating branch came in sight; and, +quickening its progress with the increasing velocity of the current, +it swept swiftly down towards the Pathfinder, who seized it as it was +passing, and held it in the air as a sign of success. Cap understood +the signal, and presently the canoe was launched into the stream, with +a caution and an intelligence that the habits of the mariner had fitted +him to observe. It floated in the same direction as the branch, and in a +minute was arrested by the Pathfinder. + +"This has been done with a frontier man's judgment Jasper," said the +guide, laughing; "but you have your gifts, which incline most to the +water, as mine incline to the woods. Now let them Mingo knaves cock +their rifles and get rests, for this is the last chance they are likely +to have at a man without a cover." + +"Nay, shove the canoe towards the shore, quartering the current, and +throw yourself into it as it goes off," said Jasper eagerly. "There is +little use in running any risk." + +"I love to stand up face to face with my enemies like a man, while +they set me the example," returned the Pathfinder proudly. "I am not a +red-skin born, and it is more a white man's gifts to fight openly than +to lie in ambushment." + +"And Mabel?" + +"True, boy, true; the Sergeant's daughter must be saved; and, as you +say, foolish risks only become boys. Think you that you can catch the +canoe where you stand?" + +"There can be no doubt, if you give a vigorous push." + +Pathfinder made the necessary effort; the light bark shot across the +intervening space, and Jasper seized it as it came to land. To secure +the canoe, and to take proper positions in the cover, occupied the +friends but a moment, when they shook hands cordially, like those who +had met after a long separation. + +"Now, Jasper, we shall see if a Mingo of them all dares cross the Oswego +in the teeth of Killdeer! You are handier with the oar and the paddle +and the sail than with the rifle, perhaps; but you have a stout heart +and a steady hand, and them are things that count in a fight." + +"Mabel will find me between her and her enemies," said Jasper calmly. + +"Yes, yes, the Sergeant's daughter must be protected. I like you, boy, +on your own account; but I like you all the better that you think of +one so feeble at a moment when there is need of all your manhood. See, +Jasper! Three of the knaves are actually getting into the canoe! They +must believe we have fled, or they would not surely venture so much, +directly in the very face of Killdeer." + +Sure enough the Iroquois did appear bent on venturing across the stream; +for, as the Pathfinder and his friends now kept their persons strictly +concealed, their enemies began to think that the latter had taken to +flight. Such a course was that which most white men would have followed; +but Mabel was under the care of those who were much too well skilled in +forest warfare to neglect to defend the only pass that, in truth, now +offered even a probable chance for protection. + +As the Pathfinder had said, three warriors were in the canoe, two +holding their rifles at a poise, as they knelt in readiness to aim the +deadly weapons, and the other standing erect in the stern to wield the +paddle. In this manner they left the shore, having had the precaution +to haul the canoe, previously to entering it, so far up the stream as +to have got into the comparatively still water above the rift. It was +apparent at a glance that the savage who guided the boat was skilled +in the art; for the long steady sweep of his paddle sent the light bark +over the glassy surface of the tranquil river as if it were a feather +floating in air. + +"Shall I fire?" demanded Jasper in a whisper, trembling with eagerness +to engage. + +"Not yet, boy, not yet. There are but three of them, and if Master Cap +yonder knows how to use the popguns he carries in his belt, we may even +let them land, and then we shall recover the canoe." + +"But Mabel--?" + +"No fear for the Sergeant's daughter. She is safe in the hollow stump, +you say, with the opening judgmatically hid by the brambles. If what +you tell me of the manner in which you concealed the trail be true, the +sweet one might lie there a month and laugh at the Mingos." + +"We are never certain. I wish we had brought her nearer to our own +cover!" + +"What for, Eau-douce? To place her pretty little head and leaping heart +among flying bullets? No, no: she is better where she is, because she is +safer." + +"We are never certain. We thought ourselves safe behind the bushes, and +yet you saw that we were discovered." + +"And the Mingo imp paid for his curiosity, as these knaves are about to +do." + +The Pathfinder ceased speaking; for at that instant the sharp report of +a rifle was heard, when the Indian in the stern of the canoe leaped high +into the air, and fell into the water, holding the paddle in his hand. +A small wreath of smoke floated out from among the bushes of the eastern +shore, and was soon absorbed by the atmosphere. + +"That is the Sarpent hissing!" exclaimed the Pathfinder exultingly. "A +bolder or a truer heart never beat in the breast of a Delaware. I am +sorry that he interfered; but he could not have known our condition." + +The canoe had no sooner lost its guide than it floated with the stream, +and was soon sucked into the rapids of the rift. Perfectly helpless, +the two remaining savages gazed wildly about them, but could offer no +resistance to the power of the element. It was perhaps fortunate for +Chingachgook that the attention of most of the Iroquois was intently +given to the situation of those in the boat, else would his escape have +been to the last degree difficult, if not totally impracticable. But not +a foe moved, except to conceal his person behind some cover; and every +eye was riveted on the two remaining adventurers. In less time than has +been necessary to record these occurrences, the canoe was whirling and +tossing in the rift, while both the savages had stretched themselves +in its bottom, as the only means of preserving the equilibrium. This +natural expedient soon failed them; for, striking a rock, the light +draft rolled over, and the two warriors were thrown into the river. The +water is seldom deep on a rift, except in particular places where it +may have worn channels; and there was little to be apprehended from +drowning, though their arms were lost; and the two savages were fain to +make the best of their way to the friendly shore, swimming and wading as +circumstances required. The canoe itself lodged on a rock in the centre +of the stream, where for the moment it became useless to both parties. + +"Now is our time, Pathfinder," cried Jasper, as the two Iroquois exposed +most of their persons while wading in the shallowest part of the rapids: +"the fellow up stream is mine, and you can take the lower." + +So excited had the young man become by all the incidents of the stirring +scene, that the bullet sped from his rifle as he spoke, but uselessly, +as it would seem, for both the fugitives tossed their arms in disdain. +The Pathfinder did not fire. + +"No, no, Eau-douce," he answered; "I do not seek blood without a cause; +and my bullet is well leathered and carefully driven down, for the time +of need. I love no Mingo, as is just, seeing how much I have consorted +with the Delawares, who are their mortal and natural enemies; but I +never pull trigger on one of the miscreants unless it be plain that his +death will lead to some good end. The deer never leaped that fell by +my hand wantonly. By living much alone with God in the wilderness a man +gets to feel the justice of such opinions. One life is sufficient for +our present wants; and there may yet be occasion to use Killdeer in +behalf of the Sarpent, who has done an untimorsome thing to let them +rampant devils so plainly know that he is in their neighborhood. As I'm +a wicked sinner, there is one of them prowling along the bank this very +moment, like one of the boys of the garrison skulking behind a fallen +tree to get a shot at a squirrel!" + +As the Pathfinder pointed with his finger while speaking, the quick eye +of Jasper soon caught the object towards which it was directed. One of +the young warriors of the enemy, burning with a desire to distinguish +himself, had stolen from his party towards the cover in which +Chingachgook had concealed himself; and as the latter was deceived by +the apparent apathy of his foes, as well as engaged in some further +preparations of his own, he had evidently obtained a position where +he got a sight of the Delaware. This circumstance was apparent by the +arrangements the Iroquois was making to fire, for Chingachgook himself +was not visible from the western side of the river. The rift was at a +bend in the Oswego, and the sweep of the eastern shore formed a curve +so wide that Chingachgook was quite near to his enemies in a straight +direction, though separated by several hundred feet on the land, owing +to which fact air lines brought both parties nearly equidistant from +the Pathfinder and Jasper. The general width of the river being a little +less than two hundred yards, such necessarily was about the distance +between his two observers and the skulking Iroquois. + +"The Sarpent must be thereabouts," observed Pathfinder, who never turned +his eye for an instant from the young warrior; "and yet he must be +strangely off his guard to allow a Mingo devil to get his stand so near, +with manifest signs of bloodshed in his heart." + +"See!" interrupted Jasper--"there is the body of the Indian the Delaware +shot! It has drifted on a rock, and the current has forced the head and +face above the water." + +"Quite likely, boy, quite likely. Human natur' is little better than a +log of driftwood, when the life that was breathed into its nostrils +is departed. That Iroquois will never harm any one more; but yonder +skulking savage is bent on taking the scalp of my best and most tried +friend." + +The Pathfinder suddenly interrupted himself by raising his rifle, a +weapon of unusual length, with admirable precision, and firing the +instant it had got its level. The Iroquois on the opposite shore was in +the act of aiming when the fatal messenger from Killdeer arrived. His +rifle was discharged, it is true, but it was with the muzzle in the air, +while the man himself plunged into the bushes, quite evidently hurt, if +not slain. + +"The skulking reptyle brought it on himself," muttered Pathfinder +sternly, as, dropping the butt of his rifle, he carefully commenced +reloading it. "Chingachgook and I have consorted together since we were +boys, and have fi't in company on the Horican, the Mohawk, the Ontario, +and all the other bloody passes between the country of the Frenchers and +our own; and did the foolish knave believe that I would stand by and see +my best friend cut off in an ambushment?" + +"We have served the Sarpent as good a turn as he served us. Those +rascals are troubled, Pathfinder, and are falling back into their +covers, since they find we can reach them across the river." + +"The shot is no great matter, Jasper, no great matter. Ask any of the +60th, and they can tell you what Killdeer can do, and has done, and +that, too, when the bullets were flying about our heads like hailstones. +No, no! this is no great matter, and the unthoughtful vagabond drew it +down on himself." + +"Is that a dog, or a deer, swimming towards this shore?" Pathfinder +started, for sure enough an object was crossing the stream, above the +rift, towards which, however, it was gradually setting by the force of +the current. A second look satisfied both the observers that it was +a man, and an Indian, though so concealed as at first to render it +doubtful. Some stratagem was apprehended, and the closest attention was +given to the movements of the stranger. + +"He is pushing something before him as he swims, and his head resembles +a drifting bush," said Jasper. + +"'Tis Indian devilry, boy; but Christian honesty shall circumvent their +arts." + +As the man slowly approached, the observers began to doubt the accuracy +of their first impressions, and it was only when two-thirds of the +stream were passed that the truth was really known. + +"The Big Sarpent, as I live!" exclaimed Pathfinder, looking at his +companion, and laughing until the tears came into his eyes with pure +delight at the success of the artifice. "He has tied bushes to his head, +so as to hide it, put the horn on top, lashed the rifle to that bit of +log he is pushing before him, and has come over to join his friends. +Ah's me! The times and times that he and I have cut such pranks, right +in the teeth of Mingos raging for our blood, in the great thoroughfare +round and about Ty!" + +"It may not be the Serpent after all, Pathfinder; I can see no feature +that I remember." + +"Feature! Who looks for features in an Indian? No, no, boy; 'tis the +paint that speaks, and none but a Delaware would wear that paint: +them are his colors, Jasper, just as your craft on the lake wears St. +George's Cross, and the Frenchers set their tablecloths to fluttering +in the wind, with all the stains of fish-bones and venison steaks upon +them. Now, you see the eye, lad, and it is the eye of a chief. But, +Eau-douce, fierce as it is in battle, and glassy as it looks from +among the leaves,"--here the Pathfinder laid his fingers lightly but +impressively on his companion's arm,--"I have seen it shed tears like +rain. There is a soul and a heart under that red skin, rely on it; +although they are a soul and a heart with gifts different from our own." + +"No one who is acquainted with the chief ever doubted that." + +"I _know_ it," returned the other proudly, "for I have consorted +with him in sorrow and in joy: in one I have found him a man, however +stricken; in the other, a chief who knows that the women of his tribe +are the most seemly in light merriment. But hist! It is too much like +the people of the settlements to pour soft speeches into another's ear; +and the Sarpent has keen senses. He knows I love him, and that I speak +well of him behind his back; but a Delaware has modesty in his inmost +natur', though he will brag like a sinner when tied to a stake." + +The Serpent now reached the shore, directly in the front of his two +comrades, with whose precise position he must have been acquainted +before leaving the eastern side of the river, and rising from the water +he shook himself like a dog, and made the usual exclamation--"Hugh!" + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + These, as they change, Almighty Father, these, + Are but the varied God. + THOMSON. + + +As the chief landed he was met by the Pathfinder, who addressed him in +the language of the warrior's people: "Was it well done, Chingachgook," +said he reproachfully, "to ambush a dozen Mingos alone? Killdeer seldom +fails me, it is true; but the Oswego makes a distant mark, and that +miscreant showed little more than his head and shoulders above the +bushes, and an onpractysed hand and eye might have failed. You should +have thought of this, chief--you should have thought of this!" + +"The Great Serpent is a Mohican warrior--he sees only his enemies when +he is on the war-path, and his fathers have struck the Mingos from +behind, since the waters began to run." + +"I know your gifts, I know your gifts, and respect them too. No man +shall hear me complain that a red-skin obsarved red-skin natur'. But +prudence as much becomes a warrior as valor; and had not the Iroquois +devils been looking after their friends who were in the water, a hot +trail they would have made of yourn." + +"What is the Delaware about to do?" exclaimed Jasper, who observed at +that moment that the chief had suddenly left the Pathfinder and advanced +to the water's edge, apparently with an intention of again entering the +river. "He will not be so mad as to return to the other shore for any +trifle he may have forgotten?" + +"Not he, not he; he is as prudent as he is brave, in the main, though +so forgetful of himself in the late ambushment. Hark'e, Jasper," leading +the other a little aside, just as they heard the Indian's plunge into +the water,--"hark'e, lad; Chingachgook is not a Christian white man, +like ourselves, but a Mohican chief, who has his gifts and traditions to +tell him what he ought to do; and he who consorts with them that are not +strictly and altogether of his own kind had better leave natur' and use +to govern his comrades. A king's soldier will swear and he will drink, +and it is of little use to try to prevent him; a gentleman likes his +delicacies, and a lady her feathers and it does not avail much to +struggle against either; whereas an Indian's natur' and gifts are much +stronger than these, and no doubt were bestowed by the Lord for wise +ends, though neither you nor me can follow them in all their windings." + +"What does this mean? See, the Delaware is swimming towards the body +that is lodged on the rock? Why does he risk this?" + +"For honor and glory and renown, as great gentlemen quit their quiet +homes beyond seas--where, as they tell me, heart has nothing left to +wish for; that is, such hearts as can be satisfied in a clearing--to +come hither to live on game and fight the Frenchers." + +"I understand you--your friend has gone to secure the scalp." + +"'Tis his gift, and let him enjoy it. We are white men, and cannot +mangle a dead enemy; but it is honor in the eyes of a red-skin to do +so. It may seem singular to you, Eau-douce, but I've known white men of +great name and character manifest as remarkable idees consarning their +honor, I have." + +"A savage will be a savage, Pathfinder, let him keep what company he +may." + +"It is well for us to say so, lad; but, as I tell you, white honor will +not always conform to reason or to the will of God. I have passed days +thinking of these matters, out in the silent woods, and I have come +to the opinion, boy, that, as Providence rules all things, no gift is +bestowed without some wise and reasonable end." + +"The Serpent greatly exposes himself to the enemy, in order to get his +scalp! This may lose us the day." + +"Not in his mind, Jasper. That one scalp has more honor in it, according +to the Sarpent's notions of warfare, than a field covered with slain, +that kept the hair on their heads. Now, there was the fine young +captain of the 60th that threw away his life in trying to bring off a +three-pounder from among the Frenchers in the last skrimmage we had; +he thought he was sarving honor; and I have known a young ensign wrap +himself up in his colors, and go to sleep in his blood, fancying that he +was lying on something softer even than buffalo-skins." + +"Yes, yes; one can understand the merit of not hauling down an ensign." + +"And these are Chingachgook's colors--he will keep them to show his +children's children--" Here the Pathfinder interrupted himself, shook +his head in melancholy, and slowly added, "Ah's me! no shoot of the old +Mohican stem remains! He has no children to delight with his trophies; +no tribe to honor by his deeds; he is a lone man in this world, and yet +he stands true to his training and his gifts! There is something honest +and respectable in these, you must allow, Jasper." + +Here a great outcry from the Iroquois was succeeded by the quick reports +of their rifles, and so eager did the enemy become, in the desire to +drive the Delaware back from his victim, that a dozen rushed into +the river, several of whom even advanced near a hundred feet into the +foaming current, as if they actually meditated a serious sortie. But +Chingachgook continued unmoved, as he remained unhurt by the missiles, +accomplishing his task with the dexterity of long habit. Flourishing his +reeking trophy, he gave the war-whoop in its most frightful intonations, +and for a minute the arches of the silent woods and the deep vista +formed by the course of the river echoed with cries so terrific that +Mabel bowed her head in irrepressible fear, while her uncle for a single +instant actually meditated flight. + +"This surpasses all I have heard from the wretches," Jasper exclaimed, +stopping his ears, equally in horror and disgust. + +"'Tis their music, boy; their drum and fife; their trumpets and +clarions. No doubt they love those sounds; for they stir up in them +fierce feelings, and a desire for blood," returned the Pathfinder, +totally unmoved. "I thought them rather frightful when a mere youngster; +but they have become like the whistle of the whippoorwill or the song of +the cat-bird in my ear now. All the screeching reptyles that could stand +between the falls and the garrison would have no effect on my narves +at this time of day. I say it not in boasting, Jasper; for the man that +lets in cowardice through the ears must have but a weak heart at +the best; sounds and outcries being more intended to alarm women and +children than such as scout the forest and face the foe. I hope the +Sarpent is now satisfied, for here he comes with the scalp at his belt." + +Jasper turned away his head as the Delaware rose from the water, in pure +disgust at his late errand; but the Pathfinder regarded his friend with +the philosophical indifference of one who had made up his mind to be +indifferent to things he deemed immaterial. As the Delaware passed +deeper into the bushes with a view to wring his trifling calico dress +and to prepare his rifle for service, he gave one glance of triumph at +his companions, and then all emotion connected with the recent exploit +seemed to cease. + +"Jasper," resumed the guide, "step down to the station of Master Cap, +and ask him to join us: we have little time for a council, and yet our +plans must be laid quickly, for it will not be long before them Mingos +will be plotting our ruin." + +The young man complied; and in a few minutes the four were assembled +near the shore, completely concealed from the view of their enemies, +while they kept a vigilant watch over the proceedings of the latter, in +order to consult on their own future movements. + +By this time the day had so far advanced as to leave but a few minutes +between the passing light and an obscurity that promised to be even +deeper than common. The sun had already set and the twilight of a low +latitude would soon pass into the darkness of deep night. Most of the +hopes of the party rested on this favorable circumstance, though it was +not without its dangers also, as the very obscurity which would favor +their escape would be as likely to conceal the movements of their wily +enemies. + +"The moment has come, men," Pathfinder commenced, "when our plans must +be coolly laid, in order that we may act together, and with a right +understanding of our errand and gifts. In an hour's time these woods +will be as dark as midnight; and if we are ever to gain the garrison, +it must be done under favor of this advantage. What say you, Master Cap? +for, though none of the most experienced in combats and retreats in the +woods, your years entitle you to speak first in a matter like this and +in a council." + +"Well, in my judgment, all we have to do is to go on board the canoe +when it gets to be so dark the enemy's lookouts can't see us, and run +for the haven, as wind and tide will allow." + +"That is easily said, but not so easily done," returned the guide. "We +shall be more exposed in the river than by following the woods; and then +there is the Oswego rift below us, and I am far from sartain that Jasper +himself can carry a boat safely through it in the dark. What say you, +lad, as to your own skill and judgment?" + +"I am of Master Cap's opinion about using the canoe. Mabel is too tender +to walk through swamps and among roots of trees in such a night as this +promises to be, and then I always feel myself stouter of heart and truer +of eye when afloat than when ashore." + +"Stout of heart you always be, lad, and I think tolerably true of eye +for one who has lived so much in broad sunshine and so little in the +woods. Ah's me! The Ontario has no trees, or it would be a plain to +delight a hunter's heart! As to your opinion, friends, there is much for +and much against it. For it, it may be said water leaves no trail--" + +"What do you call the wake?" interrupted the pertinacious and dogmatical +Cap. + +"Anan?" + +"Go on," said Jasper; "Master Cap thinks he is on the ocean--water +leaves no trail--" + +"It leaves none, Eau-douce, hereaway, though I do not pretend to say +what it may leave on the sea. Then a canoe is both swift and easy when +it floats with the current, and the tender limbs of the Sergeant's +daughter will be favored by its motion. But, on the other hand, the +river will have no cover but the clouds in the heavens; the rift is a +ticklish thing for boats to venture into, even by daylight; and it is +six fairly measured miles, by water, from this spot to the garrison. +Then a trail on land is not easy to be found in the dark. I am troubled, +Jasper, to say which way we ought to counsel and advise." + +"If the Serpent and myself could swim into the river and bring off the +other canoe," the young sailor replied, "it would seem to me that our +safest course would be the water." + +"If, indeed! and yet it might easily be done, as soon as it is a little +darker. Well, well, I am not sartain it will not be the best. Though, +were we only a party of men, it would be like a hunt to the lusty and +brave to play at hide-and-seek with yonder miscreants on the other +shore, Jasper," continued the guide, into whose character there entered +no ingredient which belonged to vain display or theatrical effect, "will +you undertake to bring in the canoe?" + +"I will undertake anything that will serve and protect Mabel, +Pathfinder." + +"That is an upright feeling, and I suppose it is natur'. The Sarpent, +who is nearly naked already, can help you; and this will be cutting off +one of the means of them devils to work their harm." + +This material point being settled, the different members of the party +prepared themselves to put the project in execution. The shades of +evening fell fast upon the forest; and by the time all was ready for +the attempt, it was found impossible to discern objects on the opposite +shore. Time now pressed; for Indian cunning could devise so many +expedients for passing so narrow a stream, that the Pathfinder was +getting impatient to quit the spot. While Jasper and his companion +entered the river, armed with nothing but their knives and the +Delaware's tomahawk, observing the greatest caution not to betray their +movements, the guide brought Mabel from her place of concealment, and, +bidding her and Cap proceed along the shore to the foot of the rapids, +he got into the canoe that remained in his possession, in order to carry +it to the same place. + +This was easily effected. The canoe was laid against the bank, and +Mabel and her uncle entered it, taking their seats as usual; while the +Pathfinder, erect in the stern, held by a bush, in order to prevent the +swift stream from sweeping them down its current. Several minutes of +intense and breathless expectation followed, while they awaited the +results of the bold attempt of their comrades. + +It will be understood that the two adventurers were compelled to swim +across a deep and rapid channel before they could reach a part of the +rift that admitted of wading. This portion of the enterprise was soon +effected; and Jasper and the Serpent struck the bottom side by side at +the same instant. Having secured firm footing, they took hold of each +other's hands, and waded slowly and with extreme caution in the supposed +direction of the canoe. But the darkness was already so deep that they +soon ascertained they were to be but little aided by the sense of sight, +and that their search must be conducted on that species of instinct +which enables the woodsman to find his way when the sun is hid, no stars +appear, and all would seem chaos to one less accustomed to the mazes of +the forest. Under these circumstances, Jasper submitted to be guided by +the Delaware, whose habits best fitted him to take the lead. Still it +was no easy matter to wade amid the roaring element at that hour, and +retain a clear recollection of the localities. By the time they believed +themselves to be in the centre of the stream, the two shores were +discernible merely by masses of obscurity denser than common, the +outlines against the clouds being barely distinguishable by the ragged +tops of the trees. Once or twice the wanderers altered their course, in +consequence of unexpectedly stepping into deep water; for they knew that +the boat had lodged on the shallowest part of the rift. In short, with +this fact for their compass, Jasper and his companion wandered about +in the water for nearly a quarter of an hour; and at the end of that +period, which began to appear interminable to the young man, they found +themselves apparently no nearer the object of their search than they +had been at its commencement. Just as the Delaware was about to stop, in +order to inform his associate that they would do well to return to +the land, in order to take a fresh departure, he saw the form of a man +moving about in the water, almost within reach of his arm. Jasper was +at his side, and he at once understood that the Iroquois were engaged on +the same errand as he was himself. + +"Mingo!" he uttered in Jasper's ear. "The Serpent will show his brother +how to be cunning." + +The young sailor caught a glimpse of the figure at that instant, and the +startling truth also flashed on his mind. Understanding the necessity of +trusting all to the Delaware chief, he kept back, while his friend moved +cautiously in the direction in which the strange form had vanished. In +another moment it was seen again, evidently moving towards themselves. +The waters made such an uproar that little was to be apprehended from +ordinary sounds, and the Indian, turning his head, hastily said, "Leave +it to the cunning of the Great Serpent." + +"Hugh!" exclaimed the strange savage, adding, in the language of his +people, "The canoe is found, but there were none to help me. Come, let +us raise it from the rock." + +"Willingly," answered Chingachgook, who understood the dialect. "Lead; +we will follow." + +The stranger, unable to distinguish between voices and accents amid the +raging of the rapid, led the way in the necessary direction; and, the +two others keeping close at his heels, all three speedily reached the +canoe. The Iroquois laid hold of one end, Chingachgook placed himself +in the centre, and Jasper went to the opposite extremity, as it +was important that the stranger should not detect the presence of a +pale-face, a discovery that might be made by the parts of the dress the +young man still wore, as well as by the general appearance of his head. + +"Lift," said the Iroquois in the sententious manner of his race; and by +a trifling effort the canoe was raised from the rock, held a moment +in the air to empty it, and then placed carefully on the water in its +proper position. All three held it firmly, lest it should escape +from their hands under the pressure of the violent current, while the +Iroquois, who led, of course, being at the upper end of the boat, +took the direction of the eastern shore, or towards the spot where his +friends waited his return. + +As the Delaware and Jasper well knew there must be several more of the +Iroquois on the rift, from the circumstance that their own appearance +had occasioned no surprise in the individual they had met, both felt the +necessity of extreme caution. Men less bold and determined would have +thought that they were incurring too great a risk by thus venturing into +the midst of their enemies; but these hardy borderers were unacquainted +with fear, were accustomed to hazards, and so well understood the +necessity of at least preventing their foes from getting the boat, that +they would have cheerfully encountered even greater risks to secure +their object. So all-important to the safety of Mabel, indeed, did +Jasper deem the possession or the destruction of this canoe, that he had +drawn his knife, and stood ready to rip up the bark, in order to render +the boat temporarily unserviceable, should anything occur to compel the +Delaware and himself to abandon their prize. + +In the meantime, the Iroquois, who led the way, proceeded slowly through +the water in the direction of his own party, still grasping the canoe, +and dragging his reluctant followers in his train. Once Chingachgook +raised his tomahawk, and was about to bury it in the brain of his +confiding and unsuspicious neighbor; but the probability that the +death-cry or the floating body might give the alarm induced that wary +chief to change his purpose. At the next moment he regretted this +indecision, for the three who clung to the canoe suddenly found +themselves in the centre of a party of no less than four others who were +in quest of it. + +After the usual brief characteristic exclamations of satisfaction, the +savages eagerly laid hold of the canoe, for all seemed impressed with +the necessity of securing this important boat, the one side in order to +assail their foes, and the other to secure their retreat. The addition +to the party, however, was so unlooked-for, and so completely gave the +enemy the superiority, that for a few moments the ingenuity and address +of even the Delaware were at fault. The five Iroquois, who seemed +perfectly to understand their errand, pressed forward towards their +own shore, without pausing to converse; their object being in truth to +obtain the paddles, which they had previously secured, and to embark +three or four warriors, with all their rifles and powder-horns, the want +of which had alone prevented their crossing the river by swimming as +soon as it was dark. + +In this manner, the body of friends and foes united reached the margin +of the eastern channel, where, as in the case of the western, the +river was too deep to be waded. Here a short pause succeeded, it being +necessary to determine the manner in which the canoe was to be carried +across. One of the four who had just reached the boat was a chief; +and the habitual deference which the American Indian pays to merit, +experience, and station kept the others silent until this individual had +spoken. + +The halt greatly added to the danger of discovering the presence of +Jasper, in particular, who, however, had the precaution to throw the +cap he wore into the bottom of the canoe. Being without his jacket and +shirt, the outline of his figure, in the obscurity, would now be less +likely to attract observation. His position, too, at the stern of the +canoe a little favored his concealment, the Iroquois naturally keeping +their looks directed the other way. Not so with Chingachgook. This +warrior was literally in the midst of his most deadly foes, and he +could scarcely move without touching one of them. Yet he was apparently +unmoved, though he kept all his senses on the alert, in readiness +to escape, or to strike a blow at the proper moment. By carefully +abstaining from looking towards those behind him, he lessened the +chances of discovery, and waited with the indomitable patience of an +Indian for the instant when he should be required to act. + +"Let all my young men but two, one at each end of the canoe, cross and +get their arms," said the Iroquois chief. "Let the two push over the +boat." + +The Indians quietly obeyed, leaving Jasper at the stern, and the +Iroquois who had found the canoe at the bow of the light craft, +Chingachgook burying himself so deep in the river as to be passed by the +others without detection. The splashing in the water, the tossing arms, +and the calls of one to another, soon announced that the four who had +last joined the party were already swimming. As soon as this fact was +certain, the Delaware rose, resumed his former station, and began to +think the moment for action was come. + +One less habitually under self-restraint than this warrior would +probably have now aimed his meditated blow; but Chingachgook knew there +were more Iroquois behind him on the rift, and he was a warrior much too +trained and experienced to risk anything unnecessarily. He suffered the +Indian at the bow of the canoe to push off into the deep water, and then +all three were swimming in the direction of the eastern shore. Instead, +however, of helping the canoe across the swift current, no sooner did +the Delaware and Jasper find themselves within the influence of its +greatest force than both began to swim in a way to check their farther +progress across the stream. Nor was this done suddenly, or in the +incautious manner in which a civilized man would have been apt to +attempt the artifice, but warily, and so gradually that the Iroquois at +the bow fancied at first he was merely struggling against the strength +of the current. Of course, while acted on by these opposing efforts, +the canoe drifted down stream, and in about a minute it was floating in +still deeper water at the foot of the rift. Here, however, the Iroquois +was not slow in finding that something unusual retarded their advance, +and, looking back; he first learned that he was resisted by the efforts +of his companions. + +That second nature which grows up through habit instantly told the young +Iroquois that he was alone with enemies. Dashing the water aside, he +sprang at the throat of Chingachgook, and the two Indians, relinquishing +their hold of the canoe, seized each other like tigers. In the midst +of the darkness of that gloomy night, and floating in an element so +dangerous to man when engaged in deadly strife, they appeared to forget +everything but their fell animosity and their mutual desire to conquer. + +Jasper had now complete command of the canoe, which flew off like +a feather impelled by the breath under the violent reaction of the +struggles of the two combatants. The first impulse of the youth was to +swim to the aid of the Delaware, but the importance of securing the +boat presented itself with tenfold force, while he listened to the +heavy breathings of the warriors as they throttled each other, and he +proceeded as fast as possible towards the western shore. This he soon +reached; and after a short search he succeeded in discovering the +remainder of the party and in procuring his clothes. A few words +sufficed to explain the situation in which he had left the Delaware and +the manner in which the canoe had been obtained. + +When those who had been left behind had heard the explanations of +Jasper, a profound stillness reigned among them, each listening intently +in the vain hope of catching some clue to the result of the fearful +struggle that had just taken place, if it were not still going on in the +water. Nothing was audible beyond the steady roar of the rushing river; +it being a part of the policy of their enemies on the opposite shore to +observe the most deathlike stillness. + +"Take this paddle, Jasper," said Pathfinder calmly, though the listeners +thought his voice sounded more melancholy than usual, "and follow with +your own canoe. It is unsafe for us to remain here longer." + +"But the Serpent?" + +"The Great Sarpent is in the hands of his own Deity, and will live or +die, according to the intentions of Providence. We can do him no good, +and may risk too much by remaining here in idleness, like women talking +over their distresses. This darkness is very precious." + +A loud, long, piercing yell came from the shore, and cut short the words +of the guide. + +"What is the meaning of that uproar, Master Pathfinder?" demanded Cap. +"It sounds more like the outcries of devils than anything that can come +from the throats of Christians and men." + +"Christians they are not, and do not pretend to be, and do not wish to +be; and in calling them devils you have scarcely misnamed them. That +yell is one of rejoicing, and it is as conquerors they have given it. +The body of the Sarpent, no doubt, dead or alive, is in their power. + +"And we!" exclaimed Jasper, who felt a pang of generous regret, as the +idea that he might have averted the calamity presented itself to his +mind, had he not deserted his comrade. + +"We can do the chief no good, lad, and must quit this spot as fast as +possible." + +"Without one attempt to rescue him?--without even knowing whether he be +dead or living?" + +"Jasper is right," said Mabel, who could speak, though her voice sounded +huskily and smothered; "I have no fears, uncle, and will stay here until +we know what has become of our friend." + +"This seems reasonable, Pathfinder," put in Cap. "Your true seaman +cannot well desert a messmate; and I am glad to find that motives so +correct exist among those fresh-water people." + +"Tut! tut!" returned the impatient guide, forcing the canoe into the +stream as he spoke; "ye know nothing and ye fear nothing. If ye value +your lives, think of reaching the garrison, and leave the Delaware in +the hands of Providence. Ah's me! the deer that goes too often to the +lick meets the hunter at last!" + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + And is this--Yarrow?--this the stream + Of which my fancy cherish'd + So faithfully a waking dream? + An image that hath perish'd? + Oh that some minstrel's harp were near, + To utter notes of gladness, + And chase this silence from the air, + That fills my heart with sadness. + WORDSWORTH. + + +THE scene was not without its sublimity, and the ardent, generous-minded +Mabel felt her blood thrill in her veins and her cheeks flush, as +the canoe shot into the strength of the stream, to quit the spot. The +darkness of the night had lessened, by the dispersion of the clouds; +but the overhanging woods rendered the shore so obscure, that the boats +floated down the current in a belt of gloom that effectually secured +them from detection. Still, there was necessarily a strong feeling of +insecurity in all on board them; and even Jasper, who by this time began +to tremble, in behalf of the girl, at every unusual sound that arose +from the forest, kept casting uneasy glances around him as he drifted on +in company. The paddle was used lightly, and only with exceeding care; +for the slightest sound in the breathing stillness of that hour and +place might apprise the watchful ears of the Iroquois of their position. + +All these accessories added to the impressive grandeur of her situation, +and contributed to render the moment much the most exciting which +had ever occurred in the brief existence of Mabel Dunham. Spirited, +accustomed to self-reliance, and sustained by the pride of considering +herself a soldier's daughter, she could hardly be said to be under the +influence of fear, yet her heart often beat quicker than common, her +fine blue eye lighted with an exhibition of a resolution that was wasted +in the darkness, and her quickened feelings came in aid of the real +sublimity that belonged to the scene and to the incidents of the night. + +"Mabel!" said the suppressed voice of Jasper, as the two canoes floated +so near each other that the hand of the young man held them together, +"you have no dread? You trust freely to our care and willingness to +protect you?" + +"I am a soldier's daughter, as you know, Jasper Western, and ought to be +ashamed to confess fear." + +"Rely on me--on us all. Your uncle, Pathfinder, the Delaware, were the +poor fellow here, I myself, will risk everything rather than harm should +reach you." + +"I believe you, Jasper," returned the girl, her hand unconsciously +playing in the water. "I know that my uncle loves me, and will never +think of himself until he has first thought of me; and I believe you are +all my father's friends, and would willingly assist his child. But I am +not so feeble and weak-minded as you may think; for, though only a girl +from the towns, and, like most of that class, a little disposed to see +danger where there is none, I promise you, Jasper, no foolish fears of +mine shall stand in the way of your doing your duty." + +"The Sergeant's daughter is right, and she is worthy of being honest +Thomas Dunham's child," put in the Pathfinder. "Ah's me, pretty one! +many is the time that your father and I have scouted and marched +together on the flanks and rear of the enemy, in nights darker than +this, and that, too, when we did not know but the next moment would lead +us into a bloody ambushment. I was at his side when he got the wound in +his shoulder; and the honest fellow will tell you, when you meet, the +manner in which we contrived to cross the river which lay in our rear, +in order to save his scalp." + +"He has told me," said Mabel, with more energy perhaps than her +situation rendered prudent. "I have his letters, in which he has +mentioned all that, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the +service. God will remember it, Pathfinder; and there is no gratitude +that you can ask of the daughter which she will not cheerfully repay for +her father's life." + +"Ay, that is the way with all your gentle and pure-hearted creatures. +I have seen some of you before, and have heard of others. The Sergeant +himself has talked to me of his own young days, and of your mother, +and of the manner in which he courted her, and of all the crossings and +disappointments, until he succeeded at last." + +"My mother did not live long to repay him for what he did to win her," +said Mabel, with a trembling lip. + +"So he tells me. The honest Sergeant has kept nothing back; for, being +so many years my senior, he has looked on me, in our many scoutings +together, as a sort of son." + +"Perhaps, Pathfinder," observed Jasper, with a huskiness in his voice +that defeated the attempt at pleasantry, "he would be glad to have you +for one in reality." + +"And if he did, Eau-douce, where would be the sin of it? He knows what I +am on a trail or a scout, and he has seen me often face to face with the +Frenchers. I have sometimes thought, lad, that we all ought to seek for +wives; for the man that lives altogether in the woods, and in company +with his enemies or his prey, gets to lose some of the feeling of kind +in the end. It is not easy to dwell always in the presence of God and +not feel the power of His goodness. I have attended church-sarvice in +the garrisons, and tried hard, as becomes a true soldier, to join in +the prayers; for, though no enlisted sarvant of the king, I fight +his battles and sarve his cause, and so I have endeavored to worship +garrison-fashion, but never could raise within me the solemn feelings +and true affection that I feel when alone with God in the forest. There +I seem to stand face to face with my Master; all around me is fresh and +beautiful, as it came from His hand; and there is no nicety or doctrine +to chill the feelings. No no; the woods are the true temple after all, +for there the thoughts are free to mount higher even than the clouds." + +"You speak the truth, Master Pathfinder," said Cap, "and a truth that +all who live much in solitude know. What, for instance, is the reason +that seafaring men in general are so religious and conscientious in all +they do, but the fact that they are so often alone with Providence, and +have so little to do with the wickedness of the land. Many and many is +the time that I have stood my watch, under the equator perhaps, or in +the Southern Ocean, when the nights are lighted up with the fires of +heaven; and that is the time, I can tell you, my hearties, to bring a +man to his bearings in the way of his sins. I have rattled down mine +again and again under such circumstances, until the shrouds and lanyards +of conscience have fairly creaked with the strain. I agree with you, +Master Pathfinder, therefore, in saying, if you want a truly religious +man, go to sea, or go into the woods." + +"Uncle, I thought seamen had little credit generally for their respect +for religion?" + +"All d----d slander, girl; for all the essentials of Christianity the +seaman beats the landsman hand-over-hand." + +"I will not answer for all this, Master Cap," returned Pathfinder; "but +I daresay some of it may be true. I want no thunder and lightning to +remind me of my God, nor am I as apt to bethink on most of all His +goodness in trouble and tribulations as on a calm, solemn, quiet day in +a forest, when His voice is heard in the creaking of a dead branch or in +the song of a bird, as much in my ears at least as it is ever heard in +uproar and gales. How is it with you, Eau-douce? you face the tempests +as well as Master Cap, and ought to know something of the feelings of +storms." + +"I fear that I am too young and too inexperienced to be able to say much +on such a subject," modestly answered Jasper. + +"But you have your feelings!" said Mabel quickly. "You cannot--no one +can live among such scenes without feeling how much they ought to trust +in God!" + +"I shall not belie my training so much as to say I do not sometimes +think of these things, but I fear it is not so often or so much as I +ought." + +"Fresh water," resumed Cap pithily; "you are not to expect too much of +the young man, Mabel. I think they call you sometimes by a name which +would insinuate all this: Eau-de-vie, is it not?" + +"Eau-douce," quietly replied Jasper, who from sailing on the lake had +acquired a knowledge of French, as well as of several of the Indian +dialects. "It is a name the Iroquois have given me to distinguish me +from some of my companions who once sailed upon the sea, and are fond of +filling the ears of the natives with stories of their great salt-water +lakes." + +"And why shouldn't they? I daresay they do the savages no harm. Ay, ay, +Eau-deuce; that must mean the white brandy, which may well enough be +called the deuce, for deuced stuff it is!" + +"The signification of Eau-douce is sweet-water, and it is the manner +in which the French express fresh-water," rejoined Jasper, a little +nettled. + +"And how the devil do they make water out of Eau-in-deuce, when it means +brandy in Eau-de-vie? Besides, among seamen, Eau always means brandy; +and Eau-de-vie, brandy of a high proof. I think nothing of your +ignorance, young man; for it is natural to your situation, and cannot +be helped. If you will return with me, and make a v'y'ge or two on the +Atlantic, it will serve you a good turn the remainder of your days; and +Mabel there, and all the other young women near the coast, will think +all the better of you should you live to be as old as one of the trees +in this forest." + +"Nay, nay," interrupted the single-hearted and generous guide; "Jasper +wants not for friends in this region, I can assure you; and though +seeing the world, according to his habits, may do him good as well as +another, we shall think none the worse of him if he never quits us. +Eau-douce or Eau-de-vie, he is a brave, true-hearted youth, and I always +sleep as soundly when he is on the watch as if I was up and stirring +myself; ay, and for that matter, sounder too. The Sergeant's daughter +here doesn't believe it necessary for the lad to go to sea in order to +make a man of him, or one who is worthy to be respected and esteemed." + +Mabel made no reply to this appeal, and she even looked towards the +western shore, although the darkness rendered the natural movements +unnecessary to conceal her face. But Jasper felt that there was a +necessity for his saying something, the pride of youth and manhood +revolting at the idea of his being in a condition not to command the +respect of his fellows or the smiles of his equals of the other sex. +Still he was unwilling to utter aught that might be considered harsh +to the uncle of Mabel; and his self-command was perhaps more creditable +than his modesty and spirit. + +"I pretend not to things I don't possess," he said, "and lay no claim to +any knowledge of the ocean or of navigation. We steer by the stars +and the compass on these lakes, running from headland to headland; and +having little need of figures and calculations, make no use of them. But +we have our claims notwithstanding, as I have often heard from those who +have passed years on the ocean. In the first place, we have always +the land aboard, and much of the time on a lee-shore, and that I have +frequently heard makes hardy sailors. Our gales are sudden and severe, +and we are compelled to run for our ports at all hours." + +"You have your leads," interrupted Cap. + +"They are of little use, and are seldom cast." + +"The deep-seas." + +"I have heard of such things, but confess I never saw one." + +"Oh! deuce, with a vengeance. A trader, and no deep-sea! Why, boy, you +cannot pretend to be anything of a mariner. Who the devil ever heard of +a seaman without his deep-sea?" + +"I do not pretend to any particular skill, Master Cap." + +"Except in shooting falls, Jasper, except in shooting falls and rifts," +said Pathfinder, coming to the rescue; "in which business even you, +Master Cap, must allow he has some handiness. In my judgment, every man +is to be esteemed or condemned according to his gifts; and if Master +Cap is useless in running the Oswego Falls, I try to remember that he is +useful when out of sight of land; and if Jasper be useless when out of +sight of land, I do not forget that he has a true eye and steady hand +when running the falls." + +"But Jasper is not useless--would not be useless when out of sight of +land," said Mabel, with a spirit and energy that caused her clear sweet +voice to be startling amid the solemn stillness of that extraordinary +scene. "No one can be useless there who can do so much here, is what I +mean; though, I daresay, he is not as well acquainted with ships as my +uncle." + +"Ay, bolster each other up in your ignorance," returned Cap with a +sneer. "We seamen are so much out-numbered when ashore that it is seldom +we get our dues; but when you want to be defended, or trade is to be +carried on, there is outcry enough for us." + +"But, uncle, landsmen do not come to attack our coasts; so that seamen +only meet seamen." + +"So much for ignorance! Where are all the enemies that have landed in +this country, French and English, let me inquire, niece?" + +"Sure enough, where are they?" ejaculated Pathfinder. "None can tell +better than we who dwell in the woods, Master Cap. I have often followed +their line of march by bones bleaching in the rain, and have found their +trail by graves, years after they and their pride had vanished together. +Generals and privates, they lay scattered throughout the land, so many +proofs of what men are when led on by their love of great names and the +wish to be more than their fellows." + +"I must say, Master Pathfinder, that you sometimes utter opinions +that are a little remarkable for a man who lives by the rifle; seldom +snuffing the air but he smells gunpowder, or turning out of his berth +but to bear down on an enemy." + +"If you think I pass my days in warfare against my kind, you know +neither me nor my history. The man that lives in the woods and on the +frontiers must take the chances of the things among which he dwells. For +this I am not accountable, being but an humble and powerless hunter and +scout and guide. My real calling is to hunt for the army, on its marches +and in times of peace; although I am more especially engaged in the +service of one officer, who is now absent in the settlements, where I +never follow him. No, no; bloodshed and warfare are not my real gifts, +but peace and mercy. Still, I must face the enemy as well as another; +and as for a Mingo, I look upon him as man looks on a snake, a creatur' +to be put beneath the heel whenever a fitting occasion offers." + +"Well, well; I have mistaken your calling, which I had thought +as regularly warlike as that of a ship's gunner. There is my +brother-in-law, now; he has been a soldier since he was sixteen, and he +looks upon his trade as every way as respectable as that of a seafaring +man, a point I hardly think it worth while to dispute with him." + +"My father has been taught to believe that it is honorable to carry +arms," said Mabel, "for his father was a soldier before him." + +"Yes, yes," resumed the guide; "most of the Sergeant's gifts are +martial, and he looks at most things in this world over the barrel of +his musket. One of his notions, now, is to prefer a king's piece to a +regular, double-sighted, long-barrelled rifle. Such conceits will come +over men from long habit; and prejudice is, perhaps, the commonest +failing of human natur'." + +While the desultory conversation just related had been carried on in +subdued voices, the canoes were dropping slowly down with the current +within the deep shadows of the western shore, the paddles being used +merely to preserve the desired direction and proper positions. The +strength of the stream varied materially, the water being seemingly +still in places, while in other reaches it flowed at a rate exceeding +two or even three miles in the hour. On the rifts it even dashed forward +with a velocity that was appalling to the unpractised eye. Jasper was of +opinion that they might drift down with the current to the mouth of the +river in two hours from the time they left the shore, and he and the +Pathfinder had agreed on the expediency of suffering the canoes to float +of themselves for a time, or at least until they had passed the first +dangers of their new movement. The dialogue had been carried on in +voices, too, guardedly low; for though the quiet of deep solitude +reigned in that vast and nearly boundless forest, nature was speaking +with her thousand tongues in the eloquent language of night in a +wilderness. The air sighed through ten thousand trees, the water +rippled, and at places even roared along the shores; and now and then +was heard the creaking of a branch or a trunk, as it rubbed against +some object similar to itself, under the vibrations of a nicely balanced +body. All living sounds had ceased. Once, it is true, the Pathfinder +fancied he heard the howl of a distant wolf, of which a few prowled +through these woods; but it was a transient and doubtful cry, that might +possibly have been attributed to the imagination. When he desired his +companions, however, to cease talking, his vigilant ear had caught the +peculiar sound which is made by the parting of a dried branch of a tree +and which, if his senses did not deceive him, came from the western +shore. All who are accustomed to that particular sound will understand +how readily the ear receives it, and how easy it is to distinguish the +tread which breaks the branch from every other noise of the forest. + +"There is the footstep of a man on the bank," said Pathfinder to Jasper, +speaking in neither a whisper nor yet in a voice loud enough to be +heard at any distance. "Can the accursed Iroquois have crossed the river +already, with their arms, and without a boat?" + +"It may be the Delaware. He would follow us, of course down this bank, +and would know where to look for us. Let me draw closer into the shore, +and reconnoitre." + +"Go boy but be light with the paddle, and on no account venture ashore +on an onsartainty." + +"Is this prudent?" demanded Mabel, with an impetuosity that rendered her +incautious in modulating her sweet voice. + +"Very imprudent, if you speak so loud, fair one. I like your voice, +which is soft and pleasing, after the listening so long to the tones of +men; but it must not be heard too much, or too freely, just now. Your +father, the honest Sergeant, will tell you, when you meet him, that +silence is a double virtue on a trail. Go, Jasper, and do justice to +your own character for prudence." + +Ten anxious minutes succeeded the disappearance of the canoe of Jasper, +which glided away from that of the Pathfinder so noiselessly, that +it had been swallowed up in the gloom before Mabel allowed herself to +believe the young man would really venture alone on a service which +struck her imagination as singularly dangerous. During this time, the +party continued to float with the current, no one speaking, and, it +might almost be said, no one breathing, so strong was the general desire +to catch the minutest sound that should come from the shore. But the +same solemn, we might, indeed, say sublime, quiet reigned as before; the +washing of the water, as it piled up against some slight obstruction, +and the sighing of the trees, alone interrupting the slumbers of the +forest. At the end of the period mentioned, the snapping of dried +branches was again faintly heard, and the Pathfinder fancied that the +sound of smothered voices reached him. + +"I may be mistaken," he said, "for the thoughts often fancy what the +heart wishes; but these were notes like the low tones of the Delaware." + +"Do the dead of the savages ever walk?" demanded Cap. + +"Ay, and run too, in their happy hunting-grounds, but nowhere else. A +red-skin finishes with the 'arth, after the breath quits the body. It +is not one of his gifts to linger around his wigwam when his hour has +passed." + +"I see some object on the water," whispered Mabel, whose eye had not +ceased to dwell on the body of gloom, with close intensity, since the +disappearance of Jasper. + +"It is the canoe," returned the guide, greatly relieved. "All must be +safe, or we should have heard from the lad." + +In another minute the two canoes, which became visible to those they +carried only as they drew near each other, again floated side by side, +and the form of Jasper was recognized at the stern of his own boat. The +figure of a second man was seated in the bow; and, as the young sailor +so wielded his paddle as to bring the face of his companion near the +eyes of the Pathfinder and Mabel, they both recognized the person of the +Delaware. + +"Chingachgook--my brother!" said the guide in the dialect of the other's +people, a tremor shaking his voice that betrayed the strength of his +feelings. "Chief of the Mohicans! My heart is very glad. Often have we +passed through blood and strife together, but I was afraid it was never +to be so again." + +"Hugh! The Mingos are squaws! Three of their scalps hang at my girdle. +They do not know how to strike the Great Serpent of the Delawares. +Their hearts have no blood; and their thoughts are on their return path, +across the waters of the Great Lake." + +"Have you been among them, chief? and what has become of the warrior who +was in the river?" + +"He has turned into a fish, and lies at the bottom with the eels! Let +his brothers bait their hooks for him. Pathfinder, I have counted the +enemy, and have touched their rifles." + +"Ah, I thought he would be venturesome!" exclaimed the guide in English. +"The risky fellow has been in the midst of them, and has brought us back +their whole history. Speak, Chingachgook, and I will make our friends as +knowing as ourselves." + +The Delaware now related in a low earnest manner the substance of all +his discoveries, since he was last seen struggling with his foe in the +river. Of the fate of his antagonist he said no more, it not being usual +for a warrior to boast in his more direct and useful narratives. As +soon as he had conquered in that fearful strife, however, he swam to +the eastern shore, landed with caution, and wound his way in amongst the +Iroquois, concealed by the darkness, undetected, and, in the main, even +unsuspected. Once, indeed, he had been questioned; but answering that he +was Arrowhead, no further inquiries were made. By the passing remarks, +he soon ascertained that the party was out expressly to intercept Mabel +and her uncle, concerning whose rank, however, they had evidently been +deceived. He also ascertained enough to justify the suspicion that +Arrowhead had betrayed them to their enemies, for some motive that it +was not now easy to reach, as he had not yet received the reward of his +services. + +Pathfinder communicated no more of this intelligence to his companions +than he thought might relieve their apprehensions, intimating, at the +same time, that now was the moment for exertion, the Iroquois not having +yet entirely recovered from the confusion created by their losses. + +"We shall find them at the rift, I make no manner of doubt," continued +he; "and there it will be our fate to pass them, or to fall into their +hands. The distance to the garrison will then be so short, that I have +been thinking of a plan of landing with Mabel myself, that I may take +her in, by some of the by-ways, and leave the canoes to their chances in +the rapids." + +"It will never succeed, Pathfinder," eagerly interrupted Jasper. "Mabel +is not strong enough to tramp the woods in a night like this. Put her in +my skiff, and I will lose my life, or carry her through the rift safely, +dark as it is." + +"No doubt you will, lad; no one doubts your willingness to do anything +to serve the Sergeant's daughter; but it must be the eye of Providence, +and not your own, that will take you safely through the Oswego rift in a +night like this." + +"And who will lead her safely to the garrison if she land? Is not the +night as dark on shore as on the water? or do you think I know less of +my calling than you know of yours?" + +"Spiritedly said, lad; but if I should lose my way in the dark--and +I believe no man can say truly that such a thing ever yet happened to +me--but, if I _should_ lose my way, no other harm would come of it than +to pass a night in the forest; whereas a false turn of the paddle, or +a broad sheer of the canoe, would put you and the young woman into the +river, out of which it is more than probable the Sergeant's daughter +would never come alive." + +"I will leave it to Mabel herself; I am certain that she will feel more +secure in the canoe." + +"I have great confidence in you both," answered the girl; "and have no +doubts that either will do all he can to prove to my father how much he +values him; but I confess I should not like to quit the canoe, with the +certainty we have of there being enemies like those we have seen in the +forest. But my uncle can decide for me in this matter." + +"I have no liking for the woods," said Cap, "while one has a clear drift +like this on the river. Besides, Master Pathfinder, to say nothing of +the savages, you overlook the sharks." + +"Sharks! Who ever heard of sharks in the wilderness?" + +"Ay! Sharks, or bears, or wolves--no matter what you call a thing, so it +has the mind and power to bite." + +"Lord, lord, man! Do you dread any creatur' that is to be found in the +American forest? A catamount is a skeary animal, I will allow, but then +it is nothing in the hands of a practysed hunter. Talk of the Mingos and +their devilries if you will; but do not raise a false alarm about bears +and wolves." + +"Ay, ay, Master Pathfinder, this is all well enough for you, who +probably know the name of every creature you would meet. Use is +everything, and it makes a man bold when he might otherwise be bashful. +I have known seamen in the low latitudes swim for hours at a time among +sharks fifteen or twenty feet long." + +"This is extraordinary!" exclaimed Jasper, who had not yet acquired that +material part of his trade, the ability to spin a yarn. "I have always +heard that it was certain death to venture in the water among sharks." + +"I forgot to say, that the lads always took capstan-bars, or gunners' +handspikes, or crows with them, to rap the beasts over the noses if they +got to be troublesome. No, no, I have no liking for bears and wolves, +though a whale, in my eye, is very much the same sort of fish as a red +herring after it is dried and salted. Mabel and I had better stick to +the canoe." + +"Mabel would do well to change canoes," added Jasper. "This of mine is +empty, and even Pathfinder will allow that my eye is surer than his own +on the water." + +"That I will, cheerfully, boy. The water belongs to your gifts, and no +one will deny that you have improved them to the utmost. You are right +enough in believing that the Sergeant's daughter will be safer in your +canoe than in this; and though I would gladly keep her near myself, I +have her welfare too much at heart not to give her honest advice. Bring +your canoe close alongside, Jasper, and I will give you what you must +consider as a precious treasure." + +"I do so consider it," returned the youth, not losing a moment in +complying with the request; when Mabel passed from one canoe to the +other taking her seat on the effects which had hitherto composed its +sole cargo. + +As soon as this arrangement was made, the canoes separated a short +distance, and the paddles were used, though with great care to avoid +making any noise. The conversation gradually ceased; and as the dreaded +rift was approached, all became impressed with the gravity of the +moment. That their enemies would endeavor to reach this point before +them was almost certain; and it seemed so little probable any one +should attempt to pass it, in the profound obscurity which reigned, that +Pathfinder was confident parties were on both sides of the river, in the +hope of intercepting them when they might land. He would not have made +the proposal he did had he not felt sure of his own ability to convert +this very anticipation of success into a means of defeating the plans of +the Iroquois. As the arrangement now stood, however, everything depended +on the skill of those who guided the canoes; for should either hit a +rock, if not split asunder, it would almost certainly be upset, and then +would come not only all the hazards of the river itself, but, for Mabel, +the certainty of falling into the hands of her pursuers. The utmost +circumspection consequently became necessary, and each one was too much +engrossed with his own thoughts to feel a disposition to utter more than +was called for by the exigencies of the case. + +At the canoes stole silently along, the roar of the rift became audible, +and it required all the fortitude of Cap to keep his seat, while these +boding sounds were approached, amid a darkness which scarcely permitted +a view of the outlines of the wooded shore and of the gloomy vault +above his head. He retained a vivid impression of the falls, and his +imagination was not now idle in swelling the dangers of the rift to a +level with those of the headlong descent he had that day made, and even +to increase them, under the influence of doubt and uncertainty. In +this, however, the old mariner was mistaken, for the Oswego Rift and the +Oswego Falls are very different in their characters and violence; the +former being no more than a rapid, that glances among shallows and +rocks, while the latter really deserved the name it bore, as has been +already shown. + +Mabel certainly felt distrust and apprehension; but her entire situation +was so novel, and her reliance on her guide so great, that she retained +a self-command which might not have existed had she clearer perceptions +of the truth, or been better acquainted with the helplessness of men +when placed in opposition to the power and majesty of Nature. + +"Is that the spot you have mentioned?" she said to + +Jasper, when the roar of the rift first came distinctly on her ears. + +"It is; and I beg you to have confidence in me. We are not old +acquaintances, Mabel; but we live many days in one, in this wilderness. +I think, already, that I have known you years!" + +"And I do not feel as if you were a stranger to me, Jasper. I have every +reliance on your skill, as well as on your disposition to serve me." + +"We shall see, we shall see. Pathfinder is striking the rapids too near +the centre of the river; the bed of the water is closer to the eastern +shore; but I cannot make him hear me now. Hold firmly to the canoe, +Mabel, and fear nothing." + +At the next moment the swift current had sucked them into the rift, and +for three or four minutes the awe-struck, rather than the alarmed, girl +saw nothing around her but sheets of glancing foam, heard nothing but +the roar of waters. Twenty times did the canoe appear about to dash +against some curling and bright wave that showed itself even amid that +obscurity; and as often did it glide away again unharmed, impelled by +the vigorous arm of him who governed its movements. Once, and once only, +did Jasper seem to lose command of his frail bark, during which brief +space it fairly whirled entirely round; but by a desperate effort he +brought it again under control, recovered the lost channel, and was soon +rewarded for all his anxiety by finding himself floating quietly in +the deep water below the rapids, secure from every danger, and without +having taken in enough of the element to serve for a draught. + +"All is over, Mabel," the young man cried cheerfully. "The danger is +past, and you may now indeed hope to meet your father this very night." + +"God be praised! Jasper, we shall owe this great happiness to you." + +"The Pathfinder may claim a full share in the merit; but what has become +of the other canoe?" + +"I see something near us on the water; is it not the boat of our +friends?" + +A few strokes of the paddle brought Jasper to the side of the object in +question: it was the other canoe, empty and bottom upwards. No sooner +did the young man ascertain this fact, than he began to search for the +swimmers, and, to his great joy, Cap was soon discovered drifting down +with the current; the old seaman preferring the chances of drowning to +those of landing among savages. He was hauled into the canoe, though not +without difficulty, and then the search ended; for Jasper was persuaded +that the Pathfinder would wade to the shore, the water being shallow, in +preference to abandoning his beloved rifle. + +The remainder of the passage was short, though made amid darkness and +doubt. After a short pause, a dull roaring sound was heard, which +at times resembled the mutterings of distant thunder, and then +again brought with it the washing of waters. Jasper announced to his +companions that they now heard the surf of the lake. Low curved spits +of land lay before them, into the bay formed by one of which the canoe +glided, and then it shot up noiselessly upon a gravelly beach. The +transition that followed was so hurried and great, that Mabel scarcely +knew what passed. In the course of a few minutes, however, sentinels had +been passed, a gate was opened, and the agitated girl found herself in +the arms of a parent who was almost a stranger to her. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + A land of love, and a land of light, + Withouten sun, or moon, or night: + Where the river swa'd a living stream, + And the light a pure celestial beam: + The land of vision, it would seem + A still, an everlasting dream. + _Queen's Wake._ + + +The rest that succeeds fatigue, and which attends a newly awakened sense +of security, is generally sweet and deep. Such was the fact with Mabel, +who did not rise from her humble pallet--such a bed as a sergeant's +daughter might claim in a remote frontier post--until long after the +garrison had obeyed the usual summons of the drums, and had assembled at +the morning parade. Sergeant Dunham, on whose shoulders fell the task +of attending to these ordinary and daily duties, had got through all his +morning avocations, and was beginning to think of his breakfast, +before his child left her room, and came into the fresh air, equally +bewildered, delighted, and grateful, at the novelty and security of her +new situation. + +At the time of which we are writing, Oswego was one of the extreme +frontier posts of the British possessions on this continent. It had +not been long occupied, and was garrisoned by a battalion of a regiment +which had been originally Scotch, but into which many Americans had been +received since its arrival in this country; all innovation that had led +the way to Mabel's father filling the humble but responsible situation +of the oldest sergeant. A few young officers also, who were natives of +the colonies, were to be found in the corps. The fort itself, like +most works of that character, was better adapted to resist an attack of +savages than to withstand a regular siege; but the great difficulty +of transporting heavy artillery and other necessaries rendered the +occurrence of the latter a probability so remote as scarcely to enter +into the estimate of the engineers who had planned the defences. There +were bastions of earth and logs, a dry ditch, a stockade, a parade of +considerable extent, and barracks of logs, that answered the double +purpose of dwellings and fortifications. A few light field-pieces stood +in the area of the fort, ready to be conveyed to any point where they +might be wanted, and one or two heavy iron guns looked out from the +summits of the advanced angles, as so many admonitions to the audacious +to respect their power. + +When Mabel, quitting the convenient, but comparatively retired hut where +her father had been permitted to place her, issued into the pure air +of the morning, she found herself at the foot of a bastion, which lay +invitingly before her, with a promise of giving a _coup d'oeil_ of all +that had been concealed in the darkness of the preceding night. Tripping +up the grassy ascent, the light-hearted as well as light-footed girl +found herself at once on a point where the sight, at a few varying +glances, could take in all the external novelties of her new situation. + +To the southward lay the forest, through which she had been journeying +so many weary days, and which had proved so full of dangers. It was +separated from the stockade by a belt of open land, that had been +principally cleared of its woods to form the martial constructions +around her. This glacis, for such in fact was its military uses, might +have covered a hundred acres; but with it every sign of civilization +ceased. All beyond was forest; that dense, interminable forest which +Mabel could now picture to herself, through her recollections, with its +hidden glassy lakes, its dark rolling stream, and its world of nature. + +Turning from this view, our heroine felt her cheek fanned by a fresh and +grateful breeze, such as she had not experienced since quitting the far +distant coast. Here a new scene presented itself: although expected, it +was not without a start, and a low exclamation indicative of pleasure, +that the eager eyes of the girl drank in its beauties. To the north, and +east, and west, in every direction, in short, over one entire half +of the novel panorama, lay a field of rolling waters. The element was +neither of that glassy green which distinguishes the American waters +in general, nor yet of the deep blue of the ocean, the color being of a +slightly amber hue, which scarcely affected its limpidity. No land was +to be seen, with the exception of the adjacent coast, which stretched to +the right and left in an unbroken outline of forest with wide bays and +low headlands or points; still, much of the shore was rocky, and into +its caverns the sluggish waters occasionally rolled, producing a +hollow sound, which resembled the concussions of a distant gun. No sail +whitened the surface, no whale or other fish gambolled on its bosom, no +sign of use or service rewarded the longest and most minute gaze at its +boundless expanse. It was a scene, on one side, of apparently endless +forests, while a waste of seemingly interminable water spread itself on +the other. Nature appeared to have delighted in producing grand effects, +by setting two of her principal agents in bold relief to each other, +neglecting details; the eye turning from the broad carpet of leaves to +the still broader field of fluid, from the endless but gentle heavings +of the lake to the holy calm and poetical solitude of the forest, with +wonder and delight. + +Mabel Dunham, though unsophisticated, like most of her countrywomen +of that period, and ingenuous and frank as any warm-hearted and +sincere-minded girl well could be, was not altogether without a feeling +for the poetry of this beautiful earth of ours. Although she could +scarcely be said to be educated at all, for few of her sex at that +day and in this country received much more than the rudiments of plain +English instruction, still she had been taught much more than was usual +for young women in her own station in life; and, in one sense certainly, +she did credit to her teaching. The widow of a field-officer, who +formerly belonged to the same regiment as her father, had taken the +child in charge at the death of its mother; and under the care of this +lady Mabel had acquired some tastes and many ideas which otherwise might +always have remained strangers to her. Her situation in the family had +been less that of a domestic than of a humble companion, and the results +were quite apparent in her attire, her language, her sentiments, and +even in her feelings, though neither, perhaps, rose to the level of +those which would properly characterize a lady. She had lost the less +refined habits and manners of one in her original position, without +having quite reached a point that disqualified her for the situation in +life that the accidents of birth and fortune would probably compel her +to fill. All else that was distinctive and peculiar in her belonged to +natural character. + +With such antecedents it will occasion the reader no wonder if he +learns that Mabel viewed the novel scene before her with a pleasure +far superior to that produced by vulgar surprise. She felt its ordinary +beauties as most would have felt them, but she had also a feeling for +its sublimity--for that softened solitude, that calm grandeur, and +eloquent repose, which ever pervades broad views of natural objects yet +undisturbed by the labors and struggles of man. + +"How beautiful!" she exclaimed, unconscious of speaking, as she stood on +the solitary bastion, facing the air from the lake, and experiencing the +genial influence of its freshness pervading both her body and her mind. +"How very beautiful! and yet how singular!" + +The words, and the train of her ideas, were interrupted by a touch of +a finger on her shoulder, and turning, in the expectation of seeing her +father, Mabel found Pathfinder at her side. He was leaning quietly +on his long rifle, and laughing in his quiet manner, while, with an +outstretched arm, he swept over the whole panorama of land and water. + +"Here you have both our domains," said he,--"Jasper's and mine. The lake +is for him, and the woods are for me. The lad sometimes boasts of the +breadth of his dominions; but I tell him my trees make as broad a plain +on the face of this 'arth as all his water. Well, Mabel, you are fit for +either; for I do not see that fear of the Mingos, or night-marches, can +destroy your pretty looks." + +"It is a new character for the Pathfinder to appear in, to compliment a +silly girl." + +"Not silly, Mabel; no, not in the least silly. The Sergeant's daughter +would do discredit to her worthy father, were she to do or say anything +that could be called silly." + +"Then she must take care and not put too much faith in treacherous, +flattering words. But, Pathfinder, I rejoice to see you among us again; +for, though Jasper did not seem to feel much uneasiness, I was afraid +some accident might have happened to you and your friend on that +frightful rift." + +"The lad knows us both, and was sartain that we should not drown, which +is scarcely one of my gifts. It would have been hard swimming of a +sartainty, with a long-barrelled rifle in the hand; and what between the +game, and the savages and the French, Killdeer and I have gone through +too much in company to part very easily. No, no; we waded ashore, the +rift being shallow enough for that with small exceptions, and we landed +with our arms in our hands. We had to take our time for it, on account +of the Iroquois, I will own; but, as soon as the skulking vagabonds saw +the lights that the Sergeant sent down to your canoe, we well understood +they would decamp, since a visit might have been expected from some +of the garrison. So it was only sitting patiently on the stones for an +hour, and all the danger was over. Patience is the greatest of virtues +in a woodsman." + +"I rejoice to hear this, for fatigue itself could scarcely make me +sleep, for thinking of what might befall you." + +"Lord bless your tender little heart, Mabel! but this is the way with +all you gentle ones. I must say, on my part, however, that I was right +glad to see the lanterns come down to the waterside, which I knew to be +a sure sign of _your_ safety. We hunters and guides are rude beings; but +we have our feelings and our idees, as well as any general in the +army. Both Jasper and I would have died before you should have come to +harm--we would." + +"I thank you for all you did for me, Pathfinder; from the bottom of my +heart, I thank you; and, depend on it, my father shall know it. I +have already told him much, but have still a duty to perform on this +subject." + +"Tush, Mabel! The Sergeant knows what the woods be, and what men--true +red men--be, too. There is little need to tell him anything about it. +Well, now you have met your father, do you find the honest old soldier +the sort of person you expected to find?" + +"He is my own dear father, and received me as a soldier and a father +should receive a child. Have you known him long, Pathfinder?" + +"That is as people count time. I was just twelve when the Sergeant took +me on my first scouting, and that is now more than twenty years ago. +We had a tramping time of it; and, as it was before your day, you would +have had no father, had not the rifle been one of my natural gifts." + +"Explain yourself." + +"It is too simple for many words. We were ambushed, and the Sergeant got +a bad hurt, and would have lost his scalp, but for a sort of inbred turn +I took to the weapon. We brought him off, however, and a handsomer head +of hair, for his time of life, is not to be found in the rijiment than +the Sergeant carries about with him this blessed day." + +"You saved my father's life, Pathfinder!" exclaimed Mabel, +unconsciously, though warmly, taking one of his hard, sinewy hands into +both her own. "God bless you for this, too, among your other good acts!" + +"Nay, I did not say that much, though I believe I did save his scalp. +A man might live without a scalp, and so I cannot say I saved his life. +Jasper may say that much consarning you; for without his eye and arm +the canoe would never have passed the rift in safety on a night like +the last. The gifts of the lad are for the water, while mine are for the +hunt and the trail. He is yonder, in the cove there, looking after the +canoes, and keeping his eye on his beloved little craft. To my eye, +there is no likelier youth in these parts than Jasper Western." + +For the first time since she had left her room, Mabel now turned her +eyes beneath her, and got a view of what might be called the foreground +of the remarkable picture she had been studying with so much pleasure. +The Oswego threw its dark waters into the lake, between banks of some +height; that on its eastern side being bolder and projecting farther +north than that on its western. The fort was on the latter, and +immediately beneath it were a few huts of logs, which, as they could +not interfere with the defence of the place, had been erected along the +strand for the purpose of receiving and containing such stores as were +landed, or were intended to be embarked, in the communications between +the different ports on the shores of Ontario. Two low, curved, gravelly +points had been formed with surprising regularity by the counteracting +forces of the northerly winds and the swift current, and, inclining from +the storms of the lake, formed two coves within the river: that on the +western side was the most deeply indented; and, as it also had the most +water, it formed a sort of picturesque little port for the post. It was +along the narrow strand that lay between the low height of the fort and +the water of this cove, that the rude buildings just mentioned had been +erected. + +Several skiffs, bateaux, and canoes were hauled up on the shore, and +in the cove itself lay the little craft from which Jasper obtained his +claim to be considered a sailor. She was cutter-rigged, might have been +of forty tons burthen, was so neatly constructed and painted as to +have something of the air of a vessel of war, though entirely without +quarters, and rigged and sparred with so scrupulous a regard to +proportions and beauty, as well as fitness and judgment, as to give her +an appearance that even Mabel at once distinguished to be gallant and +trim. Her mould was admirable, for a wright of great skill had sent +her drafts from England, at the express request of the officer who had +caused her to be constructed; her paint dark, warlike, and neat; and the +long coach-whip pennant that she wore at once proclaimed her to be the +property of the king. Her name was the _Scud_. + +"That, then, is the vessel of Jasper!" said Mabel, who associated the +master of the little craft very naturally with the cutter itself. "Are +there many others on this lake?" + +"The Frenchers have three: one of which, they tell me, is a real ship, +such as are used on the ocean; another a brig; and a third is a cutter, +like the _Scud_ here, which they call the _Squirrel_, in their own +tongue, however; and which seems to have a natural hatred of our own +pretty boat, for Jasper seldom goes out that the _Squirrel_ is not at +his heels." + +"And is Jasper one to run from a Frenchman, though he appears in the +shape of a squirrel, and that, too, on the water?" + +"Of what use would valor be without the means of turning it to account? +Jasper is a brave boy, as all on this frontier know; but he has no gun +except a little howitzer, and then his crew consists only of two men +besides himself, and a boy. I was with him in one of his trampooses, and +the youngster was risky enough, for he brought us so near the enemy +that rifles began to talk; but the Frenchers carry cannon and ports, and +never show their faces outside of Frontenac, without having some twenty +men, besides their _Squirrel_, in their cutter. No, no; this _Scud_ was +built for flying, and the major says he will not put her in a fighting +humor by giving her men and arms, lest she should take him at his word, +and get her wings clipped. I know little of these things, for my gifts +are not at all in that way; but I see the reason of the thing--I see its +reason, though Jasper does not." + +"Ah! Here is my uncle, none the worse for his swim, coming to look at +this inland sea." + +Sure enough, Cap, who had announced his approach by a couple of lusty +hems, now made his appearance on the bastion, where, after nodding to +his niece and her companion, he made a deliberate survey of the expanse +of water before him. In order to effect this at his ease, the mariner +mounted on one of the old iron guns, folded his arms across his breast, +and balanced his body, as if he felt the motion of a vessel. To complete +the picture, he had a short pipe in his mouth. + +"Well, Master Cap," asked the Pathfinder innocently, for he did not +detect the expression of contempt that was gradually settling on the +features of the other; "is it not a beautiful sheet, and fit to be named +a sea?" + +"This, then, is what you call your lake?" demanded Cap, sweeping the +northern horizon with his pipe. "I say, is this really your lake?" + +"Sartain; and, if the judgment of one who has lived on the shores of +many others can be taken, a very good lake it is." + +"Just as I expected. A pond in dimensions, and a scuttle-butt in taste. +It is all in vain to travel inland, in the hope of seeing anything +either full-grown or useful. I knew it would turn out just in this way." + +"What is the matter with Ontario, Master Cap? It is large, and fair to +look at, and pleasant enough to drink, for those who can't get at the +water of the springs." + +"Do you call this large?" asked Cap, again sweeping the air with the +pipe. "I will just ask you what there is large about it? Didn't Jasper +himself confess that it was only some twenty leagues from shore to +shore?" + +"But, uncle," interposed Mabel, "no land is to be seen, except here on +our own coast. To me it looks exactly like the ocean." + +"This bit of a pond look like the ocean! Well, Magnet, that from a girl +who has had real seamen in her family is downright nonsense. What is +there about it, pray, that has even the outline of a sea on it?" + +"Why, there is water--water--water--nothing but water, for miles on +miles--far as the eye can see." + +"And isn't there water--water--water--nothing but water for miles on +miles in your rivers, that you have been canoeing through, too?--Ay, and +'as far as the eye can see,' in the bargain?" + +"Yes, uncle, but the rivers have their banks, and there are trees along +them, and they are narrow." + +"And isn't this a bank where we stand? Don't these soldiers call this +the bank of the lake? And aren't there trees in thousands? And aren't +twenty leagues narrow enough of all conscience? Who the devil ever heard +of the banks of the ocean, unless it might be the banks that are under +water?" + +"But, uncle, we cannot see across this lake, as we can see across a +river." + +"There you are out, Magnet. Aren't the Amazon and Oronoco and La Plata +rivers, and can you see across them? Hark'e Pathfinder, I very much +doubt if this stripe of water here be even a lake; for to me it appears +to be only a river. You are by no means particular about your geography, +I find, up here in the woods." + +"There _you_ are out, Master Cap. There is a river, and a noble one too, +at each end of it; but this is old Ontario before you; and, though it is +not my gift to live on a lake, to my judgment there are few better than +this." + +"And, uncle, if we stood on the beach at Rockaway, what more should we +see than we now behold? There is a shore on one side, or banks there, +and trees too, as well as those which are here." + +"This is perverseness, Magnet, and young girls should steer clear of +anything like obstinacy. In the first place, the ocean has coasts, but +no banks, except the Grand Banks, as I tell you, which are out of sight +of land; and you will not pretend that this bank is out of sight of +land, or even under water?" + +As Mabel could not very plausibly set up this extravagant opinion, Cap +pursued the subject, his countenance beginning to discover the triumph +of a successful disputant. + +"And then them trees bear no comparison to these trees. The coasts of +the ocean have farms and cities and country-seats, and, in some parts of +the world, castles and monasteries and lighthouses--ay, ay--lighthouses, +in particular, on them; not one of all which things is to be seen here. +No, no, Master Pathfinder; I never heard of an ocean that hadn't more or +less lighthouses on it; whereas, hereaway there is not even a beacon." + +"There is what is better, there is what is better; a forest and noble +trees, a fit temple of God." + +"Ay, your forest may do for a lake; but of what use would an ocean be +if the earth all around it were forest? Ships would be unnecessary, as +timber might be floated in rafts, and there would be an end of trade, +and what would a world be without trade? I am of that philosopher's +opinion who says human nature was invented for the purposes of trade. +Magnet, I am astonished that you should think this water even looks like +sea-water! Now, I daresay that there isn't such a thing as a whale in +all your lake, Master Pathfinder?" + +"I never heard of one, I will confess; but I am no judge of animals +that live in the water, unless it be the fishes of the rivers and the +brooks." + +"Nor a grampus, nor a porpoise even? not so much as a poor devil of a +shark?" + +"I will not take it on myself to say there is either. My gifts are not +in that way, I tell you, Master Cap." + +"Nor herring, nor albatross, nor flying-fish?" continued Cap, who kept +his eye fastened on the guide, in order to see how far he might venture. +"No such thing as a fish that can fly, I daresay?" + +"A fish that can fly! Master Cap, Master Cap, do not think, because we +are mere borderers, that we have no idees of natur', and what she has +been pleased to do. I know there are squirrels that can fly--" + +"A squirrel fly!--The devil, Master Pathfinder! Do you suppose that you +have got a boy on his first v'y'ge up here among you?" + +"I know nothing of your v'y'ges, Master Cap, though I suppose them to +have been many; for as for what belongs to natur' in the woods, what I +have seen I may tell, and not fear the face of man." + +"And do you wish me to understand that you have seen a squirrel fly?" + +"If you wish to understand the power of God, Master Cap, you will do +well to believe that, and many other things of a like natur', for you +may be quite sartain it is true." + +"And yet, Pathfinder," said Mabel, looking so prettily and sweetly even +while she played with the guide's infirmity, that he forgave her in his +heart, "you, who speak so reverently of the power of the Deity, appear +to doubt that a fish can fly." + +"I have not said it, I have not said it; and if Master Cap is ready to +testify to the fact, unlikely as it seems, I am willing to try to think +it true. I think it every man's duty to believe in the power of God, +however difficult it may be." + +"And why isn't my fish as likely to have wings as your squirrel?" +demanded Cap, with more logic than was his wont. "That fishes do and can +fly is as true as it is reasonable." + +"Nay, that is the only difficulty in believing the story," rejoined the +guide. "It seems unreasonable to give an animal that lives in the water +wings, which seemingly can be of no use to it." + +"And do you suppose that the fishes are such asses as to fly about under +water, when they are once fairly fitted out with wings?" + +"Nay, I know nothing of the matter; but that fish should fly in the air +seems more contrary to natur' still, than that they should fly in their +own element--that in which they were born and brought up, as one might +say." + +"So much for contracted ideas, Magnet. The fish fly out of water to run +away from their enemies in the water; and there you see not only the +fact, but the reason for it." + +"Then I suppose it must be true," said the guide quietly. "How long are +their flights?" + +"Not quite as far as those of pigeons, perhaps; but far enough to make +an offing. As for those squirrels of yours, we'll say no more about +them, friend Pathfinder, as I suppose they were mentioned just as a +make-weight to the fish, in favor of the woods. But what is this thing +anchored here under the hill?" + +"That is the cutter of Jasper, uncle," said Mabel hurriedly; "and a very +pretty vessel I think it is. Its name, too, is the _Scud_." + +"Ay, it will do well enough for a lake, perhaps, but it's no great +affair. The lad has got a standing bowsprit, and who ever saw a cutter +with a standing bowsprit before?" + +"But may there not be some good reason for it, on a lake like this, +uncle?" + +"Sure enough--I must remember this is not the ocean, though it does look +so much like it." + +"Ah, uncle! Then Ontario does look like the ocean, after all?" + +"In your eyes, I mean, and those of Pathfinder; not in the least in +mine, Magnet. Now you might set me down out yonder, in the middle of +this bit of a pond, and that, too, in the darkest night that ever fell +from the heavens, and in the smallest canoe, and I could tell you it was +only a lake. For that matter, the _Dorothy_" (the name of his vessel) +"would find it out as quick as I could myself. I do not believe that +brig would make more than a couple of short stretches, at the most, +before she would perceive the difference between Ontario and the old +Atlantic. I once took her down into one of the large South American +bays, and she behaved herself as awkwardly as a booby would in a church +with the congregation in a hurry. And Jasper sails that boat? I must +have a cruise with the lad, Magnet, before I quit you, just for the name +of the thing. It would never do to say I got in sight of this pond, and +went away without taking a trip on it." + +"Well well, you needn't wait long for that," returned Pathfinder; "for +the Sergeant is about to embark with a party to relieve a post among the +Thousand Islands; and as I heard him say he intended that Mabel should +go along, you can join the company too." + +"Is this true, Magnet?" + +"I believe it is," returned the girl, a flush so imperceptible as to +escape the observation of her companions glowing on her cheeks; "though +I have had so little opportunity to talk with my dear father that I +am not quite certain. Here he comes, however, and you can inquire of +himself." + +Notwithstanding his humble rank, there was something in the mien and +character of Sergeant Dunham that commanded respect: of a tall, imposing +figure, grave and saturnine disposition, and accurate and precise in his +acts and manner of thinking, even Cap, dogmatical and supercilious as +he usually was with landsmen, did not presume to take the same liberties +with the old soldier as he did with his other friends. It was often +remarked that Sergeant Dunham received more true respect from Duncan +of Lundie, the Scotch laird who commanded the post, than most of the +subalterns; for experience and tried services were of quite as much +value in the eyes of the veteran major as birth and money. While the +Sergeant never even hoped to rise any higher, he so far respected +himself and his present station as always to act in a way to command +attention; and the habit of mixing so much with inferiors, whose +passions and dispositions he felt it necessary to restrain by distance +and dignity, had so far colored his whole deportment, that few were +altogether free from its influence. While the captains treated him +kindly and as an old comrade, the lieutenants seldom ventured to dissent +from his military opinions; and the ensigns, it was remarked, actually +manifested a species of respect that amounted to something very like +deference. It is no wonder, then, that the announcement of Mabel put a +sudden termination to the singular dialogue we have just related, though +it had been often observed that the Pathfinder was the only man on that +frontier, beneath the condition of a gentleman, who presumed to treat +the Sergeant at all as an equal, or even with the cordial familiarity of +a friend. + +"Good morrow, brother Cap," said the Sergeant giving the military +salute, as he walked, in a grave, stately manner, on the bastion. "My +morning duty has made me seem forgetful of you and Mabel; but we have +now an hour or two to spare, and to get acquainted. Do you not perceive, +brother, a strong likeness on the girl to her we have so long lost?" + +"Mabel is the image of her mother, Sergeant, as I have always said, with +a little of your firmer figure; though, for that matter, the Caps were +never wanting in spring and activity." + +Mabel cast a timid glance at the stern, rigid countenance of her father, +of whom she had ever thought, as the warm-hearted dwell on the affection +of their absent parents; and, as she saw that the muscles of his face +were working, notwithstanding the stiffness and method of his manner, +her very heart yearned to throw herself on his bosom and to weep at +will. But he was so much colder in externals, so much more formal and +distant than she had expected to find him, that she would not have dared +to hazard the freedom, even had they been alone. + +"You have taken a long and troublesome journey, brother, on my account; +and we will try to make you comfortable while you stay among us." + +"I hear you are likely to receive orders to lift your anchor, Sergeant, +and to shift your berth into a part of the world where they say there +are a thousand islands." + +"Pathfinder, this is some of your forgetfulness?" + +"Nay, nay, Sergeant, I forgot nothing; but it did not seem to me +necessary to hide your intentions so very closely from your own flesh +and blood." + +"All military movements ought to be made with as little conversation +as possible," returned the Sergeant, tapping the guide's shoulder in a +friendly, but reproachful manner. "You have passed too much of your life +in front of the French not to know the value of silence. But no matter; +the thing must soon be known, and there is no great use in trying now +to conceal it. We shall embark a relief party shortly for a post on the +lake, though I do not say it is for the Thousand Islands, and I may have +to go with it; in which case I intend to take Mabel to make my broth +for me; and I hope, brother, you will not despise a soldier's fare for a +month or so." + +"That will depend on the manner of marching. I have no love for woods +and swamps." + +"We shall sail in the _Scud_; and, indeed, the whole service, which +is no stranger to us, is likely enough to please one accustomed to the +water." + +"Ay, to salt-water if you will, but not to lake-water. If you have no +person to handle that bit of a cutter for you, I have no objection to +ship for the v'y'ge, notwithstanding; though I shall look on the whole +affair as so much time thrown away, for I consider it an imposition to +call sailing about this pond going to sea." + +"Jasper is every way able to manage the _Scud_, brother Cap; and in that +light I cannot say that we have need of your services, though we shall +be glad of your company. You cannot return to the settlement until +a party is sent in, and that is not likely to happen until after my +return. Well, Pathfinder, this is the first time I ever knew men on the +trail of the Mingos and you not at their head." + +"To be honest with you, Sergeant," returned the guide, not without a +little awkwardness of manner, and a perceptible difference in the hue +of a face that had become so uniformly red by exposure, "I have not felt +that it was my gift this morning. In the first place, I very well know +that the soldiers of the 55th are not the lads to overtake Iroquois in +the woods; and the knaves did not wait to be surrounded when they knew +that Jasper had reached the garrison. Then a man may take a little +rest after a summer of hard work, and no impeachment of his goodwill. +Besides, the Sarpent is out with them; and if the miscreants are to be +found at all, you may trust to his inmity and sight: the first being +stronger, and the last nearly, if not quite as good as my own. He loves +the skulking vagabonds as little as myself; and, for that matter, I +may say that my own feelings towards a Mingo are not much more than the +gifts of a Delaware grafted on a Christian stock. No, no, I thought I +would leave the honor this time, if honor there is to be, to the young +ensign that commands, who, if he don't lose his scalp, may boast of his +campaign in his letters to his mother when he gets in. I thought I would +play idler once in my life." + +"And no one has a better right, if long and faithful service entitles a +man to a furlough," returned the Sergeant kindly. "Mabel will think none +the worse of you for preferring her company to the trail of the savages; +and, I daresay, will be happy to give you a part of her breakfast if +you are inclined to eat. You must not think, girl, however, that the +Pathfinder is in the habit of letting prowlers around the fort beat a +retreat without hearing the crack of his rifle." + +"If I thought she did, Sergeant, though not much given to showy and +parade evolutions, I would shoulder Killdeer and quit the garrison +before her pretty eyes had time to frown. No, no; Mabel knows me better, +though we are but new acquaintances, for there has been no want of +Mingos to enliven the short march we have already made in company." + +"It would need a great deal of testimony, Pathfinder, to make me think +ill of you in any way, and more than all in the way you mention," +returned Mabel, coloring with the sincere earnestness with which she +endeavored to remove any suspicion to the contrary from his mind. "Both +father and daughter, I believe, owe you their lives, and believe me, +that neither will ever forget it." + +"Thank you, Mabel, thank you with all my heart. But I will not take +advantage of your ignorance neither, girl, and therefore shall say, I +do not think the Mingos would have hurt a hair of your head, had they +succeeded by their devilries and contrivances in getting you into their +hands. My scalp, and Jasper's, and Master Cap's there, and the Sarpent's +too, would sartainly have been smoked; but as for the Sergeant's +daughter, I do not think they would have hurt a hair of her head." + +"And why should I suppose that enemies, known to spare neither women +nor children, would have shown more mercy to me than to another? I feel, +Pathfinder, that I owe you my life." + +"I say nay, Mabel; they wouldn't have had the heart to hurt you. No, not +even a fiery Mingo devil would have had the heart to hurt a hair of +your head. Bad as I suspect the vampires to be, I do not suspect them of +anything so wicked as that. They might have wished you, nay, forced you +to become the wife of one of their chiefs, and that would be torment +enough to a Christian young woman; but beyond that I do not think even +the Mingos themselves would have gone." + +"Well, then, I shall owe my escape from this great misfortune to you," +said Mabel, taking his hard hand into her own frankly and cordially, +and certainly in a way to delight the honest guide. "To me it would be a +lighter evil to be killed than to become the wife of an Indian." + +"That is her gift, Sergeant," exclaimed Pathfinder, turning to his old +comrade with gratification written on every lineament of his honest +countenance, "and it will have its way. I tell the Sarpent that no +Christianizing will ever make even a Delaware a white man; nor any +whooping and yelling convert a pale-face into a red-skin. That is the +gift of a young woman born of Christian parents, and it ought to be +maintained." + +"You are right, Pathfinder; and so far as Mabel Dunham is concerned, it +_shall_ be maintained. But it is time to break your fasts; and if you +will follow me, brother Cap, I will show you how we poor soldiers live +here on a distant frontier." + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + Now, my co-mates and partners in exile, + Hath not old custom made this life more sweet + Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods + More free from peril than the envious court? + Here feel we but the penalty of Adam. + _As You Like It._ + + +Sergeant Dunham made no empty vaunt when he gave the promise conveyed +in the closing words of the last chapter. Notwithstanding the remote +frontier position of the post they who lived at it enjoyed a table that, +in many respects, kings and princes might have envied. At the Period of +our tale, and, indeed, for half a century later, the whole of that vast +region which has been called the West, or the new countries since the +war of the revolution, lay a comparatively unpeopled desert, teeming +with all the living productions of nature that properly belonged to the +climate, man and the domestic animals excepted. The few Indians +that roamed its forests then could produce no visible effects on the +abundance of the game; and the scattered garrisons, or occasional +hunters, that here and there were to be met with on that vast surface, +had no other influence than the bee on the buckwheat field, or the +humming-bird on the flower. + +The marvels that have descended to our own times, in the way of +tradition, concerning the quantities of beasts, birds, and fishes +that were then to be met with, on the shores of the great lakes in +particular, are known to be sustained by the experience of living +men, else might we hesitate about relating them; but having been +eye-witnesses of some of these prodigies, our office shall be discharged +with the confidence that certainty can impart. Oswego was particularly +well placed to keep the larder of an epicure amply supplied. Fish of +various sorts abounded in its river, and the sportsman had only to cast +his line to haul in a bass or some other member of the finny tribe, +which then peopled the waters, as the air above the swamps of this +fruitful latitude are known to be filled with insects. Among others was +the salmon of the lakes, a variety of that well-known species, that is +scarcely inferior to the delicious salmon of northern Europe. Of the +different migratory birds that frequent forests and waters, there was +the same affluence, hundreds of acres of geese and ducks being often +seen at a time in the great bays that indent the shores of the lake. +Deer, bears, rabbits, and squirrels, with divers other quadrupeds, among +which was sometimes included the elk, or moose, helped to complete the +sum of the natural supplies on which all the posts depended, more or +less, to relieve the unavoidable privations of their remote frontier +positions. + +In a place where viands that would elsewhere be deemed great luxuries +were so abundant, no one was excluded from their enjoyment. The meanest +individual at Oswego habitually feasted on game that would have formed +the boast of a Parisian table; and it was no more than a healthful +commentary on the caprices of taste, and of the waywardness of human +desires, that the very diet which in other scenes would have been deemed +the subject of envy and repinings got to pall on the appetite. The +coarse and regular food of the army, which it became necessary to +husband on account of the difficulty of transportation, rose in the +estimation of the common soldier; and at any time he would cheerfully +desert his venison, and ducks, and pigeons, and salmon, to banquet on +the sweets of pickled pork, stringy turnips, and half-cooked cabbage. + +The table of Sergeant Dunham, as a matter of course, partook of the +abundance and luxuries of the frontier, as well as of its privations. A +delicious broiled salmon smoked on a homely platter, hot venison steaks +sent up their appetizing odors, and several dishes of cold meats, all of +which were composed of game, had been set before the guests, in honor +of the newly arrived visitors, and in vindication of the old soldier's +hospitality. + +"You do not seem to be on short allowance in this quarter of the +world, Sergeant," said Cap, after he had got fairly initiated into +the mysteries of the different dishes; "your salmon might satisfy a +Scotsman." + +"It fails to do it, notwithstanding, brother Cap; for among two or three +hundred of the fellows that we have in this garrison there are not half +a dozen who will not swear that the fish is unfit to be eaten. Even some +of the lads, who never tasted venison except as poachers at home, turn +up their noses at the fattest haunches that we get here." + +"Ay, that is Christian natur'," put in Pathfinder; "and I must say it +is none to its credit. Now, a red-skin never repines, but is always +thankful for the food he gets, whether it be fat or lean, venison or +bear, wild turkey's breast or wild goose's wing. To the shame of us +white men be it said, that we look upon blessings without satisfaction, +and consider trifling evils as matters of great account." + +"It is so with the 55th, as I can answer, though I cannot say as much +for their Christianity," returned the Sergeant. "Even the major himself, +old Duncan of Lundie, will sometimes swear that an oatmeal cake is +better fare than the Oswego bass, and sigh for a swallow of Highland +water, when, if so minded, he has the whole of Ontario to quench his +thirst in." + +"Has Major Duncan a wife and children?" asked Mabel, whose thoughts +naturally turned towards her own sex in her new situation. + +"Not he, girl; though they do say that he has a betrothed at home. The +lady, it seems, is willing to wait, rather than suffer the hardships of +service in this wild region; all of which, brother Cap, is not according +to my notions of a woman's duties. Your sister thought differently." + +"I hope, Sergeant, you do not think of Mabel for a soldier's wife," +returned Cap gravely. "Our family has done its share in that way +already, and it's high time that the sea was again remembered." + +"I do not think of finding a husband for the girl in the 55th, or any +other regiment, I can promise you, brother; though I do think it getting +to be time that the child were respectably married." + +"Father!" + +"'Tis not their gifts, Sergeant, to talk of these matters in so open a +manner," said the guide; "for I've seen it verified by experience, +that he who would follow the trail of a virgin's good-will must not go +shouting out his thoughts behind her. So, if you please, we will talk of +something else." + +"Well, then, brother Cap, I hope that bit of a cold roasted pig is to +your mind; you seem to fancy the food." + +"Ay, ay; give me civilized grub if I must eat," returned the +pertinacious seaman. "Venison is well enough for your inland sailors, +but we of the ocean like a little of that which we understand." + +Here Pathfinder laid down his knife and fork, and indulged in a hearty +laugh, though in his always silent manner; then he asked, with a little +curiosity in his manner,-- + +"Don't, you miss the skin, Master Cap? don't you miss the skin?" + +"It would have been better for its jacket, I think myself, Pathfinder; +but I suppose it is a fashion of the woods to serve up shoats in this +style." + +"Well, well, a man may go round the 'arth and not know everything. If +you had had the skinning of that pig, Master Cap, it would have left you +sore hands. The cratur' is a hedgehog!" + +"Blast me, if I thought it wholesome natural pork either!" returned Cap. +"But then I believed even a pig might lose some of its good qualities up +hereaway in the woods." + +"If the skinning of it, brother, does not fall to my duty. Pathfinder, I +hope you didn't find Mabel disobedient on the march?" + +"Not she, not she. If Mabel is only half as well satisfied with Jasper +and Pathfinder as the Pathfinder and Jasper are satisfied with her, +Sergeant, we shall be friends for the remainder of our days." + +As the guide spoke, he turned his eyes towards the blushing girl, with +a sort of innocent desire to know her opinion; and then, with an inborn +delicacy, which proved he was far superior to the vulgar desire to +invade the sanctity of feminine feeling, he looked at his plate, and +seemed to regret his own boldness. + +"Well, well, we must remember that women are not men, my friend," +resumed the Sergeant, "and make proper allowances for nature and +education. A recruit is not a veteran. Any man knows that it takes +longer to make a good soldier than it takes to make anything else." + +"This is new doctrine, Sergeant," said Cap with some spirit. "We old +seamen are apt to think that six soldiers, ay, and capital soldiers too, +might be made while one sailor is getting his education." + +"Ay, brother Cap, I've seen something of the opinions which seafaring +men have of themselves," returned the brother-in-law, with a smile as +bland as comported with his saturnine features; "for I was many years +one of the garrison in a seaport. You and I have conversed on the +subject before and I'm afraid we shall never agree. But if you wish to +know what the difference is between a real soldier and man in what I +should call a state of nature, you have only to look at a battalion of +the 55th on parade this afternoon, and then, when you get back to York, +examine one of the militia regiments making its greatest efforts." + +"Well, to my eye, Sergeant, there is very little difference, not more +than you'll find between a brig and a snow. To me they seem alike: all +scarlet, and feathers, and powder, and pipeclay." + +"So much, sir, for the judgment of a sailor," returned the Sergeant with +dignity; "but perhaps you are not aware that it requires a year to teach +a true soldier how to eat?" + +"So much the worse for him. The militia know how to eat at starting; for +I have often heard that, on their marches, they commonly eat all before +them, even if they do nothing else." + +"They have their gifts, I suppose, like other men," observed Pathfinder, +with a view to preserve the peace, which was evidently in some danger of +being broken by the obstinate predilection of each of the disputants in +favor of his own calling; "and when a man has his gift from Providence, +it is commonly idle to endeavor to bear up against it. The 55th, +Sergeant, is a judicous regiment in the way of eating, as I know from +having been so long in its company, though I daresay militia corps could +be found that would outdo them in feats of that natur' too." + +"Uncle;" said Mabel, "if you have breakfasted, I will thank you to go +out upon the bastion with me again. We have neither of us half seen +the lake, and it would be hardly seemly for a young woman to be walking +about the fort, the first day of her arrival, quite alone." + +Cap understood the motive of Mabel; and having, at the bottom, a hearty +friendship for his brother-in-law, he was willing enough to defer the +argument until they had been longer together, for the idea of abandoning +it altogether never crossed the mind of one so dogmatical and obstinate. +He accordingly accompanied his niece, leaving Sergeant Dunham and his +friend, the Pathfinder, alone together. As soon as his adversary had +beat a retreat, the Sergeant, who did not quite so well understand the +manoeuvre of his daughter, turned to his companion, and, with a smile +which was not without triumph, he remarked,-- + +"The army, Pathfinder, has never yet done itself justice in the way of +asserting its rights; and though modesty becomes a man, whether he is in +a red coat or a black one, or, for that matter, in his shirt-sleeves, +I don't like to let a good opportunity slip of saying a word in +its behalf. Well, my friend," laying his own hand on one of the +Pathfinder's, and giving it a hearty squeeze, "how do you like the +girl?" + +"You have reason to be proud of her, Sergeant. I have seen many of her +sex, and some that were great and beautiful; but never before did I meet +with one in whom I thought Providence had so well balanced the different +gifts." + +"And the good opinion, I can tell you, Pathfinder, is mutual. She +told me last night all about your coolness, and spirit, and +kindness,--particularly the last, for kindness counts for more than +half with females, my friend,--and the first inspection seems to give +satisfaction on both sides. Brush up the uniform, and pay a little more +attention to the outside, Pathfinder, and you will have the girl heart +and hand." + +"Nay, nay, Sergeant, I've forgotten nothing that you have told me, and +grudge no reasonable pains to make myself as pleasant in the eyes of +Mabel as she is getting to be in mine. I cleaned and brightened up +Killdeer this morning as soon as the sun rose; and, in my judgment, the +piece never looked better than it does at this very moment." + +"That is according to your hunting notions, Pathfinder; but firearms +should sparkle and glitter in the sun, and I never yet could see any +beauty in a clouded barrel." + +"Lord Howe thought otherwise, Sergeant; and he was accounted a good +soldier." + +"Very true; his lordship had all the barrels of his regiment darkened, +and what good came of it? You can see his 'scutcheon hanging in the +English church at Albany. No, no, my worthy friend, a soldier should +be a soldier, and at no time ought he to be ashamed or afraid to carry +about him the signs and symbols of his honorable trade. Had you much +discourse with Mabel, Pathfinder, as you came along in the canoe?" + +"There was not much opportunity, Sergeant, and then I found myself so +much beneath her in idees, that I was afraid to speak of much beyond +what belonged to my own gifts." + +"Therein you are partly right and partly wrong, my friend. Women love +trifling discourse, though they like to have most of it to themselves. +Now you know I'm a man that do not loosen my tongue at every giddy +thought; and yet there were days when I could see that Mabel's mother +thought none the worse of me because I descended a little from my +manhood. It is true, I was twenty-two years younger then than I am +to-day; and, moreover, instead of being the oldest sergeant in the +regiment, I was the youngest. Dignity is commanding and useful, and +there is no getting on without it, as respects the men; but if you +would be thoroughly esteemed by a woman, it is necessary to condescend a +little on occasions." + +"Ah's me, Sergeant, I sometimes fear it will never do." + +"Why do you think so discouragingly of a matter on which I thought both +our minds were made up?" + +"We did agree, if Mabel should prove what you told me she was, and if +the girl could fancy a rude hunter and guide, that I should quit some +of my wandering ways, and try to humanize my mind down to a wife +and children. But since I have seen the girl, I will own that many +misgivings have come over me." + +"How's this?" interrupted the Sergeant sternly; "did I not understand +you to say that you were pleased?--and is Mabel a young woman to +disappoint expectation?" + +"Ah, Sergeant, it is not Mabel that I distrust, but myself. I am but +a poor ignorant woodsman, after all; and perhaps I'm not, in truth, as +good as even you and I may think me." + +"If you doubt your own judgment of yourself, Pathfinder, I beg you will +not doubt mine. Am I not accustomed to judge men's character? and am I +often deceived? Ask Major Duncan, sir, if you desire any assurances in +this particular." + +"But, Sergeant, we have long been friends; have fi't side by side a +dozen times, and have done each other many services. When this is the +case, men are apt to think over kindly of each other; and I fear me that +the daughter may not be so likely to view a plain ignorant hunter as +favorably as the father does." + +"Tut, tut, Pathfinder! You don't know yourself, man, and may put all +faith in my judgment. In the first place you have experience; and, as +all girls must want that, no prudent young woman would overlook such +a qualification. Then you are not one of the coxcombs that strut about +when they first join a regiment; but a man who has seen service, and +who carries the marks of it on his person and countenance. I daresay +you have been under fire some thirty or forty times, counting all the +skirmishes and ambushes that you've seen." + +"All of that, Sergeant, all of that; but what will it avail in gaining +the good-will of a tender-hearted young female?" + +"It will gain the day. Experience in the field is as good in love as in +war. But you are as honest-hearted and as loyal a subject as the king +can boast of--God bless him!" + +"That may be too; but I'm afeared I'm too rude and too old and too wild +like to suit the fancy of such a young and delicate girl as Mabel, who +has been unused to our wilderness ways, and may think the settlements +better suited to her gifts and inclinations." + +"These are new misgivings for you, my friend; and I wonder they were +never paraded before." + +"Because I never knew my own worthlessness, perhaps, until I saw Mabel. +I have travelled with some as fair, and have guided them through the +forest, and seen them in their perils and in their gladness; but they +were always too much above me to make me think of them as more than +so many feeble ones I was bound to protect and defend. The case is now +different. Mabel and I are so nearly alike, that I feel weighed down +with a load that is hard to bear, at finding us so unlike. I do wish, +Sergeant, that I was ten years younger, more comely to look at, and +better suited to please a handsome young woman's fancy." + +"Cheer up, my brave friend, and trust to a father's knowledge of +womankind. Mabel half loves you already, and a fortnight's intercourse +and kindness, down among the islands yonder will close ranks with the +other half. The girl as much as told me this herself last night." + +"Can this be so, Sergeant?" said the guide, whose meek and modest nature +shrank from viewing himself in colors so favorable. "Can this be truly +so? I am but a poor hunter and Mabel, I see, is fit to be an officer's +lady. Do you think the girl will consent to quit all her beloved +settlement usages, and her visitings and church-goings, to dwell with +a plain guide and hunter up hereaway in the woods? Will she not in the +end, crave her old ways, and a better man?" + +"A better man, Pathfinder, would be hard to find," returned the father. +"As for town usages, they are soon forgotten in the freedom of the +forest, and Mabel has just spirit enough to dwell on a frontier. I've +not planned this marriage, my friend, without thinking it over, as a +general does his campaign. At first, I thought of bringing you into the +regiment, that you might succeed me when I retire, which must be sooner +or later; but on reflection, Pathfinder, I think you are scarcely fitted +for the office. Still, if not a soldier in all the meanings of the word, +you are a soldier in its best meaning, and I know that you have the +good-will of every officer in the corps. As long as I live, Mabel can +dwell with me, and you will always have a home when you return from your +scoutings and marches." + +"This is very pleasant to think of, Sergeant, if the girl can only come +into our wishes with good-will. But, ah's me! It does not seem that +one like myself can ever be agreeable in her handsome eyes. If I were +younger, and more comely, now, as Jasper Western is, for instance, there +might be a chance--yes, then, indeed, there might be some chance." + +"That for Jasper Eau-douce, and every younker of them in or about the +fort!" returned the Sergeant, snapping his fingers. "If not actually a +younger, you are a younger-looking, ay, and a better-looking man than +the _Scud's_ master--" + +"Anan?" said Pathfinder, looking up at his companion with an expression +of doubt, as if he did not understand his meaning. + +"I say if not actually younger in days and years, you look more hardy +and like whipcord than Jasper, or any of them; and there will be more +of you, thirty years hence, than of all of them put together. A good +conscience will keep one like you a mere boy all his life." + +"Jasper has as clear a conscience as any youth I know, Sergeant, and is +as likely to wear on that account as any in the colony." + +"Then you are my friend," squeezing the other's hand, "my tried, sworn, +and constant friend." + +"Yes, we have been friends, Sergeant, near twenty years before Mabel was +born." + +"True enough; before Mabel was born, we were well-tried friends; and the +hussy would never dream of refusing to marry a man who was her father's +friend before she was born." + +"We don't know, Sergeant, we don't know. Like loves like. The young +prefer the young for companions, and the old the old." + +"Not for wives, Pathfinder; I never knew an old man, now, who had an +objection to a young wife. Then you are respected and esteemed by every +officer in the fort, as I have said already, and it will please her +fancy to like a man that every one else likes." + +"I hope I have no enemies but the Mingos," returned the guide, stroking +down his hair meekly and speaking thoughtfully. "I've tried to do right, +and that ought to make friends, though it sometimes fails." + +"And you may be said to keep the best company; for even old Duncan of +Lundie is glad to see you, and you pass hours in his society. Of all the +guides, he confides most in you." + +"Ay, even greater than he is have marched by my side for days, and have +conversed with me as if I were their brother; but, Sergeant, I have +never been puffed up by their company, for I know that the woods often +bring men to a level who would not be so in the settlements." + +"And you are known to be the greatest rifle shot that ever pulled +trigger in all this region." + +"If Mabel could fancy a man for that, I might have no great reason to +despair; and yet, Sergeant, I sometimes think that it is all as much +owing to Killdeer as to any skill of my own. It is sartainly a wonderful +piece, and might do as much in the hands of another." + +"That is your own humble opinion of yourself, Pathfinder; but we have +seen too many fail with the same weapon, and you succeed too often with +the rifles of other men, to allow me to agree with you. We will get up +a shooting match in a day or two, when you can show your skill, and when +Mabel will form some judgment concerning your true character." + +"Will that be fair, Sergeant? Everybody knows that Killdeer seldom +misses; and ought we to make a trial of this sort when we all know what +must be the result?" + +"Tut, tut, man! I foresee I must do half this courting for you. For +one who is always inside of the smoke in a skirmish, you are the +faintest-hearted suitor I ever met with. Remember, Mabel comes of a bold +stock; and the girl will be as likely to admire a man as her mother was +before her." + +Here the Sergeant arose, and proceeded to attend to his never-ceasing +duties, without apology; the terms on which the guide stood with all in +the garrison rendering this freedom quite a matter of course. + +The reader will have gathered from the conversation just related, one of +the plans that Sergeant Dunham had in view in causing his daughter to +be brought to the frontier. Although necessarily much weaned from the +caresses and blandishments that had rendered his child so dear to him +during the first year or two of his widowerhood, he had still a strong +but somewhat latent love for her. Accustomed to command and to obey, +without being questioned himself or questioning others, concerning the +reasonableness of the mandates, he was perhaps too much disposed to +believe that his daughter would marry the man he might select, while he +was far from being disposed to do violence to her wishes. The fact was; +few knew the Pathfinder intimately without secretly believing him to be +one of extraordinary qualities. Ever the same, simple-minded, faithful, +utterly without fear, and yet prudent, foremost in all warrantable +enterprises, or what the opinion of the day considered as such, and +never engaged in anything to call a blush to his cheek or censure on +his acts, it was not possible to live much with this being and not feel +respect and admiration for him which had no reference to his position +in life. The most surprising peculiarity about the man himself was the +entire indifference with which he regarded all distinctions which did +not depend on personal merit. He was respectful to his superiors from +habit; but had often been known to correct their mistakes and to reprove +their vices with a fearlessness that proved how essentially he regarded +the more material points, and with a natural discrimination that +appeared to set education at defiance. In short, a disbeliever in the +ability of man to distinguish between good and evil without the aid +of instruction, would have been staggered by the character of this +extraordinary inhabitant of the frontier. His feelings appeared to +possess the freshness and nature of the forest in which he passed so +much of his time; and no casuist could have made clearer decisions in +matters relating to right and wrong; and yet he was not without his +prejudices, which, though few, and colored by the character and usages +of the individual, were deep-rooted, and almost formed a part of his +nature. But the most striking feature about the moral organization of +Pathfinder was his beautiful and unerring sense of justice. This noble +trait--and without it no man can be truly great, with it no man +other than respectable--probably had its unseen influence on all who +associated with him; for the common and unprincipled brawler of the camp +had been known to return from an expedition made in his company rebuked +by his sentiments, softened by his language, and improved by his +example. As might have been expected, with so elevated a quality his +fidelity was like the immovable rock; treachery in him was classed among +the things which are impossible; and as he seldom retired before his +enemies, so was he never known, under any circumstances that admitted of +an alternative, to abandon a friend. The affinities of such a character +were, as a matter of course, those of like for like. His associates and +intimates, though more or less determined by chance, were generally of +the highest order as to moral propensities; for he appeared to possess +a species of instinctive discrimination, which led him, insensibly to +himself, most probably, to cling closest to those whose characters would +best reward his friendship. In short, it was said of the Pathfinder, by +one accustomed to study his fellows, that he was a fair example of +what a just-minded and pure man might be, while untempted by unruly or +ambitious desires, and left to follow the bias of his feelings, amid the +solitary grandeur and ennobling influences of a sublime nature; neither +led aside by the inducements which influence all to do evil amid the +incentives of civilization, nor forgetful of the Almighty Being whose +spirit pervades the wilderness as well as the towns. + +Such was the man whom Sergeant Dunham had selected as the husband of +Mabel. In making this choice, he had not been as much governed by a +clear and judicious view of the merits of the individual, perhaps, as +by his own likings; still no one knew the Pathfinder so intimately as +himself without always conceding to the honest guide a high place in his +esteem on account of these very virtues. That his daughter could find +any serious objections to the match the old soldier did not apprehend; +while, on the other hand, he saw many advantages to himself in dim +perspective, connected with the decline of his days, and an evening of +life passed among descendants who were equally dear to him through +both parents. He had first made the proposition to his friend, who had +listened to it kindly, but who, the Sergeant was now pleased to find, +already betrayed a willingness to come into his own views that was +proportioned to the doubts and misgivings proceeding from his humble +distrust of himself. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Think not I love him, though I ask for him; + 'Tis but a peevish boy:--yet he talks well-- + But what care I for words? + + +A week passed in the usual routine of a garrison. Mabel was becoming +used to a situation that, at first she had found not only novel, but +a little irksome; and the officers and men in their turn, gradually +familiarized to the presence of a young and blooming girl, whose attire +and carriage had that air of modest gentility about them which she +had obtained in the family of her patroness, annoyed her less by their +ill-concealed admiration, while they gratified her by the respect which, +she was fain to think, they paid her on account of her father; but +which, in truth, was more to be attributed to her own modest but +spirited deportment, than to any deference for the worthy Sergeant. + +Acquaintances made in a forest, or in any circumstances of unusual +excitement, soon attain their limits. Mabel found one week's residence +at Oswego sufficient to determine her as to those with whom she might be +intimate and those whom she ought to avoid. The sort of neutral position +occupied by her father, who was not an officer, while he was so much +more than a common soldier, by keeping her aloof from the two great +classes of military life, lessened the number of those whom she was +compelled to know, and made the duty of decision comparatively easy. +Still she soon discovered that there were a few, even among those that +could aspire to a seat at the Commandant's table, who were disposed to +overlook the halbert for the novelty of a well-turned figure and of a +pretty, winning face; and by the end of the first two or three days she +had admirers even among the gentlemen. The Quartermaster, in particular, +a middle-aged soldier, who had more than once tried the blessings of +matrimony already, but was now a widower, was evidently disposed to +increase his intimacy with the Sergeant, though their duties often +brought them together; and the youngsters among his messmates did not +fail to note that this man of method, who was a Scotsman of the name +of Muir, was much more frequent in his visits to the quarters of his +subordinate than had formerly been his wont. A laugh, or a joke, in +honor of the "Sergeant's daughter," however, limited their strictures; +though "Mabel Dunham" was soon a toast that even the ensign, or the +lieutenant, did not disdain to give. + +At the end of the week, Duncan of Lundie sent for Sergeant Dunham, after +evening roll-call, on business of a nature that, it was understood, +required a personal conference. The old veteran dwelt in a movable hut, +which, being placed on trucks, he could order to be wheeled about at +pleasure, sometimes living in one part of the area within the fort, and +sometimes in another. On the present occasion, he had made a halt near +the centre; and there he was found by his subordinate, who was +admitted to his presence without any delay or dancing attendance in an +ante-chamber. In point of fact, there was very little difference in the +quality of the accommodations allowed to the officers and those allowed +to the men, the former being merely granted the most room. + +"Walk in, Sergeant, walk in, my good friend," said old Lundie heartily, +as his inferior stood in a respectful attitude at the door of a sort of +library and bedroom into which he had been ushered;--"walk in, and take +a seat on that stool. I have sent for you, man; to discuss anything but +rosters and pay-rolls this evening. It is now many years since we have +been comrades, and 'auld lang syne' should count for something, even +between a major and his orderly, a Scot and a Yankee. Sit ye down, man, +and just put yourself at your ease. It has been a fine day, Sergeant." + +"It has indeed, Major Duncan," returned the other, who, though he +complied so far as to take the seat, was much too practised not to +understand the degree of respect it was necessary to maintain in his +manner; "a very fine day, sir, it has been and we may look for more of +them at this season." + +"I hope so with all my heart. The crops look well as it is, man, and +you'll be finding that the 55th make almost as good farmers as soldiers. +I never saw better potatoes in Scotland than we are likely to have in +that new patch of ours." + +"They promise a good yield, Major Duncan; and, in that light, a more +comfortable winter than the last." + +"Life is progressive, Sergeant, in its comforts as well as in its need +of them. We grow old, and I begin to think it time to retire and settle +in life. I feel that my working days are nearly over." + +"The king, God bless him! sir, has much good service in your honor yet." + +"It may be so, Sergeant Dunham, especially if he should happen to have a +spare lieutenant-colonelcy left." + +"The 55th will be honored the day that commission is given to Duncan of +Lundie, sir." + +"And Duncan of Lundie will be honored the day he receives it. But, +Sergeant, if you have never had a lieutenant-colonelcy, you have had a +good wife, and that is the next thing to rank in making a man happy." + +"I have been married, Major Duncan; but it is now a long time since I +have had no drawback on the love I bear his majesty and my duty." + +"What, man! not even the love you bear that active little round-limbed, +rosy-cheeked daughter that I have seen in the fort these last few days! +Out upon you, Sergeant! old fellow as I am, I could almost love that +little lassie myself, and send the lieutenant-colonelcy to the devil." + +"We all know where Major Duncan's heart is, and that is in Scotland, +where a beautiful lady is ready and willing to make him happy, as soon +as his own sense of duty shall permit." + +"Ay, hope is ever a far-off thing, Sergeant," returned the superior, a +shade of melancholy passing over his hard Scottish features as he spoke; +"and bonnie Scotland is a far-off country. Well, if we have no heather +and oatmeal in this region, we have venison for the killing of it and +salmon as plenty as at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Is it true, Sergeant, that +the men complain of having been over-venisoned and over-pigeoned of +late?" + + +"Not for some weeks, Major Duncan, for neither deer nor birds are so +plenty at this season as they have been. They begin to throw their +remarks about concerning the salmon, but I trust we shall get through +the summer without any serious disturbance on the score of food. The +Scotch in the battalion do, indeed, talk more than is prudent of their +want of oatmeal, grumbling occasionally of our wheaten bread." + +"Ah, that is human nature, Sergeant! pure, unadulterated Scotch human +nature. A cake, man, to say the truth, is an agreeable morsel, and I +often see the time when I pine for a bite myself." + +"If the feeling gets to be troublesome, Major Duncan,--in the men, I +mean, sir, for I would not think of saying so disrespectful a thing to +your honor,--but if the men ever pine seriously for their natural food, +I would humbly recommend that some oatmeal be imported, or prepared in +this country for them, and I think we shall hear no more of it. A very +little would answer for a cure, sir." + +"You are a wag, Sergeant; but hang me if I am sure you are not right. +There may be sweeter things in this world, after all, than oatmeal. You +have a sweet daughter, Dunham, for one." + +"The girl is like her mother, Major Duncan, and will pass inspection," +said the Sergeant proudly. "Neither was brought up on anything better +than good American flour. The girl will pass inspection, sir." + +"That would she, I'll answer for it. Well, I may as well come to the +point at once, man, and bring up my reserve into the front of the +battle. Here is Davy Muir, the quartermaster, disposed to make your +daughter his wife, and he has just got me to open the matter to you, +being fearful of compromising his own dignity; and I may as well add +that half the youngsters in the fort toast her, and talk of her from +morning till night." + +"She is much honored, sir," returned the father stiffly; "but I trust +the gentlemen will find something more worthy of them to talk about ere +long. I hope to see her the wife of an honest man before many weeks, +sir." + +"Yes, Davy is an honest man, and that is more than can be said for all +in the quartermaster's department, I'm thinking, Sergeant," returned +Lundie, with a slight smile. "Well, then may I tell the Cupid-stricken +youth that the matter is as good as settled?" + +"I thank your honor; but Mabel is betrothed to another." + +"The devil she is! That will produce a stir in the fort; though I'm not +sorry to hear it either, for, to be frank with you, Sergeant, I'm no +great admirer of unequal matches." + +"I think with your honor, and have no desire to see my daughter an +officer's lady. If she can get as high as her mother was before her, it +ought to satisfy any reasonable woman." + +"And may I ask, Sergeant, who is the lucky man that you intend to call +son-in-law?" + +"The Pathfinder, your honor." + +"Pathfinder!" + +"The same, Major Duncan; and in naming him to you, I give you his whole +history. No one is better known on this frontier than my honest, brave, +true-hearted friend." + +"All that is true enough; but is he, after all, the sort of person to +make a girl of twenty happy?" + +"Why not, your honor? The man is at the head of his calling. There is no +other guide or scout connected with the army who has half the reputation +of Pathfinder, or who deserves to have it half as well." + +"Very true, Sergeant; but is the reputation of a scout exactly the sort +of renown to captivate a girl's fancy?" + +"Talking of girls' fancies, sir, is in my humble opinion much like +talking of a recruit's judgment. If we were to take the movements of the +awkward squad, sir, as a guide, we should never form a decent line in +battalion, Major Duncan." + +"But your daughter has nothing awkward about her: for a genteeler girl +of her class could not be found in old Albion itself. Is she of your way +of thinking in this matter?--though I suppose she must be, as you say +she is betrothed." + +"We have not yet conversed on the subject, your honor; but I consider +her mind as good as made up, from several little circumstances which +might be named." + +"And what are these circumstances, Sergeant?" asked the Major, who +began to take more interest than he had at first felt on the subject. +"I confess a little curiosity to know something about a woman's mind, +being, as you know, a bachelor myself." + +"Why, your honor, when I speak of the Pathfinder to the girl, she always +looks me full in the face; chimes in with everything I say in his favor, +and has a frank open way with her, which says as much as if she half +considered him already as a husband." + +"Hum! and these signs, you think, Dunham, are faithful tokens of your +daughter's feelings?" + +"I do, your honor, for they strike me as natural. When I find a man, +sir, who looks me full in the face, while he praises an officer,--for, +begging your honor's pardon, the men will sometimes pass their +strictures on their betters,--and when I find a man looking me in the +eyes as he praises his captain, I always set it down that the fellow is +honest, and means what he says." + +"Is there not some material difference in the age of the intended +bridegroom and that of his pretty bride, Sergeant?" + +"You are quite right, sir; Pathfinder is well advanced towards forty, +and Mabel has every prospect of happiness that a young woman can derive +from the certainty of possessing an experienced husband. I was quite +forty myself, your honor, when I married her mother." + +"But will your daughter be as likely to admire a green hunting-shirt, +such as that our worthy guide wears, with a fox-skin cap, as the smart +uniform of the 55th?" + +"Perhaps not, sir; and therefore she will have the merit of self-denial, +which always makes a young woman wiser and better." + +"And are you not afraid that she may be left a widow while still a young +woman? what between wild beasts, and wilder savages, Pathfinder may be +said to carry his life in his hand." + +"'Every bullet has its billet,' Lundie," for so the Major was fond of +being called in his moments of condescension, and when not engaged in +military affairs; "and no man in the 55th can call himself beyond or +above the chances of sudden death. In that particular, Mabel would +gain nothing by a change. Besides, sir, if I may speak freely on such +a subject, I much doubt if ever Pathfinder dies in battle, or by any of +the sudden chances of the wilderness." + +"And why so, Sergeant?" asked the Major. "He is a soldier, so far as +danger is concerned, and one that is much more than usually exposed; +and, being free of his person, why should he expect to escape when +others do not?" + +"I do not believe, your honor, that the Pathfinder considers his own +chances better than any one's else, but the man will never die by +a bullet. I have seen him so often handling his rifle with as much +composure as if it were a shepherd's crook, in the midst of the heaviest +showers of bullets, and under so many extraordinary circumstances, that +I do not think Providence means he should ever fall in that manner. And +yet, if there be a man in his Majesty's dominions who really deserves +such a death, it is Pathfinder." + +"We never know, Sergeant," returned Lundie, with a countenance grave +with thought; "and the less we say about it, perhaps, the better. But +will your daughter--Mabel, I think, you call her--will Mabel be as +willing to accept one who, after all, is a mere hanger-on of the army, +as to take one from the service itself? There is no hope of promotion +for the guide, Sergeant." + +"He is at the head of his corps already, your honor. In short, Mabel +has made up her mind on this subject; and, as your honor has had the +condescension to speak to me about Mr. Muir, I trust you will be kind +enough to say that the girl is as good as billeted for life." + +"Well, well, this is your own matter, and, now--Sergeant Dunham!" + +"Your honor," said the other, rising, and giving the customary salute. + +"You have been told it is my intention to send you down among the +Thousand Islands for the next month. All the old subalterns have had +their tours of duty in that quarter--all that I like to trust at least; +and it has at length come to your turn. Lieutenant Muir, it is true, +claims his right; but, being quartermaster, I do not like to break up +well-established arrangements. Are the men drafted?" + +"Everything is ready, your honor. The draft is made, and I understood +that the canoe which got in last night brought a message to say that the +party already below is looking out for the relief." + +"It did; and you must sail the day after to-morrow, if not to-morrow +night. It will be wise, perhaps, to sail in the dark." + +"So Jasper thinks, Major Duncan; and I know no one more to be depended +on in such an affair than young Jasper Western." + +"Young Jasper Eau-douce!" said Lundie, a slight smile gathering around +his usually stern mouth. "Will that lad be of your party, Sergeant?" + +"Your honor will remember that the _Scud_ never quits port without him." + +"True; but all general rules have their exceptions. Have I not seen a +seafaring person about the fort within the last few days?" + +"No doubt, your honor; it is Master Cap, a brother-in-law of mine, who +brought my daughter from below." + +"Why not put him in the _Scud_ for this cruise, Sergeant, and leave +Jasper behind? Your brother-in-law would like the variety of a +fresh-water cruise, and you would enjoy more of his company." + +"I intended to ask your honor's permission to take him along; but he +must go as a volunteer. Jasper is too brave a lad to be turned out of +his command without a reason, Major Duncan; and I'm afraid brother Cap +despises fresh water too much to do duty on it." + +"Quite right, Sergeant, and I leave all this to your own discretion. +Eau-douce must retain his command, on second thoughts. You intend that +Pathfinder shall also be of the party?" + +"If your honor approves of it. There will be service for both the +guides, the Indian as well as the white man." + +"I think you are right. Well, Sergeant, I wish you good luck in the +enterprise; and remember the post is to be destroyed and abandoned when +your command is withdrawn. It will have done its work by that time, or +we shall have failed entirely, and it is too ticklish a position to be +maintained unnecessarily. You can retire." + +Sergeant Dunham gave the customary salute, turned on his heels as if +they had been pivots, and had got the door nearly drawn to after him, +when he was suddenly recalled. + +"I had forgotten, Sergeant, the younger officers have begged for +a shooting match, and to-morrow has been named for the day. All +competitors will be admitted, and the prizes will be a silver-mounted +powder horn, a leathern flask ditto," reading from a piece of paper, "as +I see by the professional jargon of this bill, and a silk calash for a +lady. The latter is to enable the victor to show his gallantry by making +an offering of it to her he best loves." + +"All very agreeable, your honor, at least to him that succeeds. Is the +Pathfinder to be permitted to enter?" + +"I do not well see how he can be excluded, if he choose to come forward. +Latterly, I have observed that he takes no share in these sports, +probably from a conviction of his own unequalled skill." + +"That's it, Major Duncan; the honest fellow knows there is not a man +on the frontier who can equal him, and he does not wish to spoil the +pleasure of others. I think we may trust to his delicacy in anything, +sir. Perhaps it may be as well to let him have his own way?" + +"In this instance we must, Sergeant. Whether he will be as successful in +all others remains to be seen. I wish you good evening, Dunham." + +The Sergeant now withdrew, leaving Duncan of Lundie to his own thoughts: +that they were not altogether disagreeable was to be inferred from the +smiles which occasionally covered a countenance hard and martial in +its usual expression, though there were moments in which all its severe +sobriety prevailed. Half an hour might have passed, when a tap at the +door was answered by a direction to enter. A middle-aged man, in the +dress of an officer, but whose uniform wanted the usual smartness of the +profession, made his appearance, and was saluted as "Mr. Muir." + +"I have come sir, at your bidding, to know my fortune," said the +Quartermaster, in a strong Scotch accent, as soon as he had taken the +seat which was proffered to him. "To say the truth to you, Major Duncan, +this girl is making as much havoc in the garrison as the French did +before Ty: I never witnessed so general a rout in so short a time!" + +"Surely, Davy, you don't mean to persuade me that your young and +unsophisticated heart is in such a flame, after one week's ignition? +Why, man, this is worse than the affair in Scotland, where it was said +the heat within was so intense that it just burnt a hole through your +own precious body, and left a place for all the lassies to peer in at, +to see what the combustible material was worth." + +"Ye'll have your own way, Major Duncan; and your father and mother would +have theirs before ye, even if the enemy were in the camp. I see +nothing so extraordinar' in young people following the bent of their +inclinations and wishes." + +"But you've followed yours so often, Davy, that I should think by this +time it had lost the edge of novelty. Including that informal affair in +Scotland, when you were a lad, you've been married four times already." + +"Only three, Major, as I hope to get another wife. I've not yet had my +number: no, no; only three." + +"I'm thinking, Davy, you don't include the first affair I mentioned; +that in which there was no parson." + +"And why should I Major? The courts decided that it was no marriage; and +what more could a man want? The woman took advantage of a slight amorous +propensity that may be a weakness in my disposition, perhaps, and +inveigled me into a contract which was found to be illegal." + +"If I remember right, Muir, there were thought to be two sides to that +question, in the time of it?" + +"It would be but an indifferent question, my dear Major, that hadn't two +sides to it; and I've known many that had three. But the poor woman's +dead, and there was no issue; so nothing came of it after all. Then, I +was particularly unfortunate with my second wife; I say second, Major, +out of deference to you, and on the mere supposition that the first was +a marriage at all; but first or second, I was particularly unfortunate +with Jeannie Graham, who died in the first lustrum, leaving neither +chick nor chiel behind her. I do think, if Jeannie had survived, I never +should have turned my thoughts towards another wife." + +"But as she did not, you married twice after her death; and are desirous +of doing so a third time." + +"The truth can never justly be gainsaid, Major Duncan, and I am always +ready to avow it. I'm thinking, Lundie, you are melancholar this fine +evening?" + +"No, Muir, not melancholy absolutely; but a little thoughtful, I +confess. I was looking back to my boyish days, when I, the laird's son, +and you, the parson's, roamed about our native hills, happy and careless +boys, taking little heed to the future; and then have followed some +thoughts, that may be a little painful, concerning that future as it has +turned out to be." + +"Surely, Lundie, ye do not complain of yer portion of it. You've risen +to be a major, and will soon be a lieutenant-colonel, if letters tell +the truth; while I am just one step higher than when your honored father +gave me my first commission, and a poor deevil of a quartermaster." + +"And the four wives?" + +"Three, Lundie; three only that were legal, even under our own liberal +and sanctified laws." + +"Well, then, let it be three. Ye know, Davy," said Major Duncan, +insensibly dropping into the pronunciation and dialect of his youth, as +is much the practice with educated Scotchmen as they warm with a subject +that comes near the heart,--"ye know, Davy, that my own choice has long +been made, and in how anxious and hope-wearied a manner I've waited for +that happy hour when I can call the woman I've so long loved a wife; and +here have you, without fortune, name, birth, or merit--I mean particular +merit--" + +"Na, na; dinna say that, Lundie. The Muirs are of gude bluid." + +"Well, then, without aught but bluid, ye've wived four times--" + +"I tall ye but thrice, Lundie. Ye'll weaken auld friendship if ye call +it four." + +"Put it at yer own number, Davy; and it's far more than yer share. Our +lives have been very different, on the score of matrimony, at least; you +must allow that, my old friend." + +"And which do you think has been the gainer, Major, speaking as frankly +thegither as we did when lads?" + +"Nay, I've nothing to conceal. My days have passed in hope deferred, +while yours have passed in--" + +"Not in hope realized, I give you mine honor, Major Duncan," interrupted +the Quartermaster. "Each new experiment I have thought might prove an +advantage; but disappointment seems the lot of man. Ah! this is a vain +world of ours, Lundie, it must be owned; and in nothing vainer than in +matrimony." + +"And yet you are ready to put your neck into the noose for the fifth +time?" + +"I desire to say, it will be but the fourth, Major Duncan," said the +Quartermaster positively; then, instantly changing the expression of +his face to one of boyish rapture, he added, "But this Mabel Dunham is +a _rara avis!_ Our Scotch lassies are fair and pleasant; but it must be +owned these colonials are of surpassing comeliness." + +"You will do well to recollect your commission and blood, Davy. I +believe all four of your wives--" + +"I wish my dear Lundie, ye'd be more accurate in yer arithmetic. Three +times one make three." + +"All three, then, were what might be termed gentlewomen?" + +"That's just it, Major. Three were gentlewomen, as you say, and the +connections were suitable." + +"And the fourth being the daughter of my father's gardener, the +connection was unsuitable. But have you no fear that marrying the child +of a non-commissioned officer, who is in the same corps with yourself, +will have the effect to lessen your consequence in the regiment?" + +"That's just been my weakness through life, Major Duncan; for I've +always married without regard to consequences. Every man has his +besetting sin, and matrimony, I fear, is mine. And now that we have +discussed what may be called the principles of the connection, I +will just ask if you did me the favor to speak to the Sergeant on the +trifling affair?" + +"I did, David; and am sorry to say, for your hopes, that I see no great +chance of your succeeding." + +"Not succeeding! An officer, and a quartermaster in the bargain, and not +succeed with a sergeant's daughter!" + +"It's just that, Davy." + +"And why not, Lundie? Will ye have the goodness to answer just that?" + +"The girl is betrothed. Hand plighted, word passed, love pledged,--no, +hang me if I believe that either; but she is betrothed." + +"Well, that's an obstacle, it must be avowed, Major, though it counts +for little if the heart is free." + +"Quite true; and I think it probable the heart is free in this case; for +the intended husband appears to be the choice of the father rather than +of the daughter." + +"And who may it be, Major?" asked the Quartermaster, who viewed the +whole matter with the philosophy and coolness acquired by use. "I do not +recollect any plausible suitor that is likely to stand in my way." + +"No, you are the only _plausible_ suitor on the frontier, Davy. The +happy man is Pathfinder." + +"Pathfinder, Major Duncan!" + +"No more, nor any less, David Muir. Pathfinder is the man; but it may +relieve your jealousy a little to know that, in my judgment at least, it +is a match of the father's rather than of the daughter's seeking." + +"I thought as much!" exclaimed the Quartermaster, drawing a long +breath, like one who felt relieved; "it's quite impossible that with my +experience in human nature--" + +"Particularly hu-woman's nature, David." + +"Ye will have yer joke, Lundie, let who will suffer. But I did not think +it possible I could be deceived as to the young woman's inclinations, +which I think I may boldly pronounce to be altogether above the +condition of Pathfinder. As for the individual himself--why, time will +show." + +"Now, tell me frankly, Davy Muir," said Lundie, stepping short in +his walk, and looking the other earnestly in the face with a comical +expression of surprise, that rendered the veteran's countenance +ridiculously earnest,--"do you really suppose a girl like the daughter +of Sergeant Dunham can take a serious fancy to a man of your years and +appearance, and experience, I might add?" + +"Hout, awa', Lundie! ye dinna know the sax, and that's the reason yer +unmarried in yer forty-fifth year. It's a fearfu' time ye've been a +bachelor, Major!" + +"And what may be your age, Lieutenant Muir, if I may presume to ask so +delicate a question?" + +"Forty-seven; I'll no' deny it, Lundie; and if I get Mabel, there'll be +just a wife for every twa lustrums. But I didna think Sergeant Dunham +would be so humble minded as to dream of giving that sweet lass of his +to one like the Pathfinder." + +"There's no dream about it, Davy; the man is as serious as a soldier +about to be flogged." + +"Well, well, Major, we are auld friends,"--both ran into the Scotch or +avoided it, as they approached or drew away from their younger days, in +the dialogue,--"and ought to know how to take and give a joke, off duty. +It is possible the worthy man has not understood my hints, or he never +would have thought of such a thing. The difference between an officer's +consort and a guide's woman is as vast as that between the antiquity of +Scotland and the antiquity of America. I'm auld blood, too, Lundie." + +"Take my word for it Davy, your antiquity will do you no good in this +affair; and as for your blood, it is not older than your bones. Well, +well, man, ye know the Sergeant's answer; and so ye perceive that my +influence, on which ye counted so much, can do nought for ye. Let us +take a glass thegither, Davy, for auld acquaintance sake; and then ye'll +be doing well to remember the party that marches the morrow, and to +forget Mabel Dunham as fast as ever you can." + +"Ah, Major! I have always found it easier to forget a wife than to +forget a sweetheart. When a couple are fairly married, all is settled +but the death, as one may say, which must finally part us all; and it +seems to me awfu' irreverent to disturb the departed; whereas there +is so much anxiety and hope and felicity in expectation like, with the +lassie, that it keeps thought alive." + +"That is just my idea of your situation, Davy; for I never supposed you +expected any more felicity with either of your wives. Now, I've heard +of fellows who were so stupid as to look forward to happiness with their +wives even beyond the grave. I drink to your success, or to your speedy +recovery from this attack, Lieutenant; and I admonish you to be more +cautious in future, as some of these violent cases may yet carry you +off." + +"Many thanks, dear Major; and a speedy termination to an old courtship, +of which I know something. This is real mountain dew, Lundie, and it +warms the heart like a gleam of bonnie Scotland. As for the men you've +just mentioned, they could have had but one wife a piece; for where +there are several, the deeds of the women themselves may carry them +different ways. I think a reasonable husband ought to be satisfied with +passing his allotted time with any particular wife in this world, and +not to go about moping for things unattainable. I'm infinitely obliged +to you, Major Duncan, for this and all your other acts of friendship; +and if you could but add another, I should think you had not altogether +forgotten the play-fellow of your boyhood." + +"Well, Davy, if the request be reasonable, and such as a superior ought +to grant, out with it, man." + +"If ye could only contrive a little service for me, down among the +Thousand Isles, for a fortnight or so, I think this matter might be +settled to the satisfaction of all parties. Just remember, Lundie, the +lassie is the only marriageable white female on this frontier." + +"There is always duty for one in your line at a post, however small; +but this below can be done by the Sergeant as well as by the +Quartermaster-general, and better too." + +"But not better than by a regimental officer. There is great waste, in +common, among the orderlies." + +"I'll think of it, Muir," said the Major, laughing, "and you shall have +my answer in the morning. Here will be a fine occasion, man, the morrow, +to show yourself off before the lady; you are expert with the rifle, and +prizes are to be won. Make up your mind to display your skill, and who +knows what may yet happen before the _Scud_ sails." + +"I'm thinking most of the young men will try their hands in this sport, +Major!" + +"That will they, and some of the old ones too, if you appear. To keep +you in countenance, I'll try a shot or two myself, Davy; and you know I +have some name that way." + +"It might, indeed, do good. The female heart, Major Duncan, is +susceptible in many different modes, and sometimes in a way that the +rules of philosophy might reject. Some require a suitor to sit down +before them, as it might be, in a regular siege, and only capitulate +when the place can hold out no longer; others, again, like to be carried +by storm; while there are hussies who can only be caught by leading +them into an ambush. The first is the most creditable and officer-like +process, perhaps; but I must say I think the last the most pleasing." + +"An opinion formed from experience, out of all question. And what of the +storming parties?" + +"They may do for younger men, Lundie," returned the Quartermaster, +rising and winking, a liberty that he often took with his commanding +officer on the score of a long intimacy; "every period of life has its +necessities, and at forty-seven it's just as well to trust a little to +the head. I wish you a very good even, Major Duncan, and freedom from +gout, with a sweet and refreshing sleep." + +"The same to yourself, Mr. Muir, with many thanks. Remember the passage +of arms for the morrow." + +The Quartermaster withdrew, leaving Lundie in his library to reflect on +what had just passed. Use had so accustomed Major Duncan to Lieutenant +Muir and all his traits and humors, that the conduct of the latter +did not strike the former with the same force as it will probably the +reader. In truth, while all men act under one common law that is termed +nature, the varieties in their dispositions, modes of judging, feelings, +and selfishness are infinite. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + Compel the hawke to sit that is unmann'd, + Or make the hound, untaught, to draw the deere, + Or bring the free against his will in band, + Or move the sad a pleasant tale to heere, + Your time is lost, and you no whit the neere! + So love ne learnes, of force the heart to knit: + She serves but those that feel sweet fancies' fit. + _Mirror for Magistrates._ + + +It is not often that hope is rewarded by fruition so completely as the +wishes of the young men of the garrison were met by the state of the +weather on the succeeding day. The heats of summer were little felt +at Oswego at the period of which we are writing; for the shade of the +forest, added to the refreshing breezes from the lake, so far reduced +the influence of the sun as to render the nights always cool and the +days seldom oppressive. + +It was now September, a month in which the strong gales of the coast +often appear to force themselves across the country as far as the great +lakes, where the inland sailor sometimes feels that genial influence +which characterizes the winds of the ocean invigorating his frame, +cheering his spirits, and arousing his moral force. Such a day was that +on which the garrison of Oswego assembled to witness what its commander +had jocularly called a "passage of arms." Lundie was a scholar in +military matters at least, and it was one of his sources of honest pride +to direct the reading and thoughts of the young men under his orders +to the more intellectual parts of their profession. For one in his +situation, his library was both good and extensive, and its books were +freely lent to all who desired to use them. Among other whims that had +found their way into the garrison through these means, was a relish for +the sort of amusement in which it was now about to indulge; and around +which some chronicles of the days of chivalry had induced them to +throw a parade and romance not unsuited to the characters and habits of +soldiers, or to the insulated and wild post occupied by this particular +garrison. While so earnestly bent on pleasure, however, they on whom +that duty devolved did not neglect the safety of the garrison. One +standing on the ramparts of the fort, and gazing on the waste of +glittering water that bounded the view all along the northern horizon, +and on the slumbering and seemingly boundless forest which filled the +other half of the panorama, would have fancied the spot the very abode +of peacefulness and security; but Duncan of Lundie too well knew that +the woods might, at any moment, give up their hundreds, bent on +the destruction of the fort and all it contained; and that even the +treacherous lake offered a highway of easy approach by which his more +civilized and scarcely less wily foes, the French, could come upon him +at an unguarded moment. Parties were sent out under old and vigilant +officers, men who cared little for the sports of the day, to scour the +forest; and one entire company held the fort, under arms, with orders +to maintain a vigilance as strict as if an enemy of superior force was +known to be near. With these precautions, the remainder of the officers +and men abandoned themselves, without apprehension, to the business of +the morning. + +The spot selected for the sports was a sort of esplanade, a little west +of the fort, and on the immediate bank of the lake. It had been +cleared of its trees and stumps, that it might answer the purpose of +a parade-ground, as it possessed the advantages of having its rear +protected by the water, and one of its flanks by the works. Men drilling +on it could be attacked, consequently, on two sides only; and as the +cleared space beyond it, in the direction of the west and south, was +large, any assailants would be compelled to quit the cover of the woods +before they could make an approach sufficiently near to render them +dangerous. + +Although the regular arms of the regiment were muskets, some fifty +rifles were produced on the present occasion. Every officer had one as a +part of his private provision for amusement; many belonged to the scouts +and friendly Indians, of whom more or less were always hanging about the +fort; and there was a public provision of them for the use of those who +followed the game with the express object of obtaining supplies. Among +those who carried the weapon were some five or six, who had reputation +for knowing how to use it particularly well--so well, indeed, as to +have given them a celebrity on the frontier; twice that number who were +believed to be much better than common; and many who would have been +thought expert in almost any situation but the precise one in which they +now happened to be placed. + +The distance was a hundred yards, and the weapon was to be used without +a rest; the target, a board, with the customary circular lines in white +paint, having the bull's-eye in the centre. The first trials in skill +commenced with challenges among the more ignoble of the competitors to +display their steadiness and dexterity in idle competition. None but +the common men engaged in this strife, which had little to interest the +spectators, among whom no officer had yet appeared. + +Most of the soldiers were Scotch, the regiment having been raised at +Stirling and its vicinity not many years before, though, as in the case +of Sergeant Dunham, many Americans had joined it since its arrival in +the colonies. As a matter of course, the provincials were generally the +most expert marksmen; and after a desultory trial of half an hour it was +necessarily conceded that a youth who had been born in the colony of New +York, and who coming of Dutch extraction, was the most expert of all who +had yet tried their skill. It was just as this opinion prevailed that +the oldest captain, accompanied by most of the gentlemen and ladies +of the fort, appeared on the parade. A train of some twenty females of +humbler condition followed, among whom was seen the well-turned form, +intelligent, blooming, animated countenance, and neat, becoming attire +of Mabel Dunham. + +Of females who were officially recognized as belonging to the class of +ladies, there were but three in the fort, all of whom were officers' +wives; Mabel being strictly, as had been stated by the Quartermaster, +the only real candidate for matrimony among her sex. + +Some little preparation had been made for the proper reception of the +females, who were placed on a low staging of planks near the immediate +bank of the lake. In this vicinity the prizes were suspended from a +post. Great care was taken to reserve the front seat of the stage for +the three ladies and their children; while Mabel and those who belonged +to the non-commissioned officers of the regiment, occupied the second. +The wives and daughters of the privates were huddled together in the +rear, some standing and some sitting, as they could find room. Mabel, +who had already been admitted to the society of the officers' wives, on +the footing of a humble companion, was a good deal noticed by the ladies +in front, who had a proper appreciation of modest self-respect and +gentle refinement, though they were all fully aware of the value of +rank, more particularly in a garrison. + +As soon as this important portion of the spectators had got into their +places, Lundie gave orders for the trial of skill to proceed in the +manner that had been prescribed in his previous orders. Some eight or +ten of the best marksmen of the garrison now took possession of the +stand, and began to fire in succession. Among them were officers and +men indiscriminately placed, nor were the casual visitors in the fort +excluded from the competition. + +As might have been expected of men whose amusements and comfortable +subsistence equally depended on skill in the use of their weapons, +it was soon found that they were all sufficiently expert to hit the +bull's-eye, or the white spot in the centre of the target. Others who +succeeded them, it is true, were less sure, their bullets striking in +the different circles that surrounded the centre of the target without +touching it. + +According to the rules of the day, none could proceed to the second +trial who had failed in the first, and the adjutant of the place, who +acted as master of the ceremonies, or marshal of the day, called upon +the successful adventurers by name to get ready for the next effort, +while he gave notice that those who failed to present themselves for the +shot at the bull's-eye would necessarily be excluded from all the +higher trials. Just at this moment Lundie, the Quartermaster, and Jasper +Eau-douce appeared in the group at the stand, while the Pathfinder +walked leisurely on the ground without his beloved rifle, for him a +measure so unusual, as to be understood by all present as a proof that +he did not consider himself a competitor for the honors of the day. +All made way for Major Duncan, who, as he approached the stand in a +good-humored way, took his station, levelled his rifle carelessly, and +fired. The bullet missed the required mark by several inches. + +"Major Duncan is excluded from the other trials!" proclaimed the +Adjutant, in a voice so strong and confident that all the elder officers +and the sergeants well understood that this failure was preconcerted, +while all the younger gentlemen and the privates felt new encouragement +to proceed on account of the evident impartiality with which the laws of +the sports were administered. + +"Now, Master Eau-douce, comes your turn," said Muir; "and if you do not +beat the Major, I shall say that your hand is better skilled with the +oar than with the rifle." + +Jasper's handsome face flushed, he stepped upon the stand, cast a hasty +glance at Mabel, whose pretty form he ascertained was bending eagerly +forward as if to note the result, dropped the barrel of his rifle with +but little apparent care into the palm of his left hand, raised the +muzzle for a single instant with exceeding steadiness, and fired. The +bullet passed directly through the centre of the bull's-eye, much the +best shot of the morning, since the others had merely touched the paint. + +"Well performed, Master Jasper," said Muir, as soon as the result was +declared; "and a shot that might have done credit to an older head and a +more experienced eye. I'm thinking, notwithstanding, there was some of +a youngster's luck in it; for ye were no' partic'lar in the aim ye took. +Ye may be quick, Eau-douce, in the movement, but yer not philosophic nor +scientific in yer management of the weepon. Now, Sergeant Dunham, I'll +thank you to request the ladies to give a closer attention than common; +for I'm about to make that use of the rifle which may be called the +intellectual. Jasper would have killed, I allow; but then there would +not have been half the satisfaction in receiving such a shot as in +receiving one that is discharged scientifically." + +All this time the Quartermaster was preparing himself for the scientific +trial; but he delayed his aim until he saw that the eye of Mabel, in +common with those of her companions, was fastened on him in curiosity. +As the others left him room, out of respect to his rank, no one stood +near the competitor but his commanding officer, to whom he now said in +his familiar manner,-- + +"Ye see, Lundie, that something is to be gained by exciting a female's +curiosity. It's an active sentiment is curiosity, and properly improved +may lead to gentler innovations in the end." + +"Very true, Davy; but ye keep us all waiting while ye make your +preparations; and here is Pathfinder drawing near to catch a lesson from +your greater experience." + +"Well Pathfinder, and so _you_ have come to get an idea too, concerning +the philosophy of shooting? I do not wish to hide my light under a +bushel, and yer welcome to all ye'll learn. Do ye no' mean to try a shot +yersel', man?" + +"Why should I, Quartermaster, why should I? I want none of the prizes; +and as for honor, I have had enough of that, if it's any honor to shoot +better than yourself. I'm not a woman to wear a calash." + +"Very true; but ye might find a woman that is precious in your eyes to +wear it for ye, as----" + +"Come, Davy," interrupted the Major, "your shot or a retreat. The +Adjutant is getting impatient." + +"The Quartermaster's department and the Adjutant's department are seldom +compliable, Lundie; but I'm ready. Stand a little aside, Pathfinder, and +give the ladies an opportunity." + +Lieutenant Muir now took his attitude with a good deal of studied +elegance, raised his rifle slowly, lowered it, raised it again, repeated +the manoeuvres, and fired. + +"Missed the target altogether!" shouted the man whose duty it was to +mark the bullets, and who had little relish for the Quartermaster's +tedious science. "Missed the target!" + +"It cannot be!" cried Muir, his face flushing equally with indignation +and shame; "it cannot be, Adjutant; for I never did so awkward a thing +in my life. I appeal to the ladies for a juster judgment." + +"The ladies shut their eyes when you fired!" exclaimed the regimental +wags. "Your preparations alarmed them." + +"I will na believe such calumny of the leddies, nor sic' a reproach on +my own skill," returned the Quartermaster, growing more and more Scotch +as he warmed with his feelings; "it's a conspiracy to rob a meritorious +man of his dues." + +"It's a dead miss, Muir," said the laughing Lundie; "and ye'll jist sit +down quietly with the disgrace." + +"No, no, Major," Pathfinder at length observed; "the Quartermaster +_is_ a good shot for a slow one and a measured distance, though nothing +extr'ornary for real service. He has covered Jasper's bullet, as will be +seen, if any one will take the trouble to examine the target." + +The respect for Pathfinder's skill and for his quickness and accuracy +of sight was so profound and general, that, the instant he made this +declaration, the spectators began to distrust their own opinions, and a +dozen rushed to the target in order to ascertain the fact. There, sure +enough, it was found that the Quartermaster's bullet had gone through +the hole made by Jasper's, and that, too, so accurately as to require +a minute examination to be certain of the circumstance; which, however, +was soon clearly established, by discovering one bullet over the other +in the stump against which the target was placed. + +"I told ye, ladies, ye were about to witness the influence of science on +gunnery," said the Quartermaster, advancing towards the staging occupied +by the females. "Major Duncan derides the idea of mathematics entering +into target-shooting; but I tell him philosophy colors, and enlarges, +and improves, and dilates, and explains everything that belongs to human +life, whether it be a shooting-match or a sermon. In a word, philosophy +is philosophy, and that is saying all that the subject requires." + +"I trust you exclude love from the catalogue," observed the wife of a +captain who knew the history of the Quartermaster's marriages, and who +had a woman's malice against the monopolizer of her sex; "it seems that +philosophy has little in common with love." + +"You wouldn't say that, madam, if your heart had experienced many +trials. It's the man or the woman that has had many occasions to improve +the affections that can best speak of such matters; and, believe me, +of all love, philosophical is the most lasting, as it is the most +rational." + +"You would then recommend experience as an improvement on the passion?" + +"Your quick mind has conceived the idea at a glance. The happiest +marriages are those in which youth and beauty and confidence on one +side, rely on the sagacity, moderation, and prudence of years--middle +age, I mean, madam, for I'll no' deny that there is such a thing as a +husband's being too old for a wife. Here is Sergeant Dunham's charming +daughter, now, to approve of such sentiments, I'm certain; her character +for discretion being already well established in the garrison, short as +has been her residence among us." + +"Sergeant Dunham's daughter is scarcely a fitting interlocutor in a +discourse between you and me, Lieutenant Muir," rejoined the captain's +lady, with careful respect for her own dignity; "and yonder is the +Pathfinder about to take his chance, by way of changing the subject." + +"I protest, Major Duncan, I protest," cried Muir hurrying back towards +the stand, with both arms elevated by way of enforcing his words,--"I +protest in the strongest terms, gentlemen, against Pathfinder's being +admitted into these sports with Killdeer, which is a piece, to say +nothing of long habit that is altogether out of proportion for a trial +of skill against Government rifles." + +"Killdeer is taking its rest, Quartermaster," returned Pathfinder +calmly, "and no one here thinks of disturbing it. I did not think, +myself, of pulling a trigger to-day; but Sergeant Dunham has been +persuading me that I shall not do proper honor to his handsome daughter, +who came in under my care, if I am backward on such an occasion. I'm +using Jasper's rifle, Quartermaster, as you may see, and that is no +better than your own." + +Lieutenant Muir was now obliged to acquiesce, and every eye turned +towards the Pathfinder, as he took the required station. The air and +attitude of this celebrated guide and hunter were extremely fine, as +he raised his tall form and levelled the piece, showing perfect +self-command, and a through knowledge of the power of the human frame +as well as of the weapon. Pathfinder was not what is usually termed +a handsome man, though his appearance excited so much confidence and +commanded respect. Tall, and even muscular, his frame might have been +esteemed nearly perfect, were it not for the total absence of everything +like flesh. Whipcord was scarcely more rigid than his arms and legs, or, +at need, more pliable; but the outlines of his person were rather +too angular for the proportion that the eye most approves. Still, his +motions, being natural, were graceful, and, being calm and regulated, +they gave him an air and dignity that associated well with the idea, +which was so prevalent, of his services and peculiar merits. His honest, +open features were burnt to a bright red, that comported well with the +notion of exposure and hardships, while his sinewy hands denoted force, +and a species of use removed from the stiffening and deforming effects +of labor. Although no one perceived any of those gentler or more +insinuating qualities which are apt to win upon a woman's affections, +as he raised his rifle not a female eye was fastened on him without a +silent approbation of the freedom of his movements and the manliness of +his air. Thought was scarcely quicker than his aim; and, as the smoke +floated above his head, the butt-end of the rifle was seen on the +ground, the hand of the Pathfinder was leaning on the barrel, and his +honest countenance was illuminated by his usual silent, hearty laugh. + +"If one dared to hint at such a thing," cried Major Duncan, "I should +say that the Pathfinder had also missed the target." + +"No, no, Major," returned the guide confidently; "that _would_ be a +risky declaration. I didn't load the piece, and can't say what was in +it; but if it was lead, you will find the bullet driving down those of +the Quartermaster and Jasper, else is not my name Pathfinder." + +A shout from the target announced the truth of this assertion. + +"That's not all, that's not all, boys," called out the guide, who was +now slowly advancing towards the stage occupied by the females; "if you +find the target touched at all, I'll own to a miss. The Quartermaster +cut the wood, but you'll find no wood cut by that last messenger." + +"Very true, Pathfinder, very true," answered Muir, who was lingering +near Mabel, though ashamed to address her particularly in the presence +of the officers' wives. "The Quartermaster did cut the wood, and by that +means he opened a passage for your bullet, which went through the hole +he had made." + +"Well, Quartermaster, there goes the nail and we'll see who can drive +it closer, you or I; for, though I did not think of showing what a +rifle can do to-day, now my hand is in, I'll turn my back to no man that +carries King George's commission. Chingachgook is outlying, or he +might force me into some of the niceties of the art; but, as for you, +Quartermaster, if the nail don't stop you, the potato will." + +"You're over boastful this morning, Pathfinder; but you'll find you've +no green boy fresh from the settlements and the towns to deal with, I +will assure ye!" + +"I know that well, Quartermaster; I know that well, and shall not deny +your experience. You've lived many years on the frontiers, and I've +heard of you in the colonies, and among the Indians, too, quite a human +life ago." + +"Na, na," interrupted Muir in his broadest Scotch, "this is injustice, +man. I've no' lived so very long, neither." + +"I'll do you justice, Lieutenant, even if you get the best in the potato +trial. I say you've passed a good human life, for a soldier, in places +where the rifle is daily used, and I know you are a creditable and +ingenious marksman; but then you are not a true rifle-shooter. As for +boasting, I hope I'm not a vain talker about my own exploits; but a +man's gifts are his gifts, and it's flying in the face of Providence to +deny them. The Sergeant's daughter, here, shall judge between us, if you +have the stomach to submit to so pretty a judge." + +The Pathfinder had named Mabel as the arbiter because he admired her, +and because, in his eyes, rank had little or no value; but Lieutenant +Muir shrank at such a reference in the presence of the wives of the +officers. He would gladly keep himself constantly before the eyes and +the imagination of the object of his wishes; but he was still too much +under the influence of old prejudices, and perhaps too wary, to appear +openly as her suitor, unless he saw something very like a certainty of +success. On the discretion of Major Duncan he had a full reliance, and +he apprehended no betrayal from that quarter; but he was quite aware, +should it ever get abroad that he had been refused by the child of a +non-commissioned officer, he would find great difficulty in making +his approaches to any other woman of a condition to which he might +reasonably aspire. Notwithstanding these doubts and misgivings, Mabel +looked so prettily, blushed so charmingly, smiled so sweetly, and +altogether presented so winning a picture of youth, spirit, modesty, and +beauty, that he found it exceedingly tempting to be kept so prominently +before her imagination, and to be able to address her freely. + +"You shall have it your own way, Pathfinder," he answered, as soon as +his doubts had settled down into determination; "let the Sergeant's +daughter--his charming daughter, I should have termed her--be the umpire +then; and to her we will both dedicate the prize, that one or the other +must certainly win. Pathfinder must be humored, ladies, as you perceive, +else, no doubt, we should have had the honor to submit ourselves to one +of your charming society." + +A call for the competitors now drew the Quartermaster and his adversary +away, and in a few moments the second trial of skill commenced. A common +wrought nail was driven lightly into the target, its head having been +first touched with paint, and the marksman was required to hit it, or +he lost his chances in the succeeding trials. No one was permitted to +enter, on this occasion, who had already failed in the essay against the +bull's-eye. + +There might have been half a dozen aspirants for the honors of this +trial; one or two, who had barely succeeded in touching the spot of +paint in the previous strife, preferring to rest their reputations +there, feeling certain that they could not succeed in the greater effort +that was now exacted of them. The first three adventurers failed, all +coming very near the mark, but neither touching it. The fourth person +who presented himself was the Quartermaster, who, after going through +his usual attitudes, so far succeeded as to carry away a small portion +of the head of the nail, planting his bullet by the side of its point. +This was not considered an extraordinary shot, though it brought the +adventurer within the category. + +"You've saved your bacon, Quartermaster, as they say in the settlements +of their creaturs," cried Pathfinder, laughing; "but it would take a +long time to build a house with a hammer no better than yours. Jasper, +here, will show you how a nail is to be started, or the lad has lost +some of his steadiness of hand and sartainty of eye. You would have +done better yourself, Lieutenant, had you not been so much bent on +soldierizing your figure. Shooting is a natural gift, and is to be +exercised in a natural way." + +"We shall see, Pathfinder; I call that a pretty attempt at a nail; and +I doubt if the 55th has another hammer, as you call it, that can do just +the same thing over again." + +"Jasper is not in the 55th, but there goes his rap." + +As the Pathfinder spoke, the bullet of Eau-douce hit the nail square, +and drove it into the target, within an inch of the head. + +"Be all ready to clench it, boys!" cried out Pathfinder, stepping into +his friend's tracks the instant they were vacant. "Never mind a new +nail; I can see that, though the paint is gone, and what I can see I can +hit, at a hundred yards, though it were only a mosquito's eye. Be ready +to clench!" + +The rifle cracked, the bullet sped its way, and the head of the nail was +buried in the wood, covered by the piece of flattened lead. + +"Well, Jasper, lad," continued Pathfinder, dropping the butt-end of +his rifle to the ground, and resuming the discourse, as if he thought +nothing of his own exploit, "you improve daily. A few more tramps on +land in my company, and the best marksman on the frontiers will +have occasion to look keenly when he takes his stand ag'in you. The +Quartermaster is respectable, but he will never get any farther; whereas +you, Jasper, have the gift, and may one day defy any who pull trigger." + +"Hoot, hoot!" exclaimed Muir; "do you call hitting the head of the nail +respectable only, when it's the perfection of the art? Any one the least +refined and elevated in sentiment knows that the delicate touches denote +the master; whereas your sledge-hammer blows come from the rude and +uninstructed. If 'a miss is as good as a mile,' a hit ought to be +better, Pathfinder, whether it wound or kill." + +"The surest way of settling this rivalry will be to make another trial," +observed Lundie, "and that will be of the potato. You're Scotch, Mr. +Muir, and might fare better were it a cake or a thistle; but frontier +law has declared for the American fruit, and the potato it shall be." + +As Major Duncan manifested some impatience of manner, Muir had too much +tact to delay the sports any longer with his discursive remarks, but +judiciously prepared himself for the next appeal. To say the truth, the +Quartermaster had little or no faith in his own success in the trial of +skill that was to follow, nor would he have been so free in presenting +himself as a competitor at all had he anticipated it would have been +made; but Major Duncan, who was somewhat of a humorist in his own +quiet Scotch way, had secretly ordered it to be introduced expressly to +mortify him; for, a laird himself, Lundie did not relish the notion +that one who might claim to be a gentleman should bring discredit on +his caste by forming an unequal alliance. As soon as everything was +prepared, Muir was summoned to the stand, and the potato was held in +readiness to be thrown. As the sort of feat we are about to offer to the +reader, however, may be new to him, a word in explanation will render +the matter more clear. A potato of large size was selected, and given +to one who stood at the distance of twenty yards from the stand. At the +word "heave!" which was given by the marksman, the vegetable was +thrown with a gentle toss into the air, and it was the business of the +adventurer to cause a ball to pass through it before it reached the +ground. + +The Quartermaster, in a hundred experiments, had once succeeded in +accomplishing this difficult feat; but he now essayed to perform it +again, with a sort of blind hope that was fated to be disappointed. The +potato was thrown in the usual manner, the rifle was discharged, but the +flying target was untouched. + +"To the right-about, and fall out, Quartermaster," said Lundie, smiling +at the success of the artifice. "The honor of the silken calash will lie +between Jasper Eau-douce and Pathfinder." + +"And how is the trial to end, Major?" inquired the latter. "Are we to +have the two-potato trial, or is it to be settled by centre and skin?" + +"By centre and skin, if there is any perceptible difference; otherwise +the double shot must follow." + +"This is an awful moment to me, Pathfinder," observed Jasper, as he +moved towards the stand, his face actually losing its color in intensity +of feeling. + +Pathfinder gazed earnestly at the young man; and then, begging Major +Duncan to have patience for a moment, he led his friend out of the +hearing of all near him before he spoke. + +"You seem to take this matter to heart, Jasper?" the hunter remarked, +keeping his eyes fastened on those of the youth. + +"I must own, Pathfinder, that my feelings were never before so much +bound up in success." + +"And do you so much crave to outdo me, an old and tried friend?--and +that, as it might be, in my own way? Shooting is my gift, boy, and no +common hand can equal mine." + +"I know it--I know it, Pathfinder; but yet--" + +"But what, Jasper, boy?--speak freely; you talk to a friend." + +The young man compressed his lips, dashed a hand across his eye, and +flushed and paled alternately, like a girl confessing her love. Then, +squeezing the other's hand, he said calmly, like one whose manhood has +overcome all other sensations, "I would lose an arm, Pathfinder, to be +able to make an offering of that calash to Mabel Dunham." + +The hunter dropped his eyes to the ground, and as he walked slowly back +towards the stand, he seemed to ponder deeply on what he had just heard. + +"You never could succeed in the double trial, Jasper!" he suddenly +remarked. + +"Of that I am certain, and it troubles me." + +"What a creature is mortal man! He pines for things which are not of +his gift and treats the bounties of Providence lightly. No matter, no +matter. Take your station, Jasper, for the Major is waiting; and +harken, lad,--I must touch the skin, for I could not show my face in the +garrison with less than that." + +"I suppose I must submit to my fate," returned Jasper, flushing and +losing his color as before; "but I will make the effort, if I die." + +"What a thing is mortal man!" repeated Pathfinder, falling back to allow +his friend room to take his arm; "he overlooks his own gifts, and craves +those of another!" + +The potato was thrown, Jasper fired, and the shout that followed +preceded the announcement of the fact that he had driven his bullet +through its centre, or so nearly so as to merit that award. + +"Here is a competitor worthy of you, Pathfinder," cried Major Duncan +with delight, as the former took his station; "and we may look to some +fine shooting in the double trial." + +"What a thing is mortal man!" repeated the hunter, scarcely seeming to +notice what was passing around him, so much were his thoughts absorbed +in his own reflections. "Toss!" + +The potato was tossed, the rifle cracked,--it was remarked just as +the little black ball seemed stationary in the air, for the +marksman evidently took unusual heed to his aim,--and then a look of +disappointment and wonder succeeded among those who caught the falling +target. + +"Two holes in one?" called out the Major. + +"The skin, the skin!" was the answer; "only the skin!" + +"How's this, Pathfinder? Is Jasper Eau-douce to carry off the honors of +the day?" + +"The calash is his," returned the other, shaking his head and walking +quietly away from the stand. "What a creature is mortal man! never +satisfied with his own gifts, but for ever craving that which Providence +denies!" + +As Pathfinder had not buried his bullet in the potato, but had cut +through the skin, the prize was immediately adjudged to Jasper. The +calash was in the hands of the latter when the Quartermaster approached, +and with a polite air of cordiality he wished his successful rival joy +of his victory. + +"But now you've got the calash, lad, it's of no use to you," he added; +"it will never make a sail, nor even an ensign. I'm thinking, Eau-douce, +you'd no' be sorry to see its value in good siller of the king?" + +"Money cannot buy it, Lieutenant," returned Jasper, whose eye lighted +with all the fire of success and joy. "I would rather have won this +calash than have obtained fifty new suits of sails for the _Scud!_" + +"Hoot, hoot, lad! you are going mad like all the rest of them. I'd even +venture to offer half a guinea for the trifle rather than it should +lie kicking about in the cabin of your cutter, and in the end become an +ornament for the head of a squaw." + +Although Jasper did not know that the wary Quartermaster had not +offered half the actual cost of the prize, he heard the proposition with +indifference. Shaking his head in the negative, he advanced towards +the stage, where his approach excited a little commotion, the officers' +ladies, one and all, having determined to accept the present, should +the gallantry of the young sailor induce him to offer it. But Jasper's +diffidence, no less than admiration for another, would have prevented +him from aspiring to the honor of complimenting any whom he thought so +much his superiors. + +"Mabel," said he, "this prize is for you, unless--" + +"Unless what, Jasper?" answered the girl, losing her own bashfulness in +the natural and generous wish to relieve his embarrassment, though both +reddened in a way to betray strong feeling. + +"Unless you may think too indifferently of it, because it is offered by +one who may have no right to believe his gift will be accepted." + +"I do accept it, Jasper; and it shall be a sign of the danger I have +passed in your company, and of the gratitude I feel for your care of +me--your care, and that of the Pathfinder." + +"Never mind me, never mind me!" exclaimed the latter; "this is Jasper's +luck, and Jasper's gift: give him full credit for both. My turn may come +another day; mine and the Quartermaster's, who seems to grudge the boy +the calash; though what _he_ can want of it I cannot understand, for he +has no wife." + +"And has Jasper Eau-douce a wife? Or have you a wife yoursel', +Pathfinder? I may want it to help to get a wife, or as a memorial that I +have had a wife, or as proof how much I admire the sex, or because it is +a female garment, or for some other equally respectable motive. It's not +the unreflecting that are the most prized by the thoughtful, and there +is no surer sign that a man made a good husband to his first consort, +let me tell you all, than to see him speedily looking round for a +competent successor. The affections are good gifts from Providence, and +they that have loved one faithfully prove how much of this bounty has +been lavished upon them by loving another as soon as possible." + +"It may be so, it may be so. I am no practitioner in such things, and +cannot gainsay it. But Mabel here, the Sergeant's daughter, will give +you full credit for the words. Come, Jasper, although our hands are out, +let us see what the other lads can do with the rifle." + +Pathfinder and his companions retired, for the sports were about +to proceed. The ladies, however, were not so much engrossed with +rifle-shooting as to neglect the calash. It passed from hand to hand; +the silk was felt, the fashion criticized, and the work examined, and +divers opinions were privately ventured concerning the fitness of so +handsome a thing passing into the possession of a non-commissioned +officer's child. + +"Perhaps you will be disposed to sell that calash, Mabel, when it has +been a short time in your possession?" inquired the captain's lady. +"Wear it, I should think, you never can." + +"I may not wear it, madam," returned our heroine modestly; "but I should +not like to part with it either." + +"I daresay Sergeant Dunham keeps you above the necessity of selling your +clothes, child; but, at the same time, it is money thrown away to keep +an article of dress you can never wear." + +"I should be unwilling to part with the gift of a friend." + +"But the young man himself will think all the better of you for your +prudence after the triumph of the day is forgotten. It is a pretty and a +becoming calash, and ought not to be thrown away." + +"I've no intention to throw it away, ma'am; and, if you please, would +rather keep it." + +"As you will, child; girls of your age often overlook the real +advantages. Remember, however, if you do determine to dispose of the +thing, that it is bespoke, and that I will not take it if you ever even +put it on your own head." + +"Yes, ma'am," said Mabel, in the meekest voice imaginable, though her +eyes looked like diamonds, and her cheeks reddened to the tints of +two roses, as she placed the forbidden garment over her well-turned +shoulders, where she kept it a minute, as if to try its fitness, and +then quietly removed it again. + +The remainder of the sports offered nothing of interest. The shooting +was reasonably good; but the trials were all of a scale lower than those +related, and the competitors were soon left to themselves. The ladies +and most of the officers withdrew, and the remainder of the females soon +followed their example. Mabel was returning along the low flat rocks +that line the shore of the lake, dangling her pretty calash from a +prettier finger, when Pathfinder met her. He carried the rifle which +he had used that day; but his manner had less of the frank ease of the +hunter about it than usual, while his eye seemed roving and uneasy. +After a few unmeaning words concerning the noble sheet of water before +them, he turned towards his companion with strong interest in his +countenance, and said,-- + +"Jasper earned that calash for you, Mabel, without much trial of his +gifts." + +"It was fairly done, Pathfinder." + +"No doubt, no doubt. The bullet passed neatly through the potato, and no +man could have done more; though others might have done as much." + +"But no one did as much!" exclaimed Mabel, with an animation that she +instantly regretted; for she saw by the pained look of the guide that he +was mortified equally by the remark and by the feeling with which it was +uttered. + +"It is true, it is true, Mabel, no one did as much then; but--yet there +is no reason I should deny my gifts which come from Providence--yes, +yes; no one did as much there, but you shall know what _can_ be done +here. Do you observe the gulls that are flying over our heads?" + +"Certainly, Pathfinder; there are too many to escape notice." + +"Here, where they cross each other in sailing about," he added, cocking +and raising his rifle; "the two--the two. Now look!" + +The piece was presented quick as thought, as two of the birds came in +a line, though distant from each other many yards; the report followed, +and the bullet passed through the bodies of both victims. No sooner had +the gulls fallen into the lake, than Pathfinder dropped the butt-end +of the rifle, and laughed in his own peculiar manner, every shade of +dissatisfaction and mortified pride having left his honest face. + +"That is something, Mabel, that is something; although I have no calash +to give you! But ask Jasper himself; I'll leave it all to Jasper, for a +truer tongue and heart are not in America." + +"Then it was not Jasper's fault that he gained the prize?" + +"Not it. He did his best, and he did well. For one that has water gifts, +rather than land gifts, Jasper is uncommonly expert, and a better backer +no one need wish, ashore or afloat. But it was my fault, Mabel, that he +got the calash; though it makes no difference--it makes no difference, +for the thing has gone to the right person." + +"I believe I understand you, Pathfinder," said Mabel, blushing in spite +of herself, "and I look upon the calash as the joint gift of yourself +and Jasper." + +"That would not be doing justice to the lad, neither. He won the +garment, and had a right to give it away. The most you may think, +Mabel, is to believe that, had I won it, it would have gone to the same +person." + +"I will remember that, Pathfinder, and take care that others know your +skill, as it has been proved upon the poor gulls in my presence." + +"Lord bless you, Mabel! there is no more need of your talking in favor +of my shooting on this frontier, than of your talking about the water +in the lake or the sun in the heavens. Everybody knows what I can do in +that way, and your words would be thrown away, as much as French would +be thrown away on an American bear." + +"Then you think that Jasper knew you were giving him this advantage, +of which he had so unhandsomely availed himself?" said Mabel, the color +which had imparted so much lustre to her eyes gradually leaving her +face, which became grave and thoughtful. + +"I do not say that, but very far from it. We all forget things that we +have known, when eager after our wishes. Jasper is satisfied that I can +pass one bullet through two potatoes, as I sent my bullet through the +gulls; and he knows no other man on the frontier can do the same thing. +But with the calash before his eyes, and the hope of giving it to you, +the lad was inclined to think better of himself, just at that moment, +perhaps, than he ought. No, no, there's nothing mean or distrustful +about Jasper Eau-douce, though it is a gift natural to all young men to +wish to appear well in the eyes of handsome young women." + +"I'll try to forget all, but the kindness you've both shown to a poor +motherless girl," said Mabel, struggling to keep down emotions she +scarcely knew how to account for herself. "Believe me, Pathfinder, I can +never forget all you have already done for me--you and Jasper; and this +new proof of your regard is not thrown away. Here, here is a brooch that +is of silver, and I offer it as a token that I owe you life or liberty." + +"What shall I do with this, Mabel?" asked the bewildered hunter, holding +the simple trinket in his hand. "I have neither buckle nor button +about me, for I wear nothing but leathern strings, and them of good +deer-skins. It's pretty to the eye, but it is prettier far on the spot +it came from than it can be about me." + +"Nay, put it in your hunting-shirt; it will become it well. Remember, +Pathfinder, that it is a token of friendship between us, and a sign that +I can never forget you or your services." + +Mabel then smiled an adieu; and, bounding up the bank, she was soon lost +to view behind the mound of the fort. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Lo! dusky masses steal in dubious sight, + Along the leaguer'd wall, and bristling bank, + Of the arm'd river; while with straggling light, + The stars peep through the vapor, dim and dank. + BYRON. + + +A few hours later Mabel Dunham was on the bastion that overlooked the +river and the lake, seemingly in deep thought. The evening was calm and +soft, and the question had arisen whether the party for the Thousand +Islands would be able to get out that night or not, on account of the +total absence of wind. The stores, arms, and ammunition were already +shipped, and even Mabel's effects were on board; but the small draft of +men that was to go was still ashore, there being no apparent prospect of +the cutter's getting under way. Jasper had warped the _Scud_ out of +the cove, and so far up the stream as to enable him to pass through the +outlet of the river whenever he chose; but there he still lay, riding +at single anchor. The drafted men were lounging about the shore of the +cove, undecided whether or not to pull off. + +The sports of the morning had left a quiet in the garrison which was +in harmony with the whole of the beautiful scene, and Mabel felt its +influence on her feelings, though probably too little accustomed to +speculate on such sensations to be aware of the cause. Everything near +appeared lovely and soothing, while the solemn grandeur of the silent +forest and placid expanse of the lake lent a sublimity that other scenes +might have wanted. For the first time, Mabel felt the hold that the +towns and civilization had gained on her habits sensibly weakened; and +the warm-hearted girl began to think that a life passed amid objects +such as those around her might be happy. How far the experience of the +last days came in aid of the calm and holy eventide, and contributed +towards producing that young conviction, may be suspected, rather than +affirmed, in this early portion of our legend. + +"A charming sunset, Mabel!" said the hearty voice of her uncle, so close +to the ear of our heroine as to cause her to start,--"a charming sunset, +girl, for a fresh-water concern, though we should think but little of it +at sea." + +"And is not nature the same on shore or at sea--on a lake like this or +on the ocean? Does not the sun shine on all alike, dear uncle; and can +we not feel gratitude for the blessings of Providence as strongly on +this remote frontier as in our own Manhattan?" + +"The girl has fallen in with some of her mother's books. Is not nature +the same, indeed! Now, Mabel, do you imagine that the nature of a +soldier is the same as that of a seafaring man? You've relations in both +callings, and ought to be able to answer." + +"But uncle, I mean human nature." + +"So do I, girl; the human nature of a seaman, and the human nature of +one of these fellows of the 55th, not even excepting your own father. +Here have they had a shooting-match--target-firing I should +call it--this day, and what a different thing has it been from a +target-firing afloat! There we should have sprung our broadside, sported +with round shot, at an object half a mile off, at the very nearest; and +the potatoes, if there happened to be any on board, as very likely would +not have been the case, would have been left in the cook's coppers. +It may be an honorable calling, that of a soldier, Mabel; but an +experienced hand sees many follies and weaknesses in one of these forts. +As for that bit of a lake, you know my opinion of it already, and I wish +to disparage nothing. No real seafarer disparages anything; but, d---me, +if I regard this here Ontario, as they call it, as more than so much +water in a ship's scuttle-butt. Now, look you here, Mabel, if you wish +to understand the difference between the ocean and a lake, I can make +you comprehend it with a single look: this is what one may call a calm, +seeing that there is no wind; though, to own the truth, I do not think +the calms are as calm as them we get outside--" + +"Uncle, there is not a breath of air. I do not think it possible for the +leaves to be more immovably still than those of the entire forest are at +this very moment." + +"Leaves! what are leaves, child? there are no leaves at sea. If you wish +to know whether it is a dead calm or not, try a mould candle,--your dips +flaring too much,--and then you may be certain whether there is or is +not any wind. If you were in a latitude where the air was so still that +you found a difficulty in stirring it to draw it in in breathing, you +might fancy it a calm. People are often on a short allowance of air in +the calm latitudes. Here, again, look at that water! It is like milk in +a pan, with no more motion now than there is in a full hogshead before +the bung is started. On the ocean the water is never still, let the air +be as quiet as it may." + +"The water of the ocean never still, Uncle Cap? not even in a calm?" + +"Bless your heart, no, child! The ocean breathes like a living being, +and its bosom is always heaving, as the poetizers call it, though there +be no more air than is to be found in a siphon. No man ever saw the +ocean still like this lake; but it heaves and sets as if it had lungs." + +"And this lake is not absolutely still, for you perceive there is a +little ripple on the shore, and you may even hear the surf plunging at +moments against the rocks." + +"All d----d poetry! Lake Ontario is no more the Atlantic than a Powles +Hook periagila is a first-rate. That Jasper, notwithstanding, is a fine +lad, and wants instruction only to make a man of him." + +"Do you think him ignorant, uncle?" answered Mabel, prettily adjusting +her hair, in order to do which she was obliged, or fancied she was +obliged, to turn away her face. "To me Jasper Eau-douce appears to know +more than most of the young men of his class. He has read but little, +for books are not plenty in this part of the world; but he has thought +much, as least so it seems to me, for one so young." + +"He is ignorant, as all must be who navigate an inland water like this. +No, no, Mabel; we both owe something to Jasper and the Pathfinder, and I +have been thinking how I can best serve them, for I hold ingratitude to +be the vice of a hog; for treat the animal to your own dinner, and he +would eat you for the dessert." + +"Very true, dear uncle; we ought indeed to do all we can to express our +proper sense of the services of both these brave men." + +"Spoken like your mother's daughter, girl, and in a way to do credit to +the Cap family. Now, I've hit upon a traverse that will just suit all +parties; and, as soon as we get back from this little expedition down +the lake among them there Thousand Islands, and I am ready to return, it +is my intention to propose it." + +"Dearest uncle! this is so considerate in you, and will be so just! May +I ask what your intentions are?" + +"I see no reason for keeping them a secret from you, Mabel, though +nothing need be said to your father about them; for the Sergeant has his +prejudices, and might throw difficulties in the way. Neither Jasper nor +his friend Pathfinder can ever make anything hereabouts, and I propose +to take both with me down to the coast, and get them fairly afloat. +Jasper would find his sea-legs in a fortnight, and a twelvemonth's +v'y'ge would make him a man. Although Pathfinder might take more time, +or never get to be rated able, yet one could make something of him too, +particularly as a look-out, for he has unusually good eyes." + +"Uncle, do you think either would consent to this?" said Mabel smiling. + +"Do I suppose them simpletons? What rational being would neglect his own +advancement? Let Jasper alone to push his way, and the lad may yet die +the master of some square-rigged craft." + +"And would he be any the happier for it, dear uncle? How much better +is it to be the master of a square-rigged craft than to be master of a +round-rigged craft?" + +"Pooh, pooh, Magnet! You are just fit to read lectures about ships +before some hysterical society; you don't know what you are talking +about; leave these things to me, and they'll be properly managed. Ah! +Here is the Pathfinder himself, and I may just as well drop him a +hint of my benevolent intentions as regards himself. Hope is a great +encourager of our exertions." + +Cap nodded his head, and then ceased to speak, while the hunter +approached, not with his usual frank and easy manner, but in a way +to show that he was slightly embarrassed, if not distrustful of his +reception. + +"Uncle and niece make a family party," said Pathfinder, when near the +two, "and a stranger may not prove a welcome companion?" + +"You are no stranger, Master Pathfinder," returned Cap, "and no one can +be more welcome than yourself. We were talking of you but a moment ago, +and when friends speak of an absent man, he can guess what they have +said." + +"I ask no secrets. Every man has his enemies, and I have mine, though I +count neither you, Master Cap, nor pretty Mabel here among the number. +As for the Mingos, I will say nothing, though they have no just cause to +hate me." + +"That I'll answer for, Pathfinder! for you strike my fancy as being +well-disposed and upright. There is a method, however, of getting away +from the enmity of even these Mingos; and if you choose to take it, no +one will more willingly point it out than myself, without a charge for +my advice either." + +"I wish no enemies, Saltwater," for so the Pathfinder had begun to call +Cap, having, insensibly to himself, adopted the term, by translating +the name given him by the Indians in and about the fort,--"I wish no +enemies. I'm as ready to bury the hatchet with the Mingos as with the +French, though you know that it depends on One greater than either of us +so to turn the heart as to leave a man without enemies." + +"By lifting your anchor, and accompanying me down to the coast, friend +Pathfinder, when we get back from this short cruise on which we are +bound, you will find yourself beyond the sound of the war-whoop, and +safe enough from any Indian bullet." + +"And what should I do on the salt water? Hunt in your towns? Follow +the trails of people going and coming from market, and ambush dogs and +poultry? You are no friend to my happiness, Master Cap, if you would +lead me out of the shades of the woods to put me in the sun of the +clearings." + +"I did not propose to leave you in the settlements, Pathfinder, but to +carry you out to sea, where a man can only be said to breathe freely. +Mabel will tell you that such was my intention, before a word was said +on the subject." + +"And what does Mabel think would come of such a change? She knows that a +man has his gifts, and that it is as useless to pretend to others as to +withstand them that come from Providence. I am a hunter, and a scout, +or a guide, Saltwater, and it is not in me to fly so much in the face of +Heaven as to try to become anything else. Am I right, Mabel, or are you +so much a woman as to wish to see a natur' altered?" + +"I would wish to see no change in you, Pathfinder," Mabel answered, with +a cordial sincerity and frankness that went directly to the hunter's +heart; "and much as my uncle admires the sea, and great as is all the +good that he thinks may come of it, I could not wish to see the best and +noblest hunter of the woods transformed into an admiral. Remain what you +are, my brave friend, and you need fear nothing short of the anger of +God." + +"Do you hear this, Saltwater? do you hear what the Sergeant's daughter +is saying, and she is much too upright, and fair-minded, and pretty, not +to think what she says. So long as she is satisfied with me as I am, +I shall not fly in the face of the gifts of Providence, by striving to +become anything else. I may seem useless here in a garrison; but when +we get down among the Thousand Islands, there may be an opportunity to +prove that a sure rifle is sometimes a Godsend." + +"You are then to be of our party?" said Mabel, smiling so frankly and so +sweetly on the guide that he would have followed her to the end of the +earth. "I shall be the only female, with the exception of one soldier's +wife, and shall feel none the less secure, Pathfinder, because you will +be among our protectors." + +"The Sergeant would do that, Mabel, though you were not of his kin. +No one will overlook you. I should think your uncle here would like an +expedition of this sort, where we shall go with sails, and have a look +at an inland sea?" + +"Your inland sea is no great matter, Master Pathfinder, and I expect +nothing from it. I confess, however, I should like to know the object of +the cruise; for one does not wish to be idle, and my brother-in-law, the +Sergeant, is as close-mouthed as a freemason. Do you know, Mabel, what +all this means?" + +"Not in the least, uncle. I dare not ask my father any questions about +his duty, for he thinks it is not a woman's business; and all I can say +is, that we are to sail as soon as the wind will permit, and that we are +to be absent a month." + +"Perhaps Master Pathfinder can give me a useful hint; for a v'y'ge +without an object is never pleasant to an old sailor." + +"There is no great secret, Saltwater, concerning our port and object, +though it is forbidden to talk much about either in the garrison. I am +no soldier, however, and can use my tongue as I please, though as little +given as another to idle conversation, I hope; still, as we sail so +soon, and you are both to be of the party, you may as well be told +where you are to be carried. You know that there are such things as the +Thousand Islands, I suppose, Master Cap?" + +"Ay, what are so called hereaway, though I take it for granted that they +are not real islands, such as we fall in with on the ocean; and that the +thousand means some such matter as two or three." + +"My eyes are good, and yet have I often been foiled in trying to count +them very islands." + +"Ay, ay, I've known people who couldn't count beyond a certain number. +Your real land-birds never know their own roosts, even in a landfall +at sea. How many times have I seen the beach, and houses, and churches, +when the passengers have not been able to see anything but water! I have +no idea that a man can get fairly out of sight of land on fresh water. +The thing appears to me to be irrational and impossible." + +"You don't know the lakes, Master Cap, or you would not say that. Before +we get to the Thousand Islands, you will have other notions of what +natur' has done in this wilderness." + +"I have my doubts whether you have such a thing as a real island in all +this region." + +"We'll show you hundreds of them; not exactly a thousand, perhaps, but +so many that eye cannot see them all, nor tongue count them." + +"I'll engage, when the truth comes to be known, they'll turn out to be +nothing but peninsulas, or promontories; or continents; though these are +matters, I daresay, of which you know little or nothing. But, islands or +no islands, what is the object of the cruise, Master Pathfinder?" + +"There can be no harm in giving you some idea of what we are going to +do. Being so old a sailor, Master Cap, you've heard, no doubt, of such a +port as Frontenac?" + +"Who hasn't? I will not say I've ever been inside the harbor, but I've +frequently been off the place." + +"Then you are about to go upon ground with which you are acquainted. +These great lakes, you must know, make a chain, the water passing out of +one into the other, until it reaches Erie, which is a sheet off here to +the westward, as large as Ontario itself. Well, out of Erie the water +comes, until it reaches a low mountain like, over the edge of which it +passes." + +"I should like to know how the devil it can do that?" + +"Why, easy enough, Master Cap," returned Pathfinder, laughing, "seeing +that it has only to fall down hill. Had I said the water went _up_ the +mountain, there would have been natur' ag'in it; but we hold it no great +matter for water to run down hill--that is, _fresh_ water." + +"Ay, ay, but you speak of the water of a lake's coming down the side of +a mountain; it's in the teeth of reason, if reason has any teeth." + +"Well, well, we will not dispute the point; but what I've seen I've +seen. After getting into Ontario, all the water of _all_ the lakes +passes down into the sea by a river; and in the narrow part of the +sheet, where it is neither river nor lake, lie the islands spoken of. +Now Frontenac is a post of the Frenchers above these same islands; and, +as they hold the garrison below, their stores and ammunition are sent up +the river to Frontenac, to be forwarded along the shores of this and the +other lakes, in order to enable the enemy to play his devilries among +the savages, and to take Christian scalps." + +"And will our presence prevent these horrible acts?" demanded Mabel, +with interest. + +"It may or it may not, as Providence wills. Lundie, as they call him, +he who commands this garrison, sent a party down to take a station among +the islands, to cut off some of the French boats; and this expedition of +ours will be the second relief. As yet they've not done much, though two +bateaux loaded with Indian goods have been taken; but a runner came in +last week, and brought such tidings that the Major is about to make a +last effort to circumvent the knaves. Jasper knows the way, and we shall +be in good hands, for the Sergeant is prudent, and of the first quality +at an ambushment; yes, he is both prudent and alert." + +"Is this all?" said Cap contemptuously; "by the preparations and +equipments, I had thought there was a forced trade in the wind, and that +an honest penny might be turned by taking an adventure. I suppose there +are no shares in your fresh-water prize-money?" + +"Anan?" + +"I take it for granted the king gets all in these soldiering parties, +and ambushments, as you call them." + +"I know nothing about that, Master Cap. I take my share of the lead and +powder if any falls into our hands, and say nothing to the king about +it. If any one fares better, it is not I; though it is time I did begin +to think of a house and furniture and a home." + +Although the Pathfinder did not dare to look at Mabel while he made this +direct allusion to his change of life, he would have given the world +to know whether she was listening, and what was the expression of her +countenance. Mabel little suspected the nature of the allusion, however; +and her countenance was perfectly unembarrassed as she turned her eyes +towards the river, where the appearance of some movement on board the +_Scud_ began to be visible. + +"Jasper is bringing the cutter out," observed the guide, whose look was +drawn in the same direction by the fall of some heavy article on the +deck. "The lad sees the signs of wind, no doubt, and wishes to be ready +for it." + +"Ay, now we shall have an opportunity of learning seamanship," returned +Cap, with a sneer. "There is a nicety in getting a craft under her +canvas that shows the thoroughbred mariner as much as anything else. +It's like a soldier buttoning his coat, and one can see whether he +begins at the top or the bottom." + +"I will not say that Jasper is equal to your seafarers below," observed +Pathfinder, across whose upright mind an unworthy feeling of envy or of +jealousy never passed; "but he is a bold boy, and manages his cutter as +skillfully as any man can desire, on this lake at least. You didn't +find him backwards at the Oswego Falls, Master Cap, where fresh water +contrives to tumble down hill with little difficulty." + +Cap made no other answer than a dissatisfied ejaculation, and then a +general silence followed, all on the bastion studying the movements +of the cutter with the interest that was natural to their own future +connection with the vessel. It was still a dead calm, the surface of the +lake literally glittering with the last rays of the sun. The _Scud_ had +been warped up to a kedge that lay a hundred yards above the points +of the outlet, where she had room to manoeuvre in the river which then +formed the harbor of Oswego. But the total want of air prevented any +such attempt, and it was soon evident that the light vessel was to be +taken through the passage under her sweeps. Not a sail was loosened; +but as soon as the kedge was tripped, the heavy fall of the sweeps was +heard, when the cutter, with her head up stream, began to sheer towards +the centre of the current; on reaching which, the efforts of the men +ceased, and she drifted towards the outlet. In the narrow pass itself +her movement was rapid, and in less than five minutes the _Scud_ was +floating outside of the two low gravelly points which intercepted the +waves of the lake. No anchor was let go, but the vessel continued to set +off from the land, until her dark hull was seen resting on the glossy +surface of the lake, full a quarter of a mile beyond the low bluff which +formed the eastern extremity of what might be called the outer harbor +or roadstead. Here the influence of the river current ceased, and she +became, virtually, stationary. + +"She seems very beautiful to me, uncle," said Mabel, whose gaze had not +been averted from the cutter for a single moment while it had thus been +changing its position; "I daresay you can find faults in her appearance, +and in the way she is managed; but to my ignorance both are perfect." + +"Ay, ay; she drops down with a current well enough, girl, and so would a +chip. But when you come to niceties, all old tar like myself has no need +of spectacles to find fault." + +"Well, Master Cap," put in the guide, who seldom heard anything to +Jasper's prejudice without manifesting a disposition to interfere, "I've +heard old and experienced saltwater mariners confess that the _Scud_ is +as pretty a craft as floats. I know nothing of such matters myself; but +one may have his own notions about a ship, even though they be wrong +notions; and it would take more than one witness to persuade me Jasper +does not keep his boat in good order." + +"I do not say that the cutter is downright lubberly, Master Pathfinder; +but she has faults, and great faults." + +"And what are they, uncle? If he knew them, Jasper would be glad to mend +them." + +"What are they? Why, fifty; ay, for that matter a hundred. Very material +and manifest faults." + +"Do name them, sir, and Pathfinder will mention them to his friend." + +"Name them! it is no easy matter to call off the stars, for the simple +reason that they are so numerous. Name them, indeed! Why, my pretty +niece, Miss Magnet, what do you think of that main-boom now? To my +ignorant eyes, it is topped at least a foot too high; and then the +pennant is foul; and--and--ay, d---me, if there isn't a topsail gasket +adrift; and it wouldn't surprise me at all if there should be a round +turn in that hawser, if the kedge were to be let go this instant. Faults +indeed! No seaman could look at her a moment without seeing that she is +as full of faults as a servant who has asked for his discharge." + +"This may be very true, uncle, though I much question if Jasper knows of +them. I do not think he would suffer these things, Pathfinder, if they +were once pointed out to him." + +"Let Jasper manage his own cutter, Mabel. His gift lies that-a-way, and +I'll answer for it, no one can teach him how to keep the _Scud_ out +of the hands of the Frontenackers or their devilish Mingo friends. Who +cares for round turns in kedges, and for hawsers that are topped too +high, Master Cap, so long as the craft sails well, and keeps clear of +the Frenchers? I will trust Jasper against all the seafarers of the +coast, up here on the lakes; but I do not say he has any gift for the +ocean, for there he has never been tried." + +Cap smiled condescendingly, but he did not think it necessary to push +his criticisms any further just as that moment. By this time the cutter +had begun to drift at the mercy of the currents of the lake, her head +turning in all directions, though slowly, and not in a way to attract +particular attention. Just at this moment the jib was loosened and +hoisted, and presently the canvas swelled towards the land, though +no evidences of air were yet to be seen on the surface of the water. +Slight, however, as was the impulsion, the light hull yielded; and in +another minute the _Scud_ was seen standing across the current of +the river with a movement so easy and moderate as to be scarcely +perceptible. When out of the stream, she struck an eddy and shot up +towards the land, under the eminence where the fort stood, when Jasper +dropped his kedge. + +"Not lubberly done," muttered Cap in a sort of soliloquy,--"not over +lubberly, though he should have put his helm a-starboard instead of +a-port; for a vessel ought always to come-to with her head off shore, +whether she is a league from the land or only a cable's length, since it +has a careful look, and looks are something in this world." + +"Jasper is a handy lad," suddenly observed Sergeant Dunham at his +brother-in-law's elbow; "and we place great reliance on his skill in +our expeditions. But come, one and all, we have but half an hour more of +daylight to embark in, and the boats will be ready for us by the time we +are ready for them." + +On this intimation the whole party separated, each to find those trifles +which had not been shipped already. A few taps of the drum gave the +necessary signal to the soldiers, and in a minute all were in motion. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + The goblin now the fool alarms, + Hags meet to mumble o'er their charms, + The night-mare rides the dreaming ass, + And fairies trip it on the grass. + COTTON. + + +The embarkation of so small a party was a matter of no great delay or +embarrassment. The whole force confided to the care of Sergeant Dunham +consisted of but ten privates and two non-commissioned officers, +though it was soon positively known that Mr. Muir was to accompany the +expedition. The Quartermaster, however, went as a volunteer, while some +duty connected with his own department, as had been arranged between +him and his commander, was the avowed object. To these must be added the +Pathfinder and Cap, with Jasper and his subordinates, one of whom was a +boy. The party, consequently, consisted of less than twenty men, and a +lad of fourteen. Mabel and the wife of a common soldier were the only +females. + +Sergeant Dunham carried off his command in a large bateau, and then +returned for his final orders, and to see that his brother-in-law and +daughter were properly attended to. Having pointed out to Cap the boat +that he and Mabel were to use, he ascended the hill to seek his last +interview with Lundie. + +It was nearly dark when Mabel found herself in the boat that was to +carry her off to the cutter. So very smooth was the surface of the lake, +that it was not found necessary to bring the bateaux into the river +to receive their freights; but the beach outside being totally without +surf, and the water as tranquil as that of a pond, everybody embarked +there. When the boat left the land, Mabel would not have known that she +was afloat on so broad a sheet of water by any movement which is usual +to such circumstances. The oars had barely time to give a dozen strokes, +when the boat lay at the cutter's side. + +Jasper was in readiness to receive his passengers; and, as the deck of +the _Scud_ was but two or three feet above the water, no difficulty was +experienced in getting on board of her. As soon as this was effected, +the young man pointed out to Mabel and her companion the accommodations +prepared for their reception. The little vessel contained four +apartments below, all between decks having been expressly constructed +with a view to the transportation of officers and men, with their wives +and families. First in rank was what was called the after-cabin, a small +apartment that contained four berths, and which enjoyed the advantage of +possessing small windows, for the admission of air and light. This was +uniformly devoted to females whenever any were on board; and as Mabel +and her companion were alone, they had ample accommodation. The main +cabin was larger, and lighted from above. It was now appropriated to +the Quartermaster, the Sergeant, Cap, and Jasper; the Pathfinder +roaming through any part of the cutter he pleased, the female apartment +excepted. The corporals and common soldiers occupied the space beneath +the main hatch, which had a deck for such a purpose, while the crew +were berthed, as usual, in the forecastle. Although the cutter did not +measure quite fifty tons, the draft of officers and men was so light, +that there was ample room for all on board, there being space enough to +accommodate treble the number, if necessary. + +As soon as Mabel had taken possession of her own really comfortable +cabin, in doing which she could not abstain from indulging in the +pleasant reflection that some of Jasper's favor had been especially +manifested in her behalf, she went on deck again. Here all was +momentarily in motion; the men were roving to and fro, in quest of their +knapsacks and other effects; but method and habit soon reduced things +to order, when the stillness on board became even imposing, for it was +connected with the idea of future adventure and ominous preparation. + +Darkness was now beginning to render objects on shore indistinct, the +whole of the land forming one shapeless black outline of even forest +summits, to be distinguished from the impending heavens only by the +greater light of the sky. The stars, however, soon began to appear +in the latter, one after another, in their usual mild, placid lustre, +bringing with them that sense of quiet which ordinarily accompanies +night. There was something soothing, as well as exciting, in such a +scene; and Mabel, who was seated on the quarter-deck, sensibly felt both +influences. The Pathfinder was standing near her, leaning, as usual, on +his long rifle, and she fancied that, through the growing darkness of +the hour, she could trace even stronger lines of thought than usual in +his rugged countenance. + +"To you, Pathfinder, expeditions like this can be no great novelty," +said she; "though I am surprised to find how silent and thoughtful the +men appear to be." + +"We learn this by making war ag'in Indians. Your militia are great +talkers and little doers in general; but the soldier who has often met +the Mingos learns to know the value of a prudent tongue. A silent army, +in the woods, is doubly strong; and a noisy one, doubly weak. If tongues +made soldiers, the women of a camp would generally carry the day." + +"But we are neither an army, nor in the woods. There can be no danger of +Mingos in the _Scud_." + +"No one is safe from a Mingo, who does not understand his very natur'; +and even then he must act up to his own knowledge, and that closely. Ask +Jasper how he got command of this very cutter." + +"And how _did_ he get command?" inquired Mabel, with an earnestness +and interest that quite delighted her simple-minded and true-hearted +companion, who was never better pleased than when he had an opportunity +of saying aught in favor of a friend. "It is honorable to him that he +has reached this station while yet so young." + +"That is it; but he deserved it all, and more. A frigate wouldn't have +been too much to pay for so much spirit and coolness, had there been +such a thing on Ontario, as there is not, hows'ever, or likely to be." + +"But Jasper--you have not yet told me how he got the command of the +schooner." + +"It is a long story, Mabel, and one your father, the Sergeant, can tell +much better than I; for he was present, while I was off on a distant +scouting. Jasper is not good at a story, I will own that; I have heard +him questioned about this affair, and he never made a good tale of +it, although every body knows it was a good thing. The _Scud_ had near +fallen into the hands of the French and the Mingos, when Jasper saved +her, in a way which none but a quick-witted mind and a bold heart would +have attempted. The Sergeant will tell the tale better than I can, and I +wish you to question him some day, when nothing better offers." + +Mabel determined to ask her father to repeat the incidents of the affair +that very night; for it struck her young fancy that nothing better could +well offer than to listen to the praises of one who was a bad historian +of his own exploits. + +"Will the _Scud_ remain with us when we reach the island?" she asked, +after a little hesitation about the propriety of the question; "or shall +we be left to ourselves?" + +"That's as may be: Jasper does not often keep the cutter idle when +anything is to be done; and we may expect activity on his part. My +gifts, however, run so little towards the water and vessels generally, +unless it be among rapids and falls and in canoes, that I pretend to +know nothing about it. We shall have all right under Jasper, I make no +doubt, who can find a trail on Ontario as well as a Delaware can find +one on the land." + +"And our own Delaware, Pathfinder--the Big Serpent--why is he not with +us to-night?" + +"Your question would have been more natural had you said, Why are _you_ +here, Pathfinder? The Sarpent is in his place, while I am not in mine. +He is out, with two or three more, scouting the lake shores, and will +join us down among the islands, with the tidings he may gather. The +Sergeant is too good a soldier to forget his rear while he is facing the +enemy in front. It's a thousand pities, Mabel, your father wasn't born +a general, as some of the English are who come among us; for I feel +sartain he wouldn't leave a Frencher in the Canadas a week, could he +have his own way with them." + +"Shall we have enemies to face in front?" asked Mabel, smiling, and for +the first time feeling a slight apprehension about the dangers of the +expedition. "Are we likely to have an engagement?" + +"If we have, Mabel, there will be men enough ready and willing to stand +between you and harm. But you are a soldier's daughter, and, we all +know, have the spirit of one. Don't let the fear of a battle keep your +pretty eyes from sleeping." + +"I do feel braver out here in the woods, Pathfinder, than I ever felt +before amid the weaknesses of the towns, although I have always tried to +remember what I owe to my dear father." + +"Ay, your mother was so before you. 'You will find Mabel, like her +mother, no screamer, or a faint-hearted girl, to trouble a man in his +need; but one who would encourage her mate, and help to keep his heart +up when sorest prest by danger,' said the Sergeant to me, before I ever +laid eyes on that sweet countenance of yours,--he did!" + +"And why should my father have told you this, Pathfinder?" the girl +demanded a little earnestly. "Perhaps he fancied you would think the +better of me if you did not believe me a silly coward, as so many of my +sex love to make themselves appear." + +Deception, unless it were at the expense of his enemies in the +field,--nay, concealment of even a thought,--was so little in accordance +with the Pathfinder's very nature, that he was not a little embarrassed +by this simple question. In such a strait he involuntarily took refuge +in a middle course, not revealing that which he fancied ought not to be +told, nor yet absolutely concealing it. + +"You must know, Mabel," said he, "that the Sergeant and I are old +friends, and have stood side by side--or, if not actually side by side, +I a little in advance, as became a scout, and your father with his own +men, as better suited a soldier of the king--on many a hard fi't and +bloody day. It's the way of us skirmishers to think little of the fight +when the rifle has done cracking; and at night, around our fires, or +on our marches, we talk of the things we love, just as you young women +convarse about your fancies and opinions when you get together to laugh +over your idees. Now it was natural that the Sergeant, having such a +daughter as you, should love her better than anything else, and that +he should talk of her oftener than of anything else,--while I, having +neither daughter, nor sister, nor mother, nor kith, nor kin, nor +anything but the Delawares to love, I naturally chimed in, as it were, +and got to love you, Mabel, before I ever saw you--yes, I did--just by +talking about you so much." + +"And now you _have_ seen me," returned the smiling girl, whose unmoved +and natural manner proved how little she was thinking of anything more +than parental or fraternal regard, "you are beginning to see the folly +of forming friendships for people before you know anything about them, +except by hearsay." + +"It wasn't friendship--it isn't friendship, Mabel, that I feel for you. +I am the friend of the Delawares, and have been so from boyhood; but my +feelings for them, or for the best of them, are not the same as those I +got from the Sergeant for you; and, especially, now that I begin to know +you better. I'm sometimes afeared it isn't wholesome for one who is much +occupied in a very manly calling, like that of a guide or scout, or +a soldier even, to form friendships for women,--young women in +particular,--as they seem to me to lessen the love of enterprise, and to +turn the feelings away from their gifts and natural occupations." + +"You surely do not mean, Pathfinder, that a friendship for a girl like +me would make you less bold, and more unwilling to meet the French than +you were before?" + +"Not so, not so. With you in danger, for instance, I fear I might become +foolhardy; but before we became so intimate, as I may say, I loved to +think of my scoutings, and of my marches, and outlyings, and fights, and +other adventures: but now my mind cares less about them; I think more of +the barracks, and of evenings passed in discourse, of feelings in which +there are no wranglings and bloodshed, and of young women, and of their +laughs and their cheerful, soft voices, their pleasant looks and their +winning ways. I sometimes tell the Sergeant that he and his daughter +will be the spoiling of one of the best and most experienced scouts on +the lines." + +"Not they, Pathfinder; they will try to make that which is already so +excellent, perfect. You do not know us, if you think that either wishes +to see you in the least changed. Remain as at present, the same honest, +upright, conscientious, fearless, intelligent, trustworthy guide that +you are, and neither my dear father nor myself can ever think of you +differently from what we now do." + +It was too dark for Mabel to note the workings of the countenance of her +listener; but her own sweet face was turned towards him, as she spoke +with an energy equal to her frankness, in a way to show how little +embarrassed were her thoughts, and how sincere were her words. +Her countenance was a little flushed, it is true; but it was with +earnestness and truth of feeling, though no nerve thrilled, no limb +trembled, no pulsation quickened. In short, her manner and appearance +were those of a sincere-minded and frank girl, making such a declaration +of good-will and regard for one of the other sex as she felt that his +services and good qualities merited, without any of the emotion that +invariably accompanies the consciousness of an inclination which might +lead to softer disclosures. + +The Pathfinder was too unpractised, however, to enter into distinctions +of this kind, and his humble nature was encouraged by the directness and +strength of the words he had just heard. Unwilling, if not unable, to +say any more, he walked away, and stood leaning on his rifle and looking +up at the stars for full ten minutes in profound silence. + +In the meanwhile the interview on the bastion, to which we have already +alluded, took place between Lundie and the Sergeant. + +"Have the men's knapsacks been examined?" demanded Major Duncan, after +he had cast his eye at a written report, handed to him by the Sergeant, +but which it was too dark to read. + +"All, your honor; and all are right." + +"The ammunition--arms?" + +"All in order, Major Duncan, and fit for any service." + +"You have the men named in my own draft, Dunham?" + +"Without an exception, sir. Better men could not be found in the +regiment." + +"You have need of the best of our men, Sergeant. This experiment has +now been tried three times; always under one of the ensigns, who have +flattered me with success, but have as often failed. After so much +preparation and expense, I do not like to abandon the project entirely; +but this will be the last effort; and the result will mainly depend on +you and on the Pathfinder." + +"You may count on us both, Major Duncan. The duty you have given us is +not above our habits and experience, and I think it will be well done. I +know that the Pathfinder will not be wanting." + +"On that, indeed, it will be safe to rely. He is a most extraordinary +man, Dunham--one who long puzzled me; but who, now that I understand +him, commands as much of my respect as any general in his majesty's +service." + +"I was in hopes, sir, that you would come to look at the proposed +marriage with Mabel as a thing I ought to wish and forward." + +"As for that, Sergeant, time will show," returned Lundie, smiling; +though here, too, the obscurity concealed the nicer shades of +expression; "one woman is sometimes more difficult to manage than +a whole regiment of men. By the way, you know that your would-be +son-in-law, the Quartermaster, will be of the party; and I trust you +will at least give him an equal chance in the trial for your daughter's +smiles." + +"If respect for his rank, sir, did not cause me to do this, your honor's +wish would be sufficient." + +"I thank you, Sergeant. We have served much together, and ought to value +each other in our several stations. Understand me, however, I ask no +more for Davy Muir than a clear field and no favor. In love, as in war, +each man must gain his own victories. Are you certain that the rations +have been properly calculated?" + +"I'll answer for it, Major Duncan; but if they were not, we cannot +suffer with two such hunters as Pathfinder and the Serpent in company." + +"That will never do, Dunham," interrupted Lundie sharply; "and it comes +of your American birth and American training. No thorough soldier ever +relies on anything but his commissary for supplies; and I beg that no +part of my regiment may be the first to set an example to the contrary." + +"You have only to command, Major Duncan, to be obeyed; and yet, if I +might presume, sir--" + +"Speak freely, Sergeant; you are talking with a friend." + +"I was merely about to say that I find even the Scotch soldiers like +venison and birds quite as well as pork, when they are difficult to be +had." + +"That may be very true; but likes and dislikes have nothing to do +with system. An army can rely on nothing but its commissaries. The +irregularity of the provincials has played the devil with the king's +service too often to be winked at any longer." + +"General Braddock, your honor, might have been advised by Colonel +Washington." + +"Out upon your Washington! You're all provincials together, man, and +uphold each other as if you were of a sworn confederacy." + +"I believe his majesty has no more loyal subjects than the Americans, +your honor." + +"In that, Dunham, I'm thinking you're right; and I have been a little +too warm, perhaps. I do not consider _you_ a provincial, however, +Sergeant; for though born in America, a better soldier never shouldered +a musket." + +"And Colonel Washington, your honor?" + +"Well!--and Colonel Washington may be a useful subject too. He is the +American prodigy; and I suppose I may as well give him all the credit +you ask. You have no doubt of the skill of this Jasper Eau-douce?" + +"The boy has been tried, sir, and found equal to all that can be +required of him." + +"He has a French name, and has passed much of his boyhood in the French +colonies; has he French blood in his veins, Sergeant?" + +"Not a drop, your honor. Jasper's father was an old comrade of my +own, and his mother came of an honest and loyal family in this very +province." + +"How came he then so much among the French, and whence his name? He +speaks the language of the Canadas, too, I find." + +"That is easily explained, Major Duncan. The boy was left under the care +of one of our mariners in the old war, and he took to the water like +a duck. Your honor knows that we have no ports on Ontario that can be +named as such, and he naturally passed most of his time on the other +side of the lake, where the French have had a few vessels these fifty +years. He learned to speak their language, as a matter of course, and +got his name from the Indians and Canadians, who are fond of calling men +by their qualities, as it might be." + +"A French master is but a poor instructor for a British sailor, +notwithstanding." + +"I beg your pardon, sir: Jasper Eau-douce was brought up under a real +English seaman, one that had sailed under the king's pennant, and may be +called a thorough-bred; that is to say, a subject born in the colonies, +but none the worse at his trade, I hope, Major Duncan, for that." + +"Perhaps not, Sergeant, perhaps not; nor any better. This Jasper behaved +well, too, when I gave him the command of the _Scud_; no lad could have +conducted himself more loyally or better." + +"Or more bravely, Major Duncan. I am sorry to see, sir, that you have +doubts as to the fidelity of Jasper." + +"It is the duty of the soldier who is entrusted with the care of a +distant and important post like this, Dunham, never to relax in his +vigilance. We have two of the most artful enemies that the world has +ever produced, in their several ways, to contend with,--the Indians and +the French,--and nothing should be overlooked that can lead to injury." + +"I hope your honor considers me fit to be entrusted with any particular +reason that may exist for doubting Jasper, since you have seen fit to +entrust me with this command." + +"It is not that I doubt you, Dunham, that I hesitate to reveal all I may +happen to know; but from a strong reluctance to circulate an evil report +concerning one of whom I have hitherto thought well. You must think well +of the Pathfinder, or you would not wish to give him your daughter?" + +"For the Pathfinder's honesty I will answer with my life, sir," returned +the Sergeant firmly, and not without a dignity of manner that struck his +superior. "Such a man doesn't know how to be false." + +"I believe you are right, Dunham; and yet this last information +has unsettled all my old opinions. I have received an anonymous +communication, Sergeant, advising me to be on my guard against Jasper +Western, or Jasper Eau-douce, as he is called, who, it alleges, has been +bought by the enemy, and giving me reason to expect that further and +more precise information will soon be sent." + +"Letters without signatures to them, sir, are scarcely to be regarded in +war." + +"Or in peace, Dunham. No one can entertain a lower opinion of the writer +of an anonymous letter, in ordinary matters, than myself; the very act +denotes cowardice, meanness, and baseness; and it usually is a token of +falsehood, as well as of other vices. But in matters of war it is not +exactly the same thing. Besides, several suspicious circumstances have +been pointed out to me." + +"Such as is fit for an orderly to hear, your honor?" + +"Certainly, one in whom I confide as much as in yourself Dunham. It is +said, for instance, that your daughter and her party were permitted to +escape the Iroquois, when they came in, merely to give Jasper credit +with me. I am told that the gentry at Frontenac will care more for the +capture of the _Scud_, with Sergeant Dunham and a party of men, together +with the defeat of our favorite plan, than for the capture of a girl and +the scalp of her uncle." + +"I understand the hint, sir, but I do not give it credit. Jasper can +hardly be true, and Pathfinder false; and, as for the last, I would as +soon distrust your honor as distrust him." + +"It would seem so, Sergeant; it would indeed seem so. But Jasper is not +the Pathfinder, after all; and I will own, Dunham, I should put more +faith in the lad if he didn't speak French." + +"It's no recommendation in my eyes, I assure your honor; but the boy +learned it by compulsion, as it were, and ought not to be condemned too +hastily for the circumstance, by your honor's leave." + +"It's a d----d lingo, and never did any one good--at least no British +subject; for I suppose the French themselves must talk together in some +language or other. I should have much more faith in this Jasper, did +he know nothing of their language. This letter has made me uneasy; and, +were there another to whom I could trust the cutter, I would devise +some means to detain him here. I have spoken to you already of a +brother-in-law, who goes with you, Sergeant, and who is a sailor?" + +"A real seafaring man, your honor, and somewhat prejudiced against fresh +water. I doubt if he could be induced to risk his character on a lake, +and I'm certain he never could find the station." + +"The last is probably true, and then, the man cannot know enough of +this treacherous lake to be fit for the employment. You will have to be +doubly vigilant, Dunham. I give you full powers; and should you detect +this Jasper in any treachery, make him a sacrifice at once to offended +justice." + +"Being in the service of the crown, your honor, he is amenable to +martial law." + +"Very true; then iron him, from his head to his heels, and send him up +here in his own cutter. That brother-in-law of yours must be able to +find the way back, after he has once travelled the road." + +"I make no doubt, Major Duncan, we shall be able to do all that will +be necessary should Jasper turn out as you seem to anticipate; though I +think I would risk my life on his truth." + +"I like your confidence--it speaks well for the fellow; but that +infernal letter! there is such an air of truth about it; nay, there is +so much truth in it, touching other matters." + +"I think your honor said it wanted the name at the bottom; a great +omission for an honest man to make." + +"Quite right, Dunham, and no one but a rascal, and a cowardly rascal in +the bargain, would write an anonymous letter on private affairs. It +is different, however, in war; despatches are feigned, and artifice is +generally allowed to be justifiable." + +"Military manly artifices, sir, if you will; such as ambushes, +surprises, feints, false attacks, and even spies; but I never heard of +a true soldier who could wish to undermine the character of an honest +young man by such means as these." + +"I have met with many strange events, and some stranger people, in the +course of my experience. But fare you well, Sergeant; I must detain you +no longer. You are now on your guard, and I recommend to you untiring +vigilance. I think Muir means shortly to retire; and, should you +fully succeed in this enterprise, my influence will not be wanting in +endeavoring to put you in the vacancy, to which you have many claims." + +"I humbly thank your honor," coolly returned the Sergeant, who had been +encouraged in this manner any time for the twenty preceding years, "and +hope I shall never disgrace my station, whatever it may be. I am what +nature and Providence have made me, and hope I'm satisfied." + +"You have not forgotten the howitzer?" + +"Jasper took it on board this morning, sir." + +"Be wary, and do not trust that man unnecessarily. Make a confidant of +Pathfinder at once; he may be of service in detecting any villainy +that may be stirring. His simple honesty will favor his observation by +concealing it. He _must_ be true." + +"For him, sir, my own head shall answer, or even my rank in the +regiment. I have seen him too often tried to doubt him." + +"Of all wretched sensations, Dunham, distrust, where one is compelled +to confide, is the most painful. You have bethought you of the spare +flints?" + +"A sergeant is a safe commander for all such details, your honor." + +"Well, then, give me your hand, Dunham. God bless you! and may you be +successful! Muir means to retire,--by the way, let the man have an equal +chance with your daughter, for it may facilitate future operations about +the promotion. One would retire more cheerfully with such a companion +as Mabel, than in cheerless widowhood, and with nothing but oneself to +love,--and such a self, too, as Davy's!" + +"I hope, sir, my child will make a prudent choice, and I think her mind +is already pretty much made up in favor of Pathfinder. Still she shall +have fair play, though disobedience is the next crime to mutiny." + +"Have all the ammunition carefully examined and dried as soon as +you arrive; the damp of the lake may affect it. And now, once more, +farewell, Sergeant. Beware of that Jasper, and consult with Muir in any +difficulty. I shall expect you to return, triumphant, this day month." + +"God bless your honor! If anything should happen to me, I trust to you, +Major Duncan, to care for an old soldier's character." + +"Rely on me, Dunham--you will rely on a friend. Be vigilant: remember +you will be in the very jaws of the lion;--pshaw! of no lion neither; +but of treacherous tigers: in their very jaws, and beyond support. Have +the flints counted and examined in the morning--and--farewell, Dunham, +farewell!" + +The Sergeant took the extended hand of his superior with proper respect, +and they finally parted; Lundie hastening into his own movable abode, +while the other left the fort, descended to the beach, and got into a +boat. + +It is not to be supposed that Sergeant Dunham, after he had parted from +his commanding officer, was likely to forget the injunctions he had +received. He thought highly of Jasper in general; but distrust had been +insinuated between his former confidence and the obligations of duty; +and, as he now felt that everything depended on his own vigilance, by +the time the boat reached the side of the _Scud_ he was in a proper +humor to let no suspicious circumstance go unheeded, or any unusual +movement in the young sailor pass without its comment. As a matter of +course, he viewed things in the light suited to his peculiar mood; +and his precautions, as well as his distrust, partook of the habits, +opinions, and education of the man. + +The _Scud's_ kedge was lifted as soon as the boat with the Sergeant, who +was the last person expected, was seen to quit the shore, and the head +of the cutter was cast to the eastward by means of the sweeps. A few +vigorous strokes of the latter, in which the soldiers aided, now sent +the light craft into the line or the current that flowed from the river, +when she was suffered to drift into the offing again. As yet there was +no wind, the light and almost imperceptible air from the lake, that had +existed previously to the setting of the sun, having entirely failed. + +All this time an unusual quiet prevailed in the cutter. It appeared as +if those on board of her felt that they were entering upon an uncertain +enterprise, in the obscurity of night; and that their duty, the hour, +and the manner of their departure lent a solemnity to their movements. +Discipline also came in aid of these feelings. Most were silent; and +those who did speak spoke seldom and in low voices. In this manner the +cutter set slowly out into the lake, until she had got as far as the +river current would carry her, when she became stationary, waiting for +the usual land-breeze. An interval of half an hour followed, during the +whole of which time the _Scud_ lay as motionless as a log, floating on +the water. While the little changes just mentioned were occurring in +the situation of the vessel, notwithstanding the general quiet that +prevailed, all conversation had not been repressed; for Sergeant Dunham, +having first ascertained that both his daughter and her female companion +were on the quarter-deck, led the Pathfinder to the after-cabin, where, +closing the door with great caution, and otherwise making certain that +he was beyond the reach of eavesdroppers, he commenced as follows:-- + +"It is now many years, my friend, since you began to experience the +hardships and dangers of the woods in my company." + +"It is, Sergeant; yes it is. I sometimes fear I am too old for Mabel, +who was not born until you and I had fought the Frenchers as comrades." + +"No fear on that account, Pathfinder. I was near your age before I +prevailed on the mind of her mother; and Mabel is a steady, thoughtful +girl, one that will regard character more than anything else. A lad like +Jasper Eau-douce, for instance, will have no chance with her, though he +is both young and comely." + +"Does Jasper think of marrying?" inquired the guide, simply but +earnestly. + +"I should hope not--at least, not until he has satisfied every one of +his fitness to possess a wife." + +"Jasper is a gallant boy, and one of great gifts in his way; he may +claim a wife as well as another." + +"To be frank with you, Pathfinder, I brought you here to talk about this +very youngster. Major Duncan has received some information which has led +him to suspect that Eau-douce is false, and in the pay of the enemy; I +wish to hear your opinion on the subject." + +"Anan?" + +"I say, the Major suspects Jasper of being a traitor--a French spy--or, +what is worse, of being bought to betray us. He has received a letter +to this effect, and has been charging me to keep an eye on the boy's +movements; for he fears we shall meet with enemies when we least suspect +it, and by his means." + +"Duncan of Lundie has told you this, Sergeant Dunham?" + +"He has indeed, Pathfinder; and, though I have been loath to believe +anything to the injury of Jasper, I have a feeling which tells me I +ought to distrust him. Do you believe in presentiments, my friend? + +"In what, Sergeant?" + +"Presentiments,--a sort of secret foreknowledge of events that are +about to happen. The Scotch of our regiment are great sticklers for such +things; and my opinion of Jasper is changing so fast, that I begin to +fear there must be some truth in their doctrines." + +"But you've been talking with Duncan of Lundie concerning Jasper, and +his words have raised misgivings." + +"Not it, not so in the least; for, while conversing with the Major, my +feelings were altogether the other way; and I endeavored to convince +him all I could that he did the boy injustice. But there is no use +in holding out against a presentiment, I find; and I fear there is +something in the suspicion after all." + +"I know nothing of presentiments, Sergeant; but I have known Jasper +Eau-douce since he was a boy, and I have as much faith in his honesty as +I have in my own, or that of the Sarpent himself." + +"But the Serpent, Pathfinder, has his tricks and ambushes in war as well +as another." + +"Ay, them are his nat'ral gifts, and are such as belong to his people. +Neither red-skin nor pale-face can deny natur'; but Chingachgook is not +a man to feel a presentiment against." + +"That I believe; nor should I have thought ill of Jasper this +very morning. It seems to me, Pathfinder, since I've taken up this +presentiment, that the lad does not bustle about his deck naturally, as +he used to do; but that he is silent and moody and thoughtful, like a +man who has a load on his conscience." + +"Jasper is never noisy; and he tells me noisy ships are generally +ill-worked ships. Master Cap agrees in this too. No, no; I will believe +naught against Jasper until I see it. Send for your brother, Sergeant, +and let us question him in this matter; for to sleep with distrust of +one's friend in the heart is like sleeping with lead there. I have no +faith in your presentiments." + +The Sergeant, although he scarcely knew himself with what object, +complied, and Cap was summoned to join in the consultation. As +Pathfinder was more collected than his companion, and felt so strong a +conviction of the good faith of the party accused, he assumed the office +of spokesman. + +"We have asked you to come down, Master Cap," he commenced, "in order +to inquire if you have remarked anything out of the common way in the +movements of Eau-douce this evening." + +"His movements are common enough, I daresay, for fresh water, Master +Pathfinder, though we should think most of his proceedings irregular +down on the coast." + +"Yes, yes; we know you will never agree with the lad about the manner +the cutter ought to be managed; but it is on another point we wish your +opinion." + +The Pathfinder then explained to Cap the nature of the suspicions which +the Sergeant entertained, and the reasons why they had been excited, so +far as the latter had been communicated by Major Duncan. + +"The youngster talks French, does he?" said Cap. + +"They say he speaks it better than common," returned the Sergeant +gravely. "Pathfinder knows this to be true." + +"I'll not gainsay it," answered the guide; "at least, they tell me such +is the fact. But this would prove nothing ag'in a Mississauga, and, +least of all, ag'in one like Jasper. I speak the Mingo dialect myself, +having learnt it while a prisoner among the reptyles; but who will say +I am their friend? Not that I am an enemy, either, according to +Indian notions; though I am their enemy, I will admit, agreeable to +Christianity." + +"Ay Pathfinder; but Jasper did not get his French as a prisoner: he +took it in his boyhood, when the mind is easily impressed, and gets its +permanent notions; when nature has a presentiment, as it were, which way +the character is likely to incline." + +"A very just remark," added Cap, "for that is the time of life when we +all learn the catechism, and other moral improvements. The Sergeant's +observation shows that he understands human nature, and I agree with him +perfectly; it _is_ a damnable thing for a youngster, up here, on this +bit of fresh water, to talk French. If it were down on the Atlantic, +now, where a seafaring man has occasion sometimes to converse with a +pilot, or a linguister, in that language, I should not think so much of +it,--though we always look with suspicion, even there, at a shipmate who +knows too much of the tongue; but up here, on Ontario, I hold it to be a +most suspicious circumstance." + +"But Jasper must talk in French to the people on the other shore," said +Pathfinder, "or hold his tongue, as there are none but French to speak +to." + +"You don't mean to tell me, Pathfinder, that France lies hereaway, on +the opposite coast?" cried Cap, jerking a thumb over his shoulder in the +direction of the Canadas; "that one side of this bit of fresh water is +York, and the other France?" + +"I mean to tell you this is York, and that is Upper Canada; and that +English and Dutch and Indian are spoken in the first, and French and +Indian in the last. Even the Mingos have got many of the French words in +their dialect, and it is no improvement, neither." + +"Very true: and what sort of people are the Mingos, my friend?" inquired +the Sergeant, touching the other on his shoulder, by way of enforcing a +remark, the inherent truth of which sensibly increased its value in the +eyes of the speaker: "no one knows them better than yourself, and I ask +you what sort of a tribe are they?" + +"Jasper is no Mingo, Sergeant." + +"He speaks French, and he might as well be, in that particular. Brother +Cap, can you recollect no movement of this unfortunate young man, in the +way of his calling, that would seem to denote treachery?" + +"Not distinctly, Sergeant, though he has gone to work wrong-end foremost +half his time. It is true that one of his hands coiled a rope against +the sun, and he called it _querling_ a rope, too, when I asked him +what he was about; but I am not certain that anything was meant by it; +though, I daresay, the French coil half their running rigging the wrong +way, and may call it 'querling it down,' too, for that matter. Then +Jasper himself belayed the end of the jib-halyards to a stretcher in the +rigging, instead of bringing it to the mast, where they belong, at least +among British sailors." + +"I daresay Jasper may have got some Canada notions about working his +craft, from being so much on the other side," Pathfinder interposed; +"but catching an idee, or a word, isn't treachery and bad faith. I +sometimes get an idee from the Mingos themselves; but my heart has +always been with the Delawares. No, no, Jasper is true; and the king +might trust him with his crown, just as he would trust his eldest son, +who, as he is to wear it one day, ought to be the last man to wish to +steal it." + +"Fine talking, fine talking!" said Cap; "all fine talking, Master +Pathfinder, but d----d little logic. In the first place, the king's +majesty cannot lend his crown, it being contrary to the laws of the +realm, which require him to wear it at all times, in order that his +sacred person may be known, just as the silver oar is necessary to a +sheriff's officer afloat. In the next place, it's high treason, by law, +for the eldest son of his majesty ever to covet the crown, or to have a +child, except in lawful wedlock, as either would derange the succession. +Thus you see, friend Pathfinder that in order to reason truly, one must +get under way, as it might be, on the right tack. Law is reason, and +reason is philosophy, and philosophy is a steady drag; whence it follows +that crowns are regulated by law, reason, and philosophy." + +"I know little of all this; Master Cap; but nothing short of seeing and +feeling will make me think Jasper Western a traitor." + +"There you are wrong again, Pathfinder; for there is a way of proving a +thing much more conclusively than either seeing or feeling, or by both +together; and that is by a circumstance." + +"It may be so in the settlements; but it is not so here on the lines." + +"It is so in nature, which is monarch over all. There was a +circumstance, just after we came on board this evening, that is +extremely suspicious, and which may be set down at once as a makeweight +against this lad. Jasper bent on the king's ensign with his own hands; +and, while he pretended to be looking at Mabel and the soldier's wife, +giving directions about showing them below here, and a that, he got the +flag union down!" + +"That might have been accident," returned the Sergeant, "for such a +thing has happened to myself; besides, the halyards lead to a pulley, +and the flag would have come right, or not, according to the manner in +which the lad hoisted it." + +"A pulley!" exclaimed Cap, with strong disgust; "I wish, +Sergeant Dunham, I could prevail on you to use proper terms. An +ensign-halyard-block is no more a pulley than your halberd is a +boarding-pike. It is true that by hoisting on one part, another part +would go uppermost; but I look upon that affair of the ensign, now you +have mentioned your suspicions, as a circumstance, and shall bear it in +mind. I trust supper is not to be overlooked, however, even if we have a +hold full of traitors." + +"It will be duly attended to, brother Cap; but I shall count on you for +aid in managing the _Scud_, should anything occur to induce me to arrest +Jasper." + +"I'll not fail you, Sergeant; and in such an event you'll probably learn +what this cutter can really perform; for, as yet, I fancy it is pretty +much matter of guesswork." + +"Well, for my part," said Pathfinder, drawing a heavy sigh, "I shall +cling to the hope of Jasper's innocence, and recommend plain dealing, by +asking the lad himself, without further delay, whether he is or is not +a traitor. I'll put Jasper Western against all the presentiments and +circumstances in the colony." + +"That will never do," rejoined the Sergeant. "The responsibility of this +affair rests with me, and I request and enjoin that nothing be said to +any one without my knowledge. We will all keep watchful eyes about us, +and take proper note of circumstances." + +"Ay, ay! circumstances are the things after all," returned Cap. "One +circumstance is worth fifty facts. That I know to be the law of the +realm. Many a man has been hanged on circumstances." + +The conversation now ceased, and, after a short delay, the whole party +returned to the deck, each individual disposed to view the conduct of +the suspected Jasper in the manner most suited to his own habits and +character. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + Even such a man, so faint, so spiritless, + So dull, so dead in look, so woe-begone, + Drew Priam's Curtain in the dead of night, + And would have told him, half his Troy was burned. + SHAKESPEARE. + + +All this time matters were elsewhere passing in their usual train. +Jasper, like the weather and his vessel, seemed to be waiting for the +land-breeze; while the soldiers, accustomed to early rising, had, to a +man, sought their pallets in the main hold. None remained on deck +but the people of the cutter, Mr. Muir, and the two females. The +Quartermaster was endeavoring to render himself agreeable to Mabel, +while our heroine herself, little affected by his assiduities, which +she ascribed partly to the habitual gallantry of a soldier, and partly, +perhaps, to her own pretty face, was enjoying the peculiarities of a +scene and situation which, to her, were full of the charms of novelty. + +The sails had been hoisted, but as yet not a breath of air was in +motion; and so still and placid was the lake, that not the smallest +motion was perceptible in the cutter. She had drifted in the +river-current to a distance a little exceeding a quarter of a mile from +the land, and there she lay, beautiful in her symmetry and form, but +like a fixture. Young Jasper was on the quarter-deck, near enough to +hear occasionally the conversation which passed; but too diffident of +his own claim, and too intent on his duties, to attempt to mingle in it. +The fine blue eyes of Mabel followed his motions in curious expectation, +and more than once the Quartermaster had to repeat his compliments +before she heard them, so intent was she on the little occurrences of +the vessel, and, we might add, so indifferent to the eloquence of her +companion. At length, even Mr. Muir became silent, and there was a deep +stillness on the water. Presently an oar-blade fell in a boat beneath +the fort, and the sound reached the cutter as distinctly as if it had +been produced on her deck. Then came a murmur, like a sigh of the night, +a fluttering of the canvas, the creaking of the boom, and the flap of +the jib. These well-known sounds were followed by a slight heel in the +cutter, and by the bellying of all the sails. + +"Here's the wind, Anderson," called out Jasper to the oldest of his +sailors; "take the helm." + +This brief order was obeyed; the helm was put up, the cutter's bows fell +off, and in a few minutes the water was heard murmuring under her head, +as the _Scud_ glanced through the lake at the rate of five miles in the +hour. All this passed in profound silence, when Jasper again gave the +order to "ease off the sheets a little and keep her along the land." + +It was at this instant that the party from the after-cabin reappeared on +the quarter-deck. + +"You've no inclination, Jasper lad, to trust yourself too near our +neighbours the French," observed Muir, who took that occasion to +recommence the discourse. "Well, well, your prudence will never be +questioned by me, for I like the Canadas as little as you can possibly +like them yourself." + +"I hug this shore, Mr. Muir, on account of the wind. The land-breeze is +always freshest close in, provided you are not so near as to make a +lee of the trees. We have Mexico Bay to cross; and that, on the present +course, will give us quite offing enough." + +"I'm right glad it's not the Bay of Mexico," put in Cap, "which is a +part of the world I would rather not visit in one of your inland craft. +Does your cutter bear a weather helm, master Eau-douce?" + +"She is easy on her rudder, master Cap; but likes looking up at the +breeze as well as another, when in lively motion." + +"I suppose you have such things as reefs, though you can hardly have +occasion to use them?" + +Mabel's bright eye detected the smile that gleamed for an instant on +Jasper's handsome face; but no one else saw that momentary exhibition of +surprise and contempt. + +"We have reefs, and often have occasion to use them," quietly returned +the young man. "Before we get in, Master Cap, an opportunity may offer +to show you the manner in which we do so; for there is easterly weather +brewing, and the wind cannot chop, even on the ocean itself, more +readily than it flies round on Lake Ontario." + +"So much for knowing no better! I have seen the wind in the Atlantic +fly round like a coach-wheel, in a way to keep your sails shaking for +an hour, and the ship would become perfectly motionless from not knowing +which way to turn." + +"We have no such sudden changes here, certainly," Jasper mildly +answered; "though we think ourselves liable to unexpected shifts of +wind. I hope, however, to carry this land-breeze as far as the first +islands; after which there will be less danger of our being seen and +followed by any of the look-out boats from Frontenac." + +"Do you think the French keep spies out on the broad lake, Jasper?" +inquired the Pathfinder. + +"We know they do; one was off Oswego during the night of Monday last. +A bark canoe came close in with the eastern point, and landed an Indian +and an officer. Had you been outlying that night, as usual, we should +have secured one, if not both of them." + +It was too dark to betray the color that deepened on the weather-burnt +features of the guide; for he felt the consciousness of having lingered +in the fort that night, listening to the sweet tones of Mabel's voice as +she sang ballads to her father, and gazing at the countenance which, +to him, was radiant with charms. Probity in thought and deed being the +distinguishing quality of this extraordinary man's mind, while he felt +that a sort of disgrace ought to attach to his idleness on the occasion +mentioned, the last thought that could occur would be to attempt to +palliate or deny his negligence. + +"I confess it, Jasper, I confess it," said he humbly. "Had I been out +that night,--and I now recollect no sufficient reason why I was not,--it +might, indeed, have turned out as you say." + +"It was the evening you passed with us, Pathfinder," Mabel innocently +remarked; "surely one who lives so much of his time in the forest, in +front of the enemy, may be excused for giving a few hours of his time to +an old friend and his daughter." + +"Nay, nay, I've done little else but idle since we reached the +garrison," returned the other, sighing; "and it is well that the lad +should tell me of it: the idler needs a rebuke--yes, he needs a rebuke." + +"Rebuke, Pathfinder! I never dreamt of saying anything disagreeable, and +least of all would I think of rebuking you, because a solitary spy and +an Indian or two have escaped us. Now I know where you were, I think +your absence the most natural thing in the world." + +"I think nothing of what you said, Jasper, since it was deserved. We are +all human, and all do wrong." + +"This is unkind, Pathfinder." + +"Give me your hand, lad, give me your hand. It wasn't you that gave the +lesson; it was conscience." + +"Well, well," interrupted Cap; "now this latter matter is settled to the +satisfaction of all parties, perhaps you will tell us how it happened to +be known that there were spies near us so lately. This looks amazingly +like a circumstance." + +As the mariner uttered the last sentence, he pressed a foot slily on +that of the Sergeant, and nudged the guide with his elbow, winking at +the same time, though this sign was lost in the obscurity. + +"It is known, because their trail was found next day by the Serpent, +and it was that of a military boot and a moccasin. One of our hunters, +moreover, saw the canoe crossing towards Frontenac next morning." + +"Did the trail lead near the garrison, Jasper?" Pathfinder asked in +a manner so meek and subdued that it resembled the tone of a rebuked +schoolboy. "Did the trail lead near the garrison, lad?" + +"We thought not; though, of course, it did not cross the river. It was +followed down to the eastern point, at the river's mouth, where what +was doing in port, might be seen; but it did not cross, as we could +discover." + +"And why didn't you get under weigh, Master Jasper," Cap demanded, "and +give chase? On Tuesday morning it blew a good breeze; one in which this +cutter might have run nine knots." + +"That may do on the ocean, Master Cap," put in Pathfinder, "but it would +not do here. Water leaves no trail, and a Mingo and a Frenchman are a +match for the devil in a pursuit." + +"Who wants a trail when the chase can be seen from the deck, as Jasper +here said was the case with this canoe? and it mattered nothing if there +were twenty of your Mingos and Frenchmen, with a good British-built +bottom in their wake. I'll engage, Master Eau-douce, had you given me +a call that said Tuesday morning, that we should have overhauled the +blackguards." + +"I daresay, Master Cap, that the advice of as old a seaman as you might +have done no harm to as young a sailor as myself, but it is a long and a +hopeless chase that has a bark canoe in it." + +"You would have had only to press it hard, to drive it ashore." + +"Ashore, master Cap! You do not understand our lake navigation at all, +if you suppose it an easy matter to force a bark canoe ashore. As soon +as they find themselves pressed, these bubbles paddle right into the +wind's eye, and before you know it, you find yourself a mile or two dead +under their lee." + +"You don't wish me to believe, Master Jasper, that any one is so +heedless of drowning as to put off into this lake in one of them +eggshells when there is any wind?" + +"I have often crossed Ontario in a bark canoe, even when there has been +a good deal of sea on. Well managed, they are the driest boats of which +we have any knowledge." + +Cap now led his brother-in-law and Pathfinder aside, when he assured him +that the admission of Jasper concerning the spies was "a circumstance," +and "a strong circumstance," and as such it deserved his deliberate +investigation; while his account of the canoes was so improbable as +to wear the appearance of brow-beating the listeners. Jasper spoke +confidently of the character of the two individuals who had landed, and +this Cap deemed pretty strong proof that he knew more about them than +was to be gathered from a mere trail. As for moccasins, he said that +they were worn in that part of the world by white men as well as by +Indians; he had purchased a pair himself; and boots, it was notorious, +did not particularly make a soldier. Although much of this logic was +thrown away on the Sergeant, still it produced some effect. He thought +it a little singular himself, that there should have been spies detected +so near the fort and he know nothing of it; nor did he believe that this +was a branch of knowledge that fell particularly within the sphere of +Jasper. It was true that the _Scud_ had, once or twice, been sent across +the lake to land men of this character, or to bring them off; but +then the part played by Jasper, to his own certain knowledge, was very +secondary, the master of the cutter remaining as ignorant as any one +else of the purport of the visits of those whom he had carried to and +fro; nor did he see why he alone, of all present, should know anything +of the late visit. Pathfinder viewed the matter differently. With his +habitual diffidence, he reproached himself with a neglect of duty, and +that knowledge, of which the want struck him as a fault in one whose +business it was to possess it, appeared a merit in the young man. He +saw nothing extraordinary in Jasper's knowing the facts he had related; +while he did feel it was unusual, not to say disgraceful, that he +himself now heard of them for the first time. + +"As for moccasins, Master Cap," said he, when a short pause invited him +to speak, "they may be worn by pale-faces as well as by red-skins, it +is true, though they never leave the same trail on the foot of one as +on the foot of the other. Any one who is used to the woods can tell the +footstep of an Indian from the footstep of a white man, whether it be +made by a boot or a moccasin. It will need better evidence than this to +persuade me into the belief that Jasper is false." + +"You will allow, Pathfinder, that there are such things in the world as +traitors?" put in Cap logically. + +"I never knew an honest-minded Mingo,--one that you could put faith in, +if he had a temptation to deceive you. Cheating seems to be their +gift, and I sometimes think they ought to be pitied for it, rather than +persecuted." + +"Then why not believe that this Jasper may have the same weakness? A man +is a man, and human nature is sometimes but a poor concern, as I know by +experience." + +This was the opening of another long and desultory conversation, in +which the probability of Jasper's guilt or innocence was argued _pro_ +and _con_, until both the Sergeant and his brother-in-law had nearly +reasoned themselves into settled convictions in favor of the first, +while their companion grew sturdier and sturdier in his defence of +the accused, and still more fixed in his opinion of his being unjustly +charged with treachery. In this there was nothing out of the common +course of things; for there is no more certain way of arriving at any +particular notion, than by undertaking to defend it; and among the most +obstinate of our opinions may be classed those which are derived from +discussions in which we affect to search for truth, while in reality we +are only fortifying prejudice. + +By this time the Sergeant had reached a state of mind that disposed him +to view every act of the young sailor with distrust, and he soon got to +coincide with his relative in deeming the peculiar knowledge of Jasper, +in reference to the spies, a branch of information that certainly did +not come within the circle of his regular duties, as "a circumstance." + +While this matter was thus discussed near the taffrail, Mabel sat +silently by the companion-way, Mr. Muir having gone below to look after +his personal comforts, and Jasper standing a little aloof, with his arms +crossed, and his eyes wandering from the sails to the clouds, from the +clouds to the dusky outline of the shore, from the shore to the lake, +and from the lake back again to the sails. Our heroine, too, began to +commune with her own thoughts. The excitement of the late journey, the +incidents which marked the day of her arrival at the fort, the meeting +with a father who was virtually a stranger to her, the novelty of her +late situation in the garrison, and her present voyage, formed a vista +for the mind's eye to look back through, which seemed lengthened into +months. She could with difficulty believe that she had so recently left +the town, with all the usages of civilized life; and she wondered in +particular that the incidents which had occurred during the descent of +the Oswego had made so little impression on her mind. Too inexperienced +to know that events, when crowded, have the effect of time, or that the +quick succession of novelties that pass before us in travelling elevates +objects, in a measure, to the dignity of events, she drew upon her +memory for days and dates, in order to make certain that she had known +Jasper, and the Pathfinder, and her own father, but little more than a +fortnight. Mabel was a girl of heart rather than of imagination, though +by no means deficient in the last, and she could not easily account for +the strength of her feelings in connection with those who were so lately +strangers to her; for she was not sufficiently accustomed to analyze +her sensations to understand the nature of the influences that have just +been mentioned. As yet, however, her pure mind was free from the blight +of distrust, and she had no suspicion of the views of either of her +suitors; and one of the last thoughts that could have voluntarily +disturbed her confidence would have been to suppose it possible either +of her companions was a traitor to his king and country. + +America, at the time of which we are writing, was remarkable for its +attachment to the German family that then sat on the British throne; +for, as is the fact with all provinces, the virtues and qualities that +are proclaimed near the centre of power, as incense and policy, get +to be a part of political faith with the credulous and ignorant at a +distance. This truth is just as apparent to-day, in connection with +the prodigies of the republic, as it then was in connection with those +distant rulers, whose merits it was always safe to applaud, and whose +demerits it was treason to reveal. It is a consequence of this mental +dependence, that public opinion is so much placed at the mercy of the +designing; and the world, in the midst of its idle boasts of knowledge +and improvement, is left to receive its truths, on all such points as +touch the interests of the powerful and managing, through such a medium, +and such a medium only, as may serve the particular views of those who +pull the wires. Pressed upon by the subjects of France, who were then +encircling the British colonies with a belt of forts and settlements +that completely secured the savages for allies, it would have been +difficult to say whether the Americans loved the English more than +they hated the French; and those who then lived probably would have +considered the alliance which took place between the cis-Atlantic +subjects and the ancient rivals of the British crown, some twenty +years later, as an event entirely without the circle of probabilities. +Disaffection was a rare offence; and, most of all, would treason, that +should favor France or Frenchmen, have been odious in the eyes of the +provincials. The last thing that Mabel would suspect of Jasper was the +very crime with which he now stood secretly charged; and if others near +her endured the pains of distrust, she, at least, was filled with the +generous confidence of a woman. As yet no whisper had reached her ear +to disturb the feeling of reliance with which she had early regarded the +young sailor, and her own mind would have been the last to suggest +such a thought of itself. The pictures of the past and of the +present, therefore, that exhibited themselves so rapidly to her active +imagination, were unclouded with a shade that might affect any in whom +she felt an interest; and ere she had mused, in the manner related, a +quarter of an hour, the whole scene around her was filled with unalloyed +satisfaction. + +The season and the night, to represent them truly, were of a nature to +stimulate the sensations which youth, health, and happiness are wont to +associate with novelty. The weather was warm, as is not always the case +in that region even in summer, while the air that came off the land, in +breathing currents, brought with it the coolness and fragrance of the +forest. The wind was far from being fresh, though there was enough of +it to drive the _Scud_ merrily ahead, and, perhaps, to keep attention +alive, in the uncertainty that more or less accompanies darkness. +Jasper, however, appeared to regard it with complacency, as was apparent +by what he said in a short dialogue that now occurred between him and +Mabel. + +"At this rate, Eau-douce,"--for so Mabel had already learned to style +the young sailor,--said our heroine, "we cannot be long in reaching our +place of destination." + +"Has your father then told you what that is, Mabel?" + +"He has told me nothing; my father is too much of a soldier, and too +little used to have a family around him, to talk of such matters. Is it +forbidden to say whither we are bound?" + +"It cannot be far, while we steer in this direction, for sixty or +seventy miles will take us into the St. Lawrence, which the French might +make too hot for us; and no voyage on this lake can be very long." + +"So says my uncle Cap; but to me, Jasper, Ontario and the ocean appear +very much the same." + +"You have then been on the ocean; while I, who pretend to be a sailor, +have never yet seen salt water. You must have a great contempt for such +a mariner as myself, in your heart, Mabel Dunham?" + +"Then I have no such thing in my heart, Jasper Eau-douce. What right +have I, a girl without experience or knowledge, to despise any, much +less one like you, who are trusted by the Major, and who command a +vessel like this? I have never been on the ocean, though I have seen it; +and, I repeat, I see no difference between this lake and the Atlantic." + +"Nor in them that sail on both? I was afraid, Mabel, your uncle had said +so much against us fresh-water sailors, that you had begun to look upon +us as little better than pretenders?" + +"Give yourself no uneasiness on that account, Jasper; for I know my +uncle, and he says as many things against those who live ashore, when +at York, as he now says against those who sail on fresh water. No, no, +neither my father nor myself think anything of such opinions. My uncle +Cap, if he spoke openly, would be found to have even a worse notion of a +soldier than of a sailor who never saw the sea." + +"But your father, Mabel, has a better opinion of soldiers than of any +one else? he wishes you to be the wife of a soldier?" + +"Jasper Eau-douce!--I the wife of a soldier! My father wishes it! Why +should he wish any such thing? What soldier is there in the garrison +that I could marry--that he could _wish me_ to marry?" + +"One may love a calling so well as to fancy it will cover a thousand +imperfections." + +"But one is not likely to love his own calling so well as to cause him +to overlook everything else. You say my father wishes me to marry a +soldier; and yet there is no soldier at Oswego that he would be likely +to give me to. I am in an awkward position; for while I am not good +enough to be the wife of one of the gentlemen of the garrison, I think +even you will admit, Jasper, I am too good to be the wife of one of the +common soldiers." + +As Mabel spoke thus frankly she blushed, she knew not why, though +the obscurity concealed the fact from her companion; and she laughed +faintly, like one who felt that the subject, however embarrassing it +might be, deserved to be treated fairly. Jasper, it would seem, viewed +her position differently from herself. + +"It is true Mabel," said he, "you are not what is called a lady, in the +common meaning of the word." + +"Not in any meaning, Jasper," the generous girl eagerly interrupted: +"on that head, I have no vanities, I hope. Providence has made me the +daughter of a sergeant, and I am content to remain in the station in +which I was born." + +"But all do not remain in the stations in which they were born, Mabel; +for some rise above them, and some fall below them. Many sergeants have +become officers--even generals; and why may not sergeants' daughters +become officers' ladies?" + +"In the case of Sergeant Dunham's daughter, I know no better reason +than the fact that no officer is likely to wish to make her his wife," +returned Mabel, laughing. + +"_You_ may think so; but there are some in the 55th that know better. +There is certainly one officer in that regiment, Mabel, who does wish to +make you his wife." + +Quick as the flashing lightning, the rapid thoughts of Mabel Dunham +glanced over the five or six subalterns of the corps, who, by age and +inclinations, would be the most likely to form such a wish; and we +should do injustice to her habits, perhaps, were we not to say that +a lively sensation of pleasure rose momentarily in her bosom, at the +thought of being raised above a station which, whatever might be her +professions of contentment, she felt that she had been too well educated +to fill with perfect satisfaction. But this emotion was as transient as +it was sudden; for Mabel Dunham was a girl of too much pure and womanly +feeling to view the marriage tie through anything so worldly as the +mere advantages of station. The passing emotion was a thrill produced by +factitious habits, while the more settled opinion which remained was the +offspring of nature and principles. + +"I know no officer in the 55th, or any other regiment, who would be +likely to do so foolish a thing; nor do I think I myself would do so +foolish a thing as to marry an officer." + +"Foolish, Mabel!" + +"Yes, foolish, Jasper. You know, as well as I can know, what the world +would think of such matters; and I should be sorry, very sorry, to find +that my husband ever regretted that he had so far yielded to a fancy for +a face or a figure as to have married the daughter of one so much his +inferior as a sergeant." + +"_Your_ husband, Mabel, will not be so likely to think of the father as +to think of the daughter." + +The girl was talking with spirit, though feeling evidently entered into +her part of the discourse; but she paused for nearly a minute after +Jasper had made the last observation before she uttered another word. +Then she continued, in a manner less playful, and one critically +attentive might have fancied in a manner slightly melancholy,-- + +"Parent and child ought so to live as not to have two hearts, or two +modes of feeling and thinking. A common interest in all things I should +think as necessary to happiness in man and wife, as between the other +members of the same family. Most of all, ought neither the man nor the +woman to have any unusual cause for unhappiness, the world furnishing so +many of itself." + +"Am I to understand, then, Mabel, you would refuse to marry an officer, +merely because he was an officer?" + +"Have you a right to ask such a question, Jasper?" said Mabel smiling. + +"No other right than what a strong desire to see you happy can give, +which, after all, may be very little. My anxiety has been increased, +from happening to know that it is your father's intention to persuade +you to marry Lieutenant Muir." + +"My dear, dear father can entertain no notion so ridiculous--no notion +so cruel!" + +"Would it, then, be cruel to wish you the wife of a quartermaster?" + +"I have told you what I think on that subject, and cannot make my words +stronger. Having answered you so frankly, Jasper, I have a right to ask +how you know that my father thinks of any such thing?" + +"That he has chosen a husband for you, I know from his own mouth; for +he has told me this much during our frequent conversations while he has +been superintending the shipment of the stores; and that Mr. Muir is to +offer for you, I know from the officer himself, who has told me as +much. By putting the two things together, I have come to the opinion +mentioned." + +"May not my dear father, Jasper,"--Mabel's face glowed like fire +while she spoke, though her words escaped her slowly, and by a sort +of involuntary impulse,--"may not my dear father have been thinking of +another? It does not follow, from what you say, that Mr. Muir was in his +mind." + +"Is it not probable, Mabel, from all that has passed? What brings the +Quartermaster here? He has never found it necessary before to accompany +the parties that have gone below. He thinks of you for his wife; and +your father has made up his own mind that you shall be so. You must see, +Mabel, that Mr. Muir follows _you?_" + +Mabel made no answer. Her feminine instinct had, indeed, told her that +she was an object of admiration with the Quartermaster; though she had +hardly supposed to the extent that Jasper believed; and she, too, had +even gathered from the discourse of her father that he thought seriously +of having her disposed of in marriage; but by no process of reasoning +could she ever have arrived at the inference that Mr. Muir was to be the +man. She did not believe it now, though she was far from suspecting the +truth. Indeed, it was her own opinion that these casual remarks of her +father, which had struck her, had proceeded from a general wish to +have her settled, rather than from any desire to see her united to any +particular individual. These thoughts, however, she kept secret; for +self-respect and feminine reserve showed her the impropriety of making +them the subject of discussion with her present companion. By way of +changing the conversation, therefore, after the pause had lasted long +enough to be embarrassing to both parties, she said, "Of one thing +you may be certain, Jasper,--and that is all I wish to say on the +subject,--Lieutenant Muir, though he were a colonel, will never be the +husband of Mabel Dunham. And now, tell me of your voyage;--when will it +end?" + +"That is uncertain. Once afloat, we are at the mercy of the winds and +waves. Pathfinder will tell you that he who begins to chase the deer in +the morning cannot tell where he will sleep at night." + +"But we are not chasing a deer, nor is it morning: so Pathfinder's moral +is thrown away." + +"Although we are not chasing a deer, we are after that which may be as +hard to catch. I can tell you no more than I have said already; for it +is our duty to be close-mouthed, whether anything depends on it or not. +I am afraid, however, I shall not keep you long enough in the _Scud_ to +show you what she can do at need." + +"I think a woman unwise who ever marries a sailor," said Mabel abruptly, +and almost involuntarily. + +"This is a strange opinion; why do you hold it?" + +"Because a sailor's wife is certain to have a rival in his vessel. My +uncle Cap, too, says that a sailor should never marry." + +"He means salt-water sailors," returned Jasper, laughing. "If he thinks +wives not good enough for those who sail on the ocean, he will fancy +them just suited to those who sail on the lakes. I hope, Mabel, you do +not take your opinions of us fresh-water mariners from all that Master +Cap says." + +"Sail, ho!" exclaimed the very individual of whom they were conversing; +"or boat, ho! would be nearer the truth." + +Jasper ran forward; and, sure enough, a small object was discernible +about a hundred yards ahead of the cutter, and nearly on her lee bow. At +the first glance, he saw it was a bark canoe; for, though the darkness +prevented hues from being distinguished, the eye that had become +accustomed to the night might discern forms at some little distance; +and the eye which, like Jasper's, had long been familiar with things +aquatic, could not be at a loss in discovering the outlines necessary to +come to the conclusion he did. + +"This may be an enemy," the young man remarked; "and it may be well to +overhaul him." + +"He is paddling with all his might, lad," observed the Pathfinder, "and +means to cross your bows and get to windward, when you might as well +chase a full-grown buck on snow-shoes!" + +"Let her luff," cried Jasper to the man at the helm. "Luff up, till she +shakes. There, steady, and hold all that." + +The helmsman complied; and, as the _Scud_ was now dashing the water +aside merrily, a minute or two put the canoe so far to leeward as to +render escape impracticable. Jasper now sprang to the helm himself and, +by judicious and careful handling, he got so near his chase that it was +secured by a boat-hook. On receiving an order, the two persons who were +in the canoe left it, and no sooner had they reached the deck of the +cutter than they were found to be Arrowhead and his wife. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + What pearl is it that rich men cannot buy, + That learning is too proud to gather up; + But which the poor and the despised of all + Seek and obtain, and often find unsought? + Tell me--and I will tell thee what is truth. + COWPER. + + +The meeting with the Indian and his wife excited no surprise in the +majority of those who witnessed the occurrence; but Mabel, and all who +knew of the manner in which this chief had been separated from the party +of Cap, simultaneously entertained suspicions, which it was far +easier to feel than to follow out by any plausible clue to certainty. +Pathfinder, who alone could converse freely with the prisoners, for +such they might now be considered, took Arrowhead aside, and held a long +conversation with him, concerning the reasons of the latter for having +deserted his charge and the manner in which he had been since employed. + +The Tuscarora met these inquiries, and he gave his answers with the +stoicism of an Indian. As respects the separation, his excuses were very +simply made, and they seemed to be sufficiently plausible. When he found +that the party was discovered in its place of concealment, he naturally +sought his own safety, which he secured by plunging into the woods. In a +word, he had run away in order to save his life. + +"This is well," returned Pathfinder, affecting to believe the other's +apologies; "my brother did very wisely; but his woman followed?" + +"Do not the pale-faces' women follow their husbands? Would not +Pathfinder have looked back to see if one he loved was coming?" + +This appeal was made to the guide while he was in a most fortunate +frame of mind to admit its force; for Mabel and her blandishments and +constancy were becoming images familiar to his thoughts. The Tuscarora, +though he could not trace the reason, saw that his excuse was admitted, +and he stood with quiet dignity awaiting the next inquiry. + +"This is reasonable and natural," returned Pathfinder; "this is natural, +and may be so. A woman would be likely to follow the man to whom she +had plighted faith, and husband and wife are one flesh. Your words are +honest, Tuscarora," changing the language to the dialect of the other. +"Your words are honest, and very pleasant and just. But why has my +brother been so long from the fort? His friends have thought of him +often, but have never seen him." + +"If the doe follows the buck, ought not the buck to follow the doe?" +answered the Tuscarora, smiling, as he laid a finger significantly on +the shoulder of his interrogator. "Arrowhead's wife followed Arrowhead; +it was right in Arrowhead to follow his wife. She lost her way, and they +made her cook in a strange wigwam." + +"I understand you, Tuscarora. The woman fell into the hands of the +Mingos, and you kept upon their trail." + +"Pathfinder can see a reason as easily as he can see the moss on the +trees. It is so." + +"And how long have you got the woman back, and in what manner has it +been done?" + +"Two suns. The Dew-of-June was not long in coming when her husband +whispered to her the path." + +"Well, well, all this seems natural, and according to matrimony. But, +Tuscarora, how did you get that canoe, and why are you paddling towards +the St. Lawrence instead of the garrison?" + +"Arrowhead can tell his own from that of another. This canoe is mine; I +found it on the shore near the fort." + +"That sounds reasonable, too, for the canoe does belong to the man, +and an Indian would make few words about taking it. Still, it is +extraordinary that we saw nothing of the fellow and his wife, for the +canoe must have left the river before we did ourselves." + +This idea, which passed rapidly through the mind of the guide, was now +put to the Indian in the shape of a question. + +"Pathfinder knows that a warrior can have shame. The father would have +asked me for his daughter, and I could not give her to him. I sent the +Dew-of-June for the canoe, and no one spoke to the woman. A Tuscarora +woman would not be free in speaking to strange men." + +All this, too, was plausible, and in conformity with Indian character +and customs. As was usual, Arrowhead had received one half of his +compensation previously to quitting the Mohawk; and his refraining to +demand the residue was a proof of that conscientious consideration of +mutual rights that quite as often distinguishes the morality of a savage +as that of a Christian. To one as upright as Pathfinder, Arrowhead had +conducted himself with delicacy and propriety, though it would have been +more in accordance with his own frank nature to have met the father, and +abided by the simple truth. Still, accustomed to the ways of Indians, he +saw nothing out of the ordinary track of things in the course the other +had taken. + +"This runs like water flowing down hill, Arrowhead," he answered, after +a little reflection, "and truth obliges me to own it. It was the gift of +a red-skin to act in this way, though I do not think it was the gift of +a pale-face. You would not look upon the grief of the girl's father?" + +Arrowhead made a quiet inclination of the body as if to assent. + +"One thing more my brother will tell me," continued Pathfinder, "and +there will be no cloud between his wigwam and the strong-house of the +Yengeese. If he can blow away this bit of fog with his breath, his +friends will look at him as he sits by his own fire, and he can look at +them as they lay aside their arms, and forget that they are warriors. +Why was the head of Arrowhead's canoe looking towards the St. Lawrence, +where there are none but enemies to be found?" + +"Why were the Pathfinder and his friends looking the same way?" asked +the Tuscarora calmly. "A Tuscarora may look in the same direction as a +Yengeese." + +"Why, to own the truth, Arrowhead, we are out scouting like; that is, +sailing--in other words, we are on the king's business, and we have a +right to be here, though we may not have a right to say _why_ we are +here." + +"Arrowhead saw the big canoe, and he loves to look on the face of +Eau-douce. He was going towards the sun at evening in order to seek his +wigwam; but, finding that the young sailor was going the other way, he +turned that he might look in the same direction. Eau-douce and Arrowhead +were together on the last trail." + +"This may all be true, Tuscarora, and you are welcome. You shall eat of +our venison, and then we must separate. The setting sun is behind us, +and both of us move quick: my brother will get too far from that which +he seeks, unless he turns round." + +Pathfinder now returned to the others, and repeated the result of +his examination. He appeared himself to believe that the account of +Arrowhead might be true, though he admitted that caution would be +prudent with one he disliked; but his auditors, Jasper excepted, seemed +less disposed to put faith in the explanations. + +"This chap must be ironed at once, brother Dunham," said Cap, as soon +as Pathfinder finished his narration; "he must be turned over to the +master-at-arms, if there is any such officer on fresh water, and a +court-martial ought to be ordered as soon as we reach port." + +"I think it wisest to detain the fellow," the Sergeant answered; "but +irons are unnecessary so long as he remains in the cutter. In the +morning the matter shall be inquired into." + +Arrowhead was now summoned and told the decision. The Indian listened +gravely, and made no objections. On the contrary, he submitted with the +calm and reserved dignity with which the American aborigines are known +to yield to fate; and he stood apart, an attentive but calm observer of +what was passing. Jasper caused the cutter's sails to be filled, and the +_Scud_ resumed her course. + +It was now getting near the hour to set the watch, and when it was usual +to retire for the night. Most of the party went below, leaving no one on +deck but Cap, the Sergeant, Jasper, and two of the crew. Arrowhead and +his wife also remained, the former standing aloof in proud reserve, +and the latter exhibiting, by her attitude and passiveness, the meek +humility that characterizes an Indian woman. + +"You will find a place for your wife below, Arrowhead, where my daughter +will attend to her wants," said the Sergeant kindly, who was himself on +the point of quitting the deck; "yonder is a sail where you may sleep +yourself." + +"I thank my father. The Tuscaroras are not poor. The woman will look for +my blankets in the canoe." + +"As you wish, my friend. We think it necessary to detain you; but not +necessary to confine or to maltreat you. Send your squaw into the canoe +for the blankets and you may follow her yourself, and hand us up the +paddles. As there may be some sleepy heads in the _Scud_, Eau-douce," +added the Sergeant in a lower tone, "it may be well to secure the +paddles." + +Jasper assented, and Arrowhead and his wife, with whom resistance +appeared to be out of the question, silently complied with the +directions. A few expressions of sharp rebuke passed from the Indian +to his wife, while both were employed in the canoe, which the latter +received with submissive quiet, immediately repairing an error she had +made by laying aside the blanket she had taken and searching for another +that was more to her tyrant's mind. + +"Come, bear a hand, Arrowhead," said the Sergeant, who stood on the +gunwale overlooking the movements of the two, which were proceeding too +slowly for the impatience of a drowsy man; "it is getting late; and we +soldiers have such a thing as reveille--early to bed and early to rise." + +"Arrowhead is coming," was the answer, as the Tuscarora stepped towards +the head of his canoe. + +One blow of his keen knife severed the rope which held the boat, and +then the cutter glanced ahead, leaving the light bubble of bark, which +instantly lost its way, almost stationary. So suddenly and dexterously +was this manoeuvre performed, that the canoe was on the lee quarter of +the _Scud_ before the Sergeant was aware of the artifice, and quite in +her wake ere he had time to announce it to his companions. + +"Hard-a-lee!" shouted Jasper, letting fly the jib-sheet with his own +hands, when the cutter came swiftly up to the breeze, with all her +canvas flapping, or was running into the wind's eye, as seamen term +it, until the light craft was a hundred feet to windward of her former +position. Quick and dexterous as was this movement, and ready as had +been the expedient, it was not quicker or more ready than that of the +Tuscarora. With an intelligence that denoted some familiarity with +vessels, he had seized his paddle and was already skimming the +water, aided by the efforts of his wife. The direction he took was +south-westerly, or on a line that led him equally towards the wind and +the shore, while it also kept him so far aloof from the cutter as to +avoid the danger of the latter falling on board of him when she filled +on the other tack. Swiftly as the _Scud_ had shot into the wind, and far +as she had forced ahead, Jasper knew it was necessary to cast her ere +she had lost all her way; and it was not two minutes from the time the +helm had been put down before the lively little craft was aback forward, +and rapidly falling off, in order to allow her sails to fill on the +opposite tack. + +"He will escape!" said Jasper the instant he caught a glimpse of the +relative bearings of the cutter and the canoe. "The cunning knave is +paddling dead to windward, and the _Scud_ can never overtake him!" + +"You have a canoe!" exclaimed the Sergeant, manifesting the eagerness of +a boy to join in the pursuit; "let us launch it, and give chase!" + +"It will be useless. If Pathfinder had been on deck, there might have +been a chance; but there is none now. To launch the canoe would have +taken three or four minutes, and the time lost would be sufficient for +the purposes of Arrowhead." + +Both Cap and the Sergeant saw the truth of this, which would have been +nearly self-evident even to one unaccustomed to vessels. The shore was +distant less than half a mile, and the canoe was already glancing into +its shadows, at a rate to show that it would reach the land before its +pursuers could probably get half the distance. The helm of the _Scud_ +was reluctantly put up again, and the cutter wore short round on her +heel, coming up to her course on the other tack, as if acting on +an instinct. All this was done by Jasper in profound silence, his +assistants understanding what was necessary, and lending their aid in a +sort of mechanical imitation. While these manoeuvres were in the course +of execution, Cap took the Sergeant by a button, and led him towards the +cabin-door, where he was out of ear-shot, and began to unlock his stores +of thought. + +"Hark'e, brother Dunham," said he, with an ominous face, "this is a +matter that requires mature thought and much circumspection." + +"The life of a soldier, brother Cap, is one of constant thought and +circumspection. On this frontier, were we to overlook either, our scalps +might be taken from our heads in the first nap." + +"But I consider this capture of Arrowhead as a circumstance; and I might +add his escape as another. This Jasper Freshwater must look to it." + +"They are both circumstances truly, brother; but they tell different +ways. If it is a circumstance against the lad that the Indian has +escaped, it is a circumstance in his favor that he was first taken." + +"Ay, ay, but two circumstances do not contradict each other like two +negatives. If you will follow the advice of an old seaman, Sergeant, not +a moment is to be lost in taking the steps necessary for the security of +the vessel and all on board of her. The cutter is now slipping through +the water at the rate of six knots, and as the distances are so short +on this bit of a pond, we may all find ourselves in a French port before +morning, and in a French prison before night." + +"This may be true enough. What would you advise me to do, brother?" + +"In my opinion you should put this Master Freshwater under arrest on the +spot; send him below under the charge of a sentinel, and transfer the +command of the cutter to me. All this you have power to perform, the +craft belonging to the army, and you being the commanding officer of the +troops present." + +Sergeant Dunham deliberated more than an hour on the propriety of this +proposal; for, though sufficiently prompt when his mind was really made +up, he was habitually thoughtful and wary. The habit of superintending +the personal police of the garrison had made him acquainted with +character, and he had long been disposed to think well of Jasper. Still +that subtle poison, suspicion, had entered his soul; and so much were +the artifices and intrigues of the French dreaded, that, especially +warned as he had been by his commander, it is not to be wondered that +the recollection of years of good conduct should vanish under the +influence of a distrust so keen, and seemingly so plausible. In this +embarrassment the Sergeant consulted the Quartermaster, whose opinion, +as his superior, he felt bound to respect, though at the moment +independent of his control. It is an unfortunate occurrence for one who +is in a dilemma to ask advice of another who is desirous of standing +well in his favor, the party consulted being almost certain to try +to think in the manner which will be the most agreeable to the party +consulting. In the present instance it was equally unfortunate, as +respects a candid consideration of the subject, that Cap, instead of the +Sergeant himself, made the statement of the case; for the earnest old +sailor was not backward in letting his listener perceive to which side +he was desirous that the Quartermaster should lean. Lieutenant Muir was +much too politic to offend the uncle and father of the woman he hoped +and expected to win, had he really thought the case admitted of doubt; +but, in the manner in which the facts were submitted to him, he was +seriously inclined to think that it would be well to put the control +of the _Scud_ temporarily into the management of Cap, as a precaution +against treachery. This opinion then decided the Sergeant, who forthwith +set about the execution of the necessary measures. + +Without entering into any explanations, Sergeant Dunham simply informed +Jasper that he felt it to be his duty to deprive him temporarily of the +command of the cutter, and to confer it on his own brother-in-law. A +natural and involuntary burst of surprise, which escaped the young man, +was met by a quiet remark, reminding him that military service was +often of a nature that required concealment, and a declaration that the +present duty was of such a character that this particular arrangement +had become indispensable. Although Jasper's astonishment remained +undiminished,--the Sergeant cautiously abstaining from making any +allusion to his suspicions,--the young man was accustomed to obey with +military submission; and he quietly acquiesced, with his own mouth +directing the little crew to receive their further orders from Cap until +another change should be effected. When, however, he was told the case +required that not only he himself, but his principal assistant, who, on +account of his long acquaintance with the lake, was usually termed the +pilot, were to remain below, there was an alteration in his countenance +and manner that denoted strong feeling, though it was so well mastered +as to leave even the distrustful Cap in doubt as to its meaning. As a +matter of course, however, when distrust exists, it was not long before +the worst construction was put upon it. + +As soon as Jasper and the pilot were below, the sentinel at the hatch +received private orders to pay particular attention to both; to allow +neither to come on deck again without giving instant notice to the +person who might then be in charge of the cutter, and to insist on his +return below as soon as possible. This precaution, however, was uncalled +for; Jasper and his assistant both throwing themselves silently on their +pallets, which neither quitted again that night. + +"And now, Sergeant," said Cap, as soon as he found himself master of +the deck, "you will just have the goodness to give me the courses and +distance, that I may see the boat keeps her head the right way." + +"I know nothing of either, brother Cap," returned Dunham, not a little +embarrassed at the question. "We must make the best of our way to the +station among the Thousand Islands, 'where we shall land, relieve +the party that is already out, and get information for our future +government.' That's it, nearly word for word, as it stands in the +written orders." + +"But you can muster a chart--something in the way of bearings and +distances, that I may see the road?" + +"I do not think Jasper ever had anything of the sort to go by." + +"No chart, Sergeant Dunham!" + +"Not a scrap of a pen even. Our sailors navigate this lake without any +aid from maps." + +"The devil they do! They must be regular Yahoos. And do you suppose, +Sergeant Dunham, that I can find one island out of a thousand without +knowing its name or its position, without even a course or a distance?" + +"As for the _name_, brother Cap, you need not be particular, for not one +of the whole thousand _has_ a name, and so a mistake can never be made +on that score. As for the position, never having been there myself, +I can tell you nothing about it, nor do I think its position of any +particular consequence, provided we find the spot. Perhaps one of the +hands on deck can tell us the way." + +"Hold on, Sergeant--hold on a moment, if you please, Sergeant Dunham. +If I am to command this craft, it must be done, if you please, without +holding any councils of war with the cook and cabin-boy. A ship-master +is a ship-master, and he must have an opinion of his own, even if it be +a wrong one. I suppose you know service well enough to understand that +it is better in a commander to go wrong than to go nowhere. At all +events, the Lord High Admiral couldn't command a yawl with dignity, if +he consulted the cockswain every time he wished to go ashore. No sir, if +I sink, I sink! but, d---me, I'll go down ship-shape and with dignity." + +"But, brother Cap, I have no wish to go down anywhere, unless it be to +the station among the Thousand Islands whither we are bound." + +"Well, well, Sergeant, rather than ask advice--that is, direct, +barefaced advice--of a foremast hand, or any other than a quarter-deck +officer, I would go round to the whole thousand, and examine them one by +one until we got the right haven. But there is such a thing as coming at +an opinion without manifesting ignorance, and I will manage to rouse all +there is out of these hands, and make them think all the while that I +am cramming them with my own experience! We are sometimes obliged to use +the glass at sea when there is nothing in sight, or to heave the lead +long before we strike soundings. When a youngster, sailed two v'y'ges +with a man who navigated his ship pretty much by the latter sort of +information, which sometimes answers." + +"I know we are steering in the right direction at present," returned +the Sergeant; "but in the course of a few hours we shall be up with a +headland, where we must feel our way with more caution." + +"Leave me to pump the man at the wheel, brother, and you shall see that +I will make him suck in a very few minutes." + +Cap and the Sergeant now walked aft, until they stood by the sailor who +was at the helm, Cap maintaining an air of security and tranquillity, +like one who was entirely confident of his own powers. + +"This is a wholesome air, my lad," Cap observed, in the manner that a +superior on board a vessel sometimes condescends to use to a favored +inferior. "Of course you have it in this fashion off the land every +night?" + +"At this season of the year, sir," the man returned, touching his hat, +out of respect, to his new commander and Sergeant Dunham's connection. + +"The same thing, I take it, among the Thousand Islands? The wind will +stand, of course, though we shall then have land on every side of us." + +"When we get farther east, sir, the wind will probably shift, for there +can then be no particular land-breeze." + +"Ay, ay; so much for your fresh water! It has always some trick that is +opposed to nature. Now, down among the West India Islands, one is just +as certain of having a land-breeze as he is of having a sea-breeze. In +that respect there is no difference, though it's quite in rule it should +be different up here on this bit of fresh water. Of course, my lad, you +know all about these said Thousand Islands?" + +"Lord bless you, Master Cap, nobody knows all about them or anything +about them. They are a puzzle to the oldest sailor on the lake, and we +don't pretend to know even their names. For that matter, most of them +have no more names than a child that dies before it is christened." + +"Are you a Roman Catholic?" demanded the Sergeant sharply. + +"No, sir, nor anything else. I'm a generalizer about religion, never +troubling that which don't trouble me." + +"Hum! a generalizer; that is, no doubt, one of the new sects that +afflict the country," muttered Mr. Dunham, whose grandfather had been +a New Jersey Quaker, his father a Presbyterian, and who had joined the +Church of England himself after he entered the army. + +"I take it, John--" resumed Cap. "Your name is Jack, I believe?" + +"No, sir; I am called Robert." + +"Ay, Robert, it's very much the same thing, Jack or Bob; we use the two +indifferently. I say, Bob, it's good holding ground, is it, down at this +same station for which we are bound?" + +"Bless you, sir! I know no more about it than one of the Mohawks, or a +soldier of the 55th." + +"Did you never anchor there?" + +"Never, sir. Master Eau-douce always makes fast to the shore." + +"But in running in for the town, you kept the lead going, out of +question, and must have tallowed as usual." + +"Tallow!--and town, too! Bless your heart, Master Cap! there is no more +town than there is on your chin, and not half as much tallow!" + +The Sergeant smiled grimly, but his brother-in-law did not detect this +proof of humor. + +"No church tower, nor light, nor fort, ha? There is a garrison, as you +call it hereaway, at least?" + +"Ask Sergeant Dunham, sir, if you wish to know that. All the garrison is +on board the _Scud_." + +"But in running in, Bob, which of the channels do you think the best? +the one you went last, or--or--or--ay, or the other?" + +"I can't say, sir; I know nothing of either." + +"You didn't go to sleep, fellow, at the wheel, did you?" + +"Not at the wheel, sir, but down in the fore-peak in my berth. Eau-douce +sent us below, soldiers and all, with the exception of the pilot, and we +know no more of the road than if we had never been over it. This he has +always done in going in and coming out; and, for the life of me, I could +tell you nothing of the channel, or the course, after we are once fairly +up with the islands. No one knows anything of either but Jasper and the +pilot." + +"Here is a circumstance for you, Sergeant," said Cap, leading his +brother-in-law a little aside; "there is no one on board to pump, for +they all suck from ignorance at the first stroke of the brake. How the +devil am I to find the way to this station for which we are bound?" + +"Sure enough, brother Cap, your question is more easily put than +answered. Is there no such thing as figuring it out by navigation? I +thought you salt-water mariners were able to do as small a thing as +that. I have often read of their discovering islands, surely." + +"That you have, brother, that you have; and this discovery would be the +greatest of them all; for it would not only be discovering one island, +but one island out of a thousand." + +"Still, the sailors of the lake have a method of finding the places they +wish to go to." + +"If I have understood you, Sergeant, this station or blockhouse is +particularly private." + +"It is, indeed, the utmost care having been taken to prevent a knowledge +of its position from reaching the enemy." + +"And you expect me, a stranger on your lake, to find this place without +chart, course, distance, latitude, longitude, or soundings,--ay, d---me, +or tallow! Allow me to ask if you think a mariner runs by his nose, like +one of Pathfinder's hounds?" + +"Well, brother, you may yet learn something by questioning the young man +at the helm; I can hardly think that he is as ignorant as he pretends to +be." + +"Hum!--this looks like another circumstance. For that matter, the case +is getting to be so full of circumstances that one hardly knows how to +foot up the evidence. But we will soon see how much the lad knows." + +Cap and the Sergeant now returned to their station near the helm, and +the former renewed his inquiries. + +"Do you happen to know what may be the latitude and longitude of this +said island, my lad?" he asked. + +"The what, sir?" + +"Why, the latitude or longitude--one or both; I'm not particular which, +as I merely inquire in order to see how they bring up young men on this +bit of fresh water." + +"I'm not particular about either myself, sir, and so I do not happen to +know what you mean." + +"Not what I mean! You know what latitude is?" + +"Not I, sir!" returned the man, hesitating. "Though I believe it is +French for the upper lakes." + +"Whe-e-e-w-!" whistled Cap, drawing out his breath like the broken stop +of an organ; "latitude, French for upper lakes! Hark'e, young man, do +you know what longitude means?" + +"I believe I do, sir; that is, five feet six, the regulation height for +soldiers in the king's service." + +"There's the longitude found out for you, Sergeant, in the rattling of +a brace-block! You have some notion about a degree, and minutes and +seconds, I hope?" + +"Yes, sir; degree means my betters; and minutes and seconds are for +the short or long log-lines. We all know these things as well as the +salt-water people." + +"D---me, brother Dunham, if I think even Faith can get along on this +lake, much as they say it can do with mountains. Well, my lad, you +understand the azimuth, and measuring distances, and how to box the +compass." + +"As for the first, sir, I can't say I do. The distances we all know, as +we measure them from point to point; and as for boxing the compass, I +will turn my back to no admiral in his Majesty's fleet. Nothe, nothe +and by east, nothe, nothe-east, nothe-east and by nothe, nothe-east, +nothe-east and by east, east-nothe-east, east and by nothe-east--" + +"That will do, that will do. You'll bring about a shift of wind if you +go on in this manner. I see very plainly, Sergeant," walking away again, +and dropping his voice, "we've nothing to hope for from that chap. I'll +stand on two hours longer on this tack, when we'll heave-to and get the +soundings, after which we will be governed by circumstances." + +To this the Sergeant made no objections; and as the wind grew lighter, +as usual with the advance of night, and there were no immediate +obstacles to the navigation, he made a bed of a sail on deck, and was +soon lost in the sound sleep of a soldier. Cap continued to walk the +deck, for he was one whose iron frame set fatigue at defiance, and not +once that night did he close his eyes. + +It was broad daylight when Sergeant Dunham awoke, and the exclamation +of surprise that escaped him, as he rose to his feet and began to look +about him, was stronger than it was usual for one so drilled to suffer +to be heard. He found the weather entirely changed, the view bounded +by driving mist that limited the visible horizon to a circle of about a +mile in diameter, the lake raging and covered with foam, and the _Scud_ +lying-to. A brief conversation with his brother-in-law let him into the +secrets of all these sudden changes. + +According to the account of Master Cap, the wind had died away to a calm +about midnight, or just as he was thinking of heaving-to, to sound, for +islands ahead were beginning to be seen. At one A.M. it began to blow +from the north-east, accompanied by a drizzle, and he stood off to the +northward and westward, knowing that the coast of New York lay in the +opposite direction. At half-past one he stowed the flying-jib, reefed +the mainsail, and took the bonnet off the jib. At two he was compelled +to get a second reef aft; and by half-past two he had put a balance-reef +in the sail, and was lying-to. + +"I can't say but the boat behaves well, Sergeant," the old sailor added, +"but it blows forty-two pounders. I had no idea there were any such +currents of air up here on this bit of fresh water, though I care +not the knotting of a yarn for it, as your lake has now somewhat of a +natural look; and if this d----d water had a savor of salt about it, one +might be comfortable." + +"How long have you been heading in this direction, brother Cap?" +inquired the prudent soldier; "and at what rate may we be going through +the water?" + +"Why, two or three hours, mayhap, and she went like a horse for the +first pair of them. Oh, we've a fine offing now! for, to own the truth, +little relishing the neighborhood of them said islands, although they +are to windward, I took the helm myself, and run her off free for some +league or two. We are well to leeward of them, I'll engage--I say to +leeward; for though one might wish to be well to windward of one island, +or even half a dozen, when it comes to a thousand, the better way is +to give it up at once, and to slide down under their lee as fast as +possible. No, no; there they are up yonder in the dingle; and there they +may stay, for anything Charles Cap cares." + +"As the north shore lies only some five or six leagues from us, brother, +and I know there is a large bay in that quarter, might it not be well to +consult some of the crew concerning our position, if, indeed, we do not +call up Jasper Eau-douce, and tell him to carry us back to Oswego? For +it is quite impossible we should ever reach the station with this wind +directly in our teeth." + +"There are several serious professional reasons, Sergeant, against all +your propositions. In the first place, an admission of ignorance on +the part of a commander would destroy discipline. No matter, brother; +I understand your shake of the head, but nothing capsizes discipline so +much as to confess ignorance. I once knew a master of a vessel who went +a week on a wrong course rather than allow he had made a mistake; and +it was surprising how much he rose in the opinions of his people, just +because they could not understand him." + +"That may do on salt water, brother Cap, but it will hardly do on fresh. +Rather than wreck my command on the Canada shore, I shall feel it a duty +to take Jasper out of arrest." + +"And make a haven in Frontenac. No, Sergeant; the _Scud_ is in good +hands, and will now learn something of seamanship. We have a fine +offing, and no one but a madman would think of going upon a coast in +a gale like this. I shall ware every watch, and then we shall be safe +against all dangers but those of the drift, which, in a light low craft +like this, without top-hamper, will be next to nothing. Leave it all +to me, Sergeant, and I pledge you the character of Charles Cap that all +will go well." + +Sergeant Dunham was fain to yield. He had great confidence in his +connection's professional skill, and hoped that he would take such care +of the cutter as would amply justify his opinion of him. On the other +hand, as distrust, like care, grows by what it feeds on, he entertained +so much apprehension of treachery, that he was quite willing any one but +Jasper should just then have the control of the fate of the whole party. +Truth, moreover, compels us to admit another motive. The particular +duty on which he was now sent of right should have been confided to +a commissioned officer; and Major Duncan had excited a good deal of +discontent among the subalterns of the garrison, by having confided it +to one of the Sergeant's humble station. To return without having even +reached the point of destination, therefore, the latter felt would be +a failure from which he was not likely soon to recover, and the measure +would at once be the means of placing a superior in his shoes. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form + Glasses itself in tempests; in all time, + Calm or convulsed--in breeze, or gale, or storm, + Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime + Dark-heaving;--boundless, endless, and sublime-- + The image of eternity; the throne + Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime + The monsters of the deep are made; each zone + Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone. + BYRON. + + +As the day advanced, that portion of the inmates of the vessel which had +the liberty of doing so appeared on deck. As yet the sea was not very +high, from which it was inferred that the cutter was still under the lee +of the islands; but it was apparent to all who understood the lake that +they were about to experience one of the heavy autumnal gales of +that region. Land was nowhere visible; and the horizon on every side +exhibited that gloomy void, which lends to all views on vast bodies of +water the sublimity of mystery. The swells, or, as landsmen term them, +the waves, were short and curling, breaking of necessity sooner than +the longer seas of the ocean; while the element itself, instead of +presenting that beautiful hue which rivals the deep tint of the southern +sky, looked green and angry, though wanting in the lustre that is +derived from the rays of the sun. + +The soldiers were soon satisfied with the prospect, and one by one they +disappeared, until none were left on deck but the crew, the Sergeant, +Cap, Pathfinder, the Quartermaster, and Mabel. There was a shade on the +brow of the last, who had been made acquainted with the real state of +things, and who had fruitlessly ventured an appeal in favor of Jasper's +restoration to the command. A night's rest and a night's reflection +appeared also to have confirmed the Pathfinder in his opinion of the +young man's innocence; and he, too, had made a warm appeal on behalf of +his friend, though with the same want of success. + +Several hours passed away, the wind gradually getting heavier and the +sea rising, until the motion of the cutter compelled Mabel and the +Quartermaster to retreat also. Cap wore several times; and it was now +evident that the _Scud_ was drifting into the broader and deeper parts +of the lake, the seas raging down upon her in a way that none but a +vessel of superior mould and build could have long ridden and withstood. +All this, however, gave Cap no uneasiness; but, like the hunter that +pricks his ears at the sound of the horn, or the war-horse that paws and +snorts with pleasure at the roll of the drum, the whole scene awakened +all that was man within him; and instead of the captious, supercilious, +and dogmatic critic, quarrelling with trifles and exaggerating +immaterial things, he began to exhibit the qualities of the hardy and +experienced seaman which he truly was. The hands soon imbibed a respect +for his skill; and, though they wondered at the disappearance of their +old commander and the pilot, for which no reason had been publicly +given, they soon yielded an implicit and cheerful obedience to the new +one. + +"This bit of fresh water, after all, brother Dunham, has some spirit, I +find," cried Cap about noon, rubbing his hands in pure satisfaction at +finding himself once more wrestling with the elements. "The wind +seems to be an honest old-fashioned gale, and the seas have a fanciful +resemblance to those of the Gulf Stream. I like this, Sergeant, I like +this, and shall get to respect your lake, if it hold out twenty-four +hours longer in the fashion in which it has begun." + +"Land, ho!" shouted the man who was stationed on the forecastle. + +Cap hurried forward; and there, sure enough, the land was visible +through the drizzle, at the distance of about half a mile, the cutter +heading directly towards it. The first impulse of the old seaman was +to give an order to "stand by, to ware off shore;" but the cool-headed +soldier restrained him. + +"By going a little nearer," said the Sergeant, "some of us may recognize +the place. Most of us know the American shore in this part of the lake; +and it will be something gained to learn our position." + +"Very true, very true; if, indeed, there is any chance of that we will +hold on. What is this off here, a little on our weather-bow? It looks +like a low headland." + +"The garrison, by Jove!" exclaimed the other, whose trained eye sooner +recognized the military outlines than the less instructed senses of his +connection. + +The Sergeant was not mistaken. There was the fort, sure enough, though +it looked dim and indistinct through the fine rain, as if it were seen +in the dusk of evening or the haze of morning. The low, sodded, and +verdant ramparts, the sombre palisades, now darker than ever with water, +the roof of a house or two, the tall, solitary flagstaff, with its +halyards blown steadily out into a curve that appeared traced in +immovable lines in the air, were all soon to be seen though no sign of +animated life could be discovered. Even the sentinel was housed; and at +first it was believed that no eye would detect the presence of their +own vessel. But the unceasing vigilance of a border garrison did not +slumber: one of the look-outs probably made the interesting discovery; +a man or two were seen on some elevated stands, and then the entire +ramparts next the lake were dotted with human beings. + +The whole scene was one in which sublimity was singularly relieved by +the picturesque. The raging of the tempest had a character of duration +that rendered it easy to imagine it might be a permanent feature of +the spot. The roar of the wind was without intermission, and the raging +water answered to its dull but grand strains with hissing spray, a +menacing wash, and sullen surges. The drizzle made a medium for the eye +which closely resembled that of a thin mist, softening and rendering +mysterious the images it revealed, while the genial feeling that is +apt to accompany a gale of wind on water contributed to aid the milder +influences of the moment. The dark interminable forest hove up out +of the obscurity, grand, sombre, and impressive, while the solitary, +peculiar, and picturesque glimpses of life that were caught in and about +the fort, formed a refuge for the eye to retreat to when oppressed with +the more imposing objects of nature. + +"They see us," said the Sergeant, "and think we have returned on account +of the gale, and have fallen to leeward of the port. Yes, there is Major +Duncan himself on the north-eastern bastion; I know him by his height, +and by the officers around him." + +"Sergeant, it would be worth standing a little jeering, if we could +fetch into the river, and come safely to an anchor. In that case, too, +we might land this Master Eau-douce, and purify the boat." + +"It would indeed; but, as poor a sailor as I am, I well know it cannot +be done. Nothing that sails the lake can turn to windward against this +gale; and there is no anchorage outside in weather like this." + +"I know it, I see it, Sergeant; and pleasant as is that sight to you +landsmen, we must leave it. For myself, I am never so happy in heavy +weather as when I am certain that the land is behind me." + +The _Scud_ had now forged so near in, that it became indispensable to +lay her head off shore again, and the necessary orders were given. The +storm-staysail was set forward, the gaff lowered, the helm put up, and +the light craft, that seemed to sport with the elements like a duck, +fell off a little, drew ahead swiftly, obeyed her rudder, and was soon +flying away on the top of the surges, dead before the gale. While +making this rapid flight, though the land still remained in view on +her larboard beam, the fort and the groups of anxious spectators on +its rampart were swallowed up in the mist. Then followed the evolutions +necessary to bring the head of the cutter up to the wind, when she again +began to wallow her weary way towards the north shore. + +Hours now passed before any further change was made, the wind increasing +in force, until even the dogmatical Cap fairly admitted it was blowing +a thorough gale of wind. About sunset the _Scud_ wore again to keep her +off the north shore during the hours of darkness; and at midnight her +temporary master, who, by questioning the crew in an indirect manner, +had obtained some general knowledge of the size and shape of the lake, +believed himself to be about midway between the two shores. The height +and length of the seas aided this impression; and it must be added +that Cap by this time began to feel a respect for fresh water which +twenty-four hours earlier he would have derided as impossible. Just as +the night turned, the fury of the wind became so great that he found it +impossible to bear up against it, the water falling on the deck of the +little craft in such masses as to cause it to shake to the centre, and, +though a vessel of singularly lively qualities, to threaten to bury it +beneath its weight. The people of the _Scud_ averred that never before +had they been out in such a tempest, which was true; for, possessing +a perfect knowledge of all the rivers and headlands and havens, Jasper +would have carried the cutter in shore long ere this, and placed her in +safety in some secure anchorage. But Cap still disdained to consult the +young master, who continued below, determining to act like a mariner of +the broad ocean. + +It was one in the morning when the storm-staysail was again got on the +_Scud_, the head of the mainsail lowered, and the cutter put before the +wind. Although the canvas now exposed was merely a rag in surface, the +little craft nobly justified the use of the name she bore. For eight +hours did she scud in truth; and it was almost with the velocity of the +gulls that wheeled wildly over her in the tempest, apparently afraid +to alight in the boiling caldron of the lake. The dawn of day brought +little change; for no other horizon became visible than the little +circle of drizzling sky and water already described, in which it seemed +as if the elements were rioting in a sort of chaotic confusion. During +this time the crew and passengers of the cutter were of necessity +passive. Jasper and the pilot remained below; but, the motion of the +vessel having become easier, nearly all the rest were on deck. The +morning meal had been taken in silence, and eye met eye, as if their +owners asked each other, in dumb show, what was to be the end of this +strife in the elements. Cap, however, was perfectly composed, and his +face brightened, his step grew firmer, and his whole air more assured, +as the storm increased, making larger demands on his professional skill +and personal spirit. He stood on the forecastle, his arms crossed, +balancing his body with a seaman's instinct, while his eyes watched the +caps of the seas, as they broke and glanced past the reeling cutter, +itself in such swift motion, as if they were the scud flying athwart the +sky. At this sublime instant one of the hands gave the unexpected cry of +"A sail!" + +There was so much of the wild and solitary character of the wilderness +about Ontario, that one scarcely expected to meet with a vessel on its +waters. The _Scud_ herself, to those who were in her, resembled a +man threading the forest alone, and the meeting was like that of two +solitary hunters beneath the broad canopy of leaves that then covered so +many millions of acres on the continent of America. The peculiar state +of the weather served to increase the romantic, almost supernatural +appearance of the passage. Cap alone regarded it with practised eyes, +and even he felt his iron nerves thrill under the sensations that were +awakened by the wild features of the scene. + +The strange vessel was about two cables' length ahead of the _Scud_, +standing by the wind athwart her bows, and steering a course to render +it probable that the latter would pass within a few yards of her. +She was a full-rigged ship; and, seen through the misty medium of the +tempest, the most experienced eye could detect no imperfection in her +gear or construction. The only canvas she had set was a close-reefed +main-topsail, and two small storm-staysails, one forward and the other +aft. Still the power of the wind pressed so hard upon her as to bear her +down nearly to her beam-ends, whenever the hull was not righted by the +buoyancy of some wave under her lee. Her spars were all in their places, +and by her motion through the water, which might have equalled four +knots in the hour, it was apparent that she steered a little free. + +"The fellow must know his position well," said Cap, as the cutter flew +down towards the ship with a velocity almost equalling that of the gale, +"for he is standing boldly to the southward, where he expects to find +anchorage or a haven. No man in his senses would run off free in that +fashion, that was not driven to scudding, like ourselves, who did not +perfectly understand where he was going." + +"We have made an awful run, captain," returned the man to whom this +remark had been addressed. "That is the French king's ship, Lee-my-calm +(_Le Montcalm_), and she is standing in for the Niagara, where her owner +has a garrison and a port. We've made an awful run of it!" + +"Ay, bad luck to him! Frenchman-like, he skulks into port the moment he +sees an English bottom." + +"It might be well for us if we could follow him," returned the man, +shaking his head despondingly, "for we are getting into the end of a bay +up here at the head of the lake, and it is uncertain whether we ever get +out of it again!" + +"Pooh, man, pooh! We have plenty of sea room, and a good English hull +beneath us. We are no Johnny Crapauds to hide ourselves behind a point +or a fort on account of a puff of wind. Mind your helm, sir!" + +The order was given on account of the menacing appearance of the +approaching passage. The _Scud_ was now heading directly for the +fore-foot of the Frenchman; and, the distance between the two vessels +having diminished to a hundred yards, it was momentarily questionable if +there was room to pass. + +"Port, sir, port," shouted Cap. "Port your helm and pass astern!" + +The crew of the Frenchman were seen assembling to windward, and a few +muskets were pointed, as if to order the people of the _Scud_ to keep +off. Gesticulations were observed, but the sea was too wild and menacing +to admit of the ordinary expedients of war. The water was dripping from +the muzzles of two or three light guns on board the ship, but no one +thought of loosening them for service in such a tempest. Her black +sides, as they emerged from a wave, glistened and seemed to frown; but +the wind howled through her rigging, whistling the thousand notes of +a ship; and the hails and cries that escape a Frenchman with so much +readiness were inaudible. + +"Let him halloo himself hoarse!" growled Cap. "This is no weather to +whisper secrets in. Port, sir, port!" + +The man at the helm obeyed, and the next send of the sea drove the +_Scud_ down upon the quarter of the ship, so near her that the old +mariner himself recoiled a step, in a vague expectation that, at the +next surge ahead, she would drive bows foremost directly into the planks +of the other vessel. But this was not to be: rising from the crouching +posture she had taken, like a panther about to leap, the cutter dashed +onward, and at the next instant she was glancing past the stern of her +enemy, just clearing the end of her spanker-boom with her own lower +yard. + +The young Frenchman who commanded the _Montcalm_ leaped on the taffrail; +and, with that high-toned courtesy which relieves even the worst acts of +his countrymen, he raised his cap and smiled a salutation as the _Scud_ +shot past. There were _bonhomie_ and good taste in this act of courtesy, +when circumstances allowed of no other communications; but they were +lost on Cap, who, with an instinct quite as true to his race, shook his +fist menacingly, and muttered to himself,-- + +"Ay, ay, it's d----d lucky for you I've no armament on board here, +or I'd send you in to get new cabin-windows fitted. Sergeant, he's a +humbug." + +"'Twas civil, brother Cap," returned the other, lowering his hand from +the military salute which his pride as a soldier had induced him to +return,--"'twas civil, and that's as much as you can expect from a +Frenchman. What he really meant by it no one can say." + +"He is not heading up to this sea without an object, neither. Well, +let him run in, if he can get there, we will keep the lake, like hearty +English mariners." + +This sounded gloriously, but Cap eyed with envy the glittering black +mass of the _Montcalm's_ hull, her waving topsail, and the misty +tracery of her spars, as she grew less and less distinct, and finally +disappeared in the drizzle, in a form as shadowy as that of some unreal +image. Gladly would he have followed in her wake had he dared; for, to +own the truth, the prospect of another stormy night in the midst of +the wild waters that were raging around him brought little consolation. +Still he had too much professional pride to betray his uneasiness, and +those under his care relied on his knowledge and resources, with the +implicit and blind confidence that the ignorant are apt to feel. + +A few hours succeeded, and darkness came again to increase the perils of +the _Scud_. A lull in the gale, however, had induced Cap to come by +the wind once more, and throughout the night the cutter was lying-to as +before, head-reaching as a matter of course, and occasionally wearing to +keep off the land. It is unnecessary to dwell on the incidents of this +night, which resembled those of any other gale of wind. There were the +pitching of the vessel, the hissing of the waters, the dashing of spray, +the shocks that menaced annihilation to the little craft as she plunged +into the seas, the undying howl of the wind, and the fearful drift. +The last was the most serious danger; for, though exceedingly weatherly +under her canvas, and totally without top-hamper, the _Scud_ was so +light, that the combing of the swells would seem at times to wash +her down to leeward with a velocity as great as that of the surges +themselves. + +During this night Cap slept soundly, and for several hours. The day was +just dawning when he felt himself shaken by the shoulder; and arousing +himself, he found the Pathfinder standing at his side. During the gale +the guide had appeared little on deck, for his natural modesty told him +that seamen alone should interfere with the management of the vessel; +and he was willing to show the same reliance on those who had charge +of the _Scud_, as he expected those who followed through the forest +to manifest in his own skill; but he now thought himself justified +in interfering, which he did in his own unsophisticated and peculiar +manner. + +"Sleep is sweet, Master Cap," said he, as soon as the eyes of the +latter were fairly open, and his consciousness had sufficiently +returned,--"sleep is sweet, as I know from experience, but life is +sweeter still. Look about you, and say if this is exactly the moment for +a commander to be off his feet." + +"How now? how now, Master Pathfinder?" growled Cap, in the first moments +of his awakened faculties. "Are you, too, getting on the side of the +grumblers? When ashore I admired your sagacity in running through the +worst shoals without a compass; and since we have been afloat, your +meekness and submission have been as pleasant as your confidence on your +own ground. I little expected such a summons from you." + +"As for myself, Master Cap, I feel I have my gifts, and I believe +they'll interfere with those of no other man; but the case may be +different with Mabel Dunham. She has her gifts, too, it is true; but +they are not rude like ours, but gentle and womanish, as they ought to +be. It's on her account that I speak, and not on my own." + +"Ay, ay, I begin to understand. The girl is a good girl, my worthy +friend; but she is a soldier's daughter and a sailor's niece, and ought +not to be too tame or too tender in a gale. Does she show any fear?" + +"Not she! not she! Mabel is a woman, but she is reasonable and silent. +Not a word have I heard from her concerning our doings; though I do +think, Master Cap, she would like it better if Jasper Eau-douce were put +into his proper place, and things were restored to their old situation, +like. This is human natur'." + +"I'll warrant it--girl-like, and Dunham-like, too. Anything is better +than an old uncle, and everybody knows more than an old seaman. _This_ +is human natur', Master Pathfinder, and d---me if I'm the man to sheer a +fathom, starboard or port, for all the human natur' that can be found +in a minx of twenty--ay, or" (lowering his voice a little) "for all that +can be paraded in his Majesty's 55th regiment of foot. I've not been +at sea forty years, to come up on this bit of fresh water to be taught +human natur'. How this gale holds out! It blows as hard at this moment +as if Boreas had just clapped his hand upon the bellows. And what is +all this to leeward?" (rubbing his eyes)--"land! as sure as my name is +Cap--and high land, too." + +The Pathfinder made no immediate answer; but, shaking his head, he +watched the expression of his companion's face, with a look of strong +anxiety in his own. + +"Land, as certain as this is the _Scud!_" repeated Cap; "a lee shore, +and that, too, within a league of us, with as pretty a line of breakers +as one could find on the beach of all Long Island!" + +"And is that encouraging? or is it disheartening?" inquired the +Pathfinder. + +"Ha! encouraging--disheartening!--why, neither. No, no, there is +nothing encouraging about it; and as for disheartening, nothing ought to +dishearten a seaman. You never get disheartened or afraid in the woods, +my friend?" + +"I'll not say that, I'll not say that. When the danger is great, it is +my gift to see it, and know it, and to try to avoid it; else would +my scalp long since have been drying in a Mingo wigwam. On this lake, +however, I can see no trail, and I feel it my duty to submit; though +I think we ought to remember there is such a person as Mabel Dunham on +board. But here comes her father, and he will naturally feel for his own +child." + +"We are seriously situated, I believe, brother Cap," said the Sergeant, +when he had reached the spot, "by what I can gather from the two hands +on the forecastle? They tell me the cutter cannot carry any more sail, +and her drift is so great we shall go ashore in an hour or two. I hope +their fears have deceived them?" + +Cap made no reply; but he gazed at the land with a rueful face, and then +looked to windward with an expression of ferocity, as if he would gladly +have quarrelled with the weather. + +"It may be well, brother," the Sergeant continued, "to send for Jasper +and consult him as to what is to be done. There are no French here to +dread; and, under all circumstances, the boy will save us from drowning +if possible." + +"Ay, ay, 'tis these cursed circumstances that have done all the +mischief. But let the fellow come; let him come; a few well-managed +questions will bring the truth out of him, I'll warrant you." + +This acquiescence on the part of the dogmatical Cap was no sooner +obtained, than Jasper was sent for. The young man instantly made +his appearance, his whole air, countenance, and mien expressive +of mortification, humility, and, as his observers fancied, rebuked +deception. When he first stepped on deck, Jasper cast one hurried, +anxious glance around, as if curious to know the situation of the +cutter; and that glance sufficed, it would seem, to let him into the +secret of all her perils. At first he looked to windward, as is usual +with every seaman; then he turned round the horizon, until his eye +caught a view of the high lands to leeward, when the whole truth burst +upon him at once. + +"I've sent for you, Master Jasper," said Cap, folding his arms, and +balancing his body with the dignity of the forecastle, "in order to +learn something about the haven to leeward. We take it for granted you +do not bear malice so hard as to wish to drown us all, especially the +women; and I suppose you will be man enough to help us run the cutter +into some safe berth until this bit of a gale has done blowing!" + +"I would die myself rather than harm should come to Mabel Dunham," the +young man earnestly answered. + +"I knew it! I knew it!" cried the Pathfinder, clapping his hand kindly +on Jasper's shoulder. "The lad is as true as the best compass that ever +ran a boundary, or brought a man off from a blind trail. It is a mortal +sin to believe otherwise." + +"Humph!" ejaculated Cap; "especially the women! As if _they_ were in any +particular danger. Never mind, young man; we shall understand each other +by talking like two plain seamen. Do you know of any port under our +lee?" + +"None. There is a large bay at this end of the lake; but it is unknown +to us all, and not easy of entrance." + +"And this coast to leeward--it has nothing particular to recommend it, I +suppose?" + +"It is a wilderness until you reach the mouth of the Niagara in one +direction, and Frontenac in the other. North and west, they tell me, +there is nothing but forest and prairies for a thousand miles." + +"Thank God! then, there can be no French. Are there many savages, +hereaway, on the land?" + +"The Indians are to be found in all directions; though they are nowhere +very numerous. By accident, we might find a party at any point on the +shore; or we might pass months there without seeing one." + +"We must take our chance, then, as to the blackguards; but, to be frank +with you, Master Western, if this little unpleasant matter about the +French had not come to pass, what would you now do with the cutter?" + +"I am a much younger sailor than yourself, Master Cap," said Jasper +modestly, "and am hardly fitted to advise you." + +"Ay, ay, we all know that. In a common case, perhaps not. But this is an +uncommon case, and a circumstance; and on this bit of fresh water it has +what may be called its peculiarities; and so, everything considered, +you may be fitted to advise even your own father. At all events, you +can speak, and I can judge of your opinions, agreeably to my own +experience." + +"I think, sir, before two hours are over, the cutter will have to +anchor." + +"Anchor!--not out here in the lake?" + +"No, sir; but in yonder, near the land." + +"You do not mean to say, Master Eau-douce, you would anchor on a lee +shore in a gale of wind?" + +"If I would save my vessel, that is exactly what I would do, Master +Cap." + +"Whe-e-e-w!--this is fresh water, with a vengeance! Hark'e, young man, +I've been a seafaring animal, boy and man, forty-one years, and I never +yet heard of such a thing. I'd throw my ground-tackle overboard before I +would be guilty of so lubberly an act!" + +"That is what we do on this lake," modestly replied Jasper, "when we are +hard pressed. I daresay we might do better, had we been better taught." + +"That you might, indeed! No; no man induces me to commit such a sin +against my own bringing up. I should never dare show my face inside +of Sandy Hook again, had I committed so know-nothing an exploit. Why, +Pathfinder, here, has more seamanship in him than that comes to. You can +go below again, Master Eau-douce." + +Jasper quietly bowed and withdrew; still, as he passed down the ladder, +the spectators observed that he cast a lingering anxious look at the +horizon to windward and the land to leeward, and then disappeared with +concern strongly expressed in every lineament of his face. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + His still refuted quirks he still repeats; + New-raised objections with new quibbles meets, + Till sinking in the quicksand he defends, + He dies disputing, and the contest ends. + COWPER. + + +As the soldier's wife was sick in her berth, Mabel Dunham was the only +person in the outer cabin when Jasper returned to it; for, by an act of +grace in the Sergeant, he had been permitted to resume his proper place +in this part of the vessel. We should be ascribing too much simplicity +of character to our heroine, if we said that she had felt no distrust of +the young man in consequence of his arrest; but we should also be doing +injustice to her warmth of feeling and generosity of disposition, if we +did not add, that this distrust was insignificant and transient. As +he now took his seat near her, his whole countenance clouded with the +uneasiness he felt concerning the situation of the cutter, everything +like suspicion was banished from her mind, and she saw in him only an +injured man. + +"You let this affair weigh too heavily on your mind, Jasper," said she +eagerly, or with that forgetfulness of self with which the youthful of +her sex are wont to betray their feelings when a strong and generous +interest has attained the ascendency; "no one who knows you can, or +does, believe you guilty. Pathfinder says he will pledge his life for +you." + +"Then you, Mabel," returned the youth, his eyes flashing fire, "do not +look upon me as the traitor your father seems to believe me to be?" + +"My dear father is a soldier, and is obliged to act as one. My father's +daughter is not, and will think of you as she ought to think of a man +who has done so much to serve her already." + +"Mabel, I'm not used to talking with one like you, or saying all I think +and feel with any. I never had a sister, and my mother died when I was a +child, so that I know little what your sex most likes to hear--" + +Mabel would have given the world to know what lay behind the teeming +word at which Jasper hesitated; but the indefinable and controlling +sense of womanly diffidence made her suppress her curiosity. She waited +in silence for him to explain his own meaning. + +"I wish to say, Mabel," the young man continued, after a pause which +he found sufficiently embarrassing, "that I am unused to the ways and +opinions of one like you, and that you must imagine all I would add." + +Mabel had imagination enough to fancy anything, but there are ideas and +feelings that her sex prefer to have expressed before they yield them +all their own sympathies, and she had a vague consciousness that these +of Jasper might properly be enumerated in the class. With a readiness +that belonged to her sex, therefore, she preferred changing the +discourse to permitting it to proceed any further in a manner so awkward +and so unsatisfactory. + +"Tell me one thing, Jasper, and I shall be content," said she, speaking +now with a firmness which denoted confidence, not only in herself, but +in her companion: "you do not deserve this cruel suspicion which rests +upon you?" + +"I do not, Mabel!" answered Jasper, looking into her full blue eyes with +an openness and simplicity that might have shaken stronger distrust. "As +I hope for mercy hereafter, I do not!" + +"I knew it--I could have sworn it!" returned the girl warmly. "And yet +my father means well;--but do not let this matter disturb you, Jasper." + +"There is so much more to apprehend from another quarter just now, that +I scarcely think of it." + +"Jasper!" + +"I do not wish to alarm you, Mabel; but if your uncle could be persuaded +to change his notions about handling the _Scud_: and yet he is so +much more experienced than I am, that he ought, perhaps, to place more +reliance on his own judgment than on mine." + +"Do you think the cutter in any danger?" demanded Mabel, quick as +thought. + +"I fear so; at least she would have been thought in great danger by us +of the lake; perhaps an old seaman of the ocean may have means of his +own to take care of her." + +"Jasper, all agree in giving you credit for skill in managing the +_Scud_. You know the lake, you know the cutter; you _must_ be the best +judge of our real situation." + +"My concern for you, Mabel, may make me more cowardly than common; +but, to be frank, I see but one method of keeping the cutter from being +wrecked in the course of the next two or three hours, and that your +uncle refuses to take. After all, this may be my ignorance; for, as he +says, Ontario is merely fresh water." + +"You cannot believe this will make any difference. Think of my dear +father, Jasper! Think of yourself; of all the lives that depend on a +timely word from you to save them." + +"I think of you, Mabel, and that is more, much more, than all the rest +put together!" returned the young man, with a strength of expression +and an earnestness of look that uttered infinitely more than the words +themselves. + +Mabel's heart beat quickly, and a gleam of grateful satisfaction shot +across her blushing features; but the alarm was too vivid and too +serious to admit of much relief from happier thoughts. She did not +attempt to repress a look of gratitude, and then she returned to the +feeling which was naturally uppermost. + +"My uncle's obstinacy must not be permitted to occasion this disaster. +Go once more on deck, Jasper; and ask my father to come into the cabin." + +While the young man was complying with this request, Mabel sat listening +to the howling of the storm and the dashing of the water against +the cutter, in a dread to which she had hitherto been a stranger. +Constitutionally an excellent sailor, as the term is used among +passengers, she had not hitherto bethought her of any danger, and had +passed her time since the commencement of the gale in such womanly +employments as her situation allowed; but now that alarm was seriously +awakened, she did not fail to perceive that never before had she been on +the water in such a tempest. The minute or two which elapsed before the +Sergeant came appeared an hour, and she scarcely breathed when she saw +him and Jasper descending the ladder in company. Quick as language could +express her meaning, she acquainted her father with Jasper's opinion of +their situation; and entreated him, if he loved her, or had any regard +for his own life, or for those of his men, to interfere with her uncle, +and to induce him to yield the control of the cutter again to its proper +commander. + +"Jasper is true, father," added she earnestly; "and if false, he could +have no motive in wrecking us in this distant part of the lake at the +risk of all our lives, his own included. I will pledge my own life for +his truth." + +"Ay, this is well enough for a young woman who is frightened," answered +the more phlegmatic parent; "but it might not be so excusable in one +in command of an expedition. Jasper may think the chance of drowning +in getting ashore fully repaid by the chance of escaping as soon as he +reaches the land." + +"Sergeant Dunham!" + +"Father!" + +These exclamations were made simultaneously, but they were uttered in +tones expressive of different feelings. In Jasper, surprise was the +emotion uppermost; in Mabel reproach. The old soldier, however, was too +much accustomed to deal frankly with subordinates to heed either; and +after a moment's thought, he continued as if neither had spoken. "Nor +is brother Cap a man likely to submit to be taught his duty on board a +vessel." + +"But, father, when all our lives are in the utmost jeopardy!" + +"So much the worse. The fair-weather commander is no great matter; it +is when things go wrong that the best officer shows himself in his true +colors. Charles Cap will not be likely to quit the helm because the ship +is in danger. Besides, Jasper Eau-douce, he says your proposal in itself +has a suspicious air about it, and sounds more like treachery than +reason." + +"He may think so; but let him send for the pilot and hear his opinion. +It is well known that I have not seen the man since yesterday evening." + +"This does sound reasonably, and the experiment shall be tried. Follow +me on deck then, that all may be honest and above-board." + +Jasper obeyed, and so keen was the interest of Mabel, that she +too ventured as far as the companion-way, where her garments were +sufficiently protected against the violence of the wind and her person +from the spray. Here maiden modesty induced her to remain, though an +absorbed witness of what was passing. + +The pilot soon appeared, and there was no mistaking the look of concern +that he cast around at the scene as soon as he was in the open air. Some +rumors of the situation of the _Scud_ had found their way below, it is +true; but in this instance rumor had lessened instead of magnifying the +danger. He was allowed a few minutes to look about him, and then the +question was put as to the course which he thought it prudent to follow. + +"I see no means of saving the cutter but to anchor," he answered simply, +and without hesitation. + +"What! out here in the lake?" inquired Cap, as he had previously done of +Jasper. + +"No: but closer in; just at the outer line of the breakers." + +The effect of this communication was to leave no doubt in the mind of +Cap that there was a secret arrangement between her commander and the +pilot to cast away the _Scud_; most probably with the hope of effecting +their escape. He consequently treated the opinion of the latter with the +indifference he had manifested towards that of the former. + +"I tell you, brother Dunham," said he, in answer to the remonstrances +of the Sergeant against his turning a deaf ear to this double +representation, "that no seaman would give such an opinion honestly. To +anchor on a lee shore in a gale of wind would be an act of madness that +I could never excuse to the underwriters, under any circumstances, +so long as a rag can be set; but to anchor close to breakers would be +insanity." + +"His Majesty underwrites the _Scud_, brother, and I am responsible +for the lives of my command. These men are better acquainted with Lake +Ontario than we can possibly be, and I do think their telling the same +tale entitles them to some credit." + +"Uncle!" said Mabel earnestly; but a gesture from Jasper induced the +girl to restrain her feelings. + +"We are drifting down upon the breakers so rapidly," said the young man, +"that little need be said on the subject. Half an hour must settle +the matter, one way or the other; but I warn Master Cap that the +surest-footed man among us will not be able to keep his feet an instant +on the deck of this low craft, should she fairly get within them. Indeed +I make little doubt that we shall fill and founder before the second +line of rollers is passed." + +"And how would anchoring help the matter?" demanded Cap furiously, as if +he felt that Jasper was responsible for the effects of the gale, as well +as for the opinion he had just given. + +"It would at least do no harm," Eau-douce mildly replied. "By bringing +the cutter head to sea we should lessen her drift; and even if we +dragged through the breakers, it would be with the least possible +danger. I hope, Master Cap, you will allow the pilot and myself to +_prepare_ for anchoring, since the precaution may do good, and can do no +harm." + +"Overhaul your ranges, if you will, and get your anchors clear, with +all my heart. We are now in a situation that cannot be much affected +by anything of that sort. Sergeant, a word with you aft here, if you +please." + +Cap led his brother-in-law out of ear-shot; and then, with more of human +feeling in his voice and manner than he was apt to exhibit, he opened +his heart on the subject of their real situation. + +"This is a melancholy affair for poor Mabel," said he, blowing his +nose, and speaking with a slight tremor. "You and I, Sergeant, are old +fellows, and used to being near death, if not to actually dying; our +trades fit us for such scenes; but poor Mabel!--she is an affectionate +and kind-hearted girl, and I had hoped to see her comfortably settled, +and a mother, before my time came. Well, well! we must take the bad with +the good in every v'y'ge; and the only serious objection that an old +seafaring man can with propriety make to such an event is, that it +should happen on this bit of d----d fresh water." + +Sergeant Dunham was a brave man, and had shown his spirit in scenes that +looked much more appalling than this; but on all such occasions he had +been able to act his part against his foes, while here he was pressed +upon by an enemy whom he had no means of resisting. For himself he cared +far less than for his daughter, feeling some of that self-reliance which +seldom deserts a man of firmness who is in vigorous health, and who has +been accustomed to personal exertions in moments of jeopardy; but as +respects Mabel he saw no means of escape, and, with a father's fondness, +he at once determined that, if either was doomed to perish, he and his +daughter must perish together. + +"Do you think this must come to pass?" he asked of Cap firmly, but with +strong feeling. + +"Twenty minutes will carry us into the breakers; and look for yourself, +Sergeant: what chance will even the stoutest man among us have in that +caldron to leeward?" + +The prospect was, indeed, little calculated to encourage hope. By this +time the _Scud_ was within a mile of the shore, on which the gale +was blowing at right angles, with a violence that forbade the idea of +showing any additional canvas with a view to claw off. The small portion +of the mainsail actually set, and which merely served to keep the head +of the _Scud_ so near the wind as to prevent the waves from breaking +over her, quivered under the gusts, as if at each moment the stout +threads which held the complicated fabric together were about to be torn +asunder. The drizzle had ceased; but the air, for a hundred feet above +the surface of the lake, was filled with dazzling spray, which had an +appearance not unlike that of a brilliant mist, while above all the sun +was shining gloriously in a cloudless sky. Jasper had noted the omen, +and had foretold that it announced a speedy termination to the gale, +though the next hour or two must decide their fate. Between the cutter +and the shore the view was still more wild and appalling. The breakers +extended nearly half a mile; while the water within their line was white +with foam, the air above them was so far filled with vapor and spray as +to render the land beyond hazy and indistinct. Still it could be +seen that the latter was high,--not a usual thing for the shores +of Ontario,--and that it was covered with the verdant mantle of the +interminable forest. + +While the Sergeant and Cap were gazing at this scene in silence, Jasper +and his people were actively engaged on the forecastle. No sooner had +the young man received permission to resume his old employment, than, +appealing to some of the soldiers for aid, he mustered five or six +assistants, and set about in earnest the performance of a duty which had +been too long delayed. On these narrow waters anchors are never stowed +in-board, or cables that are intended for service unbent, and Jasper was +saved much of the labor that would have been necessary in a vessel at +sea. The two bowers were soon ready to be let go, ranges of the cables +were overhauled, and then the party paused to look about them. No +changes for the better had occurred, but the cutter was falling slowly +in, and each instant rendered it more certain that she could not gain an +inch to windward. + +One long, earnest survey of the lake ended, Jasper gave new orders in a +similar manner to prove how much he thought that the time pressed. Two +kedges were got on deck, and hawsers were bent to them; the inner ends +of the hawsers were bent, in their turns, to the crowns of the anchors, +and everything was got ready to throw them overboard at the proper +moment. These preparations completed, Jasper's manner changed from the +excitement of exertion to a look of calm but settled concern. He quitted +the forecastle, where the seas were dashing inboard at every plunge of +the vessel, the duty just mentioned having been executed with the bodies +of the crew frequently buried in the water, and walked to a drier part +of the deck, aft. Here he was met by the Pathfinder, who was standing +near Mabel and the Quartermaster. Most of those on board, with the +exception of the individuals who have already been particularly +mentioned, were below, some seeking relief from physical suffering on +their pallets, and others tardily bethinking them of their sins. For +the first time, most probably, since her keel had dipped into the limpid +waters of Ontario, the voice of prayer was, heard on board the _Scud_. + +"Jasper," commenced his friend, the guide, "I have been of no use this +morning, for my gifts are of little account, as you know, in a vessel +like this; but, should it please God to let the Sergeant's daughter +reach the shore alive, my acquaintance with the forest may still carry +her through in safety to the garrison." + +"'Tis a fearful distance thither, Pathfinder!" Mabel rejoined, the party +being so near together that all which was said by one was overheard by +the others. "I am afraid none of us could live to reach the fort." + +"It would be a risky path, Mabel, and a crooked one; though some of your +sex have undergone even more than that in this wilderness. But, Jasper, +either you or I, or both of us, must man this bark canoe; Mabel's only +chance will lie in getting through the breakers in that." + +"I would willingly man anything to save Mabel," answered Jasper, with a +melancholy smile; "but no human hand, Pathfinder, could carry that +canoe through yonder breakers in a gale like this. I have hopes from +anchoring, after all; for once before have we saved the _Scud_ in an +extremity nearly as great as this." + +"If we are to anchor, Jasper," the Sergeant inquired, "why not do it at +once? Every foot we lose in drifting now would come into the distance we +shall probably drag when the anchors are let go." + +Jasper drew nearer to the Sergeant, and took his hand, pressing +it earnestly, and in a way to denote strong, almost uncontrollable +feelings. + +"Sergeant Dunham," said he solemnly, "you are a good man, though you +have treated me harshly in this business. You love your daughter?" + +"That you cannot doubt, Eau-douce," returned the Sergeant huskily. + +"Will you give her--give us all--the only chance for life that is left?" + +"What would you have me do, boy, what would you have me do? I have acted +according to my judgment hitherto,--what would you have me do?" + +"Support me against Master Cap for five minutes, and all that man can do +towards saving the _Scud_ shall be done." + +The Sergeant hesitated, for he was too much of a disciplinarian to +fly in the face of regular orders. He disliked the appearance of +vacillation, too; and then he had a profound respect for his kinsman's +seamanship. While he was deliberating, Cap came from the post he had +some time occupied, which was at the side of the man at the helm, and +drew nigh the group. + +"Master Eau-douce," said he, as soon as near enough to be heard, "I have +come to inquire if you know any spot near by where this cutter can +be beached? The moment has arrived when we are driven to this hard +alternative." + +That instant of indecision on the part of Cap secured the triumph of +Jasper. Looking at the Sergeant, the young man received a nod that +assured him of all he asked, and he lost not one of those moments that +were getting to be so very precious. + +"Shall I take the helm," he inquired of Cap, "and see if we can reach a +creek that lies to leeward?" + +"Do so, do so," said the other, hemming to clear his throat; for he +felt oppressed by a responsibility that weighed all the heavier on his +shoulders on account of his ignorance. "Do so, Eau-douce, since, to be +frank with you, I can see nothing better to be done. We must beach or +swamp." + +Jasper required no more; springing aft, he soon had the tiller in his +own hands. The pilot was prepared for what was to follow; and, at a sign +from his young commander, the rag of sail that had so long been set was +taken in. At that moment, Jasper, watching his time, put the helm up; +the head of a staysail was loosened forward, and the light cutter, as if +conscious she was now under the control of familiar hands, fell off, and +was soon in the trough of the sea. This perilous instant was passed in +safety, and at the next moment the little vessel appeared flying down +toward the breakers at a rate that threatened instant destruction. The +distances had become so short, that five or six minutes sufficed for all +that Jasper wished, and he put the helm down again, when the bows of +the _Scud_ came up to the wind, notwithstanding the turbulence of the +waters, as gracefully as the duck varies its line of direction on the +glassy pond. A sign from Jasper set all in motion on the forecastle, and +a kedge was thrown from each bow. The fearful nature of the drift was +now apparent even to Mabel's eyes, for the two hawsers ran out like +tow-lines. As soon as they straightened to a slight strain, both anchors +were let go, and cable was given to each, nearly to the better-ends. It +was not a difficult task to snub so light a craft with ground-tackle +of a quality better than common; and in less than ten minutes from the +moment when Jasper went to the helm, the _Scud_ was riding, head to +sea, with the two cables stretched ahead in lines that resembled bars of +iron. + +"This is not well done, Master Jasper!" angrily exclaimed Cap, as soon +as he perceived the trick which had been played him; "this is not +well done, sir. I order you to cut, and to beach the cutter without a +moment's delay." + +No one, however, seemed disposed to comply with this order; for so long +as Eau-douce saw fit to command, his own people were disposed to obey. +Finding that the men remained passive, Cap, who believed they were +in the utmost peril, turned fiercely to Jasper, and renewed his +remonstrances. + +"You did not head for your pretended creek," added he, after dealing +in some objurgatory remarks that we do not deem it necessary to record, +"but steered for that bluff, where every soul on board would have been +drowned, had we gone ashore." + +"And you wish to cut, and put every soul ashore at that very spot!" +Jasper retorted, a little drily. + +"Throw a lead-line overboard, and ascertain the drift!" Cap now roared +to the people forward. A sign from Jasper sustaining this order, it was +instantly obeyed. All on deck watched, with nearly breathless interest, +the result of the experiment. The lead was no sooner on the bottom, than +the line tended forward, and in about two minutes it was seen that the +cutter had drifted her length dead in towards the bluff. Jasper looked +gravely, for he well knew nothing would hold the vessel did she get +within the vortex of the breakers, the first line of which was appearing +and disappearing about a cable's length directly under their stern. + +"Traitor!" exclaimed Cap, shaking a finger at the young commander, +though passion choked the rest. "You must answer for this with your +life!" he added after a short pause. "If I were at the head of this +expedition, Sergeant, I would hang him at the end of the main-boom, lest +he escape drowning." + +"Moderate your feelings, brother; be more moderate, I beseech you; +Jasper appears to have done all for the best, and matters may not be so +bad as you believe them." + +"Why did he not run for the creek he mentioned?--why has he brought +us here, dead to windward of that bluff, and to a spot where even the +breakers are only of half the ordinary width, as if in a hurry to drown +all on board?" + +"I headed for the bluff, for the precise reason that the breakers are so +narrow at this spot," answered Jasper mildly, though his gorge had risen +at the language the other held. + +"Do you mean to tell an old seaman like me that this cutter could live +in those breakers?" + +"I do not, sir. I think she would fill and swamp if driven into the +first line of them; I am certain she would never reach the shore on her +bottom, if fairly entered. I hope to keep her clear of them altogether." + +"With a drift of her length in a minute?" + +"The backing of the anchors does not yet fairly tell, nor do I even hope +that _they_ will entirely bring her up." + +"On what, then, do you rely? To moor a craft, head and stern, by faith, +hope, and charity?" + +"No, sir, I trust to the under-tow. I headed for the bluff because I +knew that it was stronger at that point than at any other, and because +we could get nearer in with the land without entering the breakers." + +This was said with spirit, though without any particular show of +resentment. Its effect on Cap was marked, the feeling that was uppermost +being evidently that of surprise. + +"Under-tow!" he repeated; "who the devil ever heard of saving a vessel +from going ashore by the under-tow?" + +"This may never happen on the ocean, sir," Jasper answered modestly; +"but we have known it to happen here." + +"The lad is right, brother," put in the Sergeant; "for, though I do not +well understand it, I have often heard the sailors of the lake speak of +such a thing. We shall do well to trust to Jasper in this strait." + +Cap grumbled and swore; but, as there was no remedy, he was compelled to +acquiesce. Jasper, being now called on to explain what he meant by the +under-tow, gave this account of the matter. The water that was driven up +on the shore by the gale was necessarily compelled to find its level by +returning to the lake by some secret channels. This could not be done on +the surface, where both wind and waves were constantly urging it towards +the land, and it necessarily formed a sort of lower eddy, by means of +which it flowed back again to its ancient and proper bed. This inferior +current had received the name of the under-tow, and, as it would +necessarily act on the bottom of a vessel which drew as much water +as the _Scud_, Jasper trusted to the aid of this reaction to keep his +cables from parting. In short, the upper and lower currents would, in a +manner, counteract each other. + +Simple and ingenious as was this theory, however, as yet there was +little evidence of its being reduced to practice. The drift continued; +though, as the kedges and hawsers with which the anchors were backed +took the strains, it became sensibly less. At length the man at the lead +announced the joyful intelligence that the anchors had ceased to drag, +and that the vessel had brought up! At this precise moment the first +line of breakers was about a hundred feet astern of the _Scud_, even +appearing to approach much nearer as the foam vanished and returned on +the raging surges. Jasper sprang forward, and, casting a glance over +the bows, he smiled in triumph, as he pointed exultingly to the cables. +Instead of resembling bars of iron in rigidity, as before, they were +curving downwards, and to a seaman's senses it was evident that the +cutter rose and fell on the seas as they came in with the ease of a +ship in a tides-way, when the power of the wind is relieved by the +counteracting pressure of the water. + +"'Tis the under-tow!" he exclaimed with delight, fairly bounding along +the deck to steady the helm, in order that the cutter might ride still +easier. "Providence has placed us directly in its current, and there is +no longer any danger." + +"Ay, ay, Providence is a good seaman," growled Cap, "and often helps +lubbers out of difficulty. Under-tow or upper-tow, the gale has +abated; and, fortunately for us all, the anchors have met with good +holding-ground. Then this d----d fresh water has an unnatural way with +it." + +Men are seldom inclined to quarrel with good fortune, but it is in +distress that they grow clamorous and critical. Most on board were +disposed to believe that they had been saved from shipwreck by the skill +and knowledge of Jasper, without regarding the opinions of Cap, whose +remarks were now little heeded. + +There was half an hour of uncertainty and doubt, it is true, during +which period the lead was anxiously watched; and then a feeling of +security came over all, and the weary slept without dreaming of instant +death. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + It is to be all made of sighs and tears; + It is to be all made of faith and service; + It is to be all made of phantasy; + All made of passion, and all made of wishes; + All adoration, duty, and observance; + All humbleness, all patience, and impatience; + All purity, all trial, all observance. + SHAKESPEARE. + + +It was near noon when the gale broke; and then its force abated as +suddenly as its violence had arisen. In less than two hours after the +wind fell, the surface of the lake, though still agitated, was no +longer glittering with foam; and in double that time, the entire sheet +presented the ordinary scene of disturbed water, that was unbroken by +the violence of a tempest. Still the waves came rolling incessantly +towards the shore, and the lines of breakers remained, though the spray +had ceased to fly; the combing of the swells was more moderate, and all +that there was of violence proceeded from the impulsion of wind which +had abated. + +As it was impossible to make head against the sea that was still up, +with the light opposing air that blew from the eastward, all thoughts +of getting under way that afternoon were abandoned. Jasper, who had now +quietly resumed the command of the _Scud_, busied himself, however, in +heaving-up the anchors, which were lifted in succession; the kedges +that backed them were weighed, and everything was got in readiness for +a prompt departure, as soon as the state of the weather would allow. +In the meantime, they who had no concern with these duties sought such +means of amusement as their peculiar circumstances allowed. + +As is common with those who are unused to the confinement of a vessel, +Mabel cast wistful eyes towards the shore; nor was it long before she +expressed a wish that it were possible to land. The Pathfinder was near +her at the time, and he assured her that nothing would be easier, as +they had a bark canoe on deck, which was the best possible mode of +conveyance to go through a surf. After the usual doubts and misgivings, +the Sergeant was appealed to; his opinion proved to be favorable, and +preparations to carry the whim into effect were immediately made. + +The party which was to land consisted of Sergeant Dunham, his daughter, +and the Pathfinder. Accustomed to the canoe, Mabel took her seat in the +centre with great steadiness, her father was placed in the bows, while +the guide assumed the office of conductor, by steering in the stern. +There was little need of impelling the canoe by means of the paddle, for +the rollers sent it forward at moments with a violence that set every +effort to govern its movements at defiance. More than once, before +the shore was reached, Mabel repented of her temerity, but Pathfinder +encouraged her, and really manifested so much self-possession, coolness, +and strength of arm himself, that even a female might have hesitated +about owning all her apprehensions. Our heroine was no coward; and while +she felt the novelty of her situation, in landing through a surf, she +also experienced a fair proportion of its wild delight. At moments, +indeed, her heart was in her mouth, as the bubble of a boat floated on +the very crest of a foaming breaker, appearing to skim the water like +a swallow, and then she flushed and laughed, as, left by the glancing +element, they appeared to linger behind as if ashamed of having +been outdone in the headlong race. A few minutes sufficed for this +excitement; for though the distance between the cutter and the land +considerably exceeded a quarter of a mile, the intermediate space was +passed in a very few minutes. + +On landing, the Sergeant kissed his daughter kindly, for he was so much +of a soldier as always to feel more at home on _terra firma_ than when +afloat; and, taking his gun, he announced his intention to pass an hour +in quest of game. + +"Pathfinder will remain near you, girl, and no doubt he will tell you +some of the traditions of this part of the world, or some of his own +experiences with the Mingos." + +The guide laughed, promised to have a care of Mabel, and in a few +minutes the father had ascended a steep acclivity and disappeared in the +forest. The others took another direction, which, after a few minutes +of a sharp ascent also, brought them to a small naked point on the +promontory, where the eye overlooked an extensive and very peculiar +panorama. Here Mabel seated herself on a fragment of fallen rock to +recover her breath and strength, while her companion, on whose sinews +no personal exertion seemed to make any impression, stood at her side, +leaning in his own and not ungraceful manner on his long rifle. Several +minutes passed, and neither spoke; Mabel, in particular, being lost in +admiration of the view. + +The position the two had obtained was sufficiently elevated to command a +wide reach of the lake, which stretched away towards the north-east in a +boundless sheet, glittering beneath the rays of an afternoon's sun, and +yet betraying the remains of that agitation which it had endured while +tossed by the late tempest. The land set bounds to its limits in a huge +crescent, disappearing in distance towards the south-east and the north. +Far as the eye could reach, nothing but forest was visible, not even +a solitary sign of civilization breaking in upon the uniform and grand +magnificence of nature. The gale had driven the _Scud_ beyond the line +of those forts with which the French were then endeavoring to gird +the English North American possessions; for, following the channels of +communication between the great lakes, their posts were on the banks +of the Niagara, while our adventurers had reached a point many leagues +westward of that celebrated strait. The cutter rode at single +anchor, without the breakers, resembling some well-imagined and +accurately-executed toy, intended rather for a glass case than for +struggles with the elements which she had so lately gone through, while +the canoe lay on the narrow beach, just out of reach of the waves that +came booming upon the land, a speck upon the shingles. + +"We are very far here from human habitations!" exclaimed Mabel, when, +after a long survey of the scene, its principal peculiarities forced +themselves on her active and ever brilliant imagination; "this is indeed +being on a frontier." + +"Have they more sightly scenes than this nearer the sea and around +their large towns?" demanded Pathfinder, with an interest he was apt to +discover in such a subject. + +"I will not say that: there is more to remind one of his fellow-beings +there than here; less, perhaps, to remind one of God." + +"Ay, Mabel, that is what my own feelings say. I am but a poor hunter, I +know, untaught and unlarned; but God is as near me, in this my home, as +he is near the king in his royal palace." + +"Who can doubt it?" returned Mabel, looking from the view up into the +hard-featured but honest face of her companion, though not without +surprise at the energy of his manner. "One feels nearer to God in such +a spot, I think, than when the mind is distracted by the objects of the +towns." + +"You say all I wish to say myself, Mabel, but in so much plainer speech, +that you make me ashamed of wishing to let others know what I feel on +such matters. I have coasted this lake in search of skins afore the war, +and have been here already; not at this very spot, for we landed yonder, +where you may see the blasted oak that stands above the cluster of +hemlocks--" + +"How, Pathfinder, can you remember all these trifles so accurately?" + +"These are our streets and houses, our churches and palaces. Remember +them, indeed! I once made an appointment with the Big Sarpent, to meet +at twelve o'clock at noon, near the foot of a certain pine, at the end +of six months, when neither of us was within three hundred miles of +the spot. The tree stood, and stands still, unless the judgment of +Providence has lighted on that too, in the midst of the forest, fifty +miles from any settlement, but in a most extraordinary neighborhood for +beaver." + +"And did you meet at that very spot and hour?" + +"Does the sun rise and set? When I reached the tree, I found the Sarpent +leaning against its trunk with torn leggings and muddied moecassins. The +Delaware had got into a swamp, and it worried him not a little to find +his way out of it; but as the sun which comes over the eastern hills +in the morning goes down behind the western at night, so was he true to +time and place. No fear of Chingachgook when there is either a friend or +an enemy in the case. He is equally sartain with each." + +"And where is the Delaware now? why is he not with us to-day?" + +"He is scouting on the Mingo trail, where I ought to have been too, but +for a great human infirmity." + +"You seem above, beyond, superior to all infirmity, Pathfinder; I never +yet met with a man who appeared to be so little liable to the weaknesses +of nature." + +"If you mean in the way of health and strength, Mabel, Providence +has been kind to me; though I fancy the open air, long hunts, active +scoutings, forest fare, and the sleep of a good conscience, may always +keep the doctors at a distance. But I am human after all; yes, I find +I'm very human in some of my feelings." + +Mabel looked surprised, and it would be no more than delineating the +character of her sex, if we added that her sweet countenance expressed a +good deal of curiosity, too, though her tongue was more discreet. + +"There is something bewitching in this wild life of yours, Pathfinder," +she exclaimed, a tinge of enthusiasm mantling her cheeks. "I find I'm +fast getting to be a frontier girl, and am coming to love all this grand +silence of the woods. The towns seem tame to me; and, as my father will +probably pass the remainder of his days here, where he has already lived +so long, I begin to feel that I should be happy to continue with him, +and not to return to the seashore." + +"The woods are never silent, Mabel, to such as understand their meaning. +Days at a time have I travelled them alone, without feeling the want +of company; and, as for conversation, for such as can comprehend their +language, there is no want of rational and instructive discourse." + +"I believe you are happier when alone, Pathfinder, than when mingling +with your fellow-creatures." + +"I will not say that, I will not say exactly that. I have seen the time +when I have thought that God was sufficient for me in the forest, and +that I have craved no more than His bounty and His care. But other +feelings have got uppermost, and I suppose natur' will have its way. All +other creatur's mate, Mabel, and it was intended man should do so too." + +"And have you never bethought you of seeking a wife, Pathfinder, +to share your fortunes?" inquired the girl, with the directness and +simplicity that the pure of heart and the undesigning are the most apt +to manifest, and with that feeling of affection which is inbred in +her sex. "To me it seems you only want a home to return to from your +wanderings to render your life completely happy. Were I a man, it would +be my delight to roam through these forests at will, or to sail over +this beautiful lake." + +"I understand you, Mabel; and God bless you for thinking of the welfare +of men as humble as we are. We have our pleasures, it is true, as well +as our gifts, but we might be happier; yes, I do think we might be +happier." + +"Happier! in what way, Pathfinder? In this pure air, with these cool and +shaded forests to wander through, this lovely lake to gaze at and sail +upon, with clear consciences, and abundance for all their real +wants, men ought to be nothing less than as perfectly happy as their +infirmities will allow." + +"Every creatur' has its gifts, Mabel, and men have theirs," answered the +guide, looking stealthily at his beautiful companion, whose cheeks had +flushed and eyes brightened under the ardor of feelings excited by the +novelty of her striking situation; "and all must obey them. Do you see +yonder pigeon that is just alightin' on the beach--here in a line with +the fallen chestnut?" + +"Certainly; it is the only thing stirring with life in it, besides +ourselves, that is to be seen in this vast solitude." + +"Not so, Mabel, not so; Providence makes nothing that lives to live +quite alone. Here is its mate, just rising on the wing; it has been +feeding near the other beach, but it will not long be separated from its +companion." + +"I understand you, Pathfinder," returned Mabel, smiling sweetly, though +as calmly as if the discourse was with her father. "But a hunter may +find a mate, even in this wild region. The Indian girls are affectionate +and true, I know; for such was the wife of Arrowhead, to a husband who +oftener frowned than smiled." + +"That would never do, Mabel, and good would never come of it. Kind must +cling to kind, and country to country, if one would find happiness. +If, indeed, I could meet with one like you, who would consent to be a +hunter's wife, and who would not scorn my ignorance and rudeness, then, +indeed, would all the toil of the past appear like the sporting of the +young deer, and all the future like sunshine." + +"One like me! A girl of my years and indiscretion would hardly make a +fit companion for the boldest scout and surest hunter on the lines." + +"Ah, Mabel! I fear me that I have been improving a red-skin's gifts with +a pale-face's natur'? Such a character would insure a wife in an Indian +village." + +"Surely, surely, Pathfinder, you would not think of choosing one so +ignorant, so frivolous, so vain, and so inexperienced as I for your +wife?" Mabel would have added, "and as young;" but an instinctive +feeling of delicacy repressed the words. + +"And why not, Mabel? If you are ignorant of frontier usages, you know +more than all of us of pleasant anecdotes and town customs: as for +frivolous, I know not what it means; but if it signifies beauty, ah's +me! I fear it is no fault in my eyes. Vain you are not, as is seen by +the kind manner in which you listen to all my idle tales about scoutings +and trails; and as for experience, that will come with years. Besides, +Mabel, I fear men think little of these matters when they are about to +take wives: I do." + +"Pathfinder, your words,--your looks:--surely all this is meant in +trifling; you speak in pleasantry?" + +"To me it is always agreeable to be near you, Mabel; and I should sleep +sounder this blessed night than I have done for a week past, could I +think that you find such discourse as pleasant as I do." + +We shall not say that Mabel Dunham had not believed herself a favorite +with the guide. This her quick feminine sagacity had early discovered; +and perhaps she had occasionally thought there had mingled with his +regard and friendship some of that manly tenderness which the ruder sex +must be coarse, indeed, not to show on occasions to the gentler; but the +idea that he seriously sought her for his wife had never before crossed +the mind of the spirited and ingenuous girl. Now, however, a gleam of +something like the truth broke in upon her imagination, less induced +by the words of her companion, perhaps, than by his manner. Looking +earnestly into the rugged, honest countenance of the scout, Mabel's own +features became concerned and grave; and when she spoke again, it +was with a gentleness of manner that attracted him to her even more +powerfully than the words themselves were calculated to repel. + +"You and I should understand each other, Pathfinder," said she with an +earnest sincerity; "nor should there be any cloud between us. You are +too upright and frank to meet with anything but sincerity and frankness +in return. Surely, surely, all this means nothing,--has no other +connection with your feelings than such a friendship as one of your +wisdom and character would naturally feel for a girl like me?" + +"I believe it's all nat'ral, Mabel, yes; I do: the Sergeant tells me +he had such feelings towards your own mother, and I think I've seen +something like it in the young people I have from time to time guided +through the wilderness. Yes, yes, I daresay it's all nat'ral enough, and +that makes it come so easy, and is a great comfort to me." + +"Pathfinder, your words make me uneasy. Speak plainer, or change the +subject for ever. You do not, cannot mean that--you cannot wish me to +understand"--even the tongue of the spirited Mabel faltered, and she +shrank, with maiden shame, from adding what she wished so earnestly to +say. Rallying her courage, however, and determined to know all as +soon and as plainly as possible, after a moment's hesitation, she +continued,--"I mean, Pathfinder, that you do not wish me to understand +that you seriously think of me as a wife?" + +"I do, Mabel; that's it, that's just it; and you have put the matter +in a much better point of view than I with my forest gifts and frontier +ways would ever be able to do. The Sergeant and I have concluded on +the matter, if it is agreeable to you, as he thinks is likely to be the +case; though I doubt my own power to please one who deserves the best +husband America can produce." + +Mabel's countenance changed from uneasiness to surprise; and then, by a +transition still quicker, from surprise to pain. + +"My father!" she exclaimed,--"my dear father has thought of my becoming +your wife, Pathfinder?" + +"Yes, he has, Mabel, he has, indeed. He has even thought such a thing +might be agreeable to you, and has almost encouraged me to fancy it +might be true." + +"But you yourself,--you certainly can care nothing whether this singular +expectation shall ever be realized or not?" + +"Anan?" + +"I mean, Pathfinder, that you have talked of this match more to oblige +my father than anything else; that your feelings are no way concerned, +let my answer be what it may?" + +The scout looked earnestly into the beautiful face of Mabel, which had +flushed with the ardor and novelty of her sensations, and it was not +possible to mistake the intense admiration that betrayed itself in every +lineament of his ingenuous countenance. + +"I have often thought myself happy, Mabel, when ranging the woods on a +successful hunt, breathing the pure air of the hills, and filled with +vigor and health; but I now know that it has all been idleness and +vanity compared with the delight it would give me to know that you +thought better of me than you think of most others." + +"Better of you!--I do, indeed, think better of you, Pathfinder, than of +most others: I am not certain that I do not think better of you than of +any other; for your truth, honesty, simplicity, justice, and courage are +scarcely equalled by any of earth." + +"Ah, Mabel, these are sweet and encouraging words from you! and the +Sergeant, after all, was not so near wrong as I feared." + +"Nay, Pathfinder, in the name of all that is sacred and just, do not let +us misunderstand each other in a matter of so much importance. While I +esteem, respect, nay, reverence you, almost as much as I reverence +my own dear father, it is impossible that I should ever become your +wife--that I--" + +The change in her companion's countenance was so sudden and so great, +that the moment the effect of what she had uttered became visible in the +face of the Pathfinder, Mabel arrested her own words, notwithstanding +her strong desire to be explicit, the reluctance with which she could +at any time cause pain being sufficient of itself to induce the pause. +Neither spoke for some time, the shade of disappointment that crossed +the rugged lineaments of the hunter amounting so nearly to anguish as to +frighten his companion, while the sensation of choking became so strong +in the Pathfinder that he fairly griped his throat, like one who sought +physical relief for physical suffering. The convulsive manner in which +his fingers worked actually struck the alarmed girl with a feeling of +awe. + +"Nay, Pathfinder," Mabel eagerly added, the instant she could command +her voice,--"I may have said more than I mean; for all things of this +nature are possible, and women, they say, are never sure of their own +minds. What I wish you to understand is, that it is not likely that you +and I should ever think of each other as man and wife ought to think of +each other." + +"I do not--I shall never think in that way again, Mabel," gasped forth +the Pathfinder, who appeared to utter his words like one just raised +above the pressure of some suffocating substance. "No, no, I shall never +think of you, or any one else, again in that way." + +"Pathfinder, dear Pathfinder, understand me; do not attach more meaning +to my words than I do myself: a match like that would be unwise, +unnatural, perhaps." + +"Yes, unnat'ral--ag'in natur'; and so I told the Sergeant, but he +_would_ have it otherwise." + +"Pathfinder! oh, this is worse than I could have imagined! Take my hand, +excellent Pathfinder, and let me see that you do not hate me. For God's +sake, smile upon me again." + +"Hate you, Mabel! Smile upon you! Ah's me!" + +"Nay, give me your hand; your hardy, true, and manly hand--both, both, +Pathfinder! for I shall not be easy until I feel certain that we are +friends again, and that all this has been a mistake." + +"Mabel!" said the guide, looking wistfully into the face of the generous +and impetuous girl, as she held his two hard and sunburnt hands in her +own pretty and delicate fingers, and laughing in his own silent and +peculiar manner, while anguish gleamed over lineaments which +seemed incapable of deception, even while agitated with emotions so +conflicting,--"Mabel! the Sergeant was wrong." + +The pent-up feelings could endure no more, and the tears rolled down the +cheeks of the scout like rain. His fingers again worked convulsively at +his throat; and his breast heaved, as if it possessed a tenant of which +it would be rid, by any effort, however desperate. + +"Pathfinder! Pathfinder!" Mabel almost shrieked; "anything but this, +anything but this! Speak to me, Pathfinder! Smile again, say one kind +word, anything to prove you can forgive me." + +"The Sergeant was wrong!" exclaimed the guide, laughing amid his agony, +in a way to terrify his companion by the unnatural mixture of anguish +and light-heartedness. "I knew it, I knew it, and said it; yes, the +Sergeant was wrong after all." + +"We can be friends, though we cannot be man and wife," continued Mabel, +almost as much disturbed as her companion, scarcely knowing what she +said; "we can always be friends, and always will." + +"I thought the Sergeant was mistaken," resumed the Pathfinder, when a +great effort had enabled him to command himself, "for I did not think my +gifts were such as would please the fancy of a town-bred girl. It would +have been better, Mabel, had he not over-persuaded me into a different +notion; and it might have been better, too, had you not been so pleasant +and confiding like; yes, it would." + +"If I thought any error of mine had raised false expectations in you, +Pathfinder, however unintentionally on my part, I should never forgive +myself; for, believe me, I would rather endure pain in my own feelings +than you should suffer." + +"That's just it, Mabel, that's just it. These speeches and opinions, +spoken in so soft a voice, and in a way I'm so unused to in the woods, +have done the mischief. But I now see plainly, and begin to understand +the difference between us better, and will strive to keep down thought, +and to go abroad again as I used to do, looking for the game and the +inimy. Ah's me, Mabel! I have indeed been on a false trail since we +met." + +"In a little while you will forget all this, and think of me as a +friend, who owes you her life." + +"This may be the way in the towns, but I doubt if it's nat'ral to the +woods. With us, when the eye sees a lovely sight, it is apt to keep it +long in view, or when the mind takes in an upright and proper feeling, +it is loath to part with it." + +"You will forget it all, when you come seriously to recollect that I am +altogether unsuited to be your wife." + +"So I told the Sergeant; but he would have it otherwise. I knew you +was too young and beautiful for one of middle age, like myself, and who +never was comely to look at even in youth; and then your ways have not +been my ways; nor would a hunter's cabin be a fitting place for one who +was edicated among chiefs, as it were. If I were younger and comelier +though, like Jasper Eau-douce--" + +"Never mind Jasper Eau-douce," interrupted Mabel impatiently; "we can +talk of something else." + +"Jasper is a worthy lad, Mabel; ay, and a comely," returned the +guileless guide, looking earnestly at the girl, as if he distrusted her +judgment in speaking slightingly of his friend. "Were I only half as +comely as Jasper Western, my misgivings in this affair would not have +been so great, and they might not have been so true." + +"We will not talk of Jasper Western," repeated Mabel, the color mounting +to her temples; "he may be good enough in a gale, or on the lake, but he +is not good enough to talk of here." + +"I fear me, Mabel, he is better than the man who is likely to be your +husband, though the Sergeant says that never can take place. But the +Sergeant was wrong once, and he may be wrong twice." + +"And who is likely to be my husband, Pathfinder! This is scarcely less +strange than what has just passed between us." + +"I know it is nat'ral for like to seek like, and for them that have +consorted much with officers' ladies to wish to be officers' ladies +themselves. But, Mabel; I may speak plainly to you, I know; and I hope +my words will not give you pain; for, now I understand what it is to +be disappointed in such feelings, I wouldn't wish to cause even a +Mingo sorrow on this head. But happiness is not always to be found in a +marquee, any more than in a tent; and though the officers' quarters may +look more tempting than the rest of the barracks, there is often great +misery between husband and wife inside of their doors." + +"I do not doubt it in the least, Pathfinder; and, did it rest with me to +decide, I would sooner follow you to some cabin in the woods, and share +your fortune, whether it might be better or worse, than go inside the +door of any officer I know, with an intention of remaining there as its +master's wife." + +"Mabel, this is not what Lundie hopes, or Lundie thinks." + +"And what care I for Lundie? He is major of the 55th, and may command +his men to wheel and march about as he pleases; but he cannot compel me +to wed the greatest or the meanest of his mess. Besides, what can you +know of Lundie's wishes on such a subject?" + +"From Lundie's own mouth. The Sergeant had told him that he wished +me for a son-in-law; and the Major, being an old and a true friend, +conversed with me on the subject. He put it to me plainly, whether it +would not be more ginerous in me to let an officer succeed, than to +strive to make you share a hunter's fortune. I owned the truth, I did; +and that was, that I thought it might; but when he told me that the +Quartermaster would be his choice, I would not abide by the conditions. +No, no, Mabel; I know Davy Muir well, and though he may make you a lady, +he can never make you a happy woman, or himself a gentleman." + +"My father has been very wrong if he has said or done aught to cause you +sorrow, Pathfinder; and so great is my respect for you, so sincere my +friendship, that were it not for one--I mean that no person need fear +Lieutenant Muir's influence with me--I would rather remain as I am to my +dying day than become a lady at the cost of being his wife." + +"I do not think you would say that which you do not feel, Mabel," +returned Pathfinder earnestly. + +"Not at such a moment, on such a subject, and least of all to you. No; +Lieutenant Muir may find wives where he can--my name shall never be on +his catalogue." + +"Thank you, thank you for that, Mabel, for, though there is no longer +any hope for me, I could never be happy were you to take to the +Quartermaster. I feared the commission might count for something, I +did; and I know the man. It is not jealousy that makes me speak in +this manner, but truth, for I know the man. Now, were you to fancy a +desarving youth, one like Jasper Western, for instance--" + +"Why always mention Jasper Eau-douce, Pathfinder? he can have no concern +with our friendship; let us talk of yourself, and of the manner in which +you intend to pass the winter." + +"Ah's me!--I'm little worth at the best, Mabel, unless it may be on a +trail or with the rifle; and less worth now that I have discovered the +Sergeant's mistake. There is no need, therefore, of talking of me. It +has been very pleasant to me to be near you so long, and even to fancy +that the Sergeant was right; but that is all over now. I shall go down +the lake with Jasper, and then there will be business to occupy us, and +that will keep useless thoughts out of the mind." + +"And you will forget this--forget me--no, not forget me, either, +Pathfinder; but you will resume your old pursuits, and cease to think a +girl of sufficient importance to disturb your peace?" + +"I never knowed it afore, Mabel; but girls are of more account in this +life than I could have believed. Now, afore I knowed you, the new-born +babe did not sleep more sweetly than I used; my head was no sooner on +the root, or the stone, or mayhap on the skin, than all was lost to the +senses, unless it might be to go over in the night the business of +the day in a dream like; and there I lay till the moment came to be +stirring, and the swallows were not more certain to be on the wing with +the light, than I to be afoot at the moment I wished to be. All this +seemed a gift, and might be calculated on even in the midst of a Mingo +camp; for I've been outlying in my time, in the very villages of the +vagabonds." + +"And all this will return to you, Pathfinder, for one so upright and +sincere will never waste his happiness on a mere fancy. You will dream +again of your hunts, of the deer you have slain, and of the beaver you +have taken." + +"Ah's me, Mabel, I wish never to dream again! Before we met, I had a +sort of pleasure in following up the hounds, in fancy, as it might +be; and even in striking a trail of the Iroquois--nay, I've been in +skrimmages and ambushments, in thought like, and found satisfaction in +it, according to my gifts; but all those things have lost their charms +since I've made acquaintance with you. Now, I think no longer of +anything rude in my dreams; but the very last night we stayed in the +garrison I imagined I had a cabin in a grove of sugar maples, and at +the root of every tree was a Mabel Dunham, while the birds among the +branches sang ballads instead of the notes that natur' gave, and even +the deer stopped to listen. I tried to shoot a fa'n, but Killdeer missed +fire, and the creatur' laughed in my face, as pleasantly as a young girl +laughs in her merriment, and then it bounded away, looking back as if +expecting me to follow." + +"No more of this, Pathfinder; we'll talk no more of these things," said +Mabel, dashing the tears from her eyes: for the simple, earnest manner +in which this hardy woodsman betrayed the deep hold she had taken of his +feelings nearly proved too much for her own generous heart. "Now, let +us look for my father; he cannot be distant, as I heard his gun quite +near." + +"The Sergeant was wrong--yes, he was wrong, and it's of no avail to +attempt to make the dove consort with the wolf." + +"Here comes my dear father," interrupted Mabel. "Let us look cheerful +and happy, Pathfinder, as such good friends ought to look, and keep each +other's secrets." + +A pause succeeded; the Sergeant's foot was heard crushing the dried +twigs hard by, and then his form appeared shoving aside the bushes of +a copse just near. As he issued into the open ground, the old soldier +scrutinized his daughter and her companion, and speaking good-naturedly, +he said, "Mabel, child, you are young and light of foot--look for a bird +that I've shot that fell just beyond the thicket of young hemlocks on +the shore; and, as Jasper is showing signs of an intention of getting +under way, you need not take the trouble to clamber up this hill again, +but we will meet you on the beach in a few minutes." + +Mabel obeyed, bounding down the hill with the elastic step of youth and +health. But, notwithstanding the lightness of her steps, the heart of +the girl was heavy, and no sooner was she hid from observation by the +thicket, than she threw herself on the root of a tree and wept as if her +heart would break. The Sergeant watched her until she disappeared, with +a father's pride, and then turned to his companion with a smile as kind +and as familiar as his habits would allow him to use towards any. + +"She has her mother's lightness and activity, my friend, with somewhat +of her father's force," said he. "Her mother was not quite so handsome, +I think myself; but the Dunhams were always thought comely, whether men +or women. Well, Pathfinder, I take it for granted you've not overlooked +the opportunity, but have spoken plainly to the girl? women like +frankness in matters of this sort." + +"I believe Mabel and I understand each other at last, Sergeant," +returned the other, looking another way to avoid the soldier's face. + +"So much the better. Some people fancy that a little doubt and +uncertainty makes love all the livelier; but I am one of those who think +the plainer the tongue speaks the easier the mind will comprehend. Was +Mabel surprised?" + +"I fear she was, Sergeant; I fear she was taken quite by surprise--yes, +I do." + +"Well, well, surprises in love are like an ambush in war, and quite as +lawful; though it is not so easy to tell when a woman is surprised, as +to tell when it happens to an enemy. Mabel did not run away, my worthy +friend, did she?" + +"No, Sergeant, Mabel did not try to escape; _that_ I can say with a +clear conscience." + +"I hope the girl was too willing, neither! Her mother was shy and coy +for a month, at least; but frankness, after all, is a recommendation in +a man or woman." + +"That it is, that it is; and judgment, too." + +"You are not to look for too much judgment in a young creature of +twenty, Pathfinder, but it will come with experience. A mistake in you +or me, for instance, might not be so easily overlooked; but in a girl +of Mabel's years, one is not to strain at a gnat lest they swallow a +camel." + +The reader will remember that Sergeant Dunham was not a Hebrew scholar. + +The muscles of the listener's face twitched as the Sergeant was thus +delivering his sentiments, though the former had now recovered a portion +of that stoicism which formed so large a part of his character, and +which he had probably imbibed from long association with the Indians. +His eyes rose and fell, and once a gleam shot athwart his hard features +as if he were about to indulge in his peculiar laugh; but the joyous +feeling, if it really existed, was as quickly lost in a look allied to +anguish. It was this unusual mixture of wild and keen mental agony with +native, simple joyousness, which had most struck Mabel, who, in the +interview just related, had a dozen times been on the point of believing +that her suitor's heart was only lightly touched, as images of +happiness and humor gleamed over a mind that was almost infantile in +its simplicity and nature; an impression, however, which was soon driven +away by the discovery of emotions so painful and so deep, that they +seemed to harrow the very soul. + +"You say true, Sergeant," Pathfinder answered; "a mistake in one like +you is a more serious matter." + +"You will find Mabel sincere and honest in the end; give her but a +little time." + +"Ah's me, Sergeant!" + +"A man of your merits would make an impression on a rock, give him time, +Pathfinder." + +"Sergeant Dunham, we are old fellow-campaigners--that is, as campaigns +are carried on here in the wilderness; and we have done so many kind +acts to each other that we can afford to be candid--what has caused you +to believe that a girl like Mabel could ever fancy one so rude as I am?" + +"What?--why, a variety of reasons, and good reasons too, my friend. +Those same acts of kindness, perhaps, and the campaigns you mention; +moreover, you are my sworn and tried comrade." + +"All this sounds well, so far as you and I are consarned; but they do +not touch the case of your pretty daughter. She may think these very +campaigns have destroyed the little comeliness I may once have had; and +I am not quite sartain that being an old friend of her father would lead +any young maiden's mind into a particular affection for a suitor. Like +loves like, I tell you, Sergeant; and my gifts are not altogether the +gifts of Mabel Dunham." + +"These are some of your old modest qualms, Pathfinder, and will do you +no credit with the girl. Women distrust men who distrust themselves, +and take to men who distrust nothing. Modesty is a capital thing in a +recruit, I grant you; or in a young subaltern who has just joined, for +it prevents his railing at the non-commissioned officers before he knows +what to rail at; I'm not sure it is out of place in a commissary or a +parson, but it's the devil and all when it gets possession of a real +soldier or a lover. Have as little to do with it as possible, if you +would win a woman's heart. As for your doctrine that like loves like, +it is as wrong as possible in matters of this sort. If like loved +like, women would love one another, and men also. No, no, like loves +dislike,"--the Sergeant was merely a scholar of the camp,--"and you have +nothing to fear from Mabel on that score. Look at Lieutenant Muir; +the man has had five wives already, they tell me, and there is no more +modesty in him than there is in a cat-o'-nine-tails." + +"Lieutenant Muir will never be the husband of Mabel Dunham, let him +ruffle his feathers as much as he may." + +"That is a sensible remark of yours, Pathfinder; for my mind is made up +that you shall be my son-in-law. If I were an officer myself, Mr. Muir +might have some chance; but time has placed one door between my child +and myself, and I don't intend there shall be that of a marquee also." + +"Sergeant, we must let Mabel follow her own fancy; she is young and +light of heart, and God forbid that any wish of mine should lay the +weight of a feather on a mind that is all gaiety now, or take one note +of happiness from her laughter!" + +"Have you conversed freely with the girl?" the Sergeant demanded +quickly, and with some asperity of manner. + +Pathfinder was too honest to deny a truth plain as that which the answer +required, and yet too honorable to betray Mabel, and expose her to the +resentment of one whom he well knew to be stern in his anger. + +"We have laid open our minds," he said; "and though Mabel's is one that +any man might love to look at, I find little there, Sergeant, to make me +think any better of myself." + +"The girl has not dared to refuse you--to refuse her father's best +friend?" + +Pathfinder turned his face away to conceal the look of anguish that +consciousness told him was passing athwart it, but he continued the +discourse in his own quiet, manly tones. + +"Mabel is too kind to refuse anything, or to utter harsh words to a dog. +I have not put the question in a way to be downright refused, Sergeant." + +"And did you expect my daughter to jump into your arms before you asked +her? She would not have been her mother's child had she done any such +thing, nor do I think she would have been mine. The Dunhams like plain +dealing as well as the king's majesty; but they are no jumpers. Leave +me to manage this matter for you, Pathfinder, and there shall be no +unnecessary delay. I'll speak to Mabel myself this very evening, using +your name as principal in the affair." + +"I'd rather not, I'd rather not, Sergeant. Leave the matter to Mabel +and me, and I think all will come right in the ind. Young girls are like +timorsome birds; they do not over-relish being hurried or spoken harshly +to nither. Leave the matter to Mabel and me." + +"On one condition I will, my friend; and that is, that you will promise +me, on the honor of a scout, that you will put the matter plainly to +Mabel the first suitable opportunity, and no mincing of words." + +"I will ask her, Sergeant, on condition that you promise not to meddle +in the affair--yes, I will promise to ask Mabel whether she will marry +me, even though she laugh in my face at my doing so, on that condition." + +Sergeant Dunham gave the desired promise very cheerfully; for he had +completely wrought himself up into the belief that the man he so much +esteemed himself must be acceptable to his daughter. He had married +a woman much younger than himself, and he saw no unfitness in the +respective years of the intended couple. Mabel was educated so much +above him, too, that he was not aware of the difference which actually +existed between the parent and child in this respect. It followed +that Sergeant Dunham was not altogether qualified to appreciate his +daughter's tastes, or to form a very probable conjecture what would be +the direction taken by those feelings which oftener depend on impulses +and passion than on reason. Still, the worthy soldier was not so wrong +in his estimate of the Pathfinder's chances as might at first appear. +Knowing all the sterling qualities of the man, his truth, integrity +of purpose, courage, self-devotion, disinterestedness, it was far from +unreasonable to suppose that qualities like these would produce a deep +impression on any female heart; and the father erred principally in +fancying that the daughter might know as it might be by intuition what +he himself had acquired by years of intercourse and adventure. + +As Pathfinder and his military friend descended the hill to the shore of +the lake, the discourse did not flag. The latter continued to persuade +the former that his diffidence alone prevented complete success with +Mabel, and that he had only to persevere in order to prevail. Pathfinder +was much too modest by nature, and had been too plainly, though so +delicately, discouraged in the recent interview to believe all he heard; +still the father used so many arguments which seemed plausible, and it +was so grateful to fancy that the daughter might yet be his, that the +reader is not to be surprised when he is told that this unsophisticated +being did not view Mabel's recent conduct in precisely the light in +which he may be inclined to view it himself. He did not credit all that +the Sergeant told him, it is true; but he began to think virgin coyness +and ignorance of her own feelings might have induced Mabel to use the +language she had. + +"The Quartermaster is no favorite," said Pathfinder in answer to one of +his companion's remarks. "Mabel will never look on him as more than one +who has had four or five wives already." + +"Which is more than his share. A man may marry twice without offence to +good morals and decency, I allow! but four times is an aggravation." + +"I should think even marrying once what Master Cap calls a +circumstance," put in Pathfinder, laughing in his quiet way, for by this +time his spirits had recovered some of their buoyancy. + +"It is, indeed, my friend, and a most solemn circumstance too. If it +were not that Mabel is to be your wife, I would advise you to remain +single. But here is the girl herself, and discretion is the word." + +"Ah's me, Sergeant, I fear you are mistaken!" + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + Thus was this place + A happy rural seat of various view. + MILTON. + + +Mabel was in waiting on the beach, and the canoe was soon launched. +Pathfinder carried the party out through the surf in the same skillful +manner that he had brought it in; and though Mabel's color heightened +with excitement, and her heart seemed often ready to leap out of her +mouth again, they reached the side of the _Scud_ without having received +even a drop of spray. + +Ontario is like a quick-tempered man, sudden to be angered, and as soon +appeased. The sea had already fallen; and though the breakers bounded +the shore, far as the eye could reach, it was merely in lines of +brightness, that appeared and vanished like the returning waves produced +by a stone which had been dropped into a pool. The cable of the _Scud_ +was scarcely seen above the water, and Jasper had already hoisted his +sails, in readiness to depart as soon as the expected breeze from the +shore should fill the canvas. + +It was just sunset as the cutter's mainsail flapped and its stem began +to sever the water. The air was light and southerly, and the head of the +vessel was kept looking up along the south shore, it being the intention +to get to the eastward again as fast as possible. The night that +succeeded was quiet; and the rest of those who slept deep and tranquil. + +Some difficulty occurred concerning the command of the vessel, but +the matter had been finally settled by an amicable compromise. As +the distrust of Jasper was far from being appeased, Cap retained a +supervisory power, while the young man was allowed to work the craft, +subject, at all times, to the control and interference of the old +seaman. To this Jasper consented, in preference to exposing Mabel any +longer to the dangers of their present situation; for, now that the +violence of the elements had ceased, he well knew that the _Montcalm_ +would be in search of them. He had the discretion, however, not to +reveal his apprehensions on this head; for it happened that the very +means he deemed the best to escape the enemy were those which would +be most likely to awaken new suspicions of his honesty in the minds +of those who held the power to defeat his intentions. In other words, +Jasper believed that the gallant young Frenchman, who commanded the ship +of the enemy, would quit his anchorage under the fort at Niagara, and +stand up the lake, as soon as the wind abated, in order to ascertain the +fate of the _Scud_, keeping midway between the two shores as the best +means of commanding a broad view; and that, on his part, it would be +expedient to hug one coast or the other, not only to avoid a meeting, +but as affording a chance of passing without detection by blending his +sails and spars with objects on the land. He preferred the south because +it was the weather shore, and because he thought it was that which the +enemy would the least expect him to take, though it necessarily led near +his settlements, and in front of one of the strongest posts he held in +that part of the world. + +Of all this, however, Cap was happily ignorant, and the Sergeant's mind +was too much occupied with the details of his military trust to enter +into these niceties, which so properly belonged to another profession. +No opposition was made, therefore, and before morning Jasper had +apparently dropped quietly into all his former authority, issuing his +orders freely, and meeting with obedience without hesitation or cavil. + +The appearance of day brought all on board on deck again; and, as is +usual with adventurers on the water, the opening horizon was curiously +examined, as objects started out of the obscurity, and the panorama +brightened under the growing light. East, west, and north nothing was +visible but water glittering in the rising sun; but southward stretched +the endless belt of woods that then held Ontario in a setting of forest +verdure. Suddenly an opening appeared ahead, and then the massive walls +of a chateau-looking house, with outworks, bastions, blockhouses, and +palisadoes, frowned on a headland that bordered the outlet of a broad +stream. Just as the fort became visible, a little cloud rose over +it, and the white ensign of France was seen fluttering from a lofty +flagstaff. + +Cap gave an ejaculation as he witnessed this ungrateful exhibition, and +he cast a quick suspicious glance at his brother-in-law. + +"The dirty tablecloth hung up to air, as my name is Charles Cap!" he +muttered; "and we hugging this d----d shore as if it were our wife and +children met on the return from an India v'y'ge! Hark'e, Jasper, are +you in search of a cargo of frogs, that you keep so near in to this New +France?" + +"I hug the land, sir, in the hope of passing the enemy's ship without +being seen, for I think she must be somewhere down here to leeward." + +"Ay, ay, this sounds well, and I hope it may turn out as you say. I +trust there is no under-tow here?" + +"We are on a weather shore, now," said Jasper, smiling; "and I think you +will admit, Master Cap, that a strong under-tow makes an easy cable: we +owe all our lives to the under-tow of this very lake." + +"French flummery!" growled Cap, though he did not care to be heard by +Jasper. "Give me a fair, honest, English-Yankee-American tow, above +board, and above water too, if I must have a tow at all, and none of +your sneaking drift that is below the surface, where one can neither +see nor feel. I daresay, if the truth could be come at, that this late +escape of ours was all a contrived affair." + +"We have now a good opportunity, at least, to reconnoitre the enemy's +post at Niagara, brother, for such I take this fort to be," put in +the Sergeant. "Let us be all eyes in passing, and remember that we are +almost in face of the enemy." + +This advice of the Sergeant needed nothing to enforce it; for the +interest and novelty of passing a spot occupied by human beings were of +themselves sufficient to attract deep attention in that scene of a vast +but deserted nature. The wind was now fresh enough to urge the _Scud_ +through the water with considerable velocity, and Jasper eased her helm +as she opened the river, and luffed nearly into the mouth of that noble +strait, or river, as it is termed. A dull, distant, heavy roar came down +through the opening in the banks, swelling on the currents of the air, +like the deeper notes of some immense organ, and occasionally seeming to +cause the earth itself to tremble. + +"That sounds like surf on some long unbroken coast!" exclaimed Cap, as a +swell, deeper than common, came to his ears. + +"Ay, that is such surf as we have in this quarter of the world," +Pathfinder answered. "There is no under-tow there, Master Cap; but all +the water that strikes the rocks stays there, so far as going back again +is consarned. That is old Niagara that you hear, or this noble stream +tumbling down a mountain." + +"No one will have the impudence to pretend that this fine broad river +falls over yonder hills?" + +"It does, Master Cap, it does; and all for the want of stairs, or a road +to come down by. This is natur', as we have it up hereaway, though I +daresay you beat us down on the ocean. Ah's me, Mabel! a pleasant hour +it would be if we could walk on the shore some ten or fifteen miles up +this stream, and gaze on all that God has done there." + +"You have, then, seen these renowned falls, Pathfinder?" the girl +eagerly inquired. + +"I have--yes, I have; and an awful sight I witnessed at that same time. +The Sarpent and I were out scouting about the garrison there, when he +told me that the traditions of his people gave an account of a mighty +cataract in this neighborhood, and he asked me to vary from the line +of march a little to look at the wonder. I had heard some marvels +consarning the spot from the soldiers of the 60th, which is my nat'ral +corps like, and not the 55th, with which I have sojourned so much of +late; but there are so many terrible liars in all rijiments that I +hardly believed half they had told me. Well, we went; and though we +expected to be led by our ears, and to hear some of that awful roaring +that we hear to-day, we were disappointed, for natur' was not then +speaking in thunder, as she is this morning. Thus it is in the forest, +Master Cap; there being moments when God seems to be walking abroad in +power, and then, again, there is a calm over all, as if His spirit lay +in quiet along the 'arth. Well, we came suddenly upon the stream, a +short distance above the fall, and a young Delaware, who was in our +company, found a bark canoe, and he would push into the current to reach +an island that lies in the very centre of the confusion and strife. +We told him of his folly, we did; and we reasoned with him on the +wickedness of tempting Providence by seeking danger that led to no ind; +but the youth among the Delawares are very much the same as the youth +among the soldiers, risky and vain. All we could say did not change his +mind, and the lad had his way. To me it seems, Mabel, that whenever +a thing is really grand and potent, it has a quiet majesty about it, +altogether unlike the frothy and flustering manner of smaller matters, +and so it was with them rapids. The canoe was no sooner fairly in them, +than down it went, as it might be, as one sails through the air on the +'arth, and no skill of the young Delaware could resist the stream. And +yet he struggled manfully for life, using the paddle to the last, like +the deer that is swimming to cast the hounds. At first he shot across +the current so swiftly, that we thought he would prevail; but he had +miscalculated his distance, and when the truth really struck him, he +turned the head upstream, and struggled in a way that was fearful to +look at. I could have pitied him even had he been a Mingo. For a few +moments his efforts were so frantic that he actually prevailed over +the power of the cataract; but natur' has its limits, and one faltering +stroke of the paddle set him back, and then he lost ground, foot by +foot, inch by inch, until he got near the spot where the river looked +even and green, and as if it were made of millions of threads of water, +all bent over some huge rock, when he shot backwards like an arrow and +disappeared, the bow of the canoe tipping just enough to let us see what +had become of him. I met a Mohawk some years later who had witnessed the +whole affair from the bed of the stream below, and he told me that the +Delaware continued to paddle in the air until he was lost in the mists +of the falls." + +"And what became of the poor wretch?" demanded Mabel, who had been +strongly interested by the natural eloquence of the speaker. + +"He went to the happy hunting-grounds of his people, no doubt; for +though he was risky and vain, he was also just and brave. Yes, he +died foolishly, but the Manitou of the red-skins has compassion on his +creatur's as well as the God of a Christian." + +A gun at this moment was discharged from a blockhouse near the fort; and +the shot, one of light weight, came whistling over the cutter's mast, +an admonition to approach no nearer. Jasper was at the helm, and he kept +away, smiling at the same time as if he felt no anger at the rudeness of +the salutation. The _Scud_ was now in the current, and her outward +set soon carried her far enough to leeward to avoid the danger of a +repetition of the shot, and then she quietly continued her course along +the land. As soon as the river was fairly opened, Jasper ascertained +that the _Montcalm_ was not at anchor in it; and a man sent aloft came +down with the report that the horizon showed no sail. The hope was now +strong that the artifice of Jasper had succeeded, and that the French +commander had missed them by keeping the middle of the lake as he +steered towards its head. + +All that day the wind hung to the southward, and the cutter continued +her course about a league from the land, running six or eight knots the +hour in perfectly smooth water. Although the scene had one feature +of monotony, the outline of unbroken forest, it was not without its +interest and pleasures. Various headlands presented themselves, and the +cutter, in running from one to another, stretched across bays so deep as +almost to deserve the name of gulfs. But nowhere did the eye meet with +the evidences of civilization; rivers occasionally poured their tribute +into the great reservoir of the lake, but their banks could be traced +inland for miles by the same outlines of trees; and even large bays, +that lay embosomed in woods, communicating with Ontario only by narrow +outlets, appeared and disappeared, without bringing with them a single +trace of a human habitation. + +Of all on board, the Pathfinder viewed the scene with the most unmingled +delight. His eyes feasted on the endless line of forest, and more than +once that day, notwithstanding he found it so grateful to be near Mabel, +listening to her pleasant voice, and echoing, in feelings at least, her +joyous laugh, did his soul pine to be wandering beneath the high arches +of the maples, oaks, and lindens, where his habits had induced him +to fancy lasting and true joys were only to be found. Cap viewed the +prospect differently; more than once he expressed his disgust at there +being no lighthouses, church-towers, beacons, or roadsteads with their +shipping. Such another coast, he protested, the world did not contain; +and, taking the Sergeant aside, he gravely assured him that the region +could never come to anything, as the havens were neglected, the rivers +had a deserted and useless look, and that even the breeze had a smell of +the forest about it, which spoke ill of its properties. + +But the humors of the different individuals in her did not stay the +speed of the _Scud_: when the sun was setting, she was already a hundred +miles on her route towards Oswego, into which river Sergeant Dunham now +thought it his duty to go, in order to receive any communications that +Major Duncan might please to make. With a view to effect this purpose, +Jasper continued to hug the shore all night; and though the wind began +to fail him towards morning, it lasted long enough to carry the cutter +up to a point that was known to be but a league or two from the fort. +Here the breeze came out light at the northward, and the cutter hauled a +little from the land, in order to obtain a safe offing should it come on +to blow, or should the weather again get to be easterly. + +When the day dawned, the cutter had the mouth of the Oswego well under +the lee, distant about two miles; and just as the morning gun from the +fort was fired, Jasper gave the order to ease off the sheets, and to +bear up for his port. At that moment a cry from the forecastle drew all +eyes towards the point on the eastern side of the outlet, and there, +just without the range of shot from the light guns of the works, with +her canvas reduced to barely enough to keep her stationary, lay the +_Montcalm_, evidently in waiting for their appearance. + +To pass her was impossible, for by filling her sails the French ship +could have intercepted them in a few minutes; and the circumstances +called for a prompt decision. After a short consultation, the Sergeant +again changed his plan, determining to make the best of his way towards +the station for which he had been originally destined, trusting to the +speed of the _Scud_ to throw the enemy so far astern as to leave no clue +to her movements. + +The cutter accordingly hauled upon a wind with the least possible delay, +with everything set that would draw. Guns were fired from the fort, +ensigns shown, and the ramparts were again crowded. But sympathy was all +the aid that Lundie could lend to his party; and the _Montcalm_, also +firing four or five guns of defiance, and throwing abroad several of the +banners of France, was soon in chase under a cloud of canvas. + +For several hours the two vessels were pressing through the water as +fast as possible, making short stretches to windward, apparently with a +view to keep the port under their lee, the one to enter it if possible, +and the other to intercept it in the attempt. + +At meridian the French ship was hull down, dead to leeward, the +disparity of sailing on a wind being very great, and some islands were +near by, behind which Jasper said it would be possible for the cutter +to conceal her future movements. Although Cap and the Sergeant, and +particularly Lieutenant Muir, to judge by his language, still felt a +good deal of distrust of the young man, and Frontenac was not distant, +this advice was followed; for time pressed, and the Quartermaster +discreetly observed that Jasper could not well betray them without +running openly into the enemy's harbor, a step they could at any time +prevent, since the only cruiser of force the French possessed at +the moment was under their lee and not in a situation to do them any +immediate injury. + +Left to himself, Jasper Western soon proved how much was really in him. +He weathered upon the islands, passed them, and on coming out to the +eastward, kept broad away, with nothing in sight in his wake or to +leeward. By sunset again the cutter was up with the first of the islands +that lie in the outlet of the lake; and ere it was dark she was running +through the narrow channels on her way to the long-sought station. At +nine o'clock, however, Cap insisted that they should anchor; for the +maze of islands became so complicated and obscure, that he feared, +at every opening, the party would find themselves under the guns of +a French fort. Jasper consented cheerfully, it being a part of his +standing instructions to approach the station under such circumstances +as would prevent the men from obtaining any very accurate notions of its +position, lest a deserter might betray the little garrison to the enemy. + +The _Scud_ was brought to in a small retired bay, where it would have +been difficult to find her by daylight, and where she was perfectly +concealed at night, when all but a solitary sentinel on deck sought +their rest. Cap had been so harassed during the previous eight-and-forty +hours, that his slumbers were long and deep; nor did he awake from +his first nap until the day was just beginning to dawn. His eyes were +scarcely open, however, when his nautical instinct told him that the +cutter was under way. Springing up, he found the _Scud_ threading the +islands again, with no one on deck but Jasper and the pilot, unless the +sentinel be excepted, who had not in the least interfered with movements +that he had every reason to believe were as regular as they were +necessary. + +"How's this, Master Western?" demanded Cap, with sufficient fierceness +for the occasion; "are you running us into Frontenac at last, and we all +asleep below, like so many mariners waiting for the 'sentry go'?" + +"This is according to orders, Master Cap, Major Duncan having commanded +me never to approach the station unless at a moment when the people were +below; for he does not wish there should be more pilots in those waters +than the king has need of." + +"Whe-e-e-w! a pretty job I should have made of running down among these +bushes and rocks with no one on deck! Why, a regular York branch could +make nothing of such a channel." + +"I always thought, sir," said Jasper, smiling, "you would have done +better had you left the cutter in my hands until she had safely reached +her place of destination." + +"We should have done it, Jasper, we should have done it, had it not +been for a circumstance; these circumstances are serious matters, and no +prudent man will overlook them." + +"Well, sir, I hope there is now an end of them. We shall arrive in +less than an hour if the wind holds, and then you'll be safe from any +circumstances that I can contrive." + +"Humph!" + +Cap was obliged to acquiesce; and, as everything around him had the +appearance of Jasper's being sincere, there was not much difficulty in +making up his mind to submit. It would not have been easy indeed for a +person the most sensitive on the subject of circumstances to fancy that +the _Scud_ was anywhere in the vicinity of a port so long established +and so well known on the frontiers as Frontenac. The islands might not +have been literally a thousand in number, but they were so numerous and +small as to baffle calculation, though occasionally one of larger size +than common was passed. Jasper had quitted what might have been termed +the main channel, and was winding his way, with a good stiff breeze and +a favorable current, through passes that were sometimes so narrow that +there appeared to be barely room sufficient for the _Scud's_ spars to +clear the trees, while at other moments he shot across little bays, and +buried the cutter again amid rocks, forests, and bushes. The water was +so transparent that there was no occasion for the lead, and being of +very equal depth, little risk was actually run, though Cap, with his +maritime habits, was in a constant fever lest they should strike. + +"I give it up, I give it up, Pathfinder!" the old seaman at length +exclaimed, when the little vessel emerged in safety from the twentieth +of these narrow inlets through which she had been so boldly carried; +"this is defying the very nature of seamanship, and sending all its laws +and rules to the d---l!" + +"Nay, nay, Saltwater, 'tis the perfection of the art. You perceive that +Jasper never falters, but, like a hound with a true nose, he runs with +his head high as if he had a strong scent. My life on it, the lad brings +us out right in the ind, as he would have done in the beginning had we +given him leave." + +"No pilot, no lead, no beacons, buoys, or lighthouses, no--" + +"Trail," interrupted Pathfinder; "for that to me is the most mysterious +part of the business. Water leaves no trail, as every one knows; and yet +here is Jasper moving ahead as boldly as if he had before his eyes the +prints of the moccasins on leaves as plainly as we can see the sun in +the heaven." + +"D---me, if I believe there is even any compass!" + +"Stand by to haul down the jib," called out Jasper, who merely smiled at +the remarks of his companion. "Haul down--starboard your helm--starboard +hard--so--meet her--gently there with the helm--touch her lightly--now +jump ashore with the fast, lad--no, heave; there are some of our people +ready to take it." + +All this passed so quickly as barely to allow the spectator time to note +the different evolutions, ere the _Scud_ had been thrown into the wind +until her mainsail shivered, next cast a little by the use of the rudder +only, and then she set bodily alongside of a natural rocky quay, where +she was immediately secured by good fasts run to the shore. In a word, +the station was reached, and the men of the 55th were greeted by their +expecting comrades, with the satisfaction which a relief usually brings. + +Mabel sprang up on the shore with a delight which she did not care to +express; and her father led his men after her with an alacrity which +proved how wearied he had become of the cutter. The station, as the +place was familiarly termed by the soldiers of the 55th, was indeed a +spot to raise expectations of enjoyment among those who had been cooped +up so long in a vessel of the dimensions of the _Scud_. None of the +islands were high, though all lay at a sufficient elevation above the +water to render them perfectly healthy and secure. Each had more or less +of wood; and the greater number at that distant day were clothed with +the virgin forest. The one selected by the troops for their purpose +was small, containing about twenty acres of land, and by some of the +accidents of the wilderness it had been partly stripped of its trees, +probably centuries before the period of which we are writing, and a +little grassy glade covered nearly half its surface. + +The shores of Station Island were completely fringed with bushes, and +great care had been taken to preserve them, as they answered as a screen +to conceal the persons and things collected within their circle. Favored +by this shelter, as well as by that of several thickets of trees and +different copses, some six or eight low huts had been erected to be used +as quarters for the officer and his men, to contain stores, and to serve +the purposes of kitchen, hospital, etc. These huts were built of logs in +the usual manner, had been roofed by bark brought from a distance, lest +the signs of labor should attract attention, and, as they had now +been inhabited some months, were as comfortable as dwellings of that +description usually ever get to be. + +At the eastern extremity of the island, however, was a small, +densely-wooded peninsula, with a thicket of underbrush so closely matted +as nearly to prevent the possibility of seeing across it, so long as +the leaves remained on the branches. Near the narrow neck that connected +this acre with the rest of the island, a small blockhouse had been +erected, with some attention to its means of resistance. The logs were +bullet-proof, squared and jointed with a care to leave no defenceless +points; the windows were loopholes, the door massive and small, and the +roof, like the rest of the structure, was framed of hewn timber, covered +properly with bark to exclude the rain. The lower apartment as usual +contained stores and provisions; here indeed the party kept all their +supplies; the second story was intended for a dwelling, as well as for +the citadel, and a low garret was subdivided into two or three rooms, +and could hold the pallets of some ten or fifteen persons. All the +arrangements were exceedingly simple and cheap, but they were sufficient +to protect the soldiers against the effects of a surprise. As the whole +building was considerably less than forty feet high, its summit was +concealed by the tops of the trees, except from the eyes of those who +had reached the interior of the island. On that side the view was open +from the upper loops, though bushes even there, more or less, concealed +the base of the wooden tower. + +The object being purely defence, care had been taken to place the +blockhouse so near an opening in the limestone rock that formed the base +of the island as to admit of a bucket being dropped into the water, in +order to obtain that great essential in the event of a siege. In order +to facilitate this operation, and to enfilade the base of the building, +the upper stories projected several feet beyond the lower in the manner +usual to blockhouses, and pieces of wood filled the apertures cut in the +log flooring, which were intended as loops and traps. The communications +between the different stories were by means of ladders. If we add that +these blockhouses were intended as citadels for garrisons or settlements +to retreat to, in the cases of attacks, the general reader will obtain a +sufficiently correct idea of the arrangements it is our wish to explain. + +But the situation of the island itself formed its principal merit as a +military position. Lying in the midst of twenty others, it was not +an easy matter to find it; since boats might pass quite near, and, by +glimpses caught through the openings, this particular island would be +taken for a part of some other. Indeed, the channels between the islands +which lay around the one we have been describing were so narrow that it +was even difficult to say which portions of the land were connected, +or which separated, even as one stood in the centre, with the express +desire of ascertaining the truth. The little bay in particular, which +Jasper used as a harbor, was so embowered with bushes and shut in with +islands, that, the sails of the cutter being lowered, her own people on +one occasion had searched for hours before they could find the _Scud_, +in their return from a short excursion among the adjacent channels in +quest of fish. In short, the place was admirably adapted to its present +objects, and its natural advantages had been as ingeniously improved as +economy and the limited means of a frontier post would very well allow. + +The hour which succeeded the arrival of the _Scud_ was one of hurried +excitement. The party in possession had done nothing worthy of being +mentioned, and, wearied with their seclusion, they were all eager to +return to Oswego. The Sergeant and the officer he came to relieve had no +sooner gone through the little ceremonies of transferring the command, +than the latter hurried on board the _Scud_ with his whole party; and +Jasper, who would gladly have passed the day on the island, was required +to get under way forthwith, the wind promising a quick passage up the +river and across the lake. Before separating, however, Lieutenant Muir, +Cap, and the Sergeant had a private conference with the ensign who had +been relieved, in which the last was made acquainted with the suspicions +that existed against the fidelity of the young sailor. Promising due +caution, the officer embarked, and in less than three hours from the +time when she had arrived the cutter was again in motion. + +Mabel had taken possession of a hut; and with female readiness and +skill she made all the simple little domestic arrangements of which the +circumstances would admit, not only for her own comfort, but for that of +her father. To save labor, a mess-table was prepared in a hut set apart +for that purpose, where all the heads of the detachment were to eat, the +soldier's wife performing the necessary labor. The hut of the Sergeant, +which was the best on the island, being thus freed from any of the +vulgar offices of a household, admitted of such a display of womanly +taste, that, for the first time since her arrival on the frontier, +Mabel felt proud of her home. As soon as these important duties were +discharged, she strolled out on the island, taking a path which led +through the pretty glade, and which conducted to the only point not +covered with bushes. Here she stood gazing at the limpid water, which +lay with scarcely a ruffle on it at her feet, musing on the novel +situation in which she was placed, and permitting a pleasing and deep +excitement to steal over her feelings, as she remembered the scenes +through which she had so lately passed, and conjectured those which +still lay veiled in the future. + +"You're a beautiful fixture, in a beautiful spot, Mistress Mabel," said +David Muir, suddenly appearing at her elbow; "and I'll no' engage you're +not just the handsomest of the two." + +"I will not say, Mr. Muir, that compliments on my person are altogether +unwelcome, for I should not gain credit for speaking the truth, +perhaps," answered Mabel with spirit; "but I will say that if you would +condescend to address to me some remarks of a different nature, I may +be led to believe you think I have sufficient faculties to understand +them." + +"Hoot! your mind, beautiful Mabel, is polished just like the barrel of +a soldier's musket, and your conversation is only too discreet and wise +for a poor d---l who has been chewing birch up here these four years on +the lines, instead of receiving it in an application that has the virtue +of imparting knowledge. But you are no' sorry, I take it, young lady, +that you've got your pretty foot on _terra firma_ once more." + +"I thought so two hours since, Mr. Muir; but the _Scud_ looks so +beautiful as she sails through these vistas of trees, that I almost +regret I am no longer one of her passengers." + +As Mabel ceased speaking, she waved her handkerchief in return to a +salutation from Jasper, who kept his eyes fastened on her form until the +white sails of the cutter had swept round a point, and were nearly lost +behind its green fringe of leaves. + +"There they go, and I'll no' say 'joy go with them;' but may they have +the luck to return safely, for without them we shall be in danger +of passing the winter on this island; unless, indeed, we have the +alternative of the castle at Quebec. Yon Jasper Eau-douce is a vagrant +sort of a lad, and they have reports of him in the garrison that it +pains my very heart to hear. Your worthy father, and almost as worthy +uncle, have none of the best opinion of him." + +"I am sorry to hear it, Mr. Muir; I doubt not that time will remove all +their distrust." + +"If time would only remove mine, pretty Mabel," rejoined the +Quartermaster in a wheedling tone, "I should feel no envy of the +commander-in-chief. I think if I were in a condition to retire, the +Sergeant would just step into my shoes." + +"If my dear father is worthy to step into your shoes, Mr. Muir," +returned the girl, with malicious pleasure, "I'm sure that the +qualification is mutual, and that you are every way worthy to step into +his." + +"The deuce is in the child! you would not reduce me to the rank of a +non-commissioned officer, Mabel?" + +"No, indeed, sir; I was not thinking of the army at all as you spoke of +retiring. My thoughts were more egotistical, and I was thinking how +much you reminded me of my dear father, by your experience, wisdom, and +suitableness to take his place as the head of a family." + +"As its bridegroom, pretty Mabel, but not as its parent or natural +chief. I see how it is with you, loving your repartee, and brilliant +with wit. Well, I like spirit in a young woman, so it be not the spirit +of a scold. This Pathfinder is all extraordinair, Mabel, if truth may be +said of the man." + +"Truth should be said of him or nothing. Pathfinder is my friend--my +very particular friend, Mr. Muir, and no evil can be said of him in my +presence that I shall not deny." + +"I shall say nothing evil of him, I can assure you, Mabel; but, at the +same time, I doubt if much good can be said in his favor." + +"He is at least expert with the rifle," returned Mabel, smiling. "That +you cannot deny." + +"Let him have all the credit of his exploits in that way if you please; +but he is as illiterate as a Mohawk." + +"He may not understand Latin, but his knowledge of Iroquois is greater +than that of most men, and it is the more useful language of the two in +this part of the world." + +"If Lundie himself were to call on me for an opinion which I admire +more, your person or your wit, beautiful and caustic Mabel, I should be +at a loss to answer. My admiration is so nearly divided between them, +that I often fancy this is the one that bears off the palm, and then the +other! Ah! the late Mrs. Muir was a paragon in that way also." + +"The latest Mrs. Muir, did you say, sir?" asked Mabel, looking up +innocently at her companion. + +"Hoot, hoot! That is some of Pathfinder's scandal. Now I daresay that +the fellow has been trying to persuade you, Mabel, that I have had more +than one wife already." + +"In that case his time would have been thrown away, sir, as everybody +knows that you have been so unfortunate as to have had four." + +"Only three, as sure as my name is David Muir. The fourth is pure +scandal--or rather, pretty Mabel, she is yet _in petto_, as they say at +Rome; and that means, in matters of love, in the heart, my dear." + +"Well, I'm glad I'm not that fourth person, _in petto_, or in anything +else, as I should not like to be a scandal." + +"No fear of that, charming Mabel; for were you the fourth, all the +others would be forgotten, and your wonderful beauty and merit would at +once elevate you to be the first. No fear of your being the fourth in +any thing." + +"There is consolation in that assurance, Mr. Muir," said Mabel, +laughing, "whatever there may be in your other assurance; for I confess +I should prefer being even a fourth-rate beauty to being a fourth wife." + +So saying she tripped away, leaving the Quartermaster to meditate on his +success. Mabel had been induced to use her female means of defence thus +freely, partly because her suitor had of late been so pointed as to +stand in need of a pretty strong repulse, and partly on account of his +innuendoes against Jasper and the Pathfinder. Though full of spirit +and quick of intellect, she was not naturally pert; but on the present +occasion she thought circumstances called for more than usual decision. +When she left her companion, therefore, she believed she was now finally +released from attentions which she thought as ill-bestowed as they were +certainly disagreeable. Not so, however, with David Muir; accustomed to +rebuffs, and familiar with the virtue of perseverance, he saw no reason +to despair, though the half-menacing, half-self-satisfied manner in +which he shook his head towards the retreating girl might have betrayed +designs as sinister as they were determined. While he was thus occupied, +the Pathfinder approached, and got within a few feet of him unseen. + +"'Twill never do, Quartermaster, 'twill never do," commenced the latter, +laughing in his noiseless way; "she is young and active, and none but a +quick foot can overtake her. They tell me you are her suitor, if you are +not her follower." + +"And I hear the same of yourself, man, though the presumption would be +so great that I scarcely can think it true." + +"I fear you're right, I do; yes, I fear you're right;--when I consider +myself, what I am, how little I know, and how rude my life has been, I +altogether distrust my claim, even to think a moment of one so tutored, +and gay, and light of heart, and delicate--" + +"You forget handsome," coarsely interrupted Muir. + +"And handsome, too, I fear," returned the meek and self-abased guide; +"I might have said handsome at once, among her other qualities; for the +young fa'n, just as it learns to bound, is not more pleasant to the eye +of the hunter than Mabel is lovely in mine. I do indeed fear that all +the thoughts I have harbored about her are vain and presumptuous." + +"If you think this, my friend, of your own accord and natural modesty, +as it might be, my duty to you as an old fellow-campaigner compels me to +say--" + +"Quartermaster," interrupted the other, regarding his companion keenly, +"you and I have lived together much behind the ramparts of forts, but +very little in the open woods or in front of the enemy." + +"Garrison or tent, it all passes for part of the same campaign, you +know, Pathfinder; and then my duty keeps me much within sight of +the storehouses, greatly contrary to my inclinations, as ye may well +suppose, having yourself the ardor of battle in your temperament. But +had ye heard what Mabel had just been saying of you, ye'd no +think another minute of making yourself agreeable to the saucy and +uncompromising hussy." + +Pathfinder looked earnestly at the lieutenant, for it was impossible he +should not feel an interest in what might be Mabel's opinion; but he had +too much of the innate and true feeling of a gentleman to ask to hear +what another had said of him. Muir, however, was not to be foiled by +this self-denial and self-respect; for, believing he had a man of great +truth and simplicity to deal with, he determined to practise on his +credulity, as one means of getting rid of his rivalry. He therefore +pursued the subject, as soon as he perceived that his companion's +self-denial was stronger than his curiosity. + +"You ought to know her opinion, Pathfinder," he continued; "and I think +every man ought to hear what his friends and acquaintances say of him: +and so, by way of proving my own regard for your character and feelings, +I'll just tell you in as few words as possible. You know that Mabel has +a wicked, malicious way with them eyes of her own, when she has a mind +to be hard upon one's feelings." + +"To me her eyes, Lieutenant Muir, have always seemed winning and soft, +though I will acknowledge that they sometimes laugh; yes, I have known +them to laugh, and that right heartily, and with downright goodwill." + +"Well, it was just that then; her eyes were laughing with all their +might, as it were; and in the midst of all her fun, she broke out with +an exclamation to this effect:--I hope 'twill no' hurt your sensibility, +Pathfinder?" + +"I will not say Quartermaster, I will not say. Mabel's opinion of me is +of no more account than that of most others." + +"Then I'll no' tell ye, but just keep discretion on the subject; and why +should a man be telling another what his friends say of him, especially +when they happen to say that which may not be pleasant to hear? I'll not +add another word to this present communication." + +"I cannot make you speak, Quartermaster, if you are not so minded, and +perhaps it is better for me not to know Mabel's opinion, as you seem to +think it is not in my favor. Ah's me! if we could be what we wish to be, +instead of being only what we are, there would be a great difference in +our characters and knowledge and appearance. One may be rude and coarse +and ignorant, and yet happy, if he does not know it; but it is hard to +see our own failings in the strongest light, just as we wish to hear the +least about them." + +"That's just the _rationale_, as the French say, of the matter; and so I +was telling Mabel, when she ran away and left me. You noticed the manner +in which she skipped off as you approached?" + +"It was very observable," answered Pathfinder, drawing a long breath +and clenching the barrel of his rifle as if the fingers would bury +themselves in the iron. + +"It was more than observable--it was flagrant; that's just the word, and +the dictionary wouldn't supply a better, after an hour's search. +Well, you must know, Pathfinder,--for I cannot reasonably deny you the +gratification of hearing this,--so you must know the minx bounded off +in that manner in preference to hearing what I had to say in your +justification." + +"And what could you find to say in my behalf, Quartermaster?" + +"Why, d'ye understand, my friend, I was ruled by circumstances, and +no' ventured indiscreetly into generalities, but was preparing to meet +particulars, as it might be, with particulars. If you were thought wild, +half-savage, or of a frontier formation, I could tell her, ye know, that +it came of the frontier, wild and half-savage life ye'd led; and all +her objections must cease at once, or there would be a sort of a +misunderstanding with Providence." + +"And did you tell her this, Quartermaster?" + +"I'll no' swear to the exact words, but the idea was prevalent in my +mind, ye'll understand. The girl was impatient, and would not hear the +half I had to say; but away she skipped, as ye saw with your own eyes, +Pathfinder, as if her opinion were fully made up, and she cared to +listen no longer. I fear her mind may be said to have come to its +conclusion?" + +"I fear it has indeed, Quartermaster, and her father, after all, is +mistaken. Yes, yes; the Sergeant has fallen into a grievous error." + +"Well, man, why need ye lament, and undo all the grand reputation ye've +been so many weary years making? Shoulder the rifle that ye use so well, +and off into the woods with ye, for there's not the female breathing +that is worth a heavy heart for a minute, as I know from experience. +Tak' the word of one who knows the sax, and has had two wives, that +women, after all, are very much the sort of creatures we do not imagine +them to be. Now, if you would really mortify Mabel, here is as glorious +an occasion as any rejected lover could desire." + +"The last wish I have, Lieutenant, would be to mortify Mabel." + +"Well, ye'll come to that in the end, notwithstanding; for it's +human nature to desire to give unpleasant feelings to them that give +unpleasant feelings to us. But a better occasion never offered to make +your friends love you, than is to be had at this very moment, and that +is the certain means of causing one's enemies to envy us." + +"Quartermaster, Mabel is not my inimy; and if she was, the last thing I +could desire would be to give her an uneasy moment." + +"Ye say so, Pathfinder, ye say so, and I daresay ye think so; but reason +and nature are both against you, as ye'll find in the end. Ye've +heard the saying 'love me, love my dog:' well, now, that means, read +backwards, 'don't love me, don't love my dog.' Now, listen to what is +in your power to do. You know we occupy an exceedingly precarious and +uncertain position here, almost in the jaws of the lion, as it were?" + +"Do you mean the Frenchers by the lion, and this island as his jaws, +Lieutenant?" + +"Metaphorically only, my friend, for the French are no lions, and this +island is not a jaw--unless, indeed, it may prove to be, what I greatly +fear may come true, the jaw-bone of an ass." + +Here the Quartermaster indulged in a sneering laugh, that proclaimed +anything but respect and admiration for his friend Lundie's sagacity in +selecting that particular spot for his operations. + +"The post is as well chosen as any I ever put foot in," said Pathfinder, +looking around him as one surveys a picture. + +"I'll no' deny it, I'll no' deny it. Lundie is a great soldier, in +a small way; and his father was a great laird, with the same +qualification. I was born on the estate, and have followed the Major +so long that I've got to reverence all he says and does: that's just my +weakness, ye'll know, Pathfinder. Well, this post may be the post of an +ass, or of a Solomon, as men fancy; but it's most critically placed, +as is apparent by all Lundie's precautions and injunctions. There are +savages out scouting through these Thousand Islands and over the forest, +searching for this very spot, as is known to Lundie himself, on certain +information; and the greatest service you can render the 55th is to +discover their trails and lead them off on a false scent. Unhappily +Sergeant Dunham has taken up the notion that the danger is to be +apprehended from up-stream, because Frontenac lies above us; whereas all +experience tells us that Indians come on the side which is most contrary +to reason, and, consequently, are to be expected from below. Take your +canoe, therefore, and go down-stream among the islands, that we may have +notice if any danger approaches from that quarter." + +"The Big Sarpent is on the look-out in that quarter; and as he knows the +station well, no doubt he will give us timely notice, should any wish to +sarcumvent us in that direction." + +"He is but an Indian, after all, Pathfinder; and this is an affair +that calls for the knowledge of a white man. Lundie will be eternally +grateful to the man who shall help this little enterprise to come off +with flying colors. To tell you the truth, my friend, he is conscious it +should never have been attempted; but he has too much of the old laird's +obstinacy about him to own an error, though it be as manifest as the +morning star." + +The Quartermaster then continued to reason with his companion, in order +to induce him to quit the island without delay, using such arguments +as first suggested themselves, sometimes contradicting himself, and not +unfrequently urging at one moment a motive that at the next was directly +opposed by another. The Pathfinder, simple as he was, detected these +flaws in the Lieutenant's philosophy, though he was far from suspecting +that they proceeded from a desire to clear the coast of Mabel's suitor. +He did not exactly suspect the secret objects of Muir, but he was far +from being blind to his sophistry. The result was that the two parted, +after a long dialogue, unconvinced, and distrustful of each other's +motives, though the distrust of the guide, like all that was connected +with the man, partook of his own upright, disinterested, and ingenuous +nature. + +A conference that took place soon after between Sergeant Dunham and the +Lieutenant led to more consequences. When it was ended, secret orders +were issued to the men, the blockhouse was taken possession of, the huts +were occupied, and one accustomed to the movements of soldiers might +have detected that an expedition was in the wind. In fact, just as the +sun was setting, the Sergeant, who had been much occupied at what was +called the harbor, came into his own hut, followed by Pathfinder and +Cap; and as he took his seat at the neat table which Mabel had prepared +for him, he opened the budget of his intelligence. + +"You are likely to be of some use here, my child," the old soldier +commenced, "as this tidy and well-ordered supper can testify; and I +trust, when the proper moment arrives, you will show yourself to be the +descendant of those who know how to face their enemies." + +"You do not expect me, dear father, to play Joan of Arc, and to lead the +men to battle?" + +"Play whom, child? Did you ever hear of the person Mabel mentions, +Pathfinder?" + +"Not I, Sergeant; but what of that? I am ignorant and unedicated, and +it is too great a pleasure to me to listen to her voice, and take in her +words, to be particular about persons." + +"I know her," said Cap decidedly; "she sailed a privateer out of Morlaix +in the last war; and good cruises she made of them." + +Mabel blushed at having inadvertently made an allusion that went beyond +her father's reading, to say nothing of her uncle's dogmatism, and, +perhaps, a little at the Pathfinder's simple, ingenuous earnestness; but +she did not forbear the less to smile. + +"Why, father, I am not expected to fall in with the men, and to help +defend the island?" + +"And yet women have often done such things in this quarter of the world, +girl, as our friend, the Pathfinder here, will tell you. But lest you +should be surprised at not seeing us when you awake in the morning, it +is proper that I now tell you we intend to march in the course of this +very night." + +"_We_, father! and leave me and Jennie on this island alone?" + +"No, my daughter; not quite as unmilitary as that. We shall leave +Lieutenant Muir, brother Cap, Corporal M'Nab, and three men to compose +the garrison during our absence. Jennie will remain with you in this +hut, and brother Cap will occupy my place." + +"And Mr. Muir?" said Mabel, half unconscious of what she uttered, though +she foresaw a great deal of unpleasant persecution in the arrangement. + +"Why, he can make love to you, if you like it, girl; for he is an +amorous youth, and, having already disposed of four wives, is impatient +to show how much he honors their memories by taking a fifth." + +"The Quartermaster tells me," said Pathfinder innocently, "that when a +man's feelings have been harassed by so many losses, there is no wiser +way to soothe them than by ploughing up the soil anew, in such a manner +as to leave no traces of what have gone over it before." + +"Ay, that is just the difference between ploughing and harrowing," +returned the Sergeant, with a grim smile. "But let him tell Mabel his +mind, and there will be an end of his suit. I very well know that _my_ +daughter will never be the wife of Lieutenant Muir." + +This was said in a way that was tantamount to declaring that no daughter +of his ever _should_ become the wife of the person in question. Mabel +had colored, trembled, half laughed, and looked uneasy; but, rallying +her spirit, she said, in a voice so cheerful as completely to conceal +her agitation, "But, father, we might better wait until Mr. Muir +manifests a wish that your daughter would have him, or rather a wish to +have your daughter, lest we get the fable of sour grapes thrown into our +faces." + +"And what is that fable, Mabel?" eagerly demanded Pathfinder, who was +anything but learned in the ordinary lore of white men. "Tell it to us, +in your own pretty way; I daresay the Sergeant never heard it." + +Mabel repeated the well-known fable, and, as her suitor had desired, +in her own pretty way, which was a way to keep his eyes riveted on her +face, and the whole of his honest countenance covered with a smile. + +"That was like a fox!" cried Pathfinder, when she had ceased; "ay, and +like a Mingo, too, cunning and cruel; that is the way with both the +riptyles. As to grapes, they are sour enough in this part of the +country, even to them that can get at them, though I daresay there are +seasons and times and places where they are sourer to them that can't. I +should judge, now, my scalp is very sour in Mingo eyes." + +"The sour grapes will be the other way, child, and it is Mr. Muir who +will make the complaint. You would never marry that man, Mabel?" + +"Not she," put in Cap; "a fellow who is only half a soldier after all. +The story of them there grapes is quite a circumstance." + +"I think little of marrying any one, dear father and dear uncle, and +would rather talk about it less, if you please. But, did I think of +marrying at all, I do believe a man whose affections have already been +tried by three or four wives would scarcely be my choice." + +The Sergeant nodded at the guide, as much as to say, You see how the +land lies; and then he had sufficient consideration for his daughter's +feelings to change the subject. + +"Neither you nor Mabel, brother Cap," he resumed, "can have any legal +authority with the little garrison I leave behind on the island; but you +may counsel and influence. Strictly speaking, Corporal M'Nab will be the +commanding officer, and I have endeavored to impress him with a sense +of his dignity, lest he might give way too much to the superior rank of +Lieutenant Muir, who, being a volunteer, can have no right to interfere +with the duty. I wish you to sustain the Corporal, brother Cap; for +should the Quartermaster once break through the regulations of the +expedition, he may pretend to command me, as well as M'Nab." + +"More particularly, should Mabel really cut him adrift while you are +absent. Of course, Sergeant, you'll leave everything that is +afloat under my care? The most d----ble confusion has grown out of +misunderstandings between commanders-in-chief, ashore and afloat." + +"In one sense, brother, though in a general way, the Corporal is +commander-in-chief. The Corporal must command; but you can counsel +freely, particularly in all matters relating to the boats, of which I +shall leave one behind to secure your retreat, should there be occasion. +I know the Corporal well; he is a brave man and a good soldier; and one +that may be relied on, if the Santa Cruz can be kept from him. But then +he is a Scotchman, and will be liable to the Quartermaster's influence, +against which I desire both you and Mabel to be on your guard." + +"But why leave us behind, dear father? I have come thus far to be a +comfort to you, and why not go farther?" + +"You are a good girl, Mabel, and very like the Dunhams. But you must +halt here. We shall leave the island to-morrow, before the day dawns, +in order not to be seen by any prying eyes coming from our cover, and +we shall take the two largest boats, leaving you the other and one bark +canoe. We are about to go into the channel used by the French, where +we shall lie in wait, perhaps a week, to intercept their supply-boats, +which are about to pass up on their way to Frontenac, loaded, in +particular, with a heavy amount of Indian goods." + +"Have you looked well to your papers, brother?" Cap anxiously demanded. +"Of course you know a capture on the high seas is piracy, unless your +boat is regularly commissioned, either as a public or a private armed +cruiser." + +"I have the honor to hold the Colonel's appointment as sergeant-major +of the 55th," returned the other, drawing himself up with dignity, "and +that will be sufficient even for the French king. If not, I have Major +Duncan's written orders." + +"No papers, then, for a warlike cruiser?" + +"They must suffice, brother, as I have no other. It is of vast +importance to his Majesty's interests, in this part of the world, that +the boats in question should be captured and carried into Oswego. They +contain the blankets, trinkets, rifles, ammunition, in short, all the +stores with which the French bribe their accursed savage allies to +commit their unholy acts, setting at nought our holy religion and its +precepts, the laws of humanity, and all that is sacred and dear among +men. By cutting off these supplies we shall derange their plans, and +gain time on them; for the articles cannot be sent across the ocean +again this autumn." + +"But, father, does not his Majesty employ Indians also?" asked Mabel, +with some curiosity. + +"Certainly, girl, and he has a right to employ them--God bless him! It's +a very different thing whether an Englishman or a Frenchman employs a +savage, as everybody can understand." + +"But, father, I cannot see that this alters the case. If it be wrong in +a Frenchman to hire savages to fight his enemies, it would seem to be +equally wrong in an Englishman. _You_ will admit this, Pathfinder?" + +"It's reasonable, it's reasonable; and I have never been one of them +that has raised a cry ag'in the Frenchers for doing the very thing we +do ourselves. Still it is worse to consort with a Mingo than to consort +with a Delaware. If any of that just tribe were left, I should think it +no sin to send them out ag'in the foe." + +"And yet they scalp and slay young and old, women and children!" + +"They have their gifts, Mabel, and are not to be blamed for following +them; natur' is natur', though the different tribes have different ways +of showing it. For my part I am white, and endeavor to maintain white +feelings." + +"This is all unintelligible to me," answered Mabel. "What is right in +King George, it would seem, ought to be right in King Louis." + +As all parties, Mabel excepted, seemed satisfied with the course the +discussion had taken, no one appeared to think it necessary to pursue +the subject. Supper was no sooner ended than the Sergeant dismissed +his guests, and then held a long and confidential dialogue with his +daughter. He was little addicted to giving way to the gentler emotions, +but the novelty of his present situation awakened feelings that he was +unused to experience. The soldier or the sailor, so long as he acts +under the immediate supervision of a superior, thinks little of the +risks he runs, but the moment he feels the responsibility of command, +all the hazards of his undertaking begin to associate themselves in his +mind: with the chances of success or failure. While he dwells less +on his own personal danger, perhaps, than when that is the principal +consideration, he has more lively general perceptions of all the risks, +and submits more to the influence of the feelings which doubt creates. +Such was now the case with Sergeant Dunham, who, instead of looking +forward to victory as certain, according to his usual habits, began to +feel the possibility that he might be parting with his child for ever. + +Never before had Mabel struck him as so beautiful as she appeared that +night. Possibly she never had displayed so many engaging qualities to +her father; for concern on his account had begun to be active in her +breast; and then her sympathies met with unusual encouragement through +those which had been stirred up in the sterner bosom of the veteran. +She had never been entirely at her ease with her parent, the great +superiority of her education creating a sort of chasm, which had been +widened by the military severity of manner he had acquired by dealing so +long with beings who could only be kept in subjection by an unremitted +discipline. On the present occasion, however, the conversation between +the father and daughter became more confidential than usual, until Mabel +rejoiced to find that it was gradually becoming endearing, a state of +feeling that the warm-hearted girl had silently pined for in vain ever +since her arrival. + +"Then mother was about my height?" Mabel said, as she held one of her +father's hands in both her own, looking up into his face with humid +eyes. "I had thought her taller." + +"That is the way with most children who get a habit of thinking of their +parents with respect, until they fancy them larger and more commanding +than they actually are. Your mother, Mabel, was as near your height as +one woman could be to another." + +"And her eyes, father?" + +"Her eyes were like thine, child, too; blue and soft, and inviting like, +though hardly so laughing." + +"Mine will never laugh again, dearest father, if you do not take care of +yourself in this expedition." + +"Thank you, Mabel--hem--thank you, child; but I must do my duty. I wish +I had seen you comfortably married before we left Oswego; my mind would +be easier." + +"Married!--to whom, father?" + +"You know the man I wish you to love. You may meet with many gayer, and +many dressed in finer clother; but with none with so true a heart and +just a mind." + +"None father?" + +"I know of none; in these particulars Pathfinder has few equals at +least." + +"But I need not marry at all. You are single, and I can remain to take +care of you." + +"God bless you, Mabel! I know you would, and I do not say that the +feeling is not right, for I suppose it is; and yet I believe there is +another that is more so." + +"What can be more right than to honor one's parents?" + +"It is just as right to honor one's husband, my dear child." + +"But I have no husband, father." + +"Then take one as soon as possible, that you may have a husband to +honor. I cannot live for ever, Mabel, but must drop off in the course of +nature ere long, if I am not carried off in the course of war. You are +young, and may yet live long; and it is proper that you should have a +male protector, who can see you safe through life, and take care of you +in age, as you now wish to take care of me." + +"And do you think, father," said Mabel, playing with his sinewy fingers +with her own little hands, and looking down at them, as if they were +subjects of intense interest, though her lips curled in a slight smile +as the words came from them,--"and do you think, father, that Pathfinder +is just the man to do this? Is he not, within ten or twelve years, as +old as yourself?" + +"What of that? His life has been one of moderation and exercise, and +years are less to be counted, girl, than constitution. Do you know +another more likely to be your protector?" + +Mabel did not; at least another who had expressed a desire to that +effect, whatever might have been her hopes and her wishes. + +"Nay, father, we are not talking of another, but of the Pathfinder," +she answered evasively. "If he were younger, I think it would be more +natural for me to think of him for a husband." + +"'Tis all in the constitution, I tell you, child; Pathfinder is a +younger man than half our subalterns." + +"He is certainly younger than one, sir--Lieutenant Muir." + +Mabel's laugh was joyous and light-hearted, as if just then she felt no +care. + +"That he is--young enough to be his grandson; he is younger in years, +too. God forbid, Mabel, that you should ever become an officer's lady, +at least until you are an officer's daughter!" + +"There will be little fear of that, father, if I marry Pathfinder," +returned the girl, looking up archly in the Sergeant's face again. + +"Not by the king's commission, perhaps, though the man is even now the +friend and companion of generals. I think I could die happy, Mabel, if +you were his wife." + +"Father!" + +"'Tis a sad thing to go into battle with the weight of an unprotected +daughter laid upon the heart." + +"I would give the world to lighten yours of its load, my dear sir." + +"It might be done," said the Sergeant, looking fondly at his child; +"though I could not wish to put a burthen on yours in order to do so." + +The voice was deep and tremulous, and never before had Mabel witnessed +such a show of affection in her parent. The habitual sternness of the +man lent an interest to his emotions which they might otherwise have +wanted, and the daughter's heart yearned to relieve the father's mind. + +"Father, speak plainly!" she cried, almost convulsively. + +"Nay, Mabel, it might not be right; your wishes and mine may be very +different." + +"I have no wishes--know nothing of what you mean. Would you speak of my +future marriage?" + +"If I could see you promised to Pathfinder--know that you were pledged +to become his wife, let my own fate be what it might, I think I could +die happy. But I will ask no pledge of you, my child; I will not force +you to do what you might repent. Kiss me, Mabel, and go to your bed." + +Had Sergeant Dunham exacted of Mabel the pledge that he really so much +desired, he would have encountered a resistance that he might have found +it difficult to overcome; but, by letting nature have its course, +he enlisted a powerful ally on his side, and the warm-hearted, +generous-minded Mabel was ready to concede to her affections much more +than she would ever have yielded to menace. At that touching moment she +thought only of her parent, who was about to quit her, perhaps for ever; +and all of that ardent love for him, which had possibly been as much fed +by the imagination as by anything else, but which had received a little +check by the restrained intercourse of the last fortnight, now returned +with a force that was increased by pure and intense feeling. Her father +seemed all in all to her, and to render him happy there was no proper +sacrifice which she was not ready to make. One painful, rapid, almost +wild gleam of thought shot across the brain of the girl, and her +resolution wavered; but endeavoring to trace the foundation of the +pleasing hope on which it was based, she found nothing positive to +support it. Trained like a woman to subdue her most ardent feelings, her +thoughts reverted to her father, and to the blessings that awaited the +child who yielded to a parent's wishes. + +"Father," she said quietly, almost with a holy calm, "God blesses the +dutiful daughter." + +"He will, Mabel; we have the Good Book for that." + +"I will marry whomever you desire." + +"Nay, nay, Mabel, you may have a choice of your own--" + +"I have no choice; that is, none have asked me to have a choice, +but Pathfinder and Mr. Muir; and between _them_, neither of us would +hesitate. No, father; I will marry whomever you may choose." + +"Thou knowest my choice, beloved child; none other can make thee as +happy as the noble-hearted guide." + +"Well, then, if he wish it, if he ask me again--for, father, you would +not have me offer myself, or that any one should do that office for me," +and the blood stole across the pallid cheeks of Mabel as she spoke, for +high and generous resolutions had driven back the stream of life to her +heart; "no one must speak to him of it; but if he seek me again, and, +knowing all that a true girl ought to tell the man she marries, he then +wishes to make me his wife, I will be his." + +"Bless you, my Mabel! God in heaven bless you, and reward you as a pious +daughter deserves to be rewarded!" + +"Yes, father, put your mind at peace; go on this expedition with a +light heart, and trust in God. For me you will have now no care. In +the spring--I must have a little time, father--but in the spring I will +marry Pathfinder, if that noble-hearted hunter shall then desire it." + +"Mabel, he loves you as I loved your mother. I have seen him weep like a +child when speaking of his feelings towards you." + +"Yes, I believe it; I've seen enough to satisfy me that he thinks better +of me than I deserve; and certainly the man is not living for whom I +have more respect than for Pathfinder; not even for you, dear father." + +"That is as it should be, child, and the union will be blessed. May I +not tell Pathfinder this?" + +"I would rather you would not, father. Let it come of itself, come +naturally." The smile that illuminated Mabel's handsome face was +angelic, as even her parent thought, though one better practised +in detecting the passing emotions, as they betray themselves in the +countenance, might have traced something wild and unnatural in it. "No, +no, _we_ must let things take their course; father, you have my solemn +promise." + +"That will do, that will do, Mabel, now kiss me. God bless and protect +you, girl! you are a good daughter." + +Mabel threw herself into her father's arms--it was the first time in her +life--and sobbed on his bosom like an infant. The stern soldier's heart +was melted, and the tears of the two mingled; but Sergeant Dunham soon +started, as if ashamed of himself, and, gently forcing his daughter from +him, he bade her good-night, and sought his pallet. Mabel went sobbing +to the rude corner that had been prepared for her reception; and in +a few minutes the hut was undisturbed by any sound, save the heavy +breathing of the veteran. + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + 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 that prevailed on the lake fifty miles +above her. The glimpses of natural scenery that offered were very soft +and pleasing; and our heroine, who had a quick eye for all that was +lovely in nature, was not slow in selecting the most striking bits of +landscape. She gazed through the different vistas formed by the openings +between the islands, and thought she had never looked on aught more +lovely. + +While thus occupied, Mabel was suddenly alarmed by fancying that she +caught a glimpse of a human form among the bushes that lined the shore +of the island which lay directly before her. The distance across the +water was not a hundred yards; and, though she might be mistaken, and +her fancy was wandering when the form passed before her sight, still +she did not think she could be deceived. Aware that her sex would be no +protection against a rifle bullet, should an Iroquois get a view of her, +the girl instinctively drew back, taking care to conceal her person as +much as possible by the leaves, while she kept her own look riveted on +the opposite shore, vainly waiting for some time in the expectation of +the stranger. She was about to quit her post in the bushes and hasten to +her uncle, in order to acquaint him of her suspicions, when she saw +the branch of an alder thrust beyond the fringe of bushes on the other +island, and waved towards her significantly, and as she fancied in +token of amity. This was a breathless and a trying moment to one as +inexperienced in frontier warfare as our heroine and yet she felt the +great necessity that existed for preserving her recollection, and of +acting with steadiness and discretion. + +It was one of the peculiarities of the exposure to which those who +dwelt on the frontiers of America were liable, to bring out the moral +qualities of the women to a degree which they must themselves, under +other circumstances, have believed they were incapable of manifesting; +and Mabel well knew that the borderers loved to dwell in their legends +on the presence of mind, fortitude, and spirit that their wives and +sisters had displayed under circumstances the most trying. Her emulation +had been awakened by what she had heard on such subjects; and it at once +struck her that now was the moment for her to show that she was truly +Sergeant Dunham's child. The motion of the branch was such as she +believed indicated amity; and, after a moment's hesitation, she broke +off a twig, fastened it to a stick and, thrusting it through an opening, +waved it in return, imitating as closely as possible the manner of the +other. + +This dumb show lasted two or three minutes on both sides, when Mabel +perceived that the bushes opposite were cautiously pushed aside, and a +human face appeared at an opening. A glance sufficed to let Mabel see +that it was the countenance of a red-skin, as well as that of a woman. +A second and a better look satisfied her that it was the face of the +Dew-of-June, the wife of Arrowhead. During the time she had travelled in +company with this woman, Mabel had been won by the gentleness of manner, +the meek simplicity, and the mingled awe and affection with which she +regarded her husband. Once or twice in the course of the journey she +fancied the Tuscarora had manifested towards herself an unpleasant +degree of attention; and on those occasions it had struck her that his +wife exhibited sorrow and mortification. As Mabel, however, had more +than compensated for any pain she might in this way unintentionally have +caused her companion, by her own kindness of manner and attentions, the +woman had shown much attachment to her, and they had parted, with a deep +conviction on the mind of our heroine that in the Dew-of-June she had +lost a friend. + +It is useless to attempt to analyze all the ways by which the human +heart is led into confidence. Such a feeling, however, had the young +Tuscarora woman awakened in the breast of our heroine; and the latter, +under the impression that this extraordinary visit was intended for her +own good, felt every disposition to have a closer communication. She no +longer hesitated about showing herself clear of the bushes, and was +not sorry to see the Dew-of-June imitate her confidence, by stepping +fearlessly out of her own cover. The two girls, for the Tuscarora, +though married, was even younger than Mabel, now openly exchanged signs +of friendship, and the latter beckoned to her friend to approach, though +she knew not the manner herself in which this object could be effected. +But the Dew-of-June was not slow in letting it be seen that it was in +her power; for, disappearing in a moment, she soon showed herself again +in the end of a bark canoe, the bows of which she had drawn to the edge +of the bushes, and of which the body still lay in a sort of covered +creek. Mabel was about to invite her to cross, when her own name was +called aloud in the stentorian voice of her uncle. Making a hurried +gesture for the Tuscarora girl to conceal herself, Mabel sprang from the +bushes and tripped up the glade towards the sound, and perceived that +the whole party had just seated themselves at breakfast; Cap having +barely put his appetite under sufficient restraint to summon her to join +them. That this was the most favorable instant for the interview flashed +on the mind of Mabel; and, excusing herself on the plea of not being +prepared for the meal, she bounded back to the thicket, and soon renewed +her communications with the young Indian woman. + +Dew-of-June was quick of comprehension; and with half a dozen noiseless +strokes of the paddles, her canoe was concealed in the bushes of Station +Island. In another minute, Mabel held her hand, and was leading her +through the grove towards her own hut. Fortunately the latter was so +placed as to be completely hid from the sight of those at the fire, and +they both entered it unseen. Hastily explaining to her guest, in the +best manner she could, the necessity of quitting her for a short time, +Mabel, first placing the Dew-of-June in her own room, with a full +certainty that she would not quit it until told to do so, went to the +fire and took her seat among the rest, with all the composure it was in +her power to command. + +"Late come, late served, Mabel," said her uncle, between mouthfuls of +broiled salmon; for though the cookery might be very unsophisticated on +that remote frontier, the viands were generally delicious,--"late come, +late served; it is a good rule, and keeps laggards up to their work." + +"I am no laggard, Uncle; for I have been stirring nearly an hour, and +exploring our island." + +"It's little you'll make o' that, Mistress Mabel," put in Muir; "that's +little by nature. Lundie--or it might be better to style him Major +Duncan in this presence" (this was said in consideration of the +corporal and the common men, though they were taking their meal a little +apart)--"has not added an empire to his Majesty's dominions in getting +possession of this island, which is likely to equal that of the +celebrated Sancho in revenues and profits--Sancho, of whom, doubtless, +Master Cap, you'll often have been reading in your leisure hours, more +especially in calms and moments of inactivity." + +"I know the spot you mean, Quartermaster; Sancho's Island--coral rock, +of new formation, and as bad a landfall, in a dark night and blowing +weather, as a sinner could wish to keep clear of. It's a famous place +for cocoanuts and bitter water, that Sancho's Island." + +"It's no' very famous for dinners," returned Muir, repressing the smile +which was struggling to his lips out of respect to Mabel; "nor do I +think there'll be much to choose between its revenue and that of this +spot. In my judgment, Master Cap, this is a very unmilitary position, +and I look to some calamity befalling it, sooner or later." + +"It is to be hoped not until our turn of duty is over," observed Mabel. +"I have no wish to study the French language." + +"We might think ourselves happy, did it not prove to be the Iroquois. I +have reasoned with Major Duncan on the occupation of this position, but +'a wilfu' man maun ha' his way.' My first object in accompanying this +party was to endeavor to make myself acceptable and useful to your +beautiful niece, Master Cap; and the second was to take such an account +of the stores that belong to my particular department as shall leave no +question open to controversy, concerning the manner of expenditure, when +they shall have disappeared by means of the enemy." + +"Do you look upon matters as so serious?" demanded Cap, actually +suspending his mastication of a bit of venison--for he passed +alternately from fish to flesh and back again--in the interest he took +in the answer. "Is the danger pressing?" + +"I'll no' say just that; and I'll no' say just the contrary. There is +always danger in war, and there is more of it at the advanced posts than +at the main encampment. It ought, therefore, to occasion no surprise +were we to be visited by the French at any moment." + +"And what the devil is to be done in that case? Six men and two women +would make but a poor job in defending such a place as this, should the +enemy invade us; as, no doubt, Frenchman-like, they would take very good +care to come strong-handed." + +"That we may depend on--some very formidable force at the very lowest. A +military disposition might be made in defence of the island, out of all +question, and according to the art of war, though we would probably fail +in the force necessary to carry out the design in any very creditable +manner. In the first place, a detachment should be sent off to the +shore, with orders to annoy the enemy in landing; a strong party ought +instantly to be thrown into the blockhouse, as the citadel, for on that +all the different detachments would naturally fall back for support, as +the French advanced; and an entrenched camp might be laid out around +the stronghold, as it would be very unmilitary indeed to let the foe +get near enough to the foot of the walls to mine them. Chevaux-de-frise +would keep the cavalry in check; and as for the artillery, redoubts +should be thrown up under cover of yon woods. Strong skirmishing +parties, moreover, would be exceedingly serviceable in retarding the +march of the enemy; and these different huts, if properly piqueted +and ditched, would be converted into very eligible positions for that +object." + +"Whe-e-e-w-, Quartermaster! And who the d---l is to find all the men to +carry out such a plan?" + +"The king, out of all question, Master Cap. It is his quarrel, and it's +just he should bear the burthen o' it." + +"And we are only six! This is fine talking, with a vengeance. You could +be sent down to the shore to oppose the landing, Mabel might skirmish +with her tongue at least, the soldier's wife might act chevaux-de-frise +to entangle the cavalry, the corporal should command the entrenched +camp, his three men could occupy the five huts, and I would take the +blockhouse. Whe-e-e-w! you describe well, Lieutenant; and should have +been a limner instead of a soldier." + +"Na, I've been very literal and upright in my exposition of matters. +That there is no greater force here to carry out the plan is a fault of +his Majesty's ministers, and none of mine." + +"But should our enemy really appear," asked Mabel, with more interest +than she might have shown, had she not remembered the guest in the hut, +"what course ought we to pursue?" + +"My advice would be to attempt to achieve that, pretty Mabel, which +rendered Xenophon so justly celebrated." + +"I think you mean a retreat, though I half guess at your allusion." + +"You've imagined my meaning from the possession of a strong native +sense, young lady. I am aware that your worthy father has pointed out to +the Corporal certain modes and methods by which he fancies this island +could be held, in case the French should discover its position; but the +excellent Sergeant, though your father, and as good a man in his duties +as ever wielded a spontoon, is not the great Lord Stair, or even +the Duke of Marlborough. I'll not deny the Sergeant's merits in his +particular sphere; though I cannot exaggerate qualities, however +excellent, into those of men who may be in some trifling degree his +superiors. Sergeant Dunham has taken counsel of his heart, instead of +his head, in resolving to issue such orders; but, if the fort fall, the +blame will lie on him that ordered it to be occupied, and not on him +whose duty it was to defend it. Whatever may be the determination of the +latter, should the French and their allies land, a good commander never +neglects the preparations necessary to effect a retreat; and I would +advise Master Cap, who is the admiral of our navy, to have a boat in +readiness to evacuate the island, if need comes to need. The largest +boat that we have left carries a very ample sail; and by hauling +it round here, and mooring it under those bushes, there will be a +convenient place for a hurried embarkation; and then you'll perceive, +pretty Mabel, that it is scarcely fifty yards before we shall be in a +channel between two other islands, and hid from the sight of those who +may happen to be on this." + +"All that you say is very true, Mr. Muir; but may not the French come +from that quarter themselves? If it is so good for a retreat, it is +equally good for an advance." + +"They'll no' have the sense to do so discreet a thing," returned Muir, +looking furtively and a little uneasily around him; "they'll no' have +sufficient discretion. Your French are a head-over-heels nation, and +usually come forward in a random way; so we may look for them, if they +come at all, on the other side of the island." + +The discourse now became exceedingly desultory, touching principally, +however, on the probabilities of an invasion, and the best means of +meeting it. + +To most of this Mabel paid but little attention; though she felt some +surprise that Lieutenant Muir, an officer whose character for courage +stood well, should openly recommend an abandonment of what appeared to +her to be doubly a duty, her father's character being connected with the +defence of the island. Her mind, however, was so much occupied with her +guest, that, seizing the first favorable moment, she left the table, and +was soon in her own hut again. Carefully fastening the door, and seeing +that the simple curtain was drawn before the single little window, Mabel +next led the Dew-of-June, or June, as she was familiarly termed by +those who spoke to her in English, into the outer room, making signs of +affection and confidence. + +"I am glad to see you, June," said Mabel, with one of her sweetest +smiles, and in her own winning voice,--"very glad to see you. What has +brought you hither, and how did you discover the island?" + +"Speak slow," said June, returning smile for smile, and pressing the +little hand she held with one of her own that was scarcely larger, +though it had been hardened by labor; "more slow--too quick." + +Mabel repeated her questions, endeavoring to repress the impetuosity +of her feelings; and she succeeded in speaking so distinctly as to be +understood. + +"June, friend," returned the Indian woman. + +"I believe you, June--from my soul I believe you; what has this to do +with your visit?" + +"Friend come to see friend," answered June, again smiling openly in the +other's face. + +"There is some other reason, June, else would you never run this risk, +and alone. You are alone, June?" + +"June wid you, no one else. June come alone, paddle canoe." + +"I hope so, I think so--nay, I know so. You would not be treacherous +with me, June?" + +"What treacherous?" + +"You would not betray me, would not give me to the French, to the +Iroquois, to Arrowhead?" + +June shook her head earnestly. + +"You would not sell my scalp?" + +Here June passed her arm fondly around the slender waist of Mabel and +pressed her to her heart with a tenderness and affection that brought +tears into the eyes of our heroine. It was done in the fond caressing +manner of a woman, and it was scarcely possible that it should not +obtain credit for sincerity with a young and ingenuous person of the +same sex. Mabel returned the pressure, and then held the other off at +the length of her arm, looked her steadily in the face, and continued +her inquiries. + +"If June has something to tell her friend, let her speak plainly," she +said. "My ears are open." + +"June 'fraid Arrowhead kill her." + +"But Arrowhead will never know it." Mabel's blood mounted to her +temples as she said this; for she felt that she was urging a wife to be +treacherous to her husband. "That is, Mabel will not tell him." + +"He bury tomahawk in June's head." + +"That must never be, dear June; I would rather you should say no more +than run this risk." + +"Blockhouse good place to sleep, good place to stay." + +"Do you mean that I may save my life by keeping in the blockhouse, June? +Surely, surely, Arrowhead will not hurt you for telling me that. He +cannot wish me any great harm, for I never injured him." + +"Arrowhead wish no harm to handsome pale-face," returned June, averting +her face; and, though she always spoke in the soft, gentle voice of an +Indian girl, now permitting its notes to fall so low as to cause them to +sound melancholy and timid. "Arrowhead love pale-face girl." + +Mabel blushed, she knew not why, and for a moment her questions were +repressed by a feeling of inherent delicacy. But it was necessary to +know more, for her apprehensions had been keenly awakened, and she +resumed her inquiries. + +"Arrowhead can have no reason to love or to hate _me_," she said. "Is he +near you?" + +"Husband always near wife, here," said June, laying her hand on her +heart. + +"Excellent creature! But tell me, June, ought I to keep in the +blockhouse to-day--this morning--now?" + +"Blockhouse very good; good for women. Blockhouse got no scalp." + +"I fear I understand you only too well, June. Do you wish to see my +father?" + +"No here; gone away." + +"You cannot know that, June; you see the island is full of his +soldiers." + +"No full; gone away,"--here June held up four of her fingers,--"so many +red-coats." + +"And Pathfinder? would you not like to see the Pathfinder? He can talk +to you in the Iroquois tongue." + +"Tongue gone wid him," said June, laughing; "keep tongue in his mout'." + +There was something so sweet and contagious in the infantile laugh of +an Indian girl, that Mabel could not refrain from joining in it, much as +her fears were aroused by all that had passed. + +"You appear to know, or to think you know, all about us, June. But if +Pathfinder be gone, Eau-douce can speak French too. You know Eau-douce; +shall I run and bring him to talk with you?" + +"Eau-douce gone too, all but heart; that there." As June said this, +she laughed again; looked in different directions, as if unwilling to +confuse the other, and laid her hand on Mabel's bosom. + +Our heroine had often heard of the wonderful sagacity of the Indians, +and of the surprising manner in which they noted all things, while they +appeared to regard none; but she was scarcely prepared for the direction +the discourse had so singularly taken. Willing to change it, and at the +same time truly anxious to learn how great the danger that impended over +them might really be, she rose from the camp-stool on which she had been +seated; and, by assuming an attitude of less affectionate confidence, +she hoped to hear more of that she really desired to learn, and to avoid +allusions to that which she found so embarrassing. + +"You know how much or how little you ought to tell me, June," she said; +"and I hope you love me well enough to give me the information I ought +to hear. My dear uncle, too, is on the island, and you are, or ought +to be, his friend as well as mine; and both of us will remember your +conduct when we get back to Oswego." + +"Maybe, never get back; who know?" This was said doubtingly, or as +one who lays down an uncertain proposition, and not with a taunt, or a +desire to alarm. + +"No one knows what will happen but God. Our lives are in His hands. +Still, I think you are to be His instrument in saving us." + +This passed June's comprehension, and she only looked her ignorance; for +it was evident she wished to be of use. + +"Blockhouse very good," she repeated, as soon as her countenance ceased +to express uncertainty, laying strong emphasis on the last two words. + +"Well, I understand this, June, and will sleep in it to-night. Of course +I am to tell my uncle what you have said?" + +The Dew-of-June started, and she discovered a very manifest uneasiness +at the interrogatory. + +"No, no, no, no!" she answered, with a volubility and vehemence that was +imitated from the French of the Canadas; "no good to tell Saltwater. He +much talk and long tongue. Thinks woods all water, understand not'ing. +Tell Arrowhead, and June die." + +"You do my dear uncle injustice, for he would be as little likely to +betray you as any one." + +"No understand. Saltwater got tongue, but no eyes, no ears, no +nose--not'ing but tongue, tongue, tongue!" + +Although Mabel did not exactly coincide in this opinion, she saw that +Cap had not the confidence of the young Indian woman, and that it +was idle to expect she would consent to his being admitted to their +interview. + +"You appear to think you know our situation pretty well, June," Mabel +continued; "have you been on the island before this visit?" + +"Just come." + +"How then do you know that what you say is true? My father, the +Pathfinder, and Eau-douce may all be here within sound of my voice, if I +choose to call them." + +"All gone," said June positively, smiling good-humoredly at the same +time. + +"Nay, this is more than you can say certainly, not having been over the +island to examine it." + +"Got good eyes; see boat with men go away--see ship with Eau-douce." + +"Then you have been some time watching us: I think, however, you have +not counted them that remain." + +June laughed, held up her four fingers again, and then pointed to her +two thumbs; passing a finger over the first, she repeated the +words "red-coats;" and touching the last, she added, "Saltwater," +"Quartermaster." All this was being very accurate, and Mabel began +to entertain serious doubts as to the propriety of her permitting her +visitor to depart without her becoming more explicit. Still it was +so repugnant to her feelings to abuse the confidence this gentle and +affectionate creature had evidently reposed in her, that Mabel had no +sooner admitted the thought of summoning her uncle, than she rejected +it as unworthy of herself and unjust to her friend. To aid this good +resolution, too, there was the certainty that June would reveal nothing, +but take refuge in a stubborn silence, if any attempt were made to +coerce her. + +"You think, then, June," Mabel continued, as soon as these thoughts had +passed through her mind, "that I had better live in the blockhouse?" + +"Good place for woman. Blockhouse got no scalp. Logs t'ick." + +"You speak confidently, June; as if you had been in it, and had measured +its walls." + +June laughed; and she looked knowing, though she said nothing. + +"Does any one but yourself know how to find this island? Have any of the +Iroquois seen it?" + +June looked sad, and she cast her eyes warily about her, as if +distrusting a listener. + +"Tuscarora, everywhere--Oswego, here, Frontenac, Mohawk--everywhere. If +he see June, kill her." + +"But we thought that no one knew of this island, and that we had no +reason to fear our enemies while on it." + +"Much eye, Iroquois." + +"Eyes will not always do, June, This spot is hid from ordinary sight, +and few of even our own people know how to find it." + +"One man can tell; some Yengeese talk French." + +Mabel felt a chill at her heart. All the suspicions against Jasper, +which she had hitherto disdained entertaining, crowded in a body on her +thoughts; and the sensation that they brought was so sickening, that for +an instant she imagined she was about to faint. Arousing herself, and +remembering her promise to her father, she arose and walked up and down +the hut for a minute, fancying that Jasper's delinquencies were naught +to her, though her inmost heart yearned with the desire to think him +innocent. + +"I understand your meaning, June," she then said; "you wish me to know +that some one has treacherously told your people where and how to find +the island?" + +June laughed, for in her eyes artifice in war was oftener a merit than +a crime; but she was too true to her tribe herself to say more than the +occasion required. Her object was to save Mabel, and Mabel only; and +she saw no sufficient reason for "travelling out of the record," as the +lawyers express it, in order to do anything else. + +"Pale-face know now," she added. "Blockhouse good for girl, no matter +for men and warriors." + +"But it is much matter with me, June; for one of those men is my uncle, +whom I love, and the others are my countrymen and friends. I must tell +them what has passed." + +"Then June be kill," returned the young Indian quietly, though she +evidently spoke with concern. + +"No; they shall not know that you have been here. Still, they must be on +their guard, and we can all go into the blockhouse." + +"Arrowhead know, see everything, and June be kill. June come to tell +young pale-face friend, not to tell men. Every warrior watch his own +scalp. June woman, and tell woman; no tell men." + +Mabel was greatly distressed at this declaration of her wild friend, for +it was now evident the young creature understood that her communication +was to go no further. She was ignorant how far these people consider the +point of honor interested in her keeping the secret; and most of all +was she unable to say how far any indiscretion of her own might actually +commit June and endanger her life. All these considerations flashed on +her mind, and reflection only rendered their influence more painful. +June, too, manifestly viewed the matter gravely; for she began to gather +up the different little articles she had dropped in taking Mabel's hand, +and was preparing to depart. To attempt detaining her was out of the +question; and to part from her, after all she had hazarded to serve her, +was repugnant to all the just and kind feelings of our heroine's nature. + +"June," said she eagerly, folding her arms round the gentle but +uneducated being, "we are friends. From me you have nothing to fear, for +no one shall know of your visit. If you could give me some signal just +before the danger comes, some sign by which to know when to go into the +blockhouse, how to take care of myself." + +June paused, for she had been in earnest in her intention to depart; and +then she said quietly, "Bring June pigeon." + +"A pigeon! Where shall I find a pigeon to bring you?" + +"Next hut; bring old one; June go to canoe." + +"I think I understand you, June; but had I not better lead you back to +the bushes, lest you meet some of the men?" + +"Go out first; count men, one, two, t'ree, four, five, six"--here June +held up her fingers, and laughed--"all out of the way--good; all but +one, call him one side. Then sing, and fetch pigeon." + +Mabel smiled at the readiness and ingenuity of the girl, and prepared to +execute her requests. At the door, however, she stopped, and looked back +entreatingly at the Indian woman. "Is there no hope of your telling me +more, June?" she said. + +"Know all now, blockhouse good, pigeon tell, Arrowhead kill." + +The last words sufficed; for Mabel could not urge further +communications, when her companion herself told her that the penalty of +her revelations might be death by the hand of her husband. Throwing open +the door, she made a sign of adieu to June, and went out of the hut. +Mabel resorted to the simple expedient of the young Indian girl to +ascertain the situation of the different individuals on the island. +Instead of looking about her with the intention of recognizing faces and +dresses, she merely counted them; and found that three still remained at +the fire, while two had gone to the boat, one of whom was Mr. Muir. The +sixth man was her uncle; and he was coolly arranging some fishing-tackle +at no great distance from the fire. The woman was just entering her own +hut; and this accounted for the whole party. Mabel now, affecting +to have dropped something, returned nearly to the hut she had left, +warbling an air, stooped as if to pick up some object from the ground, +and hurried towards the hut June had mentioned. This was a dilapidated +structure, and it had been converted by the soldiers of the last +detachment into a sort of storehouse for their live stock. Among other +things, it contained a few dozen pigeons, which were regaling on a pile +of wheat that had been brought off from one of the farms plundered on +the Canada shore. Mabel had not much difficulty in catching one of these +pigeons, although they fluttered and flew about the hut with a noise +like that of drums; and, concealing it in her dress, she stole back +towards her own hut with the prize. It was empty; and, without doing +more than cast a glance in at the door, the eager girl hurried down to +the shore. She had no difficulty in escaping observation, for the trees +and bushes made a complete cover to her person. At the canoe she +found June, who took the pigeon, placed it in a basket of her own +manufacturing, and, repeating the words, "blockhouse good," she glided +out of the bushes and across the narrow passage, as noiselessly as she +had come. Mabel waited some time to catch a signal of leave-taking or +amity after her friend had landed, but none was given. The adjacent +islands, without exception, were as quiet as if no one had ever +disturbed the sublime repose of nature, and nowhere could any sign or +symptom be discovered, as Mabel then thought, that might denote the +proximity of the sort of danger of which June had given notice. + +On returning, however, from the shore, Mabel was struck with a little +circumstance, that, in an ordinary situation, would have attracted no +attention, but which, now that her suspicions had been aroused, did not +pass before her uneasy eye unnoticed. A small piece of red bunting, such +as is used in the ensigns of ships, was fluttering at the lower branch +of a small tree, fastened in a way to permit it to blow out, or to droop +like a vessel's pennant. + +Now that Mabel's fears were awakened, June herself could not have +manifested greater quickness in analyzing facts that she believed might +affect the safety of the party. She saw at a glance that this bit of +cloth could be observed from an adjacent island; that it lay so near the +line between her own hut and the canoe as to leave no doubt that June +had passed near it, if not directly under it; and that it might be a +signal to communicate some important fact connected with the mode of +attack to those who were probably lying in ambush near them. Tearing +the little strip of bunting from the tree, Mabel hastened on, scarcely +knowing what her duty next required of her. June might be false to her, +but her manner, her looks, her affection, and her disposition as Mabel +had known it in the journey, forbade the idea. Then came the allusion to +Arrowhead's admiration of the pale-face beauties, some dim recollections +of the looks of the Tuscarora, and a painful consciousness that few +wives could view with kindness one who had estranged a husband's +affections. None of these images were distinct and clear, but they +rather gleamed over the mind of our heroine than rested in it, and they +quickened her pulses, as they did her step, without bringing with them +the prompt and clear decisions that usually followed her reflections. +She had hurried onwards towards the hut occupied by the soldier's wife, +intending to remove at once to the blockhouse with the woman, though +she could persuade no other to follow, when her impatient walk was +interrupted by the voice of Muir. + +"Whither so fast, pretty Mabel?" he cried; "and why so given to +solitude? The worthy Sergeant will deride my breeding, if he hear that +his daughter passes the mornings alone and unattended to, though he +well knows it is my ardent wish to be her slave and companion from the +beginning of the year to its end." + +"Surely, Mr. Muir, you must have some authority here?" Mabel suddenly +arrested her steps to say. "One of your rank would be listened to, at +least, by a corporal?" + +"I don't know that, I don't know that," interrupted Muir, with an +impatience and appearance of alarm that might have excited Mabel's +attention at another moment. "Command is command; discipline, +discipline; and authority, authority. Your good father would be sore +grieved did he find me interfering to sully or carry off the laurels +he is about to win; and I cannot command the Corporal without equally +commanding the Sergeant. The wisest way will be for me to remain in the +obscurity of a private individual in this enterprise; and it is so that +all parties, from Lundie down, understand the transaction." + +"This I know, and it may be well, nor would I give my dear father any +cause of complaint; but you may influence the Corporal to his own good." + +"I'll no' say that," returned Muir in his sly Scotch way; "it would be +far safer to promise to influence him to his injury. Mankind, pretty +Mabel, have their peculiarities; and to influence a fellow-being to his +own good is one of the most difficult tasks of human nature, while the +opposite is just the easiest. You'll no' forget this, my dear, but bear +it in mind for your edification and government. But what is that you're +twisting round your slender finger as you may be said to twist hearts?" + +"It is nothing but a bit of cloth--a sort of flag--a trifle that is +hardly worth our attention at this grave moment. If--" + +"A trifle! It's no' so trifling as ye may imagine, Mistress Mabel," +taking the bit of bunting from her, and stretching it at full length +with both his arms extended, while his face grew grave and his eye +watchful. "Ye'll no' ha' been finding this, Mabel Dunham, in the +breakfast?" + +Mabel simply acquainted him with the spot where and the manner in which +she had found the bit of cloth. While she was speaking, the eye of the +Quartermaster was not quiet for a moment, glancing from the rag to the +face of our heroine, then back again to the rag. That his suspicions +were awakened was easy to be seen, nor was he long in letting it be +known what direction they had taken. + +"We are not in a part of the world where our ensigns and gauds ought to +be spread abroad to the wind, Mabel Dunham!" he said, with an ominous +shake of the head. + +"I thought as much myself, Mr. Muir, and brought away the little flag +lest it might be the means of betraying our presence here to the enemy, +even though nothing is intended by its display. Ought not my uncle to be +made acquainted with the circumstance?" + +"I no' see the necessity for that, pretty Mabel; for, as you justly +say, it is a circumstance, and circumstances sometimes worry the worthy +mariner. But this flag, if flag it can be called, belongs to a seaman's +craft. You may perceive that it is made of what is called bunting, and +that is a description of cloth used only by vessels for such purposes, +_our_ colors being of silk, as you may understand, or painted canvas. +It's surprisingly like the fly of the _Scud's_ ensign. And now I +recollect me to have observed that a piece had been cut from that very +flag." + +Mabel felt her heart sink, but she had sufficient self-command not to +attempt an answer. + +"It must be looked to," Muir continued, "and, after all, I think it may +be well to hold a short consultation with Master Cap, than whom a more +loyal subject does not exist in the British empire." + +"I have thought the warning so serious," Mabel rejoined, "that I am +about to remove to the blockhouse, and to take the woman with me." + +"I do not see the prudence of that, Mabel. The blockhouse will be the +first spot assailed should there really be an attack; and it's no' well +provided for a siege, that must be allowed. If I might advise in so +delicate a contingency, I would recommend your taking refuge in the +boat, which, as you may now perceive, is most favorably placed to +retreat by that channel opposite, where all in it would be hid by the +islands in one or two minutes. Water leaves no trail, as Pathfinder well +expresses it; and there appears to be so many different passages in that +quarter that escape would be more than probable. I've always been +of opinion that Lundie hazarded too much in occupying a post so far +advanced and so much exposed as this." + +"It's too late to regret it now, Mr. Muir, and we have only to consult +our own security." + +"And the king's honor, pretty Mabel. Yes, his Majesty's arms and his +glorious name are not to be overlooked on any occasion." + +"Then I think it might be better if we all turned our eyes towards the +place that has been built to maintain them instead of the boat," said +Mabel, smiling; "and so, Mr. Muir, I am for the blockhouse, intending +to await there the return of my father and his party. He would be sadly +grieved at finding we had fled when he got back successful himself, and +filled with the confidence of our having been as faithful to our duties +as he has been to his own." + +"Nay, nay, for heaven's sake, do not misunderstand me, Mabel!" Muir +interrupted, with some alarm of manner; "I am far from intimating that +any but you females ought to take refuge in the boat. The duty of us men +is sufficiently plain, no doubt, and my resolution has been formed from +the first to stand or fall by the blockhouse." + +"And did you imagine, Mr. Muir, that two females could row that heavy +boat in a way to escape the bark canoe of an Indian?" + +"Ah, my pretty Mabel, love is seldom logical, and its fears and +misgivings are apt to warp the faculties. I only saw your sweet person +in the possession of the means of safety, and overlooked the want of +ability to use them; but you'll not be so cruel, lovely creature, as to +impute to me as a fault my intense anxiety on your own account." + +Mabel had heard enough: her mind was too much occupied with what had +passed that morning, and with her fears, to wish to linger longer to +listen to love speeches, which in her most joyous and buoyant moments +she would have found unpleasant. She took a hasty leave of her +companion, and was about to trip away towards the hilt of the other +woman, when Muir arrested the movement by laying a hand on her arm. + +"One word, Mabel," said he, "before you leave me. This little flag may, +or it may not, have a particular meaning; if it has, now that we are +aware of its being shown, may it not be better to put it back +again, while we watch vigilantly for some answer that may betray the +conspiracy; and if it mean nothing, why, nothing will follow." + +"This may be all right, Mr. Muir, though, if the whole is accidental, +the flag might be the occasion of the fort's being discovered." + +Mabel stayed to utter no more; but she was soon out of sight, +running into the hut towards which she had been first proceeding. The +Quartermaster remained on the very spot and in the precise attitude in +which she had left him for quite a minute, first looking at the bounding +figure of the girl and then at the bit of bunting, which he still held +before him in a way to denote indecision. His irresolution lasted but +for this minute, however; for he was soon beneath the tree, where he +fastened the mimic flag to a branch again, though, from his ignorance +of the precise spot from which it had been taken by Mabel, he left it +fluttering from a part of the oak where it was still more exposed than +before to the eyes of any passenger on the river, though less in view +from the island itself. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + Each one has had his supping mess, + The cheese is put into the press, + The pans and bowls, clean scalded all, + Reared up against the milk-house wall. + COTTON. + + +It seemed strange to Mabel Dunham, as she passed along on her way to +find her female companion, that others should be so composed, while she +herself felt as if the responsibilities of life and death rested on her +shoulders. It is true that distrust of June's motives mingled with her +forebodings; but when she came to recall the affectionate and natural +manner of the young Indian girl, and all the evidences of good faith and +sincerity she had seen in her conduct during the familiar intercourse +of their journey, she rejected the idea with the unwillingness of a +generous disposition to believe ill of others. She saw, however, that +she could not put her companions properly on their guard without letting +them into the secret of her conference with June; and she found herself +compelled to act cautiously and with a forethought to which she was +unaccustomed, more especially in a matter of so much moment. + +The soldier's wife was told to transport the necessaries into the +blockhouse, and admonished not to be far from it at any time during the +day. Mabel did not explain her reasons. She merely stated that she had +detected some signs in walking about the island, which induced her to +apprehend that the enemy had more knowledge of its position than had +been previously believed, and that they two at least, would do well +to be in readiness to seek a refuge at the shortest notice. It was +not difficult to arouse the apprehension of this person, who, though a +stout-hearted Scotchwoman, was ready enough to listen to anything that +confirmed her dread of Indian cruelties. As soon as Mabel believed that +her companion was sufficiently frightened to make her wary, she threw +out some hints touching the inexpediency of letting the soldiers know +the extent of their own fears. This was done with a view to prevent +discussions and inquiries that might embarrass our heroine: she +determining to render her uncle, the Corporal, and his men more +cautious, by adopting a different course. Unfortunately, the British +army could not have furnished a worse person for the particular +duty that he was now required to discharge than Corporal M'Nab, the +individual who had been left in command during the absence of Sergeant +Dunham. On the one hand, he was resolute, prompt, familiar with all +the details of a soldier's life, and used to war; on the other, he was +supercilious as regards the provincials, opinionated on every subject +connected with the narrow limits of his professional practice, much +disposed to fancy the British empire the centre of all that is excellent +in the world, and Scotland the focus of, at least, all moral excellence +in that empire. In short, he was an epitome, though on a scale suited to +his rank, of those very qualities which were so peculiar to the servants +of the Crown that were sent into the colonies, as these servants +estimated themselves in comparison with the natives of the country; or, +in other words, he considered the American as an animal inferior to +the parent stock, and viewed all his notions of military service, in +particular, as undigested and absurd. A more impracticable subject, +therefore, could not well have offered for the purpose of Mabel, and yet +she felt obliged to lose no time in putting her plan in execution. + +"My father has left you a responsible command, Corporal," she said, as +soon as she could catch M'Nab a little apart; "for should the island +fall into the hands of the enemy, not only should we be captured, +but the party that is now out would in all probability become their +prisoners also." + +"It needs no journey from Scotland to this place to know the facts +needful to be o' that way of thinking." returned M'Nab drily. + +"I do not doubt your understanding it as well as myself, Mr. M'Nab, +but I'm fearful that you veterans, accustomed as you are to dangers and +battles, are a little apt to overlook some of the precautions that may +be necessary in a situation as peculiar as ours." + +"They say Scotland is no conquered country, young woman, but I'm +thinking there must be some mistak' in the matter, as we, her children, +are so drowsy-headed and apt to be o'ertaken when we least expect it." + +"Nay, my good friend, you mistake my meaning. In the first place, I'm +not thinking of Scotland at all, but of this island; and then I am far +from doubting your vigilance when you think it necessary to practise it; +but my great fear is that there may be danger to which your courage will +make you indifferent." + +"My courage, Mistress Dunham, is doubtless of a very pool quality, being +nothing but Scottish courage; your father's is Yankee, and were he here +among us we should see different preparations, beyond a doubt. Well, +times are getting wrang, when foreigners hold commissions and carry +halberds in Scottish corps; and I no wonder that battles are lost, and +campaigns go wrang end foremost." + +Mabel was almost in despair; but the quiet warning of June was still +too vividly impressed on her mind to allow her to yield the matter. She +changed her mode of operating, therefore, still clinging to the hope of +getting the whole party within the blockhouse, without being compelled +to betray the source whence she obtained her notices of the necessity of +vigilance. + +"I daresay you are right, Corporal M'Nab," she observed; "for I've often +heard of the heroes of your country, who have been among the first of +the civilized world, if what they tell me of them is true." + +"Have you read the history of Scotland, Mistress Dunham?" demanded the +Corporal, looking up at his pretty companion, for the first time with +something like a smile on his hard, repulsive countenance. + +"I have read a little of it, Corporal, but I've heard much more. The +lady who brought me up had Scottish blood in her veins, and was fond of +the subject." + +"I'll warrant ye, the Sergeant no' troubled himself to expatiate on the +renown of the country where his regiment was raised?" + +"My father has other things to think of, and the little I know was got +from the lady I have mentioned." + +"She'll no' be forgetting to tall ye o' Wallace?" + +"Of him I've even read a good deal." + +"And o' Bruce, and the affair of Bannockburn?" + +"Of that too, as well as of Culloden Muir." + +The last of these battles was then a recent event, it having actually +been fought within the recollection of our heroine, whose notions of it, +however, were so confused that she scarcely appreciated the effect her +allusion might produce on her companion. She knew it had been a victory, +and had often heard the guests of her patroness mention it with triumph; +and she fancied their feelings would find a sympathetic chord in those +of every British soldier. Unfortunately, M'Nab had fought throughout +that luckless day on the side of the Pretender; and a deep scar that +garnished his face had been left there by the sabre of a German soldier +in the service of the House of Hanover. He fancied that his wound bled +afresh at Mabel's allusion; and it is certain that the blood rushed +to his face in a torrent, as if it would pour out of his skin at the +cicatrix. + +"Hoot! hoot awa'!" he fairly shouted, "with your Culloden and Sherriff +muirs, young woman; ye'll no' be understanding the subject at all, +and will manifest not only wisdom but modesty in speaking o' your ain +country and its many failings. King George has some loyal subjects in +the colonies, na doubt, but 'twill be a lang time before he sees or +hears any guid of them." + +Mabel was surprised at the Corporal's heat, for she had not the smallest +idea where the shoe pinched; but she was determined not to give up the +point. + +"I've always heard that the Scotch had two of the good qualities of +soldiers," she said, "courage and circumspection; and I feel persuaded +that Corporal M'Nab will sustain the national renown." + +"Ask yer own father, Mistress Dunham; he is acquaint' with Corporal +M'Nab, and will no' be backward to point out his demerits. We have been +in battle thegither, and he is my superior officer, and has a sort o' +official right to give the characters of his subordinates." + +"My father thinks well of you, M'Nab, or he would not have left you in +charge of this island and all it contains, his own daughter included. +Among other things, I well know that he calculates largely on your +prudence. He expects the blockhouse in particular to be strictly +attended to." + +"If he wishes to defend the honor of the 55th behind logs, he ought to +have remained in command himsel'; for, to speak frankly, it goes against +a Scotchman's bluid and opinions to be beaten out of the field even +before he is attacked. We are broadsword men, and love to stand foot to +foot with the foe. This American mode of fighting, that is getting into +so much favor, will destroy the reputation of his Majesty's army, if it +no' destroy its spirit." + +"No true soldier despises caution. Even Major Duncan himself, than whom +there is none braver, is celebrated for his care of his men." + +"Lundie has his weakness, and is fast forgetting the broadsword and open +heaths in his tree and rifle practice. But, Mistress Dunham, tak' the +word of an old soldier, who has seen his fifty-fifth year, when he talls +ye that there is no surer method to encourage your enemy than to seem +to fear him; and that there is no danger in this Indian warfare that the +fancies and imaginations of your Americans have not enlarged upon, until +they see a savage in every bush. We Scots come from a naked region, +and have no need and less relish for covers, and so ye'll be seeing, +Mistress Dunham--" + +The Corporal gave a spring into the air, fell forward on his face, and +rolled over on his back, the whole passing so suddenly that Mabel had +scarcely heard the sharp crack of the rifle that had sent a bullet +through his body. Our heroine did not shriek--did not even tremble; for +the occurrence was too sudden, too awful, and too unexpected for that +exhibition of weakness; on the contrary, she stepped hastily forward, +with a natural impulse to aid her companion. There was just enough of +life left in M'Nab to betray his entire consciousness of all that had +passed. His countenance had the wild look of one who had been overtaken +by death by surprise; and Mabel, in her cooler moments, fancied that it +showed the tardy repentance of a willful and obstinate sinner. + +"Ye'll be getting into the blockhouse as fast as possible," M'Nab +whispered, as Mabel leaned over him to catch his dying words. + +Then came over our heroine the full consciousness of her situation and +of the necessity of exertion. She cast a rapid glance at the body at +her feet, saw that it had ceased to breathe, and fled. It was but a +few minutes' run to the blockhouse, the door of which Mabel had barely +gained when it was closed violently in her face by Jennie, the soldier's +wife, who in blind terror thought only of her own safety. The reports +of five or six rifles were heard while Mabel was calling out for +admittance; and the additional terror they produced prevented the woman +within from undoing quickly the very fastenings she had been so expert +in applying. After a minute's delay, however, Mabel found the door +reluctantly yielding to her constant pressure, and she forced her +slender body through the opening the instant it was large enough +to allow of its passage. By this time Mabel's heart ceased to beat +tulmultuously and she gained sufficient self-command to act collectedly. +Instead of yielding to the almost convulsive efforts of her companion +to close the door again, she held it open long enough to ascertain that +none of her own party was in sight, or likely on the instant to endeavor +to gain admission: then she allowed the opening to be shut. Her orders +and proceedings now became more calm and rational. But a single bar was +crossed, and Jennie was directed to stand in readiness to remove even +that at any application from a friend. She then ascended the ladder to +the room above, where by means of a loophole she was enabled to get +as good a view of the island as the surrounding bushes would allow. +Admonishing her associate below to be firm and steady, she made as +careful an examination of the environs as her situation permitted. + +To her great surprise, Mabel could not at first see a living soul on +the island, friend or enemy. Neither Frenchman nor Indian was visible, +though a small straggling white cloud that was floating before the wind +told her in which quarter she ought to look for them. The rifles had +been discharged from the direction of the island whence June had come, +though whether the enemy were on that island, or had actually landed on +her own, Mabel could not say. Going to the loop that commanded a view of +the spot where M'Nab lay, her blood curdled at perceiving all three of +his soldiers lying apparently lifeless at his side. These men had rushed +to a common centre at the first alarm, and had been shot down almost +simultaneously by the invisible foe whom the Corporal had affected to +despise. + +Neither Cap nor Lieutenant Muir was to be seen. With a beating heart, +Mabel examined every opening through the trees, and ascended even to the +upper story or garret of the blockhouse, where she got a full view of +the whole island, so far as its covers would allow, but with no better +success. She had expected to see the body of her uncle lying on the +grass like those of the soldiers, but it was nowhere visible. Turning +towards the spot where the boat lay, Mabel saw that it was still +fastened to the shore; and then she supposed that by some accident Muir +had been prevented from effecting his retreat in that quarter. In short, +the island lay in the quiet of the grave, the bodies of the soldiers +rendering the scone as fearful as it was extraordinary. + +"For God's holy sake, Mistress Mabel," called out the woman from below; +for, though her fear had become too ungovernable to allow her to keep +silence, our heroine's superior refinement, more than the regimental +station of her father, still controlled her mode of address,--"Mistress +Mabel, tell me if any of our friends are living! I think I hear +groans that grow fainter and fainter, and fear that they will all be +tomahawked!" + +Mabel now remembered that one of the soldiers was this woman's husband, +and she trembled at what might be the immediate effect of her sorrow, +should his death become suddenly known to her. The groans, too, gave a +little hope, though she feared they might come from her uncle, who lay +out of view. + +"We are in His holy keeping, Jennie," she answered. "We must trust in +Providence, while we neglect none of its benevolent means of protecting +ourselves. Be careful with the door; on no account open it without my +directions." + +"Oh, tell me, Mistress Mabel, if you can anywhere see Sandy! If I could +only let him know that I'm in safety, the guid man would be easier in +his mind, whether free or a prisoner." + +Sandy was Jennie's husband, and he lay dead in plain view of the loop +from which our heroine was then looking. + +"You no' tell me if you're seeing of Sandy," the woman repeated from +below, impatient at Mabel's silence. + +"There are some of our people gathered about the body of M'Nab," was the +answer; for it seemed sacrilegious in her eyes to tell a direct untruth +under the awful circumstances in which she was placed. + +"Is Sandy amang them?" demanded the woman, in a voice that sounded +appalling by its hoarseness and energy. + +"He may be certainly; for I see one, two, three, four, and all in the +scarlet coats of the regiment." + +"Sandy!" called out the woman frantically; "why d'ye no' care for +yoursal', Sandy? Come hither the instant, man, and share your wife's +fortunes in weal or woe. It's no' a moment for your silly discipline and +vain-glorious notions of honor! Sandy! Sandy!" + +Mabel heard the bar turn, and then the door creaked on its hinges. +Expectation, not to say terror, held her in suspense at the loop, and +she soon beheld Jennie rushing through the bushes in the direction of +the cluster of the dead. It took the woman but an instant to reach the +fatal spot. So sudden and unexpected had been the blow, that she in +her terror did not appear to comprehend its weight. Some wild and +half-frantic notion of a deception troubled her fancy, and she imagined +that the men were trifling with her fears. She took her husband's hand, +and it was still warm, while she thought a covert smile was struggling +on his lip. + +"Why will ye fool life away, Sandy?" she cried, pulling at the arm. +"Ye'll all be murdered by these accursed Indians, and you no' takin' +to the block like trusty soldiers! Awa'! awa'! and no' be losing the +precious moments." + +In her desperate efforts, the woman pulled the body of her husband in +a way to cause the head to turn completely over, when the small hole in +the temple, caused by the entrance of a rifle bullet, and a few drops +of blood trickling over the skin, revealed the meaning of her husband's +silence. As the horrid truth flashed in its full extent on her mind, the +woman clasped her hands, gave a shriek that pierced the glades of +every island near, and fell at length on the dead body of the soldier. +Thrilling, heartreaching, appalling as was that shriek, it was melody to +the cry that followed it so quickly as to blend the sounds. The terrific +war-whoop arose out of the covers of the island, and some twenty +savages, horrible in their paint and the other devices of Indian +ingenuity, rushed forward, eager to secure the coveted scalps. Arrowhead +was foremost, and it was his tomahawk that brained the insensible +Jennie; and her reeking hair was hanging at his girdle as a trophy +in less than two minutes after she had quitted the blockhouse. His +companions were equally active, and M'Nab and his soldiers no longer +presented the quiet aspect of men who slumbered. They were left in their +gore, unequivocally butchered corpses. + +All this passed in much less time than has been required to relate +it, and all this did Mabel witness. She had stood riveted to the spot, +gazing on the whole horrible scene, as if enchained by some charm, nor +did the idea of self or of her own danger once obtrude itself on her +thoughts. But no sooner did she perceive the place where the men had +fallen covered with savages, exulting in the success of their surprise, +than it occurred to her that Jennie had left the blockhouse door +unbarred. Her heart beat violently, for that defence alone stood between +her and immediate death, and she sprang toward the ladder with the +intention of descending to make sure of it. Her foot had not yet reached +the floor of the second story, however, when she heard the door grating +on its hinges, and she gave herself up for lost. Sinking on her knees, +the terrified but courageous girl endeavored to prepare herself for +death, and to raise her thoughts to God. The instinct of life, however, +was too strong for prayer, and while her lips moved, the jealous senses +watched every sound beneath. When her ears heard the bars, which went on +pivots secured to the centre of the door, turning into their fastenings, +not one, as she herself had directed, with a view to admit her uncle +should he apply, but all three, she started again to her feet, all +spiritual contemplations vanishing in her actual temporal condition, and +it seemed as if all her faculties were absorbed in the sense of hearing. + +The thoughts are active in a moment so fearful. At first Mabel fancied +that her uncle had entered the blockhouse, and she was about to descend +the ladder and throw herself into his arms; then the idea that it might +be an Indian, who had barred the door to shut out intruders while he +plundered at leisure, arrested the movement. The profound stillness +below was unlike the bold, restless movements of Cap, and it seemed to +savor more of the artifices of an enemy. If a friend at all, it could +only be her uncle or the Quartermaster; for the horrible conviction now +presented itself to our heroine that to these two and herself were the +whole party suddenly reduced, if, indeed, the two latter survived. +This consideration held Mabel in check, and for full two minutes more +a breathless silence reigned in the building. During this time the girl +stood at the foot of the upper ladder, the trap which led to the lower +opening on the opposite side of the floor; the eyes of Mabel were +riveted on this spot, for she now began to expect to see at each instant +the horrible sight of a savage face at the hole. This apprehension soon +became so intense, that she looked about her for a place of concealment. +The procrastination of the catastrophe she now fully expected, though +it were only for a moment, afforded a relief. The room contained several +barrels; and behind two of these Mabel crouched, placing her eyes at an +opening by which she could still watch the trap. She made another effort +to pray; but the moment was too horrible for that relief. She thought, +too, that she heard a low rustling, as if one were ascending the lower +ladder with an effort at caution so great as to betray itself by its own +excess; then followed a creaking that she was certain came from one of +the steps of the ladder, which had made the same noise under her own +light weight as she ascended. This was one of those instants into which +are compressed the sensations of years of ordinary existence. Life, +death, eternity, and extreme bodily pain were all standing out in bold +relief from the plane of every-day occurrences; and she might have been +taken at that moment for a beautiful pallid representation of herself, +equally without motion and without vitality. But while such was the +outward appearance of the form, never had there been a time in her brief +career when Mabel heard more acutely, saw more clearly, or felt more +vividly. As yet, nothing was visible at the trap, but her ears, rendered +exquisitely sensitive by intense feeling, distinctly acquainted her +that some one was within a few inches of the opening in the floor. Next +followed the evidence of her eyes, which beheld the dark hair of an +Indian rising so slowly through the passage that the movements of the +head might be likened to that of the minute-hand of a clock; then came +the dark skin and wild features, until the whole of the swarthy face had +risen above the floor. The human countenance seldom appears to advantage +when partially concealed; and Mabel imagined many additional horrors as +she first saw the black, roving eyes and the expression of wildness as +the savage countenance was revealed, as it might be, inch by inch; but +when the entire head was raised above the floor, a second and a better +look assured our heroine that she saw the gentle, anxious, and even +handsome face of June. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + Spectre though I be, + I am not sent to scare thee or deceive; + But in reward of thy fidelity. + WORDSWORTH. + + +It would be difficult to say which evinced the most satisfaction, when +Mabel sprang to her feet and appeared in the centre of the room, our +heroine, on finding that her visitor was the wife of Arrowhead, and +not Arrowhead himself, or June, at discovering that her advice had +been followed, and that the blockhouse contained the person she had so +anxiously and almost hopelessly sought. They embraced each other, and +the unsophisticated Tuscarora woman laughed in her sweet accents as she +held her friend at arm's length, and made certain of her presence. + +"Blockhouse good," said the young Indian; "got no scalp." + +"It is indeed good, June," Mabel answered, with a shudder, veiling her +eyes at the same time, as if to shut out a view of the horrors she had +so lately witnessed. "Tell me, for God's sake, if you know what has +become of my dear uncle! I have looked in all directions without being +able to see him." + +"No here in blockhouse?" June asked, with some curiosity. + +"Indeed he is not: I am quite alone in this place; Jennie, the woman who +was with me, having rushed out to join her husband, and perishing for +her imprudence." + +"June know, June see; very bad, Arrowhead no feel for any wife; no feel +for his own." + +"Ah, June, your life, at least, is safe!" + +"Don't know; Arrowhead kill me, if he know all." + +"God bless and protect you, June! He _will_ bless and protect you for +this humanity. Tell me what is to be done, and if my poor uncle is still +living?" + +"Don't know. Saltwater has boat; maybe he go on river." + +"The boat is still on the shore, but neither my uncle nor the +Quartermaster is anywhere to be seen." + +"No kill, or June would see. Hide away! Red man hide; no shame for +pale-face." + +"It is not the shame that I fear for them, but the opportunity. Your +attack was awfully sudden, June!" + +"Tuscarora!" returned the other, smiling with exultation at the +dexterity of her husband. "Arrowhead great warrior!" + +"You are too good and gentle for this sort of life, June; you cannot be +happy in such scenes?" + +June's countenance grew clouded, and Mabel fancied there was some of the +savage fire of a chief in her frown as she answered,-- + +"Yengeese too greedy, take away all hunting-grounds; chase Six Nation +from morning to night; wicked king, wicked people. Pale-face very bad." + +Mabel knew that, even in that distant day, there was much truth in this +opinion, though she was too well instructed not to understand that the +monarch, in this, as in a thousand other cases, was blamed for acts of +which he was most probably ignorant. She felt the justice of the rebuke, +therefore, too much to attempt an answer, and her thoughts naturally +reverted to her own situation. + +"And what am I to do, June?" she demanded. "It cannot be long before +your people will assault this building." + +"Blockhouse good--got no scalp." + +"But they will soon discover that it has got no garrison too, if they do +not know it already. You yourself told me the number of people that were +on the island, and doubtless you learned it from Arrowhead." + +"Arrowhead know," answered June, holding up six fingers, to indicate the +number of the men. "All red men know. Four lose scalp already; two got +'em yet." + +"Do not speak of it, June; the horrid thought curdles my blood. Your +people cannot know that I am alone in the blockhouse, but may fancy my +uncle and the Quartermaster with me, and may set fire to the building, +in order to dislodge them. They tell me that fire is the great danger to +such places." + +"No burn blockhouse," said June quietly. + +"You cannot know that, my good June, and I have no means to keep them +off." + +"No burn blockhouse. Blockhouse good; got no scalp." + +"But tell me why, June; I fear they will burn it." + +"Blockhouse wet--much rain--logs green--no burn easy. Red man know +it--fine t'ing--then no burn it to tell Yengeese that Iroquois been +here. Fader come back, miss blockhouse, no found. No, no; Indian too +much cunning; no touch anything." + +"I understand you, June, and hope your prediction may be true; for, as +regards my dear father, should he escape--perhaps he is already dead or +captured, June?" + +"No touch fader--don't know where he gone--water got no trail--red man +can't follow. No burn blockhouse--blockhouse good; got no scalp." + +"Do you think it possible for me to remain here safely until my father +returns?" + +"Don't know; daughter tell best when fader come back." Mabel felt uneasy +at the glance of June's dark eye as she uttered this; for the unpleasant +surmise arose that her companion was endeavoring to discover a fact +that might be useful to her own people, while it would lead to the +destruction of her parent and his party. She was about to make an +evasive answer, when a heavy push at the outer door suddenly drew all +her thoughts to the immediate danger. + +"They come!" she exclaimed. "Perhaps, June, it is my uncle or the +Quartermaster. I cannot keep out even Mr. Muir at a moment like this." + +"Why no look? plenty loophole, made purpose." + +Mabel took the hint, and, going to one of the downward loops, that had +been cut through the logs in the part that overhung the basement, she +cautiously raised the little block that ordinarily filled the small +hole, and caught a glance at what was passing at the door. The start and +changing countenance told her companion that some of her own people were +below. + +"Red man," said June, lifting a finger in admonition to be prudent. + +"Four; and horrible in their paint and bloody trophies. Arrowhead is +among them." + +June had moved to a corner, where several spare rifles had been +deposited, and had already taken one into her hand, when the name of +her husband appeared to arrest her movements. It was but for an instant, +however, for she immediately went to the loop, and was about to thrust +the muzzle of the piece through it, when a feeling of natural aversion +induced Mabel to seize her arm. + +"No, no, no, June!" said the latter; "not against your own husband, +though my life be the penalty." + +"No hurt Arrowhead," returned June, with a slight shudder, "no hurt red +man at all. No fire at 'em; only scare." + +Mabel now comprehended the intention of June, and no longer opposed it. +The latter thrust the muzzle of the rifle through the loophole; and, +taking care to make noise enough to attract attraction, she pulled the +trigger. The piece had no sooner been discharged than Mabel reproached +her friend for the very act that was intended to serve her. + +"You declared it was not your intention to fire," she said, "and you may +have destroyed your own husband." + +"All run away before I fire," returned June, laughing, and going to +another loop to watch the movements of her friends, laughing still +heartier. "See! get cover--every warrior. Think Saltwater and +Quartermaster here. Take good care now." + +"Heaven be praised! And now, June, I may hope for a little time to +compose my thoughts to prayer, that I may not die like Jennie, thinking +only of life and the things of the world." + +June laid aside the rifle, and came and seated herself near the box on +which Mabel had sunk, under that physical reaction which accompanies joy +as well as sorrow. She looked steadily in our heroine's face, and +the latter thought that her countenance had an expression of severity +mingled with its concern. + +"Arrowhead great warrior," said the Tuscarora's wife. "All the girls of +tribe look at him much. The pale-face beauty has eyes too?" + +"June!--what do these words--that look--imply? what would you say?" + +"Why you so 'fraid June shoot Arrowhead?" + +"Would it not have been horrible to see a wife destroy her own husband? +No, June, rather would I have died myself." + +"Very sure, dat all?" + +"That was all, June, as God is my judge!--and surely that was enough. +No, no! there have been sufficient horrors to-day, without increasing +them by an act like this. What other motive can you suspect?" + +"Don't know. Poor Tuscarora girl very foolish. Arrowhead great chief, +and look all round him. Talk of pale-face beauty in his sleep. Great +chief like many wives." + +"Can a chief possess more than one wife, June, among your people?" + +"Have as many as he can keep. Great hunter marry often. Arrowhead got +only June now; but he look too much, see too much, talk too much of +pale-face girl." + +Mabel was conscious of this fact, which had distressed her not a +little, in the course of their journey; but it shocked her to hear this +allusion, coming, as it did, from the mouth of the wife herself. She +knew that habit and opinions made great differences in such matters; +but, in addition to the pain and mortification she experienced at being +the unwilling rival of a wife, she felt an apprehension that jealousy +would be but an equivocal guarantee for her personal safety in her +present situation. A closer look at June, however, reassured her; +for, while it was easy to trace in the unpractised features of this +unsophisticated being the pain of blighted affections, no distrust could +have tortured the earnest expression of her honest countenance into that +of treachery or hate. + +"You will not betray me, June?" Mabel said, pressing the other's hand, +and yielding to an impulse of generous confidence. "You will not give up +one of your own sex to the tomahawk?" + +"No tomahawk touch you. Arrowhead no let 'em. If June must have +sister-wife, love to have you." + +"No, June; my religion, my feelings, both forbid it; and, if I could be +the wife of an Indian at all, I would never take the place that is yours +in a wigwam." + +June made no answer, but she looked gratified, and even grateful. She +knew that few, perhaps no Indian girl within the circle of Arrowhead's +acquaintance, could compare with herself in personal attractions; and, +though it might suit her husband to marry a dozen wives, she knew of no +one, beside Mabel, whose influence she could really dread. So keen +an interest, however, had she taken in the beauty, winning manners, +kindness, and feminine gentleness of our heroine, that when jealousy +came to chill these feelings, it had rather lent strength to that +interest; and, under its wayward influence, had actually been one of +the strongest of the incentives that had induced her to risk so much in +order to save her imaginary rival from the consequences of the attack +that she so well knew was about to take place. In a word, June, with a +wife's keenness of perception, had detected Arrowhead's admiration of +Mabel; and, instead of feeling that harrowing jealousy that might have +rendered her rival hateful, as would have been apt to be the case with +a woman unaccustomed to defer to the superior rights of the lordly sex, +she had studied the looks and character of the pale-face beauty, until, +meeting with nothing to repel her own feelings, but everything to +encourage them, she had got to entertain an admiration and love for her, +which, though certainly very different, was scarcely less strong than +that of her husband's. Arrowhead himself had sent her to warn Mabel of +the coming danger, though he was ignorant that she had stolen upon the +island in the rear of the assailants, and was now intrenched in the +citadel along with the object of their joint care. On the contrary, he +supposed, as his wife had said, that Cap and Muir were in the blockhouse +with Mabel, and that the attempt to repel him and his companions had +been made by the men. + +"June sorry the Lily"--for so the Indian, in her poetical language, had +named our heroine--"June sorry the Lily no marry Arrowhead. His wigwam +big, and a great chief must get wives enough to fill it." + +"I thank you, June, for this preference, which is not according to +the notion of us white women," returned Mabel, smiling in spite of the +fearful situation in which she was placed; "but I may not, probably +never shall, marry at all." + +"Must have good husband," said June; "marry Eau-douce, if don't like +Arrowhead." + +"June! this is not a fit subject for a girl who scarcely knows if she +is to live another hour or not. I would obtain some signs of my dear +uncle's being alive and safe, if possible." + +"June go see." + +"Can you?--will you?--would it be safe for you to be seen on the island? +is your presence known to the warriors, and would they be pleased to +find a woman on the war-path with them?" + +All this Mabel asked in rapid connection, fearing that the answer might +not be as she wished. She had thought it extraordinary that June should +be of the party, and, improbable as it seemed, she had fancied that the +woman had covertly followed the Iroquois in her own canoe, and had got +in their advance, merely to give her the notice which had probably saved +her life. But in all this she was mistaken, as June, in her imperfect +manner, now found means to let her know. + +Arrowhead, though a chief, was in disgrace with his own people, and +was acting with the Iroquois temporarily, though with a perfect +understanding. He had a wigwam, it is true, but was seldom in it; +feigning friendship for the English, he had passed the summer ostensibly +in their service, while he was, in truth, acting for the French, and his +wife journeyed with him in his many migrations, most of the distances +being passed over in canoes. In a word, her presence was no secret, her +husband seldom moving without her. Enough of this to embolden Mabel to +wish that her friend might go out, to ascertain the fate of her uncle, +did June succeed in letting the other know; and it was soon settled +between them that the Indian woman should quit the blockhouse with that +object the moment a favorable opportunity offered. + +They first examined the island, as thoroughly as their position would +allow, from the different loops, and found that its conquerors were +preparing for a feast, having seized upon the provisions of the English +and rifled the huts. Most of the stores were in the blockhouse; but +enough were found outside to reward the Indians for an attack that had +been attended by so little risk. A party had already removed the dead +bodies, and Mabel saw that their arms were collected in a pile near the +spot chosen for the banquet. June suggested that, by some signs which +she understood, the dead themselves were carried into a thicket and +either buried or concealed from view. None of the more prominent objects +on the island, however, were disturbed, it being the desire of the +conquerors to lure the party of the Sergeant into an ambush on its +return. June made her companion observe a man in a tree, a look-out, as +she said, to give timely notice of the approach of any boat, although, +the departure of the expedition being so recent, nothing but some +unexpected event would be likely to bring it back so soon. There did +not appear to be any intention to attack the blockhouse immediately; but +every indication, as understood by June, rather showed that it was the +intention of the Indians to keep it besieged until the return of the +Sergeant's party, lest, the signs of an assault should give a warning +to eyes as practised as those of Pathfinder. The boat, however, had been +secured, and was removed to the spot where the canoes of the Indians +were hid in the bushes. + +June now announced her intention to join her friends, the moment being +particularly favorable for her to quit the blockhouse. Mabel felt some +distrust as they descended the ladder; but at the next instant she +was ashamed of the feeling, as unjust to her companion and unworthy of +herself, and by the time they both stood on the ground her confidence +was restored. The process of unbarring the door was conducted with the +utmost caution, and when the last bar was ready to be turned June took +her station near the spot where the opening must necessarily be. The bar +was just turned free of the brackets, the door was opened merely wide +enough to allow her body to pass, and June glided through the space. +Mabel closed the door again, with a convulsive movement; and as the bar +turned into its place, her heart beat audibly. She then felt secure; and +the two other bars were turned down in a more deliberate manner. When +all was fast again, she ascended to the first floor, where alone she +could get a glimpse of what was going on without. + +Long and painfully melancholy hours passed, during which Mabel had no +intelligence from June. She heard the yells of the savages, for liquor +had carried them beyond the bounds of precaution; and occasionally +caught glimpses of their mad orgies through the loops; and at all times +was conscious of their fearful presence by sounds and sights that would +have chilled the blood of one who had not so lately witnessed scenes so +much more terrible. Toward the middle of the day, she fancied she saw a +white man on the island, though his dress and wild appearance at first +made her take him for a newly-arrived savage. A view of his face, +although it was swarthy naturally, and much darkened by exposure, left +no doubt that her conjecture was true; and she felt as if there was now +one of a species more like her own present, and one to whom she might +appeal for succor in the last emergency. Mabel little knew, alas! +how small was the influence exercised by the whites over their savage +allies, when the latter had begun to taste of blood; or how slight, +indeed, was the disposition to divert them from their cruelties. + +The day seemed a month by Mabel's computation, and the only part of it +that did not drag were the minutes spent in prayer. She had recourse to +this relief from time to time; and at each effort she found her spirit +firmer, her mind more tranquil, and her resignation more confirmed. She +understood the reasoning of June, and believed it highly probable that +the blockhouse would be left unmolested until the return of her father, +in order to entice him into an ambuscade, and she felt much less +apprehension of immediate danger in consequence; but the future offered +little ground of hope, and her thoughts had already begun to calculate +the chances of her captivity. At such moments, Arrowhead and his +offensive admiration filled a prominent place in the background: for +our heroine well knew that the Indians usually carried off to their +villages, for the purposes of adoption, such captives as they did not +slay; and that many instances had occurred in which individuals of her +sex had passed the remainder of their lives in the wigwams of their +conquerors. Such thoughts as these invariably drove her to her knees and +to her prayers. + +While the light lasted the situation of our heroine was sufficiently +alarming; but as the shades of evening gradually gathered over the +island, it became fearfully appalling. By this time the savages had +wrought themselves up to the point of fury, for they had possessed +themselves of all the liquor of the English; and their outcries and +gesticulations were those of men truly possessed by evil spirits. +All the efforts of their French leader to restrain them were entirely +fruitless, and he had wisely withdrawn to an adjacent island, where +he had a sort of bivouac, that he might keep at a safe distance from +friends so apt to run into excesses. Before quitting the spot, +however, this officer, at great risk to his own life, had succeeded in +extinguishing the fire, and in securing the ordinary means to relight +it. This precaution he took lest the Indians should burn the blockhouse, +the preservation of which was necessary to the success of his future +plans. He would gladly have removed all the arms also, but this he found +impracticable, the warriors clinging to their knives and tomahawks with +the tenacity of men who regarded a point of honor as long as a faculty +was left; and to carry off the rifles, and leave behind him the very +weapons that were generally used on such occasions, would have been +an idle expedient. The extinguishing of the fire proved to be the most +prudent measure; for no sooner was the officer's back turned than one of +the warriors in fact proposed to fire the blockhouse. Arrowhead had also +withdrawn from the group of drunkards as soon as he found that they were +losing their senses, and had taken possession of a hut, where he had +thrown himself on the straw, and sought the rest that two wakeful and +watchful nights had rendered necessary. It followed that no one was +left among the Indians to care for Mabel, if, indeed, any knew of her +existence at all; and the proposal of the drunkard was received with +yells of delight by eight or ten more as much intoxicated and habitually +as brutal as himself. + +This was the fearful moment for Mabel. The Indians, in their present +condition, were reckless of any rifles that the blockhouse might hold, +though they did retain dim recollections of its containing living +beings, an additional incentive to their enterprise; and they approached +its base whooping and leaping like demons. As yet they were excited, not +overcome by the liquor they had drunk. The first attempt was made at the +door, against which they ran in a body; but the solid structure, which +was built entirely of logs, defied their efforts. The rush of a hundred +men with the same object would have been useless. This Mabel, however, +did not know; and her heart seemed to leap into her mouth as she heard +the heavy shock at each renewed effort. At length, when she found +that the door resisted these assaults as if it were of stone, neither +trembling nor yielding, and only betraying its not being a part of the +wall by rattling a little on its heavy hinges, her courage revived, +and she seized the first moment of a cessation to look down through +the loop, in order, if possible, to learn the extent of her danger. A +silence, for which it was not easy to account, stimulated her curiosity; +for nothing is so alarming to those who are conscious of the presence of +imminent danger, as to be unable to trace its approach. + +Mabel found that two or three of the Iroquois had been raking the +embers, where they had found a few small coals, and with these they were +endeavoring to light a fire. The interest with which they labored, +the hope of destroying, and the force of habit, enabled them to act +intelligently and in unison, so long as their fell object was kept in +view. A white man would have abandoned the attempt to light a fire in +despair, with coals that came out of the ashes resembling sparks; but +these children of the forest had many expedients that were unknown to +civilization. By the aid of a few dry leaves, which they alone knew +where to seek, a blaze was finally kindled, and then the addition of a +few light sticks made sure of the advantage that had been obtained. +When Mabel stooped down over the loop, the Indians were making a pile of +brush against the door, and as she remained gazing at their proceedings, +she saw the twigs ignite, the flame dart from branch to branch, until +the whole pile was cracking and snapping under a bright blaze. The +Indians now gave a yell of triumph, and returned to their companions, +well assured that the work of destruction was commenced. Mabel remained +looking down, scarcely able to tear herself away from the spot, so +intense and engrossing was the interest she felt in the progress of the +fire. As the pile kindled throughout, however, the flames mounted, until +they flashed so near her eyes as to compel her to retreat. Just as she +reached the opposite side of the room, to which she had retired in her +alarm, a forked stream shot up through the loophole, the lid of which +she had left open, and illuminated the rude apartment, with Mabel and +her desolation. Our heroine now naturally enough supposed that her hour +was come; for the door, the only means of retreat, had been blocked +up by the brush and fire, with hellish ingenuity, and she addressed +herself, as she believed, for the last time to her Maker in prayer. Her +eyes were closed, and for more than a minute her spirit was abstracted; +but the interests of the world too strongly divided her feelings to be +altogether suppressed; and when they involuntarily opened again, she +perceived that the streak of flame was no longer flaring in the room, +though the wood around the little aperture had kindled, and the blaze +was slowly mounting under the impulsion of a current of air that sucked +inward. A barrel of water stood in a corner; and Mabel, acting more by +instinct than by reason, caught up a vessel, filled it, and, pouring it +on the wood with a trembling hand, succeeded in extinguishing the fire +at that particular spot. The smoke prevented her from looking down +again for a couple of minutes; but when she did her heart beat high +with delight and hope at finding that the pile of blazing brush had been +overturned and scattered, and that water had been thrown on the logs of +the door, which were still smoking though no longer burning. + +"Who is there?" said Mabel, with her mouth at the loop. "What friendly +hand has a merciful Providence sent to my succor?" + +A light footstep was audible below, and one of those gentle pushes at +the door was heard, which just moved the massive beams on the hinges. + +"Who wishes to enter? Is it you, dear, dear uncle?" + +"Saltwater no here. St. Lawrence sweet water," was the answer. "Open +quick; want to come in." + +The step of Mabel was never lighter, or her movements more quick and +natural, than while she was descending the ladder and turning the bars, +for all her motions were earnest and active. This time she thought only +of her escape, and she opened the door with a rapidity which did not +admit of caution. Her first impulse was to rush into the open air, +in the blind hope of quitting the blockhouse; but June repulsed the +attempt, and entering, she coolly barred the door again before she would +notice Mabel's eager efforts to embrace her. + +"Bless you! bless you, June!" cried our heroine most fervently; "you are +sent by Providence to be my guardian angel!" + +"No hug so tight," answered the Tuscarora woman. "Pale-face woman all +cry, or all laugh. Let June fasten door." + +Mabel became more rational, and in a few minutes the two were again in +the upper room, seated as before, hand in hand, all feeling of distrust +between them being banished. + +"Now tell me, June," Mabel commenced as soon as she had given and +received one warm embrace, "have you seen or heard aught of my poor +uncle?" + +"Don't know. No one see him; no one hear him; no one know anyt'ing. +Saltwater run into river, I t'ink, for I no find him. Quartermaster gone +too. I look, and look, and look; but no see' em, one, t'other, nowhere." + +"Blessed be God! They must have escaped, though the means are not known +to us. I thought I saw a Frenchman on the island, June." + +"Yes: French captain come, but he go away too. Plenty of Indian on +island." + +"Oh, June, June, are there no means to prevent my beloved father from +falling into the hands of his enemies?" + +"Don't know; t'ink dat warriors wait in ambush, and Yengeese must lose +scalp." + +"Surely, surely, June, you, who have done so much for the daughter, will +not refuse to help the father?" + +"Don't know fader, don't love fader. June help her own people, help +Arrowhead--husband love scalp." + +"June, this is not yourself. I cannot, will not believe that you wish to +see our men murdered!" + +June turned her dark eyes quietly on Mabel; and for a moment her look +was stern, though it was soon changed into one of melancholy compassion. + +"Lily, Yengeese girl?" she said, as one asks a question. + +"Certainly, and as a Yengeese girl I would save my countrymen from +slaughter." + +"Very good, if can. June no Yengeese, June Tuscarora--got Tuscarora +husband--Tuscarora heart--Tuscarora feeling--all over Tuscarora. Lily +wouldn't run and tell French that her fader was coming to gain victory?" + +"Perhaps not," returned Mabel, pressing a hand on a brain that felt +bewildered,--"perhaps not; but you serve me, aid me--have saved me, +June! Why have you done this, if you only feel as a Tuscarora?" + +"Don't only feel as Tuscarora; feel as girl, feel as squaw. Love pretty +Lily, and put it in my bosom." + +Mabel melted into tears, and she pressed the affectionate creature to +her heart. It was near a minute before she could renew the discourse, +but then she succeeded in speaking more calmly and with greater +coherence. + +"Let me know the worst, June," said she. "To-night your people are +feasting; what do they intend to do to-morrow?" + +"Don't know; afraid to see Arrowhead, afraid to ask question; t'ink hide +away till Yengeese come back." + +"Will they not attempt anything against the blockhouse? You have seen +what they can threaten if they will." + +"Too much rum. Arrowhead sleep, or no dare; French captain gone away, or +no dare. All go to sleep now." + +"And you think I am safe for this night, at least?" + +"Too much rum. If Lily like June, might do much for her people." + +"I am like you, June, if a wish to serve my countrymen can make a +resemblance with one as courageous as yourself." + +"No, no, no!" muttered June in a low voice; "no got heart, and June no +let you, if had. June's moder prisoner once, and warriors got drunk; +moder tomahawked 'em all. Such de way red skin women do when people in +danger and want scalp." + +"You say what is true," returned Mabel, shuddering, and unconsciously +dropping June's hand. "I cannot do that. I have neither the strength, +the courage, nor the will to dip my hands in blood." + +"T'ink that too; then stay where you be--blockhouse good--got no scalp." + +"You believe, then, that I am safe here, at least until my father and +his people return?" + +"Know so. No dare touch blockhouse in morning. Hark! all still +now--drink rum till head fall down, and sleep like log." + +"Might I not escape? Are there not several canoes on the island? Might I +not get one, and go and give my father notice of what has happened?" + +"Know how to paddle?" demanded June, glancing her eye furtively at her +companion. + +"Not so well as yourself, perhaps; but enough to get out of sight before +morning." + +"What do then?--couldn't paddle six--ten--eight mile!" + +"I do not know; I would do much to warn my father, and the excellent +Pathfinder, and all the rest, of the danger they are in." + +"Like Pathfinder?" + +"All like him who know him--you would like him, nay, love him, if you +only knew his heart!" + +"No like him at all. Too good rifle--too good eye--too much shoot +Iroquois and June's people. Must get his scalp if can." + +"And I must save it if I can, June. In this respect, then, we are +opposed to each other. I will go and find a canoe the instant they are +all asleep, and quit the island." + +"No can--June won't let you. Call Arrowhead." + +"June! you would not betray me--you could not give me up after all you +have done for me?" + +"Just so," returned June, making a backward gesture with her hand, and +speaking with a warmth and earnestness Mabel had never witnessed in her +before. "Call Arrowhead in loud voice. One call from wife wake a warrior +up. June no let Lily help enemy--no let Indian hurt Lily." + +"I understand you, June, and feel the nature and justice of your +sentiments; and, after all, it were better that I should remain here, +for I have most probably overrated my strength. But tell me one thing: +if my uncle comes in the night, and asks to be admitted, you will let me +open the door of the blockhouse that he may enter?" + +"Sartain--he prisoner here, and June like prisoner better than scalp; +scalp good for honor, prisoner good for feeling. But Saltwater hide so +close, he don't know where he be himself." + +Here June laughed in her girlish, mirthful way, for to her scenes of +violence were too familiar to leave impressions sufficiently deep +to change her natural character. A long and discursive dialogue now +followed, in which Mabel endeavored to obtain clearer notions of her +actual situation, under a faint hope that she might possibly be enabled +to turn some of the facts she thus learned to advantage. June answered +all her interrogatories simply, but with a caution which showed she +fully distinguished between that which was immaterial and that which +might endanger the safety or embarrass the future operations of her +friends. The substance of the information she gave may be summed up as +follows. + +Arrowhead had long been in communication with the French, though this +was the first occasion on which he had entirely thrown aside the mask. +He no longer intended to trust himself among the English, for he had +discovered traces of distrust, particularly in Pathfinder; and, with +Indian bravado, he now rather wished to blazon than to conceal his +treachery. He had led the party of warriors in the attack on the island, +subject, however, to the supervision of the Frenchman who has been +mentioned, though June declined saying whether he had been the means +of discovering the position of a place which had been thought to be so +concealed from the enemy or not. On this point she would say nothing; +but she admitted that she and her husband had been watching the +departure of the _Scud_ at the time they were overtaken and captured +by the cutter. The French had obtained their information of the precise +position of the station but very recently; and Mabel felt a pang when +she thought that there were covert allusions of the Indian woman which +would convey the meaning that the intelligence had come from a pale-face +in the employment of Duncan of Lundie. This was intimated, however, +rather than said; and when Mabel had time to reflect on her companion's +words, she found room to hope that she had misunderstood her, and +that Jasper Western would yet come out of the affair freed from every +injurious imputation. + +June did not hesitate to confess that she had been sent to the island to +ascertain the precise number and the occupations of those who had been +left on it, though she also betrayed in her _naive_ way that the wish +to serve Mabel had induced her principally to consent to come. In +consequence of her report, and information otherwise obtained, the enemy +was aware of precisely the force that could be brought against them. +They also knew the number of men who had gone with Sergeant Dunham, +and were acquainted with the object he had in view, though they were +ignorant of the spot where he expected to meet the French boats. It +would have been a pleasant sight to witness the eager desire of each of +these two sincere females to ascertain all that might be of consequence +to their respective friends; and yet the native delicacy with which each +refrained from pressing the other to make revelations which would have +been improper, as well as the sensitive, almost intuitive, feeling with +which each avoided saying aught that might prove injurious to her +own nation. As respects each other, there was perfect confidence; as +regarded their respective people, entire fidelity. June was quite as +anxious as Mabel could be on any other point to know where the Sergeant +had gone and when he was expected to return; but she abstained from +putting the question, with a delicacy that would have done honor to the +highest civilization; nor did she once frame any other inquiry in a way +to lead indirectly to a betrayal of the much-desired information on that +particular point: though when Mabel of her own accord touched on any +matter that might by possibility throw a light on the subject, she +listened with an intentness which almost suspended respiration. + +In this manner the hours passed away unheeded, for both were too much +interested to think of rest. Nature asserted her rights, however, +towards morning; and Mabel was persuaded to lie down on one of the straw +beds provided for the soldiers, where she soon fell into a deep sleep. +June lay near her and a quiet reigned on the whole island as profound as +if the dominion of the forest had never been invaded by man. + +When Mabel awoke the light of the sun was streaming in through the +loopholes, and she found that the day was considerably advanced. June +still lay near her, sleeping as tranquilly as if she reposed on--we +will not say "down," for the superior civilization of our own times +repudiates the simile--but on a French mattress, and as profoundly as +if she had never experienced concern. The movements of Mabel, +notwithstanding, soon awakened one so accustomed to vigilance; and then +the two took a survey of what was passing around them by means of the +friendly apertures. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + What had the Eternall Maker need of thee, + The world in his continuall course to keepe, + That doest all things deface? ne lettest see + The beautie of his worke? Indeede in sleepe, + The slouth full body that doth love to steepe + His lustlesse limbs, and drowne his baser mind, + Doth praise thee oft, and oft from Stygian deepe, + Calles thee his goddesse, in his errour blind, + And great dame Nature's hand-maide, chearing every kinde. + _Faerie Queene._ + + +The tranquillity of the previous night was not contradicted by the +movements of the day. Although Mabel and June went to every loophole, +not a sign of the presence of a living being on the island was at first +to be seen, themselves excepted. There was a smothered fire on the spot +where M'Nab and his comrades had cooked, as if the smoke which curled +upwards from it was intended as a lure to the absent; and all around the +huts had been restored to former order and arrangement. Mabel started +involuntarily when her eye at length fell on a group of three men, +dressed in the scarlet of the 55th, seated on the grass in lounging +attitudes, as if they chatted in listless security; and her blood +curdled as, on a second look, she traced the bloodless faces and glassy +eyes of the dead. They were very near the blockhouse, so near indeed +as to have been overlooked at the first eager inquiry, and there was +a mocking levity in their postures and gestures, for their limbs were +stiffening in different attitudes, intended to resemble life, at which +the soul revolted. Still, horrible as these objects were to those near +enough to discover the frightful discrepancy between their assumed and +their real characters, the arrangement had been made with so much art +that it would have deceived a negligent observer at the distance of a +hundred yards. After carefully examining the shores of the island, June +pointed out to her companion the fourth soldier, seated, with his feet +hanging over the water, his back fastened to a sapling, and holding a +fishing-rod in his hand. The scalpless heads were covered with the +caps, and all appearance of blood had been carefully washed from each +countenance. + +Mabel sickened at this sight, which not only did so much violence to all +her notions of propriety, but which was in itself so revolting and so +opposed to natural feeling. She withdrew to a seat, and hid her face in +her apron for several minutes, until a low call from June again drew her +to a loophole. The latter then pointed out the body of Jennie seemingly +standing in the door of a hut, leaning forward as if to look at the +group of men, her cap fluttering in the wind, and her hand grasping +a broom. The distance was too great to distinguish the features very +accurately; but Mabel fancied that the jaw had been depressed, as if to +distort the mouth into a sort of horrible laugh. + +"June! June!" she exclaimed; "this exceeds all I have ever heard, or +imagined as possible, in the treachery and artifices of your people." + +"Tuscarora very cunning," said June, in a way to show that she rather +approved of than condemned the uses to which the dead bodies had been +applied. "Do soldier no harm now; do Iroquois good; got the scalp first; +now make bodies work. By and by, burn 'em." + +This speech told Mabel how far she was separated from her friend in +character; and it was several minutes before she could again address +her. But this temporary aversion was lost on June, who set about +preparing their simple breakfast, in a way to show how insensible she +was to feelings in others which her own habits taught her to discard. +Mabel ate sparingly, and her companion, as if nothing had happened. Then +they had leisure again for their thoughts, and for further surveys of +the island. Our heroine, though devoured with a feverish desire to be +always at the loops, seldom went that she did not immediately quit them +in disgust, though compelled by her apprehensions to return again in +a few minutes, called by the rustling of leaves, or the sighing of the +wind. It was, indeed, a solemn thing to look out upon that deserted +spot, peopled by the dead in the panoply of the living, and thrown into +the attitudes and acts of careless merriment and rude enjoyment. The +effect on our heroine was much as if she had found herself an observer +of the revelries of demons. + +Throughout the livelong day not an Indian nor a Frenchman was to be +seen, and night closed over the frightful but silent masquerade, with +the steady and unalterable progress with which the earth obeys her +laws, indifferent to the petty actors and petty scenes that are in daily +bustle and daily occurrence on her bosom. The night was far more quiet +than that which had preceded it, and Mabel slept with an increasing +confidence; for she now felt satisfied that her own fate would not +be decided until the return of her father. The following day he was +expected, however, and when our heroine awoke, she ran eagerly to the +loops in order to ascertain the state of the weather and the aspect of +the skies, as well as the condition of the island. There lounged the +fearful group on the grass; the fisherman still hung over the water, +seemingly intent on his sport; and the distorted countenance of Jennie +glared from out the hut in horrible contortions. But the weather had +changed; the wind blew fresh from the southward, and though the air was +bland, it was filled with the elements of storm. + +"This grows more and more difficult to bear, June," Mabel said, when she +left the window. "I could even prefer to see the enemy than to look any +longer on this fearful array of the dead." + +"Hush! Here they come. June thought hear a cry like a warrior's shout +when he take a scalp." + +"What mean you? There is no more butchery!--there can be no more." + +"Saltwater!" exclaimed June, laughing, as she stood peeping through a +loophole. + +"My dear uncle! Thank God! he then lives! Oh, June, June, _you_ will not +let them harm _him?_" + +"June, poor squaw. What warrior t'ink of what she say? Arrowhead bring +him here." + +By this time Mabel was at a loop; and, sure enough, there were Cap and +the Quartermaster in the hands of the Indians, eight or ten of whom +were conducting them to the foot of the block, for, by this capture, the +enemy now well knew that there could be no man in the building. Mabel +scarcely breathed until the whole party stood ranged directly before +the door, when she was rejoiced to see that the French officer was among +them. A low conversation followed, in which both the white leader and +Arrowhead spoke earnestly to their captives, when the Quartermaster +called out to her in a voice loud enough to be heard. + +"Pretty Mabel! Pretty Mabel!" said he; "Look out of one of the +loopholes, and pity our condition. We are threatened with instant death +unless you open the door to the conquerors. Relent, then or we'll no' be +wearing our scalps half an hour from this blessed moment." + +Mabel thought there were mockery and levity in this appeal, and its +manner rather fortified than weakened her resolution to hold the place +as long as possible. + +"Speak to me, uncle," said she, with her mouth at a loop, "and tell me +what I ought to do." + +"Thank God! thank God!" ejaculated Cap; "the sound of your sweet voice, +Magnet, lightens my heart of a heavy load, for I feared you had shared +the fate of poor Jennie. My breast has felt the last four-and-twenty +hours as if a ton of kentledge had been stowed in it. You ask me what +you ought to do, child, and I do not know how to advise you, though you +are my own sister's daughter! The most I can say just now, my poor girl, +is most heartily to curse the day you or I ever saw this bit of fresh +water." + +"But, uncle, is your life in danger--do _you_ think I ought to open the +door?" + +"A round turn and two half-hitches make a fast belay; and I would +counsel no one who is out of the hands of these devils to unbar or +unfasten anything in order to fall into them. As to the Quartermaster +and myself, we are both elderly men, and not of much account to mankind +in general, as honest Pathfinder would say; and it can make no great +odds to him whether he balances the purser's books this year or the +next; and as for myself, why, if I were on the seaboard, I should know +what to do, but up here, in this watery wilderness, I can only say, that +if I were behind that bit of a bulwark, it would take a good deal of +Indian logic to rouse me out of it." + +"You'll no' be minding all your uncle says, pretty Mabel," put in Muir, +"for distress is obviously fast unsettling his faculties, and he is far +from calculating all the necessities of the emergency. We are in the +hands here of very considerate and gentlemanly pairsons, it must be +acknowledged, and one has little occasion to apprehend disagreeable +violence. The casualties that have occurred are the common incidents of +war, and can no' change our sentiments of the enemy, for they are far +from indicating that any injustice will be done the prisoners. I'm sure +that neither Master Cap nor myself has any cause of complaint since we +have given ourselves up to Master Arrowhead, who reminds me of a Roman +or a Spartan by his virtues and moderation; but ye'll be remembering +that usages differ, and that our scalps may be lawful sacrifices to +appease the manes of fallen foes, unless you save them by capitulation." + +"I shall do wiser to keep within the blockhouse until the fate of the +island is settled," returned Mabel. "Our enemies can feel no concern +on account of one like me, knowing that I can do them no harm, and I +greatly prefer to remain here as more befitting my sex and years." + +"If nothing but your convenience were concerned, Mabel, we should all +cheerfully acquiesce in your wishes, but these gentlemen fancy that the +work will aid their operations, and they have a strong desire to possess +it. To be frank with you, finding myself and your uncle in a very +peculiar situation, I acknowledge that, to avert consequences, I have +assumed the power that belongs to his Majesty's commission, and entered +into a verbal capitulation, by which I have engaged to give up the +blockhouse and the whole island. It is the fortune of war, and must be +submitted to; so open the door, pretty Mabel, forthwith, and confide +yourself to the care of those who know how to treat beauty and virtue +in distress. There's no courtier in Scotland more complaisant than this +chief, or who is more familiar with the laws of decorum." + +"No leave blockhouse," muttered June, who stood at Mabel's side, +attentive to all that passed. "Blockhouse good--got no scalp." + +Our heroine might have yielded but for this appeal; for it began to +appear to her that the wisest course would be to conciliate the enemy by +concessions instead of exasperating them by resistance. They must know +that Muir and her uncle were in their power; that there was no man in +the building, and she fancied they might proceed to batter down the +door, or cut their way through the logs with axes, if she obstinately +refused to give them peaceable admission, since there was no longer +any reason to dread the rifle. But the words of June induced her to +hesitate, and the earnest pressure of the hand and entreating looks of +her companion strengthened a resolution that was faltering. + +"No prisoner yet," whispered June; "let 'em make prisoner before 'ey +take prisoner--talk big; June manage 'em." + +Mabel now began to parley more resolutely with Muir, for her uncle +seemed disposed to quiet his conscience by holding his tongue, and she +plainly intimated that it was not her intention to yield the building. + +"You forget the capitulation, Mistress Mabel," said Muir; "the honor of +one of his Majesty's servants is concerned, and the honor of his Majesty +through his servant. You will remember the finesse and delicacy that +belong to military honor?" + +"I know enough, Mr. Muir, to understand that you have no command in this +expedition, and therefore can have no right to yield the blockhouse; and +I remember, moreover, to have heard my dear father say that a prisoner +loses all his authority for the time being." + +"Rank sophistry, pretty Mabel, and treason to the king, as well as +dishonoring his commission and discrediting his name. You'll no' be +persevering in your intentions, when your better judgment has +had leisure to reflect and to make conclusions on matters and +circumstances." + +"Ay," put in Cap, "this is a circumstance, and be d----d to it!" + +"No mind what'e uncle say," ejaculated June, who was occupied in a far +corner of the room. "Blockhouse good--got no scalp." + +"I shall remain as I am, Mr. Muir, until I get some tidings of my +father. He will return in the course of the next ten days." + +"Ah, Mabel, this artifice will no' deceive the enemy, who, by means that +would be unintelligible, did not our suspicions rest on an unhappy young +man with too much plausibility, are familiar with all our doings +and plans, and well know that the sun will not set before the worthy +Sergeant and his companions will be in their power. Aweel! Submission to +Providence is truly a Christian virtue!" + +"Mr. Muir, you appear to be deceived in the strength of this work, and +to fancy it weaker than it is. Do you desire to see what I can do in the +way of defence, if so disposed?" + +"I dinna mind if I do," answered the Quartermaster, who always grew +Scotch as he grew interested. + +"What do you think of that, then? Look at the loop of the upper story!" + +As soon as Mabel had spoken, all eyes were turned upward, and beheld the +muzzle of a rifle cautiously thrust through a hole, June having resorted +again to a _ruse_ which had already proved so successful. The result did +not disappoint expectation. No sooner did the Indians catch a sight of +the fatal weapon than they leaped aside, and in less than a minute every +man among them had sought a cover. The French officer kept his eye on +the barrel of the piece in order to ascertain that it was not pointed +in his particular direction, and he coolly took a pinch of snuff. As +neither Muir nor Cap had anything to apprehend from the quarter in which +the others were menaced, they kept their ground. + +"Be wise, my pretty Mabel, be wise!" exclaimed the former; "and no' be +provoking useless contention. In the name of all the kings of Albin, +who have ye closeted with you in that wooden tower that seemeth so +bloody-minded? There is necromancy about this matter, and all our +characters may be involved in the explanation." + +"What do you think of the Pathfinder, Master Muir, for a garrison to +so strong a post?" cried Mabel, resorting to an equivocation which the +circumstances rendered very excusable. "What will your French and Indian +companions think of the aim of the Pathfinder's rifle?" + +"Bear gently on the unfortunate, pretty Mabel, and do not confound the +king's servants--may Heaven bless him and all his royal lineage!--with +the king's enemies. If Pathfinder be indeed in the blockhouse, let him +speak, and we will hold our negotiations directly with him. He knows +us as friends, and we fear no evil at his hands, and least of all +to myself; for a generous mind is apt to render rivalry in a certain +interest a sure ground of respect and amity, since admiration of the +same woman proves a community of feeling and tastes." + +The reliance on Pathfinder's friendship did not extend beyond the +Quartermaster and Cap, however, for even the French officer, who had +hitherto stood his ground so well, shrank back at the sound of the +terrible name. So unwilling, indeed, did this individual, a man of iron +nerves, and one long accustomed to the dangers of the peculiar warfare +in which he was engaged, appear to remain exposed to the assaults of +Killdeer, whose reputation throughout all that frontier was as well +established as that of Marlborough in Europe, that he did not disdain to +seek a cover, insisting that his two prisoners should follow him. Mabel +was too glad to be rid of her enemies to lament the departure of her +friends, though she kissed her hand to Cap through the loop, and called +out to him in terms of affection as he moved slowly and unwillingly +away. + +The enemy now seemed disposed to abandon all attempts on the blockhouse +for the present; and June, who had ascended to a trap in the roof, +whence the best view was to be obtained, reported that the whole party +had assembled to eat, on a distant and sheltered part of the island, +where Muir and Cap were quietly sharing in the good things which were +going, as if they had no concern on their minds. This information +greatly relieved Mabel, and she began to turn her thoughts again to the +means of effecting her own escape, or at least of letting her father +know of the danger that awaited him. The Sergeant was expected to return +that afternoon, and she knew that a moment gained or lost might decide +his fate. + +Three or four hours flew by. The island was again buried in a profound +quiet, the day was wearing away, and yet Mabel had decided on nothing. +June was in the basement, preparing their frugal meal, and Mabel herself +had ascended to the roof, which was provided with a trap that allowed +her to go out on the top of the building, whence she commanded the best +view of surrounding objects that the island possessed; still it was +limited, and much obstructed by the tops of trees. The anxious girl +did not dare to trust her person in sight, knowing well that the +unrestrained passions of some savage might induce him to send a bullet +through her brain. She merely kept her head out of the trap, therefore, +whence, in the course of the afternoon, she made as many surveys of the +different channels about the island as "Anne, sister Anne," took of the +environs of the castle of Blue Beard. + +The sun had actually set; no intelligence had been received from the +boats, and Mabel ascended to the roof to take a last look, hoping that +the party would arrive in the darkness; which would at least prevent the +Indians from rendering their ambuscade so fatal as it might otherwise +prove, and which possibly might enable her to give some more +intelligible signal, by means of fire, than it would otherwise be in her +power to do. Her eye had turned carefully round the whole horizon, and +she was just on the point of drawing in her person, when an object +that struck her as new caught her attention. The islands lay grouped so +closely, that six or eight different channels or passages between them +were in view; and in one of the most covered, concealed in a great +measure by the bushes of the shore, lay what a second look assured +her was a bark canoe. It contained a human being beyond a question. +Confident that if an enemy her signal could do no harm, and; if a +friend, that it might do good, the eager girl waved a little flag +towards the stranger, which she had prepared for her father, taking care +that it should not be seen from the island. + +Mabel had repeated her signal eight or ten times in vain, and she began +to despair of its being noticed, when a sign was given in return by the +wave of a paddle, and the man so far discovered himself as to let her +see it was Chingachgook. Here, then, at last, was a friend; one, too, +who was able, and she doubted not would be willing to aid her. From that +instant her courage and her spirits revived. The Mohican had seen her; +must have recognized her, as he knew that she was of the party; and +no doubt, as soon as it was sufficiently dark, he would take the steps +necessary to release her. That he was aware of the presence of the +enemy was apparent by the great caution he observed, and she had every +reliance on his prudence and address. The principal difficulty now +existed with June; for Mabel had seen too much of her fidelity to her +own people, relieved as it was by sympathy for herself, to believe she +would consent to a hostile Indian's entering the blockhouse, or +indeed to her leaving it, with a view to defeat Arrowhead's plans. The +half-hour which succeeded the discovery of the presence of the Great +Serpent was the most painful of Mabel Dunham's life. She saw the means +of effecting all she wished, as it might be within reach of her hand, +and yet it eluded her grasp. She knew June's decision and coolness, +notwithstanding all her gentleness and womanly feeling; and at last +she came reluctantly to the conclusion that there was no other way of +attaining her end than by deceiving her tried companion and protector. +It was revolting to one so sincere and natural, so pure of heart, and so +much disposed to ingenuousness as Mabel Dunham, to practise deception +on a friend like June; but her own father's life was at stake, her +companion would receive no positive injury, and she had feelings and +interests directly touching herself which would have removed greater +scruples. + +As soon as it was dark, Mabel's heart began to beat with increased +violence; and she adopted and changed her plan of proceeding at least a +dozen times in a single hour. June was always the source of her greatest +embarrassment; for she did not well see, first, how she was to ascertain +when Chingachgook was at the door, where she doubted not he would soon +appear; and, secondly, how she was to admit him, without giving the +alarm to her watchful companion. Time pressed, however; for the Mohican +might come and go away again, unless she was ready to receive him. It +would be too hazardous to the Delaware to remain long on the island; and +it became absolutely necessary to determine on some course, even at the +risk of choosing one that was indiscreet. After running over various +projects in her mind, therefore, Mabel came to her companion, and said, +with as much calmness as she could assume,-- + +"Are you not afraid, June, now your people believe Pathfinder is in the +blockhouse, that they will come and try to set it on fire?" + +"No t'ink such t'ing. No burn blockhouse. Blockhouse good; got no +scalp." + +"June, we cannot know. They hid because they believed what I told them +of Pathfinder's being with us." + +"Believe fear. Fear come quick, go quick. Fear make run away; wit make +come back. Fear make warrior fool, as well as young girl." + +Here June laughed, as her sex is apt to laugh when anything particularly +ludicrous crosses their youthful fancies. + +"I feel uneasy, June; and wish you yourself would go up again to the +roof and look out upon the island, to make certain that nothing is +plotting against us; you know the signs of what your people intend to do +better than I." + +"June go, Lily wish; but very well know that Indian sleep; wait for 'e +fader. Warrior eat, drink, sleep, all time, when don't fight and go on +war-trail. Den never sleep, eat, drink--never feel. Warrior sleep now." + +"God send it may be so! but go up, dear June, and look well about you. +Danger may come when we least expect it." + +June arose, and prepared to ascend to the roof; but she paused, with her +foot on the first round of the ladder. Mabel's heart beat so violently +that she was fearful its throbs would be heard; and she fancied that +some gleamings of her real intentions had crossed the mind of her +friend. She was right in part, the Indian woman having actually stopped +to consider whether there was any indiscretion in what she was about to +do. At first the suspicion that Mabel intended to escape flashed across +her mind; then she rejected it, on the ground that the pale-face had no +means of getting off the island, and that the blockhouse was much the +most secure place she could find. The next thought was, that Mabel had +detected some sign of the near approach of her father. This idea, too, +lasted but an instant; for June entertained some such opinion of her +companion's ability to understand symptoms of this sort--symptoms that +had escaped her own sagacity--as a woman of high fashion entertains of +the accomplishments of her maid. Nothing else in the same way offering, +she began slowly to mount the ladder. + +Just as she reached the upper floor, a lucky thought suggested itself to +our heroine; and, by expressing it in a hurried but natural manner, she +gained a great advantage in executing her projected scheme. + +"I will go down," she said, "and listen by the door, June, while you are +on the roof; and we will thus be on our guard, at the same time, above +and below." + +Though June thought this savored of unnecessary caution, well knowing +that no one could enter the building unless aided from within, nor any +serious danger menace them from the exterior without giving sufficient +warning, she attributed the proposition to Mabel's ignorance and alarm; +and, as it was made apparently with frankness, it was received without +distrust. By these means our heroine was enabled to descend to the door, +as her friend ascended to the roof. The distance between the two was now +too great to admit of conversation; and for three or four minutes one +was occupied in looking about her as well as the darkness would allow, +and the other in listening at the door with as much intentness as if all +her senses were absorbed in the single faculty of hearing. + +June discovered nothing from her elevated stand; the obscurity indeed +almost forbade the hope of such a result; but it would not be easy to +describe the sensation with which Mabel thought she perceived a slight +and guarded push against the door. Fearful that all might not be as +she wished, and anxious to let Chingachgook know that she was near, she +began, though in tremulous and low notes, to sing. So profound was the +stillness of the moment that the sound of the unsteady warbling ascended +to the roof and in a minute June began to descend. A slight tap at the +door was heard immediately after. Mabel was bewildered, for there was +no time to lose. Hope proved stronger than fear; and with unsteady hands +she commenced unbarring the door. The moccasin of June was heard on +the floor above her when only a single bar was turned. The second was +released as her form reached half-way down the lower ladder. + +"What you do?" exclaimed June angrily. "Run away--mad--leave blockhouse; +blockhouse good." The hands of both were on the last bar, and it would +have been cleared from the fastenings but for a vigorous shove from +without, which jammed the wood. A short struggle ensued, though both +were disinclined to violence. June would probably have prevailed, had +not another and a more vigorous push from without forced the bar past +the trifling impediment that held it, when the door opened. The form of +a man was seen to enter; and both the females rushed up the ladder, as +if equally afraid of the consequences. The stranger secured the door; +and, first examining the lower room with great care, he cautiously +ascended the ladder. June, as soon as it became dark, had closed the +loops of the principal floor, and lighted a candle. By means of this dim +taper, then, the two females stood in expectation, waiting to ascertain +the person of their visitor, whose wary ascent of the ladder was +distinctly audible, though sufficiently deliberate. It would not be easy +to say which was the more astonished on finding, when the stranger had +got through the trap, that Pathfinder stood before them. + +"God be praised!" Mabel exclaimed, for the idea that the blockhouse +would be impregnable with such a garrison at once crossed her mind. "O +Pathfinder! what has become of my father?" + +"The Sergeant is safe as yet, and victorious; though it is not in the +gift of man to say what will be the ind of it. Is not that the wife of +Arrowhead skulking in the corner there?" + +"Speak not of her reproachfully, Pathfinder; I owe her my life, my +present security. Tell me what has happened to my father's party--why +you are here; and I will relate all the horrible events that have passed +upon this island." + +"Few words will do the last, Mabel; for one used to Indian devilries +needs but little explanations on such a subject. Everything turned +out as we had hoped with the expedition; for the Sarpent was on the +look-out, and he met us with all the information heart could desire. We +ambushed three boats, druv' the Frenchers out of them, got possession +and sunk them, according to orders, in the deepest part of the channel; +and the savages of Upper Canada will fare badly for Indian goods this +winter. Both powder and ball, too, will be scarcer among them than keen +hunters and active warriors may relish. We did not lose a man or have +even a skin barked; nor do I think the inimy suffered to speak of. In +short, Mabel, it has been just such an expedition as Lundie likes; much +harm to the foe, and little harm to ourselves." + +"Ah, Pathfinder, I fear, when Major Duncan comes to hear the whole +of the sad tale, he will find reason to regret he ever undertook the +affair." + +"I know what you mean, I know what you mean; but by telling my story +straight you will understand it better. As soon as the Sergeant found +himself successful, he sent me and the Sarpent off in canoes to tell +you how matters had turned out, and he is following with the two boats, +which, being so much heavier, cannot arrive before morning. I parted +from Chingachgook this forenoon, it being agreed that he should come up +one set of channels, and I another, to see that the path was clear. I've +not seen the chief since." + +Mabel now explained the manner in which she had discovered the Mohican, +and her expectation that he would yet come to the blockhouse. + +"Not he, not he! A regular scout will never get behind walls or logs so +long as he can keep the open air and find useful employment. I should +not have come myself, Mabel, but I promised the Sergeant to comfort you +and to look after your safety. Ah's me! I reconnoitred the island with +a heavy heart this forenoon; and there was a bitter hour when I fancied +you might be among the slain." + +"By what lucky accident were you prevented from paddling up boldly to +the island and from falling into the hands of the enemy?" + +"By such an accident, Mabel, as Providence employs to tell the hound +where to find the deer and the deer how to throw off the hound. No, no! +these artifices and devilries with dead bodies may deceive the soldiers +of the 55th and the king's officers; but they are all lost upon men who +have passed their days in the forest. I came down the channel in face of +the pretended fisherman; and, though the riptyles have set up the poor +wretch with art, it was not ingenious enough to take in a practysed eye. +The rod was held too high, for the 55th have learned to fish at Oswego, +if they never knew how before; and then the man was too quiet for one +who got neither prey nor bite. But we never come in upon a post blindly; +and I have lain outside a garrison a whole night, because they had +changed their sentries and their mode of standing guard. Neither the +Sarpent nor myself would be likely to be taken in by these clumsy +contrivances, which were most probably intended for the Scotch, who are +cunning enough in some particulars, though anything but witches when +Indian sarcumventions are in the wind." + +"Do you think my father and his men may yet be deceived?" said Mabel +quickly. + +"Not if I can prevent it, Mabel. You say the Sarpent is on the look-out +too; so there is a double chance of our succeeding in letting him know +his danger; though it is by no means sartain by which channel the party +may come." + +"Pathfinder," said our heroine solemnly, for the frightful scenes she +had witnessed had clothed death with unusual horrors,--"Pathfinder, you +have professed love for me, a wish to make me your wife?" + +"I did ventur' to speak on that subject, Mabel, and the Sergeant has +even lately said that you are kindly disposed; but I am not a man to +persecute the thing I love." + +"Hear me, Pathfinder, I respect you, honor you, revere you; save my +father from this dreadful death, and I can worship you. Here is my hand, +as a solemn pledge for my faith, when you come to claim it." + +"Bless you, bless you, Mabel; this is more than I desarve--more, I +fear, than I shall know how to profit by as I ought. It was not wanting, +however, to make me sarve the Sergeant. We are old comrades, and owe +each other a life; though I fear me, Mabel, being a father's comrade is +not always the best recommendation with a daughter." + +"You want no other recommendation than your own acts--your courage, your +fidelity. All that you do and say, Pathfinder, my reason approves, and +the heart will, nay, it _shall_ follow." + +"This is a happiness I little expected this night; but we are in God's +hands, and He will protect us in His own way. These are sweet words, +Mabel; but they were not wanting to make me do all that man can do in +the present circumstances; they will not lessen my endeavors, neither." + +"Now we understand each other, Pathfinder," Mabel added hoarsely, "let +us not lose one of the precious moments, which may be of incalculable +value. Can we not get into your canoe and go and meet my father?" + +"That is not the course I advise. I don't know by which channel the +Sergeant will come, and there are twenty; rely on it, the Sarpent will +be winding his way through them all. No, no! my advice is to remain +here. The logs of this blockhouse are still green, and it will not +be easy to set them on fire; and I can make good the place, bating a +burning, ag'in a tribe. The Iroquois nation cannot dislodge me from this +fortress, so long as we can keep the flames off it. The Sergeant is now +'camped on some island, and will not come in until morning. If we +hold the block, we can give him timely warning, by firing rifles, for +instance; and should he determine to attack the savages, as a man of his +temper will be very likely to do, the possession of this building will +be of great account in the affair. No, no! my judgment says remain, if +the object be to sarve the Sergeant, though escape for our two selves +will be no very difficult matter." + +"Stay," murmured Mabel, "stay, for God's sake, Pathfinder! Anything, +everything to save my father!" + +"Yes, that is natur'. I am glad to hear you say this, Mabel, for I own a +wish to see the Sergeant fairly supported. As the matter now stands, +he has gained himself credit; and, could he once drive off these +miscreants, and make an honorable retreat, laying the huts and block +in ashes, no doubt, Lundie would remember it and sarve him accordingly. +Yes, yes, Mabel, we must not only save the Sergeant's life, but we must +save his reputation." + +"No blame can rest on my father on account of the surprise of this +island." + +"There's no telling, there's no telling; military glory is a most +unsartain thing. I've seen the Delawares routed, when they desarved more +credit than at other times when they've carried the day. A man is wrong +to set his head on success of any sort, and worst of all on success in +war. I know little of the settlements, or of the notions that men hold +in them; but up hereaway even the Indians rate a warrior's character +according to his luck. The principal thing with a soldier is never to be +whipt; nor do I think mankind stops long to consider how the day was won +or lost. For my part, Mabel, I make it a rule when facing the inimy +to give him as good as I can send, and to try to be moderate after a +defeat, little need be said on that score, as a flogging is one of the +most humbling things in natur'. The parsons preach about humility in the +garrison; but if humility would make Christians, the king's troops ought +to be saints, for they've done little as yet this war but take lessons +from the French, beginning at Fort du Quesne and ending at Ty." + +"My father could not have suspected that the position of the island was +known to the enemy," resumed Mabel, whose thoughts were running on the +probable effect of the recent events on the Sergeant. + +"That is true; nor do I well see how the Frenchers found it out. The +spot is well chosen, and it is not an easy matter, even for one who +has travelled the road to and from it, to find it again. There has been +treachery, I fear; yes, yes, there must have been treachery." + +"Oh, Pathfinder! can this be?" + +"Nothing is easier, Mabel, for treachery comes as nat'ral to some men as +eating. Now when I find a man all fair words I look close to his deeds; +for when the heart is right, and really intends to do good, it is +generally satisfied to let the conduct speak instead of the tongue." + +"Jasper Western is not one of these," said Mabel impetuously. "No youth +can be more sincere in his manner, or less apt to make the tongue act +for the head." + +"Jasper Western! tongue and heart are both right with that lad, depend +on it, Mabel; and the notion taken up by Lundie, and the Quartermaster, +and the Sergeant, and your uncle too, is as wrong as it would be to +think that the sun shone by night and the stars shone by day. No, no; +I'll answer for Eau-douce's honesty with my own scalp, or, at need, with +my own rifle." + +"Bless you, bless you, Pathfinder!" exclaimed Mabel, extending her own +hand and pressing the iron fingers of her companion, under a state of +feeling that far surpassed her own consciousness of its strength. "You +are all that is generous, all that is noble! God will reward you for +it." + +"Ah, Mabel, I fear me, if this be true, I should not covet such a wife +as yourself; but would leave you to be sued for by some gentleman of the +garrison, as your desarts require." + +"We will not talk of this any more to-night," Mabel answered in a voice +so smothered as to seem nearly choked. "We must think less of ourselves +just now, Pathfinder, and more of our friends. But I rejoice from +my soul that you believe Jasper innocent. Now let us talk of other +things--ought we not to release June?" + +"I've been thinking about the woman; for it will not be safe to shut our +eyes and leave hers open, on this side of the blockhouse door. If we put +her in the upper room, and take away the ladder, she'll be a prisoner at +least." + +"I cannot treat one thus who has saved my life. It would be better to +let her depart, for I think she is too much my friend to do anything to +harm me." + +"You do not know the race, Mabel, you do not know the race. It's true +she's not a full-blooded Mingo, but she consorts with the vagabonds, and +must have larned some of their tricks. What is that?" + +"It sounds like oars; some boat is passing through the channel." + +Pathfinder closed the trap that led to the lower room, to prevent June +from escaping, extinguished the candle, and went hastily to a loop, +Mabel looking over his shoulder in breathless curiosity. These several +movements consumed a minute or two; and by the time the eye of the scout +had got a dim view of things without, two boats had swept past and shot +up to the shore, at a spot some fifty yards beyond the block, where +there was a regular landing. The obscurity prevented more from being +seen; and Pathfinder whispered to Mabel that the new-comers were as +likely to be foes as friends, for he did not think her father could +possibly have arrived so soon. A number of men were now seen to quit the +boats, and then followed three hearty English cheers, leaving no further +doubts of the character of the party. Pathfinder sprang to the trap, +raised it, glided down the ladder, and began to unbar the door, with +an earnestness that proved how critical he deemed the moment. Mabel had +followed, but she rather impeded than aided his exertions, and but a +single bar was turned when a heavy discharge of rifles was heard. They +were still standing in breathless suspense, as the war-whoop rang in all +the surrounding thickets. The door now opened, and both Pathfinder +and Mabel rushed into the open air. All human sounds had ceased. After +listening half a minute, however, Pathfinder thought he heard a few +stifled groans near the boats; but the wind blew so fresh, and the +rustling of the leaves mingled so much with the murmurs of the passing +air, that he was far from certain. But Mabel was borne away by her +feelings, and she rushed by him, taking the way towards the boats. + +"This will not do, Mabel," said the scout in an earnest but low voice, +seizing her by an arm; "this will never do. Sartain death would follow, +and that without sarving any one. We must return to the block." + +"Father! my poor, dear, murdered father!" said the girl wildly, though +habitual caution, even at that trying moment, induced her to speak low. +"Pathfinder, if you love me, let me go to my dear father." + +"This will not do, Mabel. It is singular that no one speaks; no one +returns the fire from the boats; and I have left Killdeer in the block! +But of what use would a rifle be when no one is to be seen?" + +At that moment the quick eye of Pathfinder, which, while he held Mabel +firmly in his grasp, had never ceased to roam over the dim scene, caught +an indistinct view of five or six dark crouching forms, endeavoring to +steal past him, doubtless with the intention of intercepting the retreat +to the blockhouse. Catching up Mabel, and putting her under an arm, as +if she were an infant, the sinewy frame of the woodsman was exerted to +the utmost, and he succeeded in entering the building. The tramp of +his pursuers seemed immediately at his heels. Dropping his burden, he +turned, closed the door, and had fastened one bar, as a rush against the +solid mass threatened to force it from the hinges. To secure the other +bars was the work of an instant. + +Mabel now ascended to the first floor, while Pathfinder remained as a +sentinel below. Our heroine was in that state in which the body exerts +itself, apparently without the control of the mind. She relighted the +candle mechanically, as her companion had desired, and returned with it +below, where he was waiting her reappearance. No sooner was Pathfinder +in possession of the light than he examined the place carefully, to make +certain no one was concealed in the fortress, ascending to each floor +in succession, after assuring himself that he left no enemy in his rear. +The result was the conviction that the blockhouse now contained no one +but Mabel and himself, June having escaped. When perfectly convinced on +this material point, Pathfinder rejoined our heroine in the principal +apartment, setting down the light and examining the priming of Killdeer +before he seated himself. + +"Our worst fears are realized!" said Mabel, to whom the hurry and +excitement of the last five minutes appeared to contain the emotions of +a life. "My beloved father and all his party are slain or captured!" + +"We don't know that--morning will tell us all. I do not think the affair +so settled as that, or we should hear the vagabond Mingos yelling out +their triumph around the blockhouse. Of one thing we may be sartain; if +the inimy has really got the better, he will not be long in calling +upon us to surrender. The squaw will let him into the secret of our +situation; and, as they well know the place cannot be fired by daylight, +so long as Killdeer continues to desarve his reputation, you may depend +on it that they will not be backward in making their attempt while +darkness helps them." + +"Surely I hear a groan!" + +"'Tis fancy, Mabel; when the mind gets to be skeary, especially a +woman's mind, she often concaits things that have no reality. I've known +them that imagined there was truth in dreams." + +"Nay, I am _not_ deceived; there is surely one below, and in pain." + +Pathfinder was compelled to own that the quick senses of Mabel had not +deceived her. He cautioned her, however, to repress her feelings; and +reminded her that the savages were in the practice of resorting to every +artifice to attain their ends, and that nothing was more likely +than that the groans were feigned with a view to lure them from the +blockhouse, or, at least, to induce them to open the door. + +"No, no, no!" said Mabel hurriedly; "there is no artifice in those +sounds, and they come from anguish of body, if not of spirit. They are +fearfully natural." + +"Well, we shall soon know whether a friend is there or not. Hide the +light again, Mabel, and I will speak the person from a loop." + +Not a little precaution was necessary, according to Pathfinder's +judgment and experience, in performing even this simple act; for he had +known the careless slain by their want of proper attention to what might +have seemed to the ignorant supererogatory means of safety. He did not +place his mouth to the loop itself, but so near it that he could be +heard without raising his voice, and the same precaution was observed as +regards his ear. + +"Who is below?" Pathfinder demanded, when his arrangements were made +to his mind. "Is any one in suffering? If a friend, speak boldly, and +depend on our aid." + +"Pathfinder!" answered a voice that both Mabel and the person addressed +at once knew to be the Sergeant's,--"Pathfinder, in the name of God, +tell me what has become of my daughter." + +"Father, I am here, unhurt, safe! and oh that I could think the same of +you!" + +The ejaculation of thanksgiving that followed was distinctly audible to +the two, but it was clearly mingled with, a groan of pain. + +"My worst forebodings are realized!" said Mabel with a sort of desperate +calmness. "Pathfinder, my father must be brought within the block, +though we hazard everything to do it." + +"This is natur', and it is the law of God. But, Mabel, be calm, and +endivor to be cool. All that can be effected for the Sergeant by human +invention shall be done. I only ask you to be cool." + +"I am, I am, Pathfinder. Never in my life was I more calm, more +collected, than at this moment. But remember how perilous may be every +instant; for Heaven's sake, what we do, let us do without delay." + +Pathfinder was struck with the firmness of Mabel's tones, and perhaps he +was a little deceived by the forced tranquillity and self-possession +she had assumed. At all events, he did not deem any further explanations +necessary, but descended forthwith, and began to unbar the door. This +delicate process was conducted with the usual caution, but, as he warily +permitted the mass of timber to swing back on the hinges, he felt a +pressure against it, that had nearly induced him to close it again. +But, catching a glimpse of the cause through the crack, the door was +permitted to swing back, when the body of Sergeant Dunham, which was +propped against it, fell partly within the block. To draw in the legs +and secure the fastenings occupied the Pathfinder but a moment. Then +there existed no obstacle to their giving their undivided care to the +wounded man. + +Mabel, in this trying scene, conducted herself with the sort of +unnatural energy that her sex, when aroused, is apt to manifest. She +got the light, administered water to the parched lips of her father, and +assisted Pathfinder in forming a bed of straw for his body and a pillow +of clothes for his head. All this was done earnestly, and almost without +speaking; nor did Mabel shed a tear, until she heard the blessings of +her father murmured on her head for this tenderness and care. All +this time Mabel had merely conjectured the condition of her parent. +Pathfinder, however, had shown greater attention to the physical danger +of the Sergeant. He had ascertained that a rifle-ball had passed through +the body of the wounded man; and he was sufficiently familiar with +injuries of this nature to be certain that the chances of his surviving +the hurt were very trifling, if any. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + Then drink my tears, while yet they fall-- + Would that my bosom's blood were balm; + And--well thou knowest--I'd shed it all, + To give thy brow one minute's calm. + MOORE. + + +The eyes of Sergeant Dunham had not ceased to follow the form of his +beautiful daughter from the moment that the light appeared. He next +examined the door of the block, to ascertain its security; for he was +left on the ground below, there being no available means of raising him +to the upper floor. Then he sought the face of Mabel; for as life wanes +fast the affections resume their force, and we begin to value that most +which we feel we are about to lose for ever. + +"God be praised, my child! you, at least, have escaped their murderous +rifles," he said; for he spoke with strength, and seemingly with no +additional pain. "Give me the history of this sad business, Pathfinder." + +"Ah's me, Sergeant! It _has_ been sad, as you say. That there has been +treachery, and the position of the island has been betrayed, is now as +sartain, in my judgment, as that we still hold the block. But--" + +"Major Duncan was right," interrupted Dunham, laying a hand on the +other's arm. + +"Not in the sense you mean, Sergeant--no, not in that p'int of view; +never! At least, not in my opinion. I know that natur' is weak--human +natur', I mean--and that we should none of us vaunt of our gifts, +whether red or white; but I do not think a truer-hearted lad lives on +the lines than Jasper Western." + +"Bless you! bless you for that, Pathfinder!" burst forth from Mabel's +very soul, while a flood of tears gave vent to emotions that were so +varied while they were so violent. "Oh, bless you, Pathfinder, bless +you! The brave should never desert the brave--the honest should sustain +the honest." + +The father's eyes were fastened anxiously on the face of his daughter, +until the latter hid her countenance in her apron to conceal her tears; +and then they turned with inquiry to the hard features of the guide. The +latter merely wore their usual expression of frankness, sincerity, and +uprightness; and the Sergeant motioned to him to proceed. + +"You know the spot where the Sarpent and I left you, Sergeant," +Pathfinder resumed; "and I need say nothing of all that happened afore. +It is now too late to regret what is gone and passed; but I do think if +I had stayed with the boats this would not have come to pass. Other men +may be as good guides--I make no doubt they are; but then natur' bestows +its gifts, and some must be better than other some. I daresay poor +Gilbert, who took my place, has suffered for his mistake." + +"He fell at my elbow," the Sergeant answered in a low melancholy tone. +"We have, indeed, all suffered for our mistakes." + +"No, no, Sergeant, I meant no condemnation on you; for men were never +better commanded than yourn, in this very expedition. I never beheld +a prettier flanking; and the way in which you carried your own boat up +ag'in their howitzer might have teached Lundie himself a lesson." + +The eyes of the Sergeant brightened, and his face even wore an +expression of military triumph, though it was of a degree that suited +the humble sphere in which he had been an actor. + +"'Twas not badly done, my friend," said he; "and we carried their log +breastwork by storm." + +"'Twas nobly done, Sergeant; though, I fear, when all the truth comes to +be known, it will be found that these vagabonds have got their howitzer +back ag'in. Well, well, put a stout heart upon it, and try to forget +all that is disagreeable, and to remember only the pleasant part of the +matter. That is your truest philosophy; ay, and truest religion too. If +the inimy has got the howitzer ag'in, they've only got what belonged to +them afore, and what we couldn't help. They haven't got the blockhouse +yet, nor are they likely to get it, unless they fire it in the dark. +Well, Sergeant, the Sarpent and I separated about ten miles down the +river; for we thought it wisest not to come upon even a friendly camp +without the usual caution. What has become of Chingachgook I cannot +say; though Mabel tells me he is not far off, and I make no question the +noble-hearted Delaware is doing his duty, although he is not now visible +to our eyes. Mark my word, Sergeant, before this matter is over we shall +hear of him at some critical time and that in a discreet and creditable +manner. Ah, the Sarpent is indeed a wise and virtuous chief! and any +white man might covet his gifts, though his rifle is not quite as sure +as Killdeer, it must be owned. Well, as I came near the island I missed +the smoke, and that put me on my guard; for I knew that the men of the +55th were not cunning enough to conceal that sign, notwithstanding all +that has been told them of its danger. This made me more careful, until +I came in sight of this mockfisherman, as I've just told Mabel; and then +the whole of their infernal arts was as plain before me as if I saw it +on a map. I need not tell you, Sergeant, that my first thoughts were of +Mabel; and that, finding she was in the block, I came here, in order to +live or die in her company." + +The father turned a gratified look upon his child; and Mabel felt a +sinking of the heart that at such a moment she could not have thought +possible, when she wished to believe all her concern centred in the +situation of her parent. As the latter held out his hand, she took it +in her own and kissed it. Then, kneeling at his side, she wept as if her +heart would break. + +"Mabel," said he steadily, "the will of God must be done. It is useless +to attempt deceiving either you or myself; my time has come, and it is a +consolation to me to die like a soldier. Lundie will do me justice; for +our good friend Pathfinder will tell him what has been done, and how all +came to pass. You do not forget our last conversation?" + +"Nay, father, my time has probably come too," exclaimed Mabel, who felt +just then as if it would be a relief to die. "I cannot hope to escape; +and Pathfinder would do well to leave us, and return to the garrison +with the sad news while he can." + +"Mabel Dunham," said Pathfinder reproachfully, though he took her hand +with kindness, "I have not desarved this. I know I am wild, and uncouth, +and ungainly--" + +"Pathfinder!" + +"Well, well, we'll forget it; you did not mean it, you could not think +it. It is useless now to talk of escaping, for the Sergeant cannot be +moved; and the blockhouse must be defended, cost what it will. Maybe +Lundie will get the tidings of our disaster, and send a party to raise +the siege." + +"Pathfinder--Mabel!" said the Sergeant, who had been writhing with pain +until the cold sweat stood on his forehead; "come both to my side. You +understand each other, I hope?" + +"Father, say nothing of that; it is all as you wish." + +"Thank God! Give me your hand, Mabel--here, Pathfinder, take it. I can +do no more than give you the girl in this way. I know you will make her +a kind husband. Do not wait on account of my death; but there will be a +chaplain in the fort before the season closes, and let him marry you +at once. My brother, if living, will wish to go back to his vessel, and +then the child will have no protector. Mabel, your husband will have +been my friend, and that will be some consolation to you, I hope." + +"Trust this matter to me, Sergeant," put in Pathfinder; "leave it all +in my hands as your dying request; and, depend on it, all will go as it +should." + +"I do, I do put all confidence in you, my trusty friend, and empower you +to act as I could act myself in every particular. Mabel, child,--hand +me the water,--you will never repent this night. Bless you, my daughter! +God bless, and have you in His holy keeping!" + +This tenderness was inexpressibly touching to one of Mabel's feelings; +and she felt at that moment as if her future union with Pathfinder had +received a solemnization that no ceremony of the Church could render +more holy. Still, a weight, as that of a mountain, lay upon her heart, +and she thought it would be happiness to die. Then followed a short +pause, when the Sergeant, in broken sentences, briefly related what had +passed since he parted with Pathfinder and the Delaware. The wind had +come more favorable; and, instead of encamping on an island agreeably +to the original intention, he had determined to continue, and reach the +station that night. Their approach would have been unseen, and a portion +of the calamity avoided, he thought, had they not grounded on the point +of a neighboring island, where, no doubt, the noise made by the men +in getting off the boat gave notice of their approach, and enabled the +enemy to be in readiness to receive them. They had landed without +the slightest suspicion of danger, though surprised at not finding +a sentinel, and had actually left their arms in the boat, with the +intention of first securing their knapsacks and provisions. The fire had +been so close, that, notwithstanding the obscurity, it was very deadly. +Every man had fallen, though two or three subsequently arose and +disappeared. Four or five of the soldiers had been killed, or so nearly +so as to survive but a few minutes; though, for some unknown reason, the +enemy did not make the usual rush for the scalps. Sergeant Dunham fell +with the others; and he had heard the voice of Mabel, as she rushed from +the blockhouse. This frantic appeal aroused all his parental feelings, +and had enabled him to crawl as far as the door of the building, where +he had raised himself against the logs in the manner already mentioned. + +After this simple explanation was made, the Sergeant was so weak as to +need repose, and his companions, while they ministered to his wants, +suffered some time to pass in silence. Pathfinder took the occasion to +reconnoitre from the loops and the roof, and he examined the condition +of the rifles, of which there were a dozen kept in the building, the +soldiers having used their regimental muskets in the expedition. But +Mabel never left her father's side for an instant; and when, by his +breathing, she fancied he slept, she bent her knees and prayed. + +The half-hour that succeeded was awfully solemn and still. The moccasin +of Pathfinder was barely heard overhead, and occasionally the sound +of the breech of a rifle fell upon the floor, for he was busied in +examining the pieces, with a view to ascertain the state of their +charges and their primings. Beyond this, nothing was so loud as +the breathing of the wounded man. Mabel's heart yearned to be in +communication with the father she was so soon to lose, and yet she would +not disturb his apparent repose. But Dunham slept not; he was in that +state when the world suddenly loses its attractions, its illusions, and +its power; and the unknown future fills the mind with its conjectures, +its revelations, and its immensity. He had been a moral man for one +of his mode of life, but he had thought little of this all-important +moment. Had the din of battle been ringing in his ears, his martial +ardor might have endured to the end; but there, in the silence of that +nearly untenanted blockhouse, with no sound to enliven him, no appeal +to keep alive factitious sentiment, no hope of victory to impel, things +began to appear in their true colors, and this state of being to be +estimated at its just value. He would have given treasures for religious +consolation, and yet he knew not where to turn to seek it. He thought +of Pathfinder, but he distrusted his knowledge. He thought of Mabel, +but for the parent to appeal to the child for such succor appeared +like reversing the order of nature. Then it was that he felt the full +responsibility of the parental character, and had some clear glimpse +of the manner in which he himself had discharged the trust towards an +orphan child. While thoughts like these were rising in his mind, Mabel, +who watched the slightest change in his breathing, heard a guarded knock +at the door. Supposing it might be Chingachgook, she rose, undid two of +the bars, and held the third in her hand, as she asked who was there. +The answer was in her uncle's voice, and he implored her to give him +instant admission. Without an instant of hesitation, she turned the bar, +and Cap entered. He had barely passed the opening, when Mabel closed +the door again, and secured it as before, for practice had rendered her +expert in this portion of her duties. + +The sturdy seaman, when he had made sure of the state of his +brother-in-law, and that Mabel, as well as himself, was safe, was +softened nearly to tears. His own appearance he explained by saying that +he had been carelessly guarded, under the impression that he and the +Quartermaster were sleeping under the fumes of liquor with which +they had been plied with a view to keep them quiet in the expected +engagement. Muir had been left asleep, or seeming to sleep; but Cap +had run into the bushes on the alarm of the attack, and having found +Pathfinder's canoe, had only succeeded, at that moment, in getting to +the blockhouse, whither he had come with the kind intent of escaping +with his niece by water. It is scarcely necessary to say that he changed +his plan when he ascertained the state of the Sergeant, and the apparent +security of his present quarters. + +"If the worst comes to the worst, Master Pathfinder," said he, "we must +strike, and that will entitle us to receive quarter. We owe it to our +manhood to hold out a reasonable time, and to ourselves to haul down the +ensign in season to make saving conditions. I wished Master Muir to +do the same thing when we were captured by these chaps you call +vagabonds--and rightly are they named, for viler vagabonds do not walk +the earth--" + +"You've found out their characters?" interrupted Pathfinder, who was +always as ready to chime in with abuse of the Mingos as with the praises +of his friends. "Now, had you fallen into the hands of the Delawares, +you would have learned the difference." + +"Well, to me they seem much of a muchness; blackguards fore and aft, +always excepting our friend the Serpent, who is a gentleman for an +Indian. But, when these savages made the assault on us, killing Corporal +M'Nab and his men as if they had been so many rabbits, Lieutenant Muir +and myself took refuge in one of the holes of this here island, of which +there are so many among the rocks, and there we remained stowed away +like two leaguers in a ship's hold, until we gave out for want of grub. +A man may say that grub is the foundation of human nature. I desired the +Quartermaster to make terms, for we could have defended ourselves for an +hour or two in the place, bad as it was; but he declined, on the ground +that the knaves wouldn't keep faith if any of them were hurt, and +so there was no use in asking them to. I consented to strike, on two +principles; one, that we might be said to have struck already, for +running below is generally thought to be giving up the ship; and the +other, that we had an enemy in our stomachs that was more formidable in +his attacks than the enemy on deck. Hunger is a d----ble circumstance, +as any man who has lived on it eight-and-forty hours will acknowledge." + +"Uncle," said Mabel in a mournful voice and with an expostulatory +manner, "my poor father is sadly, sadly hurt!" + +"True, Magnet, true; I will sit by him, and do my best at consolation. +Are the bars well fastened, girl? for on such an occasion the mind +should be tranquil and undisturbed." + +"We are safe, I believe, from all but this heavy blow of Providence." + +"Well, then, Magnet, do you go up to the floor above and try to compose +yourself, while Pathfinder runs aloft and takes a look-out from the +cross-trees. Your father may wish to say something to me in private, +and it may be well to leave us alone. These are solemn scenes, and +inexperienced people, like myself, do not always wish what they say to +be overheard." + +Although the idea of her uncle's affording religious consolation by the +side of a death-bed certainly never obtruded itself on the imagination +of Mabel, she thought there might be a propriety in the request with +which she was unacquainted, and she complied accordingly. Pathfinder had +already ascended to the roof to make his survey, and the brothers-in-law +were left alone. Cap took a seat by the side of the Sergeant, and +bethought him seriously of the grave duty he had before him. A silence +of several minutes succeeded, during which brief space the mariner was +digesting the substance of his intended discourse. + +"I must say, Sergeant Dunham," Cap at length commenced in his peculiar +manner, "that there has been mismanagement somewhere in this unhappy +expedition; and, the present being an occasion when truth ought to be +spoken, and nothing but the truth, I feel it my duty to be say as much +in plain language. In short, Sergeant, on this point there cannot well +be two opinions; for, seaman as I am, and no soldier, I can see several +errors myself, that it needs no great education to detect." + +"What would you have, brother Cap?" returned the other in a feeble +voice; "what is done is done; and it is now too late to remedy it." + +"Very true, brother Dunham, but not to repent of it; the Good Book tells +us it is never too late to repent; and I've always heard that this is +the precious moment. If you've anything on your mind, Sergeant, hoist +it out freely; for, you know, you trust it to a friend. You were my own +sister's husband, and poor little Magnet is my own sister's daughter; +and, living or dead, I shall always look upon you as a brother. It's a +thousand pities that you didn't lie off and on with the boats, and send +a canoe ahead to reconnoitre; in which case your command would have been +saved, and this disaster would not have befallen us all. Well, Sergeant, +we are _all_ mortal; that is some consolation, I make no doubt; and if +you go before a little, why, we must follow. Yes, that _must_ give you +consolation." + +"I know all this, brother Cap; and hope I'm prepared to meet a soldier's +fate--there is poor Mabel--" + +"Ay, ay, that's a heavy drag, I know; but you wouldn't take her with you +if you could, Sergeant; and so the better way is to make as light of +the separation as you can. Mabel is a good girl, and so was her mother +before her; she was my sister, and it shall be my care to see that her +daughter gets a good husband, if our lives and scalps are spared; for +I suppose no one would care about entering into a family that has no +scalps." + +"Brother, my child is betrothed; she will become the wife of +Pathfinder." + +"Well, brother Dunham, every man has his opinions and his manner of +viewing things; and, to my notion, this match will be anything but +agreeable to Mabel. I have no objection to the age of the man; I'm not +one of them that thinks it necessary to be a boy to make a girl happy, +but, on the whole, I prefer a man of about fifty for a husband; still +there ought not to be any circumstance between the parties to make them +unhappy. Circumstances play the devil with matrimony, and I set it down +as one that Pathfinder don't know as much as my niece. You've seen but +little of the girl, Sergeant, and have not got the run of her knowledge; +but let her pay it out freely, as she will do when she gets to be +thoroughly acquainted, and you'll fall in with but few schoolmasters +that can keep their luffs in her company." + +"She's a good child--a dear, good child," muttered the Sergeant, his +eyes filling with tears; "and it is my misfortune that I have seen so +little of her." + +"She is indeed a good girl, and knows altogether too much for poor +Pathfinder, who is a reasonable man and an experienced man in his +own way; but who has no more idea of the main chance than you have of +spherical trigonometry, Sergeant." + +"Ah, brother Cap, had Pathfinder been with us in the boats this sad +affair might not have happened!" + +"That is quite likely; for his worst enemy will allow that the man is +a good guide; but then, Sergeant, if the truth must be spoken, you +have managed this expedition in a loose way altogether. You should have +hove-to off your haven, and sent in a boat to reconnoitre, as I told +you before. That is a matter to be repented of, and I tell it to you, +because truth, in such a case, ought to be spoken." + +"My errors are dearly paid for, brother; and poor Mabel, I fear, will +be the sufferer. I think, however, that the calamity would not have +happened had there not been treason. I fear me, brother, that Jasper +Eau-douce has played us false." + +"That is just my notion; for this fresh-water life must sooner or later +undermine any man's morals. Lieutenant Muir and myself talked this +matter over while we lay in a bit of a hole out here, on this island; +and we both came to the conclusion that nothing short of Jasper's +treachery could have brought us all into this infernal scrape. Well, +Sergeant, you had better compose your mind, and think of other matters; +for, when a vessel is about to enter a strange port, it is more prudent +to think of the anchorage inside than to be under-running all the events +that have turned up during the v'y'ge. There's the log-book expressly to +note all these matters in; and what stands there must form the column of +figures that's to be posted up for or against us. How now, Pathfinder! +is there anything in the wind, that you come down the ladder like an +Indian in the wake of a scalp?" + +The guide raised a finger for silence and then beckoned to Cap to ascend +the first ladder, and to allow Mabel to take his place at the side of +the Sergeant. + +"We must be prudent, and we must be bold too," said he in a low voice. +"The riptyles are in earnest in their intention to fire the block; for +they know there is now nothing to be gained by letting it stand. I hear +the voice of that vagabond Arrowhead among them, and he is urging +them to set about their devilry this very night. We must be stirring, +Saltwater, and doing too. Luckily there are four or five barrels +of water in the block, and these are something towards a siege. My +reckoning is wrong, too, or we shall yet reap some advantage from that +honest fellow's, the Sarpent, being at liberty." + +Cap did not wait for a second invitation; but, stealing away, he was +soon in the upper room with Pathfinder, while Mabel took his post at the +side of her father's humble bed. Pathfinder had opened a loop, having +so far concealed the light that it would not expose him to a treacherous +shot; and, expecting a summons, he stood with his face near the hole, +ready to answer. The stillness that succeeded was at length broken by +the voice of Muir. + +"Master Pathfinder," called out the Scotchman, "a friend summons you to +a parley. Come freely to one of the loops; for you've nothing to fear so +long as you are in converse with an officer of the 55th." + +"What is your will, Quartermaster? what is your will? I know the 55th, +and believe it to be a brave regiment; though I rather incline to the +60th as my favorite, and to the Delawares more than to either; but what +would you have, Quartermaster? It must be a pressing errand that brings +you under the loops of a blockhouse at this hour of the night, with the +sartainty of Killdeer being inside of it." + +"Oh, you'll no' harm a friend, Pathfinder, I'm certain; and that's my +security. You're a man of judgment, and have gained too great a name +on this frontier for bravery to feel the necessity of foolhardiness to +obtain a character. You'll very well understand, my good friend, there +is as much credit to be gained by submitting gracefully, when resistance +becomes impossible, as by obstinately holding out contrary to the rules +of war. The enemy is too strong for us, my brave comrade, and I come +to counsel you to give up the block, on condition of being treated as a +prisoner of war." + +"I thank you for this advice, Quartermaster, which is the more +acceptable as it costs nothing; but I do not think it belongs to my +gifts to yield a place like this while food and water last." + +"Well, I'd be the last, Pathfinder, to recommend anything against so +brave a resolution, did I see the means of maintaining it. But ye'll +remember that Master Cap has fallen." + +"Not he, not he!" roared the individual in question through another +loop; "and so far from that, Lieutenant, he has risen to the height of +this here fortification, and has no mind to put his head of hair into +the hands of such barbers again, so long as he can help it. I look upon +this blockhouse as a circumstance, and have no mind to throw it away." + +"If that is a living voice," returned Muir, "I am glad to hear it; for +we all thought the man had fallen in the late fearful confusion. But, +Master Pathfinder, although ye're enjoying the society of our friend +Cap,--and a great pleasure do I know it to be, by the experience of +two days and a night passed in a hole in the earth,--we've lost that of +Sergeant Dunham, who has fallen, with all the brave men he led in the +late expedition. Lundie would have it so, though it would have been more +discreet and becoming to send a commissioned officer in command. Dunham +was a brave man, notwithstanding, and shall have justice done his +memory. In short, we have all acted for the best, and that is as much as +could be said in favor of Prince Eugene, the Duke of Marlborough, or the +great Earl of Stair himself." + +"You're wrong ag'in, Quartermaster, you're wrong ag'in," answered +Pathfinder, resorting to a ruse to magnify his force. "The Sergeant +is safe in the block too, where one might say the whole family is +collected." + +"Well I rejoice to hear it, for we had certainly counted the Sergeant +among the slain. If pretty Mabel is in the block still, let her not +delay an instant, for heaven's sake, in quitting it, for the enemy is +about to put it to the trial by fire. Ye know the potency of that dread +element, and will be acting more like the discreet and experienced +warrior ye're universally allowed to be, in yielding a place you canna' +defend, than in drawing down ruin on yourself and companions." + +"I know the potency of fire, as you call it, Quartermaster; and am not +to be told, at this late hour, that it can be used for something else +besides cooking a dinner. But I make no doubt you've heard of the +potency of Killdeer, and the man who attempts to lay a pile of brush +against these logs will get a taste of his power. As for arrows, it is +not in their gift to set this building on fire, for we've no shingles +on our roof, but good solid logs and green bark, and plenty of water +besides. The roof is so flat, too, as you know yourself, Quartermaster, +that we can walk on it, and so no danger on that score while water +lasts. I'm peaceable enough if let alone; but he who endivors to burn +this block over my head will find the fire squinched in his own blood." + +"This is idle and romantic talk, Pathfinder, and ye'll no maintain it +yourself when ye come to meditate on the realities. I hope ye'll no' +gainsay the loyalty or the courage of the 55th, and I feel convinced +that a council of war would decide on the propriety of a surrender +forthwith. Na, na, Pathfinder, foolhardiness is na mair like the bravery +o' Wallace or Bruce than Albany on the Hudson is like the old town of +Edinbro'." + +"As each of us seems to have made up his mind, Quartermaster, more words +are useless. If the riptyles near you are disposed to set about their +hellish job, let them begin at once. They can burn wood, and I'll burn +powder. If I were an Indian at the stake, I suppose I could brag as well +as the rest of them; but, my gifts and natur' being both white, my turn +is rather for doing than talking. You've said quite enough, considering +you carry the king's commission; and should we all be consumed, none of +us will bear you any malice." + +"Pathfinder, ye'll no' be exposing Mabel, pretty Mabel Dunham, to sic' a +calamity!" + +"Mabel Dunham is by the side of her wounded father, and God will care +for the safety of a pious child. Not a hair of her head shall fall, +while my arm and sight remain true; and though _you_ may trust the +Mingos, Master Muir, I put no faith in them. You've a knavish Tuscarora +in your company there, who has art and malice enough to spoil the +character of any tribe with which he consorts, though he found the +Mingos ready ruined to his hands, I fear. But enough said; now let each +party go to the use of his means and his gifts." + +Throughout this dialogue Pathfinder had kept his body covered, lest a +treacherous shot should be aimed at the loop; and he now directed Cap +to ascend to the roof in order to be in readiness to meet the first +assault. Although the latter used sufficient diligence, he found no less +than ten blazing arrows sticking to the bark, while the air was filled +with the yells and whoops of the enemy. A rapid discharge of rifles +followed, and the bullets came pattering against the logs, in a way to +show that the struggle had indeed seriously commenced. + +These were sounds, however, that appalled neither Pathfinder nor Cap, +while Mabel was too much absorbed in her affliction to feel alarm. She +had good sense enough, too, to understand the nature of the defences, +and fully to appreciate their importance. As for her father, the +familiar noises revived him; and it pained his child, at such a moment, +to see that his glassy eye began to kindle, and that the blood returned +to a cheek it had deserted, as he listened to the uproar. It was now +Mabel first perceived that his reason began slightly to wander. + +"Order up the light companies," he muttered, "and let the grenadiers +charge! Do they dare to attack us in our fort? Why does not the +artillery open on them?" + +At that instant the heavy report of a gun burst on the night; and the +crashing of rending wood was heard, as a heavy shot tore the logs in +the room above, and the whole block shook with the force of a shell that +lodged in the work. The Pathfinder narrowly escaped the passage of this +formidable missile as it entered; but when it exploded, Mabel could not +suppress a shriek, for she supposed all over her head, whether animate +or inanimate, destroyed. To increase her horror, her father shouted in a +frantic voice to "charge!" + +"Mabel," said Pathfinder, with his head at the trap, "this is true Mingo +work--more noise than injury. The vagabonds have got the howitzer +we took from the French, and have discharged it ag'in the block; but +fortunately they have fired off the only shell we had, and there is an +ind of its use for the present. There is some confusion among the stores +up in this loft, but no one is hurt. Your uncle is still on the roof; +and, as for myself, I've run the gauntlet of too many rifles to be +skeary about such a thing as a howitzer, and that in Indian hands." + +Mabel murmured her thanks, and tried to give all her attention to her +father, whose efforts to rise were only counteracted by his debility. +During the fearful minutes that succeeded, she was so much occupied with +the care of the invalid that she scarcely heeded the clamor that reigned +around her. Indeed, the uproar was so great, that, had not her thoughts +been otherwise employed, confusion of faculties rather than alarm would +probably have been the consequence. + +Cap preserved his coolness admirably. He had a profound and increasing +respect for the power of the savages, and even for the majesty of fresh +water, it is true; but his apprehensions of the former proceeded more +from his dread of being scalped and tortured than from any unmanly fear +of death; and, as he was now on the deck of a house, if not on the deck +of a ship, and knew that there was little danger of boarders, he +moved about with a fearlessness and a rash exposure of his person that +Pathfinder, had he been aware of the fact, would have been the first to +condemn. Instead of keeping his body covered, agreeably to the usages of +Indian warfare, he was seen on every part of the roof, dashing the water +right and left, with the apparent steadiness and unconcern he would have +manifested had he been a sail trimmer exercising his art in a battle +afloat. His appearance was one of the causes of the extraordinary clamor +among the assailants; who, unused to see their enemies so reckless, +opened upon him with their tongues, like a pack that has the fox in +view. Still he appeared to possess a charmed life; for, though the +bullets whistled around him on every side, and his clothes were several +times torn, nothing cut his skin. When the shell passed through the logs +below, the old sailor dropped his bucket, waved his hat, and gave three +cheers; in which heroic act he was employed as the dangerous missile +exploded. This characteristic feat probably saved his life; for from +that instant the Indians ceased to fire at him, and even to shoot their +flaming arrows at the block, having taken up the notion simultaneously, +and by common consent, that the "Saltwater" was mad; and it was a +singular effect of their magnanimity never to lift a hand against those +whom they imagined devoid of reason. + +The conduct of Pathfinder was very different. Everything he did was +regulated by the most exact calculation, the result of long experience +and habitual thoughtfulness. His person was kept carefully out of a line +with the loops, and the spot that he selected for his look-out was one +quite removed from danger. This celebrated guide had often been known to +lead forlorn hopes: he had once stood at the stake, suffering under the +cruelties and taunts of savage ingenuity and savage ferocity without +quailing; and legends of his exploits, coolness, and daring were to be +heard all along that extensive frontier, or wherever men dwelt and men +contended. But on this occasion, one who did not know his history and +character might have thought his exceeding care and studied attention +to self-preservation proceeded from an unworthy motive. But such a judge +would not have understood his subject; the Pathfinder bethought him of +Mabel, and of what might possibly be the consequences to that poor +girl should any casualty befall himself. But the recollection rather +quickened his intellect than changed his customary prudence. He was, +in fact, one of those who was so unaccustomed to fear, that he never +bethought him of the constructions others might put upon his conduct. +But while in moments of danger he acted with the wisdom of the serpent, +it was also with the simplicity of a child. + +For the first ten minutes of the assault, Pathfinder never raised the +breech of his rifle from the floor, except when he changed his own +position, for he well knew that the bullets of the enemy were thrown +away upon the massive logs of the work; and as he had been at the +capture of the howitzer he felt certain that the savages had no other +shell than the one found in it when the piece was taken. There existed +no reason, therefore, to dread the fire of the assailants, except as +a casual bullet might find a passage through a loophole. One or two +of these accidents did occur, but the balls entered at an angle that +deprived them of all chance of doing any injury so long as the Indians +kept near the block; and if discharged from a distance, there was +scarcely the possibility of one in a hundred's striking the apertures. +But when Pathfinder heard the sound of mocassined feet and the rustling +of brush at the foot of the building, he knew that the attempt to build +a fire against the logs was about to be renewed. He now summoned Cap +from the roof, where, indeed, all the danger had ceased, and directed +him to stand in readiness with his water at a hole immediately over the +spot assailed. + +One less trained than our hero would have been in a hurry to repel +this dangerous attempt also, and might have resorted to his means +prematurely; not so with Pathfinder. His aim was not only to extinguish +the fire, about which he felt little apprehension, but to give the enemy +a lesson that would render him wary during the remainder of the night. +In order to effect the latter purpose, it became necessary to wait until +the light of the intended conflagration should direct his aim, when +he well knew that a very slight effort of his skill would suffice. The +Iroquois were permitted to collect their heap of dried brush, to pile +it against the block, to light it, and to return to their covers without +molestation. All that Pathfinder would suffer Cap to do, was to roll +a barrel filled with water to the hole immediately over the spot, in +readiness to be used at the proper instant. That moment, however, did +not arrive, in his judgment, until the blaze illuminated the surrounding +bushes, and there had been time for his quick and practised eye to +detect the forms of three or four lurking savages, who were watching the +progress of the flames, with the cool indifference of men accustomed to +look on human misery with apathy. Then, indeed, he spoke. + +"Are you ready, friend Cap?" he asked. "The heat begins to strike +through the crevices; and although these green logs are not of the fiery +natur' of an ill-tempered man, they may be kindled into a blaze if one +provokes them too much. Are you ready with the barrel? See that it has +the right cut, and that none of the water is wasted." + +"All ready!" answered Cap, in the manner in which a seaman replies to +such a demand. + +"Then wait for the word. Never be over-impatient in a critical time, nor +fool-risky in a battle. Wait for the word." + +While the Pathfinder was giving these directions, he was also making +his own preparations; for he saw it was time to act. Killdeer was +deliberately raised, pointed, and discharged. The whole process occupied +about half a minute, and as the rifle was drawn in the eye of the +marksman was applied to the hole. + +"There is one riptyle the less," Pathfinder muttered to himself; "I've +seen that vagabond afore, and know him to be a marciless devil. Well, +well! the man acted according to his gifts, and he has been rewarded +according to his gifts. One more of the knaves, and that will sarve the +turn for to-night. When daylight appears, we may have hotter work." + +All this time another rifle was being got ready; and as Pathfinder +ceased, a second savage fell. This indeed sufficed; for, indisposed to +wait for a third visitation from the same hand, the whole band, which +had been crouching in the bushes around the block, ignorant of who was +and who was not exposed to view, leaped from their covers and fled to +different places for safety. + +"Now, pour away, Master Cap," said Pathfinder; "I've made my mark on the +blackguards; and we shall have no more fires lighted to-night." + +"Scaldings!" cried Cap, upsetting the barrel, with a care that at once +and completely extinguished the flames. + +This ended the singular conflict; and the remainder of the night passed +in peace. Pathfinder and Cap watched alternately, though neither can be +said to have slept. Sleep indeed scarcely seemed necessary to them, for +both were accustomed to protracted watchings; and there were seasons and +times when the former appeared to be literally insensible to the demands +of hunger and thirst and callous to the effects of fatigue. + +Mabel watched by her father's pallet, and began to feel how much our +happiness in this world depends even on things that are imaginary. +Hitherto she had virtually lived without a father, the connection with +her remaining parent being ideal rather than positive; but now that she +was about to lose him, she thought for the moment that the world would +be a void after his death, and that she could never be acquainted with +happiness again. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + There was a roaring in the wind all night; + The rain came heavily, and fell in floods; + But now the sun is rising calm and bright; + The birds are singing in the distant woods. + WORDSWORTH. + + +As the light returned, Pathfinder and Cap ascended again to the roof, +with a view to reconnoitre the state of things once more on the island. +This part of the blockhouse had a low battlement around it, which +afforded a considerable protection to those who stood in its centre; the +intention having been to enable marksmen to lie behind it and to +fire over its top. By making proper use, therefore, of these slight +defences,--slight as to height, though abundantly ample as far as they +went,--the two look-outs commanded a pretty good view of the island, its +covers excepted, and of most of the channels that led to the spot. + +The gale was still blowing very fresh at south; and there were places in +the river where its surface looked green and angry, though the wind +had hardly sweep enough to raise the water into foam. The shape of the +little island was nearly oval, and its greater length was from east to +west. By keeping in the channels that washed it, in consequence of their +several courses and of the direction of the gale, it would have +been possible for a vessel to range past the island on either of its +principal sides, and always to keep the wind very nearly abeam. These +were the facts first noticed by Cap, and explained to his companion; for +the hopes of both now rested on the chances of relief sent from Oswego. +At this instant, while they stood gazing anxiously about them, Cap cried +out, in his lusty, hearty manner, + +"Sail, ho!" + +Pathfinder turned quickly in the direction of his companion's face; +and there, sure enough, was just visible the object of the old sailor's +exclamation. The elevation enabled the two to overlook the low land of +several of the adjacent islands; and the canvas of a vessel was seen +through the bushes that fringed the shore of one that lay to the +southward and westward. The stranger was under what seamen call low +sail; but so great was the power of the wind, that her white outlines +were seen flying past the openings of the verdure with the velocity of a +fast-travelling horse--resembling a cloud driving in the heavens. + +"That cannot be Jasper," said Pathfinder in disappointment; for he did +not recognize the cutter of his friend in the swift-passing object. +"No, no, the lad is behind the hour; and that is some craft which the +Frenchers have sent to aid their friends, the accursed Mingos." + +"This time you are out in your reckoning, friend Pathfinder, if you +never were before," returned Cap in a manner that had lost none of +its dogmatism by the critical circumstances in which they were placed. +"Fresh water or salt, that is the head of the _Scud's_ mainsail, for it +is cut with a smaller gore than common; and then you can see that the +gaff has been fished--quite neatly done, I admit, but fished." + +"I can see none of this, I confess," answered Pathfinder, to whom even +the terms of his companion were Greek. + +"No! Well, I own that surprises me, for I thought your eyes could see +anything! Now to me nothing is plainer than that gore and that fish; and +I must say, my honest friend, that in your place I should apprehend that +my sight was beginning to fail." + +"If Jasper is truly coming, I shall apprehend but little. We can make +good the block against the whole Mingo nation for the next eight or +ten hours; and with Eau-douce to cover the retreat, I shall despair of +nothing. God send that the lad may not run alongside of the bank, and +fall into an ambushment, as befell the Sergeant!" + +"Ay, there's the danger. There ought to have been signals concerted, +and an anchorage-ground buoyed out, and even a quarantine station or +a lazaretto would have been useful, could we have made these Minks-ho +respect the laws. If the lad fetches up, as you say, anywhere in the +neighborhood of this island, we may look upon the cutter as lost. And, +after all, Master Pathfinder, ought we not to set down this same Jasper +as a secret ally of the French, rather than as a friend of our own? I +know the Sergeant views the matter in that light; and I must say this +whole affair looks like treason." + +"We shall soon know, we shall soon know, Master Cap; for there, indeed, +comes the cutter clear of the other island, and five minutes must settle +the matter. It would be no more than fair, however, if we could give the +boy some sign in the way of warning. It is not right that he should fall +into the trap without a notice that it has been laid." + +Anxiety and suspense, notwithstanding, prevented either from attempting +to make any signal. It was not easy, truly, to see how it could be done; +for the _Scud_ came foaming through the channel, on the weather side of +the island, at a rate that scarcely admitted of the necessary time. Nor +was any one visible on her deck to make signs to; even her helm seemed +deserted, though her course was as steady as her progress was rapid. + +Cap stood in silent admiration of a spectacle so unusual. But, as the +_Scud_ drew nearer, his practised eye detected the helm in play by means +of tiller-ropes, though the person who steered was concealed. As +the cutter had weatherboards of some little height, the mystery was +explained, no doubt remaining that her people lay behind the latter, in +order to be protected from the rifles of the enemy. As this fact +showed that no force beyond that of the small crew could be on board, +Pathfinder received his companion's explanation with an ominous shake of +the head. + +"This proves that the Sarpent has not reached Oswego," said he, "and +that we are not to expect succor from the garrison. I hope Lundie has +not taken it into his head to displace the lad, for Jasper Western would +be a host of himself in such a strait. We three, Master Cap, ought to +make a manful warfare: you, as a seaman, to keep up the intercourse with +the cutter; Jasper, as a laker who knows all that is necessary to be +done on the water; and I, with gifts that are as good as any among the +Mingos, let me be what I may in other particulars. I say we ought to +make a manful fight in Mabel's behalf." + +"That we ought, and that we will," answered Cap heartily; for he began +to have more confidence in the security of his scalp now that he saw the +sun again. "I set down the arrival of the _Scud_ as one circumstance, +and the chances of Oh-deuce's honesty as another. This Jasper is a +young man of prudence, you find; for he keeps a good offing, and seems +determined to know how matters stand on the island before he ventures to +bring up." + +"I have it! I have it!" exclaimed Pathfinder, with exultation. "There +lies the canoe of the Sarpent on the cutter's deck; and the chief has +got on board, and no doubt has given a true account of our condition; +for, unlike a Mingo, a Delaware is sartain to get a story right, or to +hold his tongue." + +"That canoe may not belong to the cutter," said the captious seaman. +"Oh-deuce had one on board when he sailed." + +"Very true, friend Cap; but if you know your sails and masts by your +gores and fishes, I know my canoes and my paths by frontier knowledge. +If you can see new cloth in a sail, I can see new bark in a canoe. That +is the boat of the Sarpent, and the noble fellow has struck off for the +garrison as soon as he found the block besieged, has fallen in with the +_Scud_, and, after telling his story, has brought the cutter down here +to see what can be done. The Lord grant that Jasper Western be still on +board her!" + +"Yes, yes; it might not be amiss; for, traitor or loyal, the lad has a +handy way with him in a gale, it must be owned." + +"And in coming over waterfalls!" said Pathfinder, nudging the ribs +of his companion with an elbow, and laughing in his silent but hearty +manner. "We will give the boy his due, though he scalps us all with his +own hand." + +The _Scud_ was now so near, that Cap made no reply. The scene, just at +that instant, was so peculiar, that it merits a particular description, +which may also aid the reader in forming a more accurate nature of the +picture we wish to draw. + +The gale was still blowing violently. Many of the smaller trees bowed +their tops, as if ready to descend to the earth, while the rushing +of the wind through the branches of the groves resembled the roar of +distant chariots. + +The air was filled with leaves, which, at that late season, were readily +driven from their stems, and flew from island to island like flights of +birds. With this exception, the spot seemed silent as the grave. That +the savages still remained, was to be inferred from the fact that their +canoes, together with the boats of the 55th, lay in a group in the +little cove that had been selected as a harbor. Otherwise, not a sign of +their presence was to be detected. Though taken entirely by surprise by +the cutter, the sudden return of which was altogether unlooked-for, so +uniform and inbred were their habits of caution while on the war-path, +that the instant an alarm was given every man had taken to his cover +with the instinct and cunning of a fox seeking his hole. The same +stillness reigned in the blockhouse; for though Pathfinder and Cap could +command a view of the channel, they took the precaution necessary to lie +concealed. The unusual absence of anything like animal life on board +the _Scud_, too, was still more remarkable. As the Indians witnessed her +apparently undirected movements, a feeling of awe gained a footing among +them, and some of the boldest of their party began to distrust the issue +of an expedition that had commenced so prosperously. Even Arrowhead, +accustomed as he was to intercourse with the whites on both sides of +the lakes, fancied there was something ominous in the appearance of this +unmanned vessel, and he would gladly at that moment have been landed +again on the main. + +In the meantime the progress of the cutter was steady and rapid. She +held her way mid-channel, now inclining to the gusts, and now rising +again, like the philosopher that bends to the calamities of life to +resume his erect attitude as they pass away, but always piling the water +beneath her bows in foam. Although she was under so very short canvas, +her velocity was great, and there could not have elapsed ten minutes +between the time when her sails were first seen glancing past the trees +and bushes in the distance and the moment when she was abreast of +the blockhouse. Cap and Pathfinder leaned forward, as the cutter came +beneath their eyrie, eager to get a better view of her deck, when, to +the delight of both, Jasper Eau-douce sprang upon his feet and gave +three hearty cheers. Regardless of all risk, Cap leaped upon the rampart +of logs and returned the greeting, cheer for cheer. Happily, the policy +of the enemy saved the latter; for they still lay quiet, not a rifle +being discharged. On the other hand, Pathfinder kept in view the useful, +utterly disregarding the mere dramatic part of warfare. The moment he +beheld his friend Jasper, he called out to him with stentorian lungs,-- + +"Stand by us, lad, and the day's our own! Give 'em a grist in yonder +bushes, and you'll put 'em up like partridges." + +Part of this reached Jasper's ears, but most was borne off to leeward on +the wings of the wind. By the time this was said, the _Scud_ had driven +past, and in the next moment she was hid from view by the grove in which +the blockhouse was partially concealed. + +Two anxious minutes succeeded; but, at the expiration of that brief +space, the sails were again gleaming through the trees, Jasper having +wore, jibed, and hauled up under the lee of the island on the other +tack. The wind was free enough, as has been already explained, to admit +of this manoeuvre; and the cutter, catching the current under her lee +bow, was breasted up to her course in a way that showed she would come +out to windward of the island again without any difficulty. This +whole evolution was made with the greatest facility, not a sheet being +touched, the sails trimming themselves, the rudder alone controlling +the admirable machine. The object appeared to be a reconnoissance. When, +however, the _Scud_ had made the circuit of the entire island, and had +again got her weatherly position in the channel by which she had first +approached, her helm was put down, and she tacked. The noise of the +mainsail flapping when it filled, loose-reefed as it was, sounded like +the report of a gun, and Cap trembled lest the seams should open. + +"His Majesty gives good canvas, it must be owned," muttered the old +seaman; "and it must be owned, too, that boy handles his boat as if he +were thoroughly bred! D---me, Master Pathfinder, if I believe, after all +that has been reported in the matter, that this Mister Oh-deuce got his +trade on this bit of fresh water." + +"He did; yes, he did. He never saw the ocean, and has come by his +calling altogether up here on Ontario. I have often thought he has a +nat'ral gift in the way of schooners and sloops, and have respected him +accordingly. As for treason and lying and black-hearted vices, friend +Cap, Jasper Western is as free as the most virtuousest of the Delaware +warriors; and if you crave to see a truly honest man, you must go among +that tribe to discover him." + +"There he comes round!" exclaimed the delighted Cap, the _Scud_ at this +moment filling on her original tack; "and now we shall see what the boy +would be at; he cannot mean to keep running up and down these passages, +like a girl footing it through a country-dance." + +The _Scud_ now kept so much away, that for a moment the two observers on +the blockhouse feared Jasper meant to come-to; and the savages, in +their lairs, gleamed out upon her with the sort of exultation that +the crouching tiger may be supposed to feel as he sees his unconscious +victim approach his bed. But Jasper had no such intention: familiar with +the shore, and acquainted with the depth of water on every part of the +island, he well knew that the _Scud_ might be run against the bank with +impunity, and he ventured fearlessly so near, that, as he passed through +the little cove, he swept the two boats of the soldiers from their +fastenings and forced them out into the channel, towing them with the +cutter. As all the canoes were fastened to the two Dunham boats, by this +bold and successful attempt the savages were at once deprived of the +means of quitting the island, unless by swimming, and they appeared to +be instantly aware of the very important fact. Rising in a body, they +filled the air with yells, and poured in a harmless fire. While up in +this unguarded manner, two rifles were discharged by their adversaries. +One came from the summit of the block, and an Iroquois fell dead in his +tracks, shot through the brain. The other came from the _Scud_. The last +was the piece of the Delaware, but, less true than that of his friend, +it only maimed an enemy for life. The people of the _Scud_ shouted, and +the savages sank again, to a man, as if it might be into the earth. + +"That was the Sarpent's voice," said Pathfinder, as soon as the second +piece was discharged. "I know the crack of his rifle as well as I do +that of Killdeer. 'Tis a good barrel, though not sartain death. Well, +well, with Chingachgook and Jasper on the water, and you and I in the +block, friend Cap, it will be hard if we don't teach these Mingo scamps +the rationality of a fight." + +All this time the _Scud_ was in motion. As soon as he had reached the +end of the island, Jasper sent his prizes adrift; and they went down +before the wind until they stranded on a point half a mile to leeward. +He then wore, and came stemming the current again, through the other +passage. Those on the summit of the block could now perceive that +something was in agitation on the deck of the _Scud_; and, to their +great delight, just as the cutter came abreast of the principal cove, +on the spot where most of the enemy lay, the howitzer which composed her +sole armament was unmasked, and a shower of case-shot was sent hissing +into the bushes. A bevy of quail would not have risen quicker than this +unexpected discharge of iron hail put up the Iroquois; when a second +savage fell by a messenger sent from Killdeer, and another went +limping away by a visit from the rifle of Chingachgook. New covers were +immediately found, however; and each party seemed to prepare for the +renewal of the strife in another form. But the appearance of June, +bearing a white flag, and accompanied by the French officer and Muir, +stayed the hands of all, and was the forerunner of another parley. The +negotiation that followed was held beneath the blockhouse; and so near +it as at once to put those who were uncovered completely at the mercy +of Pathfinder's unerring aim. Jasper anchored directly abeam; and +the howitzer, too, was kept trained upon the negotiators: so that the +besieged and their friends, with the exception of the man who held the +match, had no hesitation about exposing their persons. Chingachgook +alone lay in ambush; more, however, from habit than distrust. + +"You've triumphed, Pathfinder," called out the Quartermaster, "and +Captain Sanglier has come himself to offer terms. You'll no' be denying +a brave enemy honorable retreat, when he has fought ye fairly, and done +all the credit he could to king and country. Ye are too loyal a subject +yourself to visit loyalty and fidelity with a heavy judgment. I am +authorized to offer, on the part of the enemy, an evacuation of the +island, a mutual exchange of prisoners, and a restoration of scalps. In +the absence of baggage and artillery, little more can be done." + +As the conversation was necessarily carried on in a high key, both on +account of the wind and of the distance, all that was said was heard +equally by those in the block and those in the cutter. + +"What do you say to that, Jasper?" called out Pathfinder. "You hear the +proposal. Shall we let the vagabonds go? Or shall we mark them, as they +mark their sheep in the settlements, that we may know them again?" + +"What has befallen Mabel Dunham?" demanded the young man, with a frown +on his handsome face, that was visible even to those on the block. "If +a hair of her head has been touched, it will go hard with the whole +Iroquois tribe." + +"Nay, nay, she is safe below, nursing a dying parent, as becomes her +sex. We owe no grudge on account of the Sergeant's hurt, which comes of +lawful warfare; and as for Mabel--" + +"She is here!" exclaimed the girl herself, who had mounted to the roof +the moment she found the direction things were taking,--"she is here! +And, in the name of our holy religion, and of that God whom we profess +to worship in common, let there be no more bloodshed! Enough has been +spilt already; and if these men will go away, Pathfinder--if they will +depart peaceably, Jasper--oh, do not detain one of them! My poor father +is approaching his end, and it were better that he should draw his last +breath in peace with the world. Go, go, Frenchmen and Indians! We are no +longer your enemies, and will harm none of you." + +"Tut, tut, Magnet!" put in Cap; "this sounds religious, perhaps, or like +a book of poetry; but it does not sound like common sense. The enemy +is just ready to strike; Jasper is anchored with his broadside to bear, +and, no doubt, with springs on his cables; Pathfinder's eye and hand +are as true as the needle; and we shall get prize-money, head-money, and +honor in the bargain, if you will not interfere for the next half-hour." + +"Well," said Pathfinder, "I incline to Mabel's way of thinking. There +_has_ been enough blood shed to answer our purpose and to sarve the +king; and as for honor, in that meaning, it will do better for young +ensigns and recruits than for cool-headed, obsarvant Christian men. +There is honor in doing what's right, and unhonor in doing what's wrong; +and I think it wrong to take the life even of a Mingo, without a useful +end in view, I do; and right to hear reason at all times. So, Lieutenant +Muir, let us know what your friends the Frenchers and Indians have to +say for themselves." + +"My friends!" said Muir, starting; "you'll no' be calling the king's +enemies my friends, Pathfinder, because the fortune of war has thrown +me into their hands? Some of the greatest warriors, both of ancient and +modern times, have been prisoners of war; and yon is Master Cap, who can +testify whether we did not do all that men could devise to escape the +calamity." + +"Ay, ay," drily answered Cap; "escape is the proper word. We ran below +and hid ourselves, and so discreetly, that we might have remained in the +hole to this hour, had it not been for the necessity of re-stowing the +bread lockers. You burrowed on that occasion, Quartermaster, as handily +as a fox; and how the d---l you knew so well where to find the spot is a +matter of wonder to me. A regular skulk on board ship does not trail aft +more readily when the jib is to be stowed, than you went into that same +hole." + +"And did ye no' follow? There are moments in a man's life when reason +ascends to instinct--" + +"And men descend into holes," interrupted Cap, laughing in his +boisterous way, while Pathfinder chimed in, in his peculiar manner. +Even Jasper, though still filled with concern for Mabel, was obliged +to smile. "They say the d---l wouldn't make a sailor if he didn't look +aloft; and now it seems he'll not make a soldier if he doesn't look +below!" + +This burst of merriment, though it was anything but agreeable to Muir, +contributed largely towards keeping the peace. Cap fancied he had said +a thing much better than common; and that disposed him to yield his own +opinion on the main point, so long as he got the good opinion of his +companions on his novel claim to be a wit. After a short discussion, all +the savages on the island were collected in a body, without arms, at +the distance of a hundred yards from the block, and under the gun of +the _Scud_; while Pathfinder descended to the door of the blockhouse and +settled the terms on which the island was to be finally evacuated by the +enemy. Considering all the circumstances, the conditions were not very +discreditable to either party. The Indians were compelled to give up +all their arms, even to their knives and tomahawks, as a measure of +precaution, their force being still quadruple that of their foes. The +French officer, Monsieur Sanglier, as he was usually styled, and chose +to call himself, remonstrated against this act as one likely to reflect +more discredit on his command than any other part of the affair; but +Pathfinder, who had witnessed one or two Indian massacres, and knew +how valueless pledges became when put in opposition to interest where a +savage was concerned, was obdurate. The second stipulation was of nearly +the same importance. It compelled Captain Sanglier to give up all his +prisoners, who had been kept well guarded in the very hole or cave in +which Cap and Muir had taken refuge. When these men were produced, four +of them were found to be unhurt; they had fallen merely to save +their lives, a common artifice in that species of warfare; and of the +remainder, two were so slightly injured as not to be unfit for service. +As they brought their muskets with them, this addition to his force +immediately put Pathfinder at his ease; for, having collected all the +arms of the enemy in the blockhouse, he directed these men to take +possession of the building, stationing a regular sentinel at the door. +The remainder of the soldiers were dead, the badly wounded having been +instantly despatched in order to obtain the much-coveted scalps. + +As soon as Jasper was made acquainted with the terms, and the +preliminaries had been so far observed as to render it safe for him to +be absent, he got the _Scud_ under weigh; and, running down to the point +where the boats had stranded, he took them in tow again, and, making +a few stretches, brought them into the leeward passage. Here all the +savages instantly embarked, when Jasper took the boats in tow a third +time, and, running off before the wind, he soon set them adrift full +a mile to leeward of the island. The Indians were furnished with but +a single oar in each boat to steer with, the young sailor well knowing +that by keeping before the wind they would land on the shores of Canada +in the course of the morning. + +Captain Sanglier, Arrowhead, and June alone remained, when this +disposition had been made of the rest of the party: the former having +certain papers to draw up and sign with Lieutenant Muir, who in his eyes +possessed the virtues which are attached to a commission; and the latter +preferring, for reasons of his own, not to depart in company with his +late friends, the Iroquois. Canoes were detained for the departure of +these three, when the proper moment should arrive. + +In the meantime, or while the _Scud_ was running down with the boats in +tow, Pathfinder and Cap, aided by proper assistants, busied themselves +with preparing a breakfast; most of the party not having eaten for +four-and-twenty hours. The brief space that passed in this manner before +the _Scud_ came-to again was little interrupted by discourse, though +Pathfinder found leisure to pay a visit to the Sergeant, to say a few +friendly words to Mabel, and to give such directions as he thought might +smooth the passage of the dying man. As for Mabel herself, he insisted +on her taking some light refreshment; and, there no longer existing any +motive for keeping it there, he had the guard removed from the block, +in order that the daughter might have no impediment to her attentions +to her father. These little arrangements completed, our hero returned +to the fire, around which he found all the remainder of the party +assembled, including Jasper. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + You saw but sorrow in its waning form; + A working sea remaining from a storm, + Where now the weary waves roll o'er the deep, + And faintly murmur ere they fall asleep. + DRYDEN. + + +Men accustomed to a warfare like that we have been describing are not +apt to be much under the influence of the tender feelings while still +in the field. Notwithstanding their habits, however, more than one heart +was with Mabel in the block, while the incidents we are about to relate +were in the course of occurrence; and even the indispensable meal was +less relished by the hardiest of the soldiers than it might have been +had not the Sergeant been so near his end. + +As Pathfinder returned from the block, he was met by Muir, who led +him aside in order to hold a private discourse. The manner of the +Quartermaster had that air of supererogatory courtesy about it +which almost invariably denotes artifice; for, while physiognomy and +phrenology are but lame sciences at the best, and perhaps lead to +as many false as right conclusions, we hold that there is no more +infallible evidence of insincerity of purpose, short of overt acts, than +a face that smiles when there is no occasion, and the tongue that is out +of measure smooth. Muir had much of this manner in common, mingled with +an apparent frankness that his Scottish intonation of voice, Scottish +accent, and Scottish modes of expression were singularly adapted to +sustain. He owed his preferment, indeed, to a long-exercised deference +to Lundie and his family; for, while the Major himself was much too +acute to be the dupe of one so much his inferior in real talents and +attainments, most persons are accustomed to make liberal concessions +to the flatterer, even while they distrust his truth and are perfectly +aware of his motives. On the present occasion, the contest in skill was +between two men as completely the opposites of each other in all the +leading essentials of character as very well could be. Pathfinder was +as simple as the Quartermaster was practised; he was as sincere as the +other was false, and as direct as the last was tortuous. Both were cool +and calculating, and both were brave, though in different modes and +degrees; Muir never exposing his person except for effect, while the +guide included fear among the rational passions, or as a sensation to be +deferred to only when good might come of it. + +"My dearest friend," Muir commenced,--"for ye'll be dearer to us all, by +seventy and sevenfold, after your late conduct than ever ye were,--ye've +just established yourself in this late transaction. It's true that +they'll not be making ye a commissioned officer, for that species of +prefairment is not much in your line, nor much in your wishes, I'm +thinking; but as a guide, and a counsellor, and a loyal subject, and +an expert marksman, yer renown may be said to be full. I doubt if the +commander-in-chief will carry away with him from America as much credit +as will fall to yer share, and ye ought just to set down in content and +enjoy yoursal' for the remainder of yer days. Get married, man, without +delay, and look to your precious happiness; for ye've no occasion to +look any longer to your glory. Take Mabel Dunham, for Heaven's sake, to +your bosom, and ye'll have both a bonnie bride and a bonnie reputation." + +"Why, Quartermaster, this is a new piece of advice to come from your +mouth. They've told me I had a rival in you." + +"And ye had, man, and a formidible one, too, I can tell you,--one that +has never yet courted in vain, and yet one that has courted five times. +Lundie twits me with four, and I deny the charge; but he little thinks +the truth would outdo even his arithmetic. Yes, yes, ye had a rival, +Pathfinder; but ye've one no longer in me. Ye've my hearty wishes for +yer success with Mabel; and were the honest Sergeant likely to survive, +ye might rely on my good word with him, too, for a certainty." + +"I feel your friendship, Quartermaster, I feel your friendship, though I +have no great need of any favor with Sergeant Dunham, who has long been +my friend. I believe we may look upon the matter to be as sartain as +most things in war-time; for, Mabel and her father consenting, the whole +55th couldn't very well put a stop to it. Ah's me! The poor father will +scarcely live to see what his heart has so long been set upon." + +"But he'll have the consolation of knowing it will come to pass, in +dying. Oh, it's a great relief, Pathfinder, for the parting spirit to +feel certain that the beloved ones left behind will be well provided +for after its departure. All the Mistress Muirs have duly expressed that +sentiment with their dying breaths." + +"All your wives, Quartermaster, have been likely to feel this +consolation." + +"Out upon ye, man! I'd no' thought ye such a wag. Well, well; pleasant +words make no heart-burnings between auld fri'nds. If I cannot espouse +Mabel, ye'll no object to my esteeming her, and speaking well of her, +and of yoursal', too, on all suitable occasions and in all companies. +But, Pathfinder, ye'll easily understan' that a poor deevil who loses +such a bride will probably stand in need of some consolation?" + +"Quite likely, quite likely, Quartermaster," returned the simple-minded +guide; "I know the loss of Mabel would be found heavy to be borne by +myself. It may bear hard on your feelings to see us married; but the +death of the Sergeant will be likely to put it off, and you'll have time +to think more manfully of it, you will." + +"I'll bear up against it; yes, I'll bear up against it, though my +heart-strings crack! And ye might help me, man, by giving me something +to do. Ye'll understand that this expedition has been of a very peculiar +nature; for here am I, bearing the king's commission, just a volunteer, +as it might be; while a mere orderly has had the command. I've submitted +for various reasons, though my blood has boiled to be in authority, +while ye war' battling, for the honor of the country and his Majesty's +rights--" + +"Quartermaster," interrupted the guide, "you fell so early into the +enemy's hands that your conscience ought to be easily satisfied on that +score; so take my advice, and say nothing about it." + +"That's just my opinion, Pathfinder; we'll all say nothing about it. +Sergeant Dunham is _hors de combat_--" + +"Anan?" said the guide. + +"Why, the Sergeant can command no longer, and it will hardly do to leave +a corporal at the head of a victorious party like this; for flowers that +will bloom in a garden will die on a heath; and I was just thinking I +would claim the authority that belongs to one who holds a lieutenant's +commission. As for the men, they'll no dare to raise any objaction; +and as for yoursal', my dear friend, now that ye've so much honor, and +Mabel, and the consciousness of having done yer duty, which is more +precious than all, I expect to find an ally rather than one to oppose +the plan." + +"As for commanding the soldiers of the 55th, Lieutenant, it is your +right, I suppose, and no one here will be likely to gainsay it; though +you've been a prisoner of war, and there are men who might stand out +ag'in giving up their authority to a prisoner released by their own +deeds. Still no one here will be likely to say anything hostile to your +wishes." + +"That's just it, Pathfinder; and when I come to draw up the report of +our success against the boats, and the defence of the block, together +with the general operations, including the capitulation, ye'll no' find +any omission of your claims and merits." + +"Tut for my claims and merits, Quartermaster! Lundie knows what I am in +the forest and what I am in the fort; and the General knows better than +he. No fear of me; tell your own story, only taking care to do justice +by Mabel's father, who, in one sense, is the commanding officer at this +very moment." + +Muir expressed his entire satisfaction with this arrangement, as well as +his determination to do justice by all, when the two went to the group +assembled round the fire. Here the Quartermaster began, for the first +time since leaving Oswego, to assume some of the authority that might +properly be supposed to belong to his rank. Taking the remaining +corporal aside, he distinctly told that functionary that he must in +future be regarded as one holding the king's commission, and directed +him to acquaint his subordinates with the new state of things. This +change in the dynasty was effected without any of the usual symptoms of +a revolution; for, as all well understood the Lieutenant's legal claims +to command, no one felt disposed to dispute his orders. For reasons best +known to themselves, Lundie and the Quartermaster had originally made a +different disposition; and now, for reasons of his own, the latter had +seen fit to change it. This was reasoning enough for soldiers, though +the hurt received by Sergeant Dunham would have sufficiently explained +the circumstance had an explanation been required. + +All this time Captain Sanglier was looking after his own breakfast +with the resignation of a philosopher, the coolness of a veteran, the +ingenuity and science of a Frenchman, and the voracity of an ostrich. +This person had now been in the colony some thirty years, having left +France in some such situation in his own army as Muir filled in the +55th. An iron constitution, perfect obduracy of feeling, a certain +address well suited to manage savages, and an indomitable courage, had +early pointed him out to the commander-in-chief as a suitable agent to +be employed in directing the military operations of his Indian allies. +In this capacity, then, he had risen to the titular rank of captain; and +with his promotion had acquired a portion of the habits and opinions +of his associates with a facility and an adaptation of self which are +thought in America to be peculiar to his countrymen. He had often led +parties of the Iroquois in their predatory expeditions; and his +conduct on such occasions exhibited the contradictory results of both +alleviating the misery produced by this species of warfare, and +of augmenting it by the broader views and greater resources of +civilization. In other words, he planned enterprises that, in their +importance and consequences, much exceeded the usual policy of the +Indians, and then stepped in to lessen some of the evils of his own +creating. In short, he was an adventurer whom circumstances had thrown +into a situation where the callous qualities of men of his class might +readily show themselves for good or for evil; and he was not of a +character to baffle fortune by any ill-timed squeamishness on the score +of early impressions, or to trifle with her liberality by unnecessarily +provoking her frowns through wanton cruelty. Still, as his name was +unavoidably connected with many of the excesses committed by his +parties, he was generally considered in the American provinces a wretch +who delighted in bloodshed, and who found his greatest happiness in +tormenting the helpless and the innocent; and the name of Sanglier, +which was a sobriquet of his own adopting, or of Flint Heart, as he was +usually termed on the borders, had got to be as terrible to the women +and children of that part of the country as those of Butler and Brandt +became at a later day. + +The meeting between Pathfinder and Sanglier bore some resemblance to +that celebrated interview between Wellington and Blucher which has +been so often and graphically told. It took place at the fire; and the +parties stood earnestly regarding each other for more than a minute +without speaking. Each felt that in the other he saw a formidable +foe; and each felt, while he ought to treat the other with the manly +liberality due to a warrior, that there was little in common between +them in the way of character as well as of interests. One served for +money and preferment; the other, because his life had been cast in the +wilderness, and the land of his birth needed his arm and experience. +The desire of rising above his present situation never disturbed the +tranquillity of Pathfinder; nor had he ever known an ambitious thought, +as ambition usually betrays itself, until he became acquainted with +Mabel. Since then, indeed, distrust of himself, reverence for her, and +the wish to place her in a situation above that which he then filled, +had caused him some uneasy moments; but the directness and simplicity of +his character had early afforded the required relief; and he soon came +to feel that the woman who would not hesitate to accept him for her +husband would not scruple to share his fortunes, however humble. He +respected Sanglier as a brave warrior; and he had far too much of that +liberality which is the result of practical knowledge to believe half of +what he had heard to his prejudice, for the most bigoted and illiberal +on every subject are usually those who know nothing about it; but he +could not approve of his selfishness, cold-blooded calculations, and +least of all of the manner in which he forgot his "white gifts," to +adopt those that were purely "red." On the other hand, Pathfinder was a +riddle to Captain Sanglier. The latter could not comprehend the other's +motives; he had often heard of his disinterestedness, justice, and +truth; and in several instances they had led him into grave errors, on +that principle by which a frank and open-mouthed diplomatist is said to +keep his secrets better than one that is close-mouthed and wily. + +After the two heroes had gazed at each other in the manner mentioned, +Monsieur Sanglier touched his cap; for the rudeness of a border life had +not entirely destroyed the courtesy of manner he had acquired in youth, +nor extinguished that appearance of _bonhomie_ which seems inbred in a +Frenchman. + +"Monsieur le Pathfinder," said he, with a very decided accent, though +with a friendly smile, "_un militaire_ honor _le courage, et la +loyaute_. You speak Iroquois?" + +"Ay, I understand the language of the riptyles, and can get along with +it if there's occasion," returned the literal and truth-telling guide; +"but it's neither a tongue nor a tribe to my taste. Wherever you find +the Mingo blood, in my opinion, Master Flinty-heart, you find a knave. +Well, I've seen you often, though it was in battle; and I must say it +was always in the van. You must know most of our bullets by sight?" + +"Nevvair, sair, your own; _une balle_ from your honorable hand be +sairtaine deat'. You kill my best warrior on some island." + +"That may be, that may be; though I daresay, if the truth was known, +they would turn out to be great rascals. No offence to you, Master +Flinty-heart, but you keep desperate evil company." + +"Yes, sair," returned the Frenchman, who, bent on saying that which was +courteous himself, and comprehending with difficulty, was disposed to +think he received a compliment, "you too good. But _un brave_ always +_comme ca_. What that mean? ha! what that _jeune homme_ do?" + +The hand and eye of Captain Sanglier directed the look of Pathfinder to +the opposite side of the fire, where Jasper, just at that moment, had +been rudely seized by two of the soldiers, who were binding his arms +under the direction of Muir. + +"What does that mean, indeed?" cried the guide, stepping forward and +shoving the two subordinates away with a power of muscle that would not +be denied. "Who has the heart to do this to Jasper Eau-douce? And who +has the boldness to do it before my eyes?" + +"It is by my orders, Pathfinder," answered the Quartermaster, "and +I command it on my own responsibility. Ye'll no' tak' on yourself +to dispute the legality of orders given by one who bears the king's +commission to the king's soldiers?" + +"I'd dispute the king's words, if they came from the king's own mouth, +did he say that Jasper desarves this. Has not the lad just saved all our +scalps, taken us from defeat, and given us victory? No, no, Lieutenant; +if this is the first use that you make of your authority, I, for one, +will not respect it." + +"This savors a little of insubordination," answered Muir; "but we can +bear much from Pathfinder. It is true this Jasper has _seemed_ to serve +us in this affair, but we ought not to overlook past transactions. Did +not Major Duncan himself denounce him to Sergeant Dunham before we left +the post? Have we not seen sufficient with our own eyes to make sure of +having been betrayed? And is it not natural, and almost necessary, to +believe that this young man has been the traitor? Ah, Pathfinder! Ye'll +no' be making yourself a great statesman or a great captain if you put +too much faith in appearances. Lord bless me! Lord bless me! If I do +not believe, could the truth be come at, as you often say yourself, +Pathfinder, that hypocrisy is a more common vice than even envy, and +that's the bane of human nature." + +Captain Sanglier shrugged his shoulders; then he looked earnestly from +Jasper towards the Quartermaster, and from the Quartermaster towards +Jasper. + +"I care not for your envy, or your hypocrisy, or even for your human +natur'," returned Pathfinder. "Jasper Eau-douce is my friend; Jasper +Eau-douce is a brave lad, and an honest lad, and a loyal lad; and no man +of the 55th shall lay hands on him, short of Lundie's own orders, while +I'm in the way to prevent it. You may have authority over your soldiers; +but you have none over Jasper and me, Master Muir." + +"_Bon!_" ejaculated Sanglier, the sound partaking equally of the +energies of the throat and of the nose. + +"Will ye no' hearken to reason, Pathfinder? Ye'll no' be forgetting our +suspicions and judgments; and here is another circumstance to augment +and aggravate them all. Ye can see this little bit of bunting; well, +where should it be found but by Mabel Dunham, on the branch of a tree on +this very island, just an hour or so before the attack of the enemy; and +if ye'll be at the trouble to look at the fly of the _Scud's_ ensign, +ye'll just say that the cloth has been cut from out it. Circumstantial +evidence was never stronger." + +"_Ma foi, c'est un peu fort, ceci,_" growled Sanglier between his teeth. + +"Talk to me of no ensigns and signals when I know the heart," continued +the Pathfinder. "Jasper has the gift of honesty; and it is too rare a +gift to be trifled with, like a Mingo's conscience. No, no; off hands, +or we shall see which can make the stoutest battle; you and your men of +the 55th, or the Sarpent here, and Killdeer, with Jasper and his crew. +You overrate your force, Lieutenant Muir, as much as you underrate +Eau-douce's truth." + +"_Tres bon!_" + +"Well, if I must speak plainly, Pathfinder, I e'en must. Captain +Sanglier here and Arrowhead, this brave Tuscarora, have both informed me +that this unfortunate boy is the traitor. After such testimony you can +no longer oppose my right to correct him, as well as the necessity of +the act." + +"_Scelerat,_" muttered the Frenchman. + +"Captain Sanglier is a brave soldier, and will not gainsay the conduct +of an honest sailor," put in Jasper. "Is there any traitor here, Captain +Flinty-heart?" + +"Ay," added Muir, "let him speak out then, since ye wish it, unhappy +youth! That the truth may be known. I only hope that ye may escape the +last punishment when a court will be sitting on your misdeeds. How is +it, Captain; do ye, or do ye not, see a traitor amang us?" + +"_Oui_--yes, sair--_bien sur_." + +"Too much lie!" said Arrowhead in a voice of thunder, striking the +breast of Muir with the back of his own hand in a sort of ungovernable +gesture; "where my warriors?--where Yengeese scalp? Too much lie!" + +Muir wanted not for personal courage, nor for a certain sense of +personal honor. The violence which had been intended only for a gesture +he mistook for a blow; for conscience was suddenly aroused within him, +and he stepped back a pace, extending his hand towards a gun. His face +was livid with rage, and his countenance expressed the fell intention +of his heart. But Arrowhead was too quick for him; with a wild glance of +the eye the Tuscarora looked about him; then thrust a hand beneath his +own girdle, drew forth a concealed knife, and, in the twinkling of an +eye, buried it in the body of the Quartermaster to the handle. As the +latter fell at his feet, gazing into his face with the vacant stare of +one surprised by death, Sanglier took a pinch of snuff, and said in a +calm voice,-- + +"_Voila l'affaire finie; mais,_" shrugging his shoulders, "_ce n'est +qu'un scelerat de moins._" + +The act was too sudden to be prevented; and when Arrowhead, uttering +a yell, bounded into the bushes, the white men were too confounded to +follow. Chingachgook, however, was more collected; and the bushes had +scarcely closed on the passing body of the Tuscarora than they were +again opened by that of the Delaware in full pursuit. + +Jasper Western spoke French fluently, and the words and manner of +Sanglier struck him. + +"Speak, Monsieur," said he in English; "_am_ I the traitor?" + +"_Le voila_," answered the cool Frenchman, "dat is our _espion_--our +_agent_--our friend--_ma foi_--_c'etait un grand scelerat_--_voici_." + +While speaking, Sanglier bent over the dead body, and thrust his hand +into a pocket of the Quartermaster, out of which he drew a purse. +Emptying the contents on the ground, several double-louis rolled towards +the soldiers, who were not slow in picking them up. Casting the purse +from him in contempt, the soldier of fortune turned towards the soup he +had been preparing with so much care, and, finding it to his liking, +he began to break his fast with an air of indifference that the most +stoical Indian warrior might have envied. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + The only amaranthian flower on earth + Is virtue; the only lasting treasure, truth. + COWPER. + + +The reader must imagine some of the occurrences that followed the sudden +death of Muir. While his body was in the hands of his soldiers, who +laid it decently aside, and covered it with a greatcoat, Chingachgook +silently resumed his place at the fire, and both Sanglier and Pathfinder +remarked that he carried a fresh and bleeding scalp at his girdle. No +one asked any questions; and the former, although perfectly satisfied +that Arrowhead had fallen, manifested neither curiosity nor feeling. He +continued calmly eating his soup, as if the meal had been tranquil as +usual. There was something of pride and of an assumed indifference to +fate, imitated from the Indians, in all this; but there was more that +really resulted from practice, habitual self-command, and constitutional +hardihood. With Pathfinder the case was a little different in +feeling, though much the same in appearance. He disliked Muir, whose +smooth-tongued courtesy was little in accordance with his own frank and +ingenuous nature; but he had been shocked at his unexpected and violent +death, though accustomed to similar scenes, and he had been surprised +at the exposure of his treachery. With a view to ascertain the extent +of the latter, as soon as the body was removed, he began to question +the Captain on the subject. The latter, having no particular motive +for secrecy now that his agent was dead, in the course of the breakfast +revealed the following circumstances, which will serve to clear up some +of the minor incidents of our tale. + +Soon after the 55th appeared on the frontiers, Muir had volunteered his +services to the enemy. In making his offers, he boasted of his intimacy +with Lundie, and of the means it afforded of furnishing more accurate +and important information than usual. His terms had been accepted, and +Monsieur Sanglier had several interviews with him in the vicinity of the +fort at Oswego, and had actually passed one entire night secreted in the +garrison. Arrowhead, however, was the usual channel of communication; +and the anonymous letter to Major Duncan had been originally written by +Muir, transmitted to Frontenac, copied, and sent back by the Tuscarora, +who was returning from that errand when captured by the _Scud_. It is +scarcely necessary to add that Jasper was to be sacrificed in order to +conceal the Quartermaster's treason, and that the position of the +island had been betrayed to the enemy by the latter. An extraordinary +compensation--that which was found in his purse--had induced him to +accompany the party under Sergeant Dunham, in order to give the signals +that were to bring on the attack. The disposition of Muir towards the +sex was a natural weakness, and he would have married Mabel, or any one +else who would accept his hand; but his admiration of her was in a great +degree feigned, in order that he might have an excuse for accompanying +the party without sharing in the responsibility of its defeat, or +incurring the risk of having no other strong and seemingly sufficient +motive. Much of this was known to Captain Sanglier, particularly the +part in connection with Mabel, and he did not fail to let his auditors +into the whole secret, frequently laughing in a sarcastic manner, as he +revealed the different expedients of the luckless Quartermaster. + +"_Touchez-la_," said the cold-blooded partisan, holding out his sinewy +hand to Pathfinder, when he ended his explanations; "you be _honnete_, +and dat is _beaucoup_. We tak' de spy as we tak' _la medicine_, for de +good; _mais, je les deteste! Touchez-la._" + +"I'll shake your hand, Captain, I will; for you're a lawful and nat'ral +inimy," returned Pathfinder, "and a manful one; but the body of the +Quartermaster shall never disgrace English ground. I did intend to carry +it back to Lundie that he might play his bagpipes over it, but now it +shall lie here on the spot where he acted his villainy, and have his own +treason for a headstone. Captain Flinty-heart, I suppose this consorting +with traitors is a part of a soldier's regular business; but, I tell you +honestly, it is not to my liking, and I'd rather it should be you than +I who had this affair on his conscience. What an awful sinner! To plot, +right and left, ag'in country, friends, and the Lord! Jasper, boy, a +word with you aside, for a single minute." + +Pathfinder now led the young man apart; and, squeezing his hand, with +the tears in his own eyes, he continued: + +"You know me, Eau-douce, and I know you," said he, "and this news has +not changed my opinion of you in any manner. I never believed their +tales, though it looked solemn at one minute, I will own; yes, it did +look solemn, and it made me feel solemn too. I never suspected you for +a minute, for I know your gifts don't lie that-a-way; but, I must own, I +didn't suspect the Quartermaster neither." + +"And he holding his Majesty's commission, Pathfinder!" + +"It isn't so much that, Jasper Western, it isn't so much that. He held +a commission from God to act right, and to deal fairly with his +fellow-creaturs, and he has failed awfully in his duty." + +"To think of his pretending love for one like Mabel, too, when he felt +none." + +"That was bad, sartainly; the fellow must have had Mingo blood in his +veins. The man that deals unfairly by a woman can be but a mongrel, lad; +for the Lord has made them helpless on purpose that we may gain their +love by kindness and sarvices. Here is the Sergeant, poor man, on his +dying bed; he has given me his daughter for a wife, and Mabel, dear +girl, she has consented to it; and it makes me feel that I have two +welfares to look after, two natur's to care for, and two hearts to +gladden. Ah's me, Jasper! I sometimes feel that I'm not good enough for +that sweet child!" + +Eau-douce had nearly gasped for breath when he first heard this +intelligence; and, though he succeeded in suppressing any other outward +signs of agitation, his cheek was blanched nearly to the paleness of +death. Still he found means to answer not only with firmness, but with +energy,-- + +"Say not so, Pathfinder; you are good enough for a queen." + +"Ay, ay, boy, according to your idees of my goodness; that is to say, I +can kill a deer, or even a Mingo at need, with any man on the lines; or +I can follow a forest-path with as true an eye, or read the stars, +when others do not understand them. No doubt, no doubt, Mabel will have +venison enough, and fish enough, and pigeons enough; but will she +have knowledge enough, and will she have idees enough, and pleasant +conversation enough, when life comes to drag a little, and each of us +begins to pass for our true value?" + +"If you pass for your value, Pathfinder, the greatest lady in the +land would be happy with you. On that head you have no reason to feel +afraid." + +"Now, Jasper, I dare to say _you_ think so, nay, I _know_ you do; for +it is nat'ral, and according to friendship, for people to look +over-favorably at them they love. Yes, yes; if I had to marry you, boy, +I should give myself no consarn about my being well looked upon, for +you have always shown a disposition to see me and all I do with friendly +eyes. But a young gal, after all, must wish to marry a man that is +nearer to her own age and fancies, than to have one old enough to be her +father, and rude enough to frighten her. I wonder, Jasper, that Mabel +never took a fancy to you, now, rather than setting her mind on me." + +"Take, a fancy to me, Pathfinder!" returned the young man, endeavoring +to clear his voice without betraying himself; "what is there about me to +please such a girl as Mabel Dunham? I have all that you find fault with +in yourself, with none of that excellence that makes even the generals +respect you." + +"Well, well, it's all chance, say what we will about it. Here have +I journeyed and guided through the woods female after female, and +consorted with them in the garrisons, and never have I even felt an +inclination for any, until I saw Mabel Dunham. It's true the poor +Sergeant first set me to thinking about his daughter; but after we got a +little acquainted like, I'd no need of being spoken to, to think of her +night and day. I'm tough, Jasper; yes, I'm very tough; and I'm risolute +enough, as you all know; and yet I do think it would quite break me +down, now, to lose Mabel Dunham!" + +"We will talk no more of it, Pathfinder," said Jasper, returning his +friend's squeeze of the hand, and moving back towards the fire, though +slowly, and in the manner of one who cared little where he went; "we +will talk no more of it. You are worthy of Mabel, and Mabel is worthy of +you--you like Mabel, and Mabel likes you--her father has chosen you +for her husband, and no one has a right to interfere. As for the +Quartermaster, his feigning love for Mabel is worse even than his +treason to the king." + +By this time they were so near the fire that it was necessary to change +the conversation. Luckily, at that instant, Cap, who had been in the +block in company with his dying brother-in-law, and who knew nothing +of what had passed since the capitulation, now appeared, walking with +a meditative and melancholy air towards the group. Much of that hearty +dogmatism, that imparted even to his ordinary air and demeanor +an appearance of something like contempt for all around him, had +disappeared, and he seemed thoughtful, if not meek. + +"This death, gentlemen," said he, when he had got sufficiently near, +"is a melancholy business, make the best of it. Now, here is Sergeant +Dunham, a very good soldier, I make no question, about to slip his +cable; and yet he holds on to the better end of it, as if he was +determined it should never run out of the hawse-hole; and all because he +loves his daughter, it seems to me. For my part, when a friend is really +under the necessity of making a long journey, I always wish him well and +happily off." + +"You wouldn't kill the Sergeant before his time?" Pathfinder +reproachfully answered. "Life is sweet, even to the aged; and, for that +matter, I've known some that seemed to set much store by it when it got +to be of the least value." + +Nothing had been further from Cap's real thoughts than the wish to +hasten his brother-in-law's end. He had found himself embarrassed with +the duties of smoothing a deathbed, and all he had meant was to express +a sincere desire that the Sergeant were happily rid of doubt and +suffering. A little shocked, therefore, at the interpretation that had +been put on his words, he rejoined with some of the asperity of the +man, though rebuked by a consciousness of not having done his own wishes +justice. "You are too old and too sensible a person, Pathfinder," said +he, "to fetch a man up with a surge, when he is paying out his ideas in +distress, as it might be. Sergeant Dunham is both my brother-in-law and +my friend,--that is to say, as intimate a friend as a soldier well can +be with a seafaring man,--and I respect and honor him accordingly. I +make no doubt, moreover, that he has lived such a life as becomes a +man, and there can be no great harm, after all, in wishing any one well +berthed in heaven. Well! we are mortal, the best of us, that you'll not +deny; and it ought to be a lesson not to feel pride in our strength and +beauty. Where is the Quartermaster, Pathfinder? It is proper he should +come and have a parting word with the poor Sergeant, who is only going a +little before us." + +"You have spoken more truth, Master Cap, than you've been knowing to, +all this time. You might have gone further, notwithstanding, and said +that we are mortal, the _worst_ of us; which is quite as true, and a +good deal more wholesome, than saying that we are mortal, the _best_ +of us. As for the Quartermaster's coming to speak a parting word to +the Sergeant, it is quite out of the question, seeing that he has gone +ahead, and that too with little parting notice to himself, or to any one +else." + +"You are not quite so clear as common in your language, Pathfinder. I +know that we ought all to have solemn thoughts on these occasions, but I +see no use in speaking in parables." + +"If my words are not plain, the idee is. In short, Master Cap, while +Sergeant Dunham has been preparing himself for a long journey, like a +conscientious and honest man as he is, deliberately, the Quartermaster +has started, in a hurry, before him; and, although it is a matter on +which it does not become me to be very positive, I give it as my opinion +that they travel such different roads that they will never meet." + +"Explain yourself, my friend," said the bewildered seaman, looking +around him in search of Muir, whose absence began to excite his +distrust. "I see nothing of the Quartermaster; but I think him too much +of a man to run away, now that the victory is gained. If the fight were +ahead instead of in our wake, the case would be altered." + +"There lies all that is left of him, beneath that greatcoat," returned +the guide, who then briefly related the manner of the Lieutenant's +death. "The Tuscarora was as venemous in his blow as a rattler, though +he failed to give the warning," continued Pathfinder. "I've seen many a +desperate fight, and several of these sudden outbreaks of savage temper; +but never before did I see a human soul quit the body more unexpectedly, +or at a worse moment for the hopes of the dying man. His breath was +stopped with the lie on his lips, and the spirit might be said to have +passed away in the very ardor of wickedness." + +Cap listened with a gaping mouth; and he gave two or three violent hems, +as the other concluded, like one who distrusted his own respiration. + +"This is an uncertain and uncomfortable life of yours, Master +Pathfinder, what between the fresh water and the savages," said he; "and +the sooner I get quit of it, the higher will be my opinion of myself. +Now you mention it, I will say that the man ran for that berth in the +rocks, when the enemy first bore down upon us, with a sort of instinct +that I thought surprising in an officer; but I was in too great a hurry +to follow, to log the whole matter accurately. God bless me! God bless +me!--a traitor, do you say, and ready to sell his country, and to a +rascally Frenchman too?" + +"To sell anything; country, soul, body, Mabel, and all our scalps; and +no ways particular, I'll engage, as to the purchaser. The countrymen of +Captain Flinty-heart here were the paymasters this time." + +"Just like 'em; ever ready to buy when they can't thrash, and to run +when they can do neither." + +Monsieur Sanglier lifted his cap with ironical gravity, and acknowledged +the compliment with an expression of polite contempt that was altogether +lost on its insensible subject. But Pathfinder had too much native +courtesy, and was far too just-minded, to allow the attack to go +unnoticed. + +"Well, well," he interposed, "to my mind there is no great difference +'atween an Englishman and a Frenchman, after all. They talk different +tongues, and live under different kings, I will allow; but both are +human, and feel like human beings, when there is occasion for it." + +Captain Flinty-heart, as Pathfinder called him, made another obeisance; +but this time the smile was friendly, and not ironical; for he felt that +the intention was good, whatever might have been the mode of expressing +it. Too philosophical, however, to heed what a man like Cap might say or +think, he finished his breakfast, without allowing his attention to be +again diverted from that important pursuit. + +"My business here was principally with the Quartermaster," Cap +continued, as soon as he had done regarding the prisoner's pantomime. +"The Sergeant must be near his end, and I have thought he might wish to +say something to his successor in authority before he finally departed. +It is too late, it would seem; and, as you say, Pathfinder, the +Lieutenant has truly gone before." + +"That he has, though on a different path. As for authority, I suppose +the Corporal has now a right to command what's left of the 55th; +though a small and worried, not to say frightened, party it is. But, if +anything needs to be done, the chances are greatly in favor of my being +called on to do it. I suppose, however, we have only to bury our dead; +set fire to the block and the huts, for they stand in the inimy's +territory by position, if not by law, and must not be left for their +convenience. Our using them again is out of the question; for, now +the Frenchers know where the island is to be found, it would be like +thrusting the hand into a wolf-trap with our eyes wide open. This part +of the work the Sarpent and I will see to, for we are as practysed in +retreats as in advances." + +"All that is very well, my good friend. And now for my poor +brother-in-law: though he is a soldier, we cannot let him slip without a +word of consolation and a leave-taking, in my judgment. This has been +an unlucky affair on every tack; though I suppose it is what one had a +right to expect, considering the state of the times and the nature of +the navigation. We must make the best of it, and try to help the +worthy man to unmoor, without straining his messengers. Death is a +circumstance, after all, Master Pathfinder, and one of a very general +character too, seeing that we must all submit to it, sooner or later." + +"You say truth, you say truth; and for that reason I hold it to be +wise to be always ready. I've often thought, Saltwater, that he is the +happiest who has the least to leave behind him when the summons comes. +Now, here am I, a hunter and a scout and a guide, although I do not own +a foot of land on 'arth, yet do I enjoy and possess more than the great +Albany Patroon. With the heavens over my head to keep me in mind of the +last great hunt, and the dried leaves beneath my feet, I tramp over +the ground as freely as if I was its lord and owner; and what more need +heart desire? I do not say that I love nothing that belongs to 'arth; +for I do, though not much, unless it might be Mabel Dunham, that I +can't carry with me. I have some pups at the higher fort that I vally +considerable, though they are too noisy for warfare, and so we are +compelled to live separate for awhile; and then I think it would grieve +me to part with Killdeer; but I see no reason why we should not be +buried in the same grave, for we are as near as can be of the same +length--six feet to a hair's breadth; but, bating these, and a pipe that +the Sarpent gave me, and a few tokens received from travellers, all of +which might be put in a pouch and laid under my head, when the order +comes to march I shall be ready at a minute's warning; and, let me tell +you, Master Cap, that's what I call a circumstance too." + +"'Tis just so with me," answered the sailor, as the two walked towards +the block, too much occupied with their respective morality to remember +at the moment the melancholy errand they were on; "that's just my way of +feeling and reasoning. How often have I felt, when near shipwreck, the +relief of not owning the craft! 'If she goes,' I have said to myself, +'why, my life goes with her, but not my property, and there's great +comfort in that.' I've discovered, in the course of boxing about the +world from the Horn to Cape North, not to speak of this run on a bit of +fresh water, that if a man has a few dollars, and puts them in a chest +under lock and key, he is pretty certain to fasten up his heart in the +same till; and so I carry pretty much all I own in a belt round my +body, in order, as I say, to keep the vitals in the right place. D---me, +Pathfinder, if I think a man without a heart any better than a fish with +a hole in his air-bag." + +"I don't know how that may be, Master Cap; but a man without a +conscience is but a poor creatur', take my word for it, as any one will +discover who has to do with a Mingo. I trouble myself but little with +dollars or half-joes, for these are the favoryte coin in this part of +the world; but I can easily believe, by what I've seen of mankind, that +if a man _has_ a chest filled with either, he may be said to lock up his +heart in the same box. I once hunted for two summers, during the last +peace, and I collected so much peltry that I found my right feelings +giving way to a craving after property; and if I have consarn in +marrying Mabel, it is that I may get to love such things too well, in +order to make her comfortable." + +"You're a philosopher, that's clear, Pathfinder; and I don't know but +you're a Christian." + +"I should be out of humor with the man that gainsayed the last, Master +Cap. I have not been Christianized by the Moravians, like so many of the +Delawares, it is true; but I hold to Christianity and white gifts. With +me, it is as on-creditable for a white man not to be a Christian as it +is for a red-skin not to believe in his happy hunting-grounds; indeed, +after allowing for difference in traditions, and in some variations +about the manner in which the spirit will be occupied after death, I +hold that a good Delaware is a good Christian, though he never saw a +Moravian; and a good Christian a good Delaware, so far as natur 'is +consarned. The Sarpent and I talk these matters over often, for he has a +hankerin' after Christianity--" + +"The d---l he has!" interrupted Cap. "And what does he intend to do in a +church with all the scalps he takes?" + +"Don't run away with a false idee, friend Cap, don't run away with a +false idee. These things are only skin-deep, and all depend on edication +and nat'ral gifts. Look around you at mankind, and tell me why you see a +red warrior here, a black one there, and white armies in another place? +All this, and a great deal more of the same kind that I could point out, +has been ordered for some special purpose; and it is not for us to fly +in the face of facts and deny their truth. No, no; each color has its +gifts, and its laws, and its traditions; and one is not to condemn +another because he does not exactly comprehend it." + +"You must have read a great deal, Pathfinder, to see things so clear as +this," returned Cap, not a little mystified by his companion's simple +creed. "It's all as plain as day to me now, though I must say I never +fell in with these opinions before. What denomination do you belong to, +my friend?" + +"Anan?" + +"What sect do you hold out for? What particular church do you fetch up +in?" + +"Look about you, and judge for yourself. I'm in church now; I eat in +church, drink in church, sleep in church. The 'arth is the temple of the +Lord, and I wait on Him hourly, daily, without ceasing, I humbly hope. +No, no, I'll not deny my blood and color; but am Christian born, and +shall die in the same faith. The Moravians tried me hard; and one of +the King's chaplains has had his say too, though that's a class no ways +strenuous on such matters; and a missionary sent from Rome talked much +with me, as I guided him through the forest, during the last peace; but +I've had one answer for them all--I'm a Christian already, and want to +be neither Moravian, nor Churchman, nor Papist. No, no, I'll not deny my +birth and blood." + +"I think a word from you might lighten the Sergeant over the shoals of +death, Master Pathfinder. He has no one with him but poor Mabel; and +she, you know, besides being his daughter, is but a girl and a child +after all." + +"Mabel is feeble in body, friend Cap; but in matters of this natur' I +doubt if she may not be stronger than most men. But Sergeant Dunham is +my friend, and he is your brother-in-law; so, now the press of fighting +and maintaining our rights is over, it is fitting we should both go +and witness his departure. I've stood by many a dying man, Master Cap," +continued Pathfinder, who had a besetting propensity to enlarge on his +experience, stopping and holding his companion by a button,--"I've stood +by many a dying man's side, and seen his last gasp, and heard his last +breath; for, when the hurry and tumult of the battle is over, it is good +to bethink us of the misfortunate, and it is remarkable to witness how +differently human natur' feels at such solemn moments. Some go their +way as stupid and ignorant as if God had never given them reason and an +accountable state; while others quit us rejoicing, like men who leave +heavy burthens behind them. I think that the mind sees clearly at +such moments, my friend, and that past deeds stand thick before the +recollection." + +"I'll engage they do, Pathfinder. I have witnessed something of this +myself, and hope I'm the better man for it. I remember once that +I thought my own time had come, and the log was overhauled with a +diligence I did not think myself capable of until that moment. I've not +been a very great sinner, friend Pathfinder; that is to say, never on a +large scale; though I daresay, if the truth were spoken, a considerable +amount of small matters might be raked up against me, as well as against +another man; but then, I've never committed piracy, nor high treason, +nor arson, nor any of them sort of things. As to smuggling, and the like +of that, why, I'm a seafaring man, and I suppose all callings have their +weak spots. I daresay your trade is not altogether without blemish, +honorable and useful as it seems to be?" + +"Many of the scouts and guides are desperate knaves; and, like the +Quartermaster here, some of them take pay of both sides. I hope I'm not +one of them, though all occupations lead to temptations. Thrice have I +been sorely tried in my life, and once I yielded a little, though I +hope it was not in a matter to disturb a man's conscience in his last +moments. The first time was when I found in the woods a pack of skins +that I knowed belonged to a Frencher who was hunting on our side of the +lines, where he had no business to be; twenty-six as handsome beavers +as ever gladdened human eyes. Well, that was a sore temptation; for I +thought the law would have been almost with me, although it was in peace +times. But then, I remembered that such laws wasn't made for us hunters, +and bethought me that the poor man might have built great expectations +for the next winter on the sale of his skins; and I left them where +they lay. Most of our people said I did wrong; but the manner in which I +slept that night convinced me that I had done right. The next trial was +when I found the rifle that is sartainly the only one in this part of +the world that can be calculated on as surely as Killdeer, and knowed +that by taking it, or even hiding it, I might at once rise to be the +first shot in all these parts. I was then young, and by no means so +expart as I have since got to be, and youth is ambitious and striving; +but, God be praised! I mastered that feeling; and, friend Cap, what is +almost as good, I mastered my rival in as fair a shooting-match as was +ever witnessed in a garrison; he with his piece, and I with Killdeer, +and before the General in person too!" Here Pathfinder stopped to laugh, +his triumph still glittering in his eyes and glowing on his sunburnt and +browned cheek. "Well, the next conflict with the devil was the hardest +of them all; and that was when I came suddenly upon a camp of six +Mingos asleep in the woods, with their guns and horns piled in away that +enabled me to get possession of them without waking a miscreant of them +all. What an opportunity that would have been for the Sarpent, who would +have despatched them, one after another, with his knife, and had their +six scalps at his girdle, in about the time it takes me to tell you the +story. Oh, he's a valiant warrior, that Chingachgook, and as honest as +he's brave, and as good as he's honest!" + +"And what may _you_ have done in this matter, Master Pathfinder?" +demanded Cap, who began to be interested in the result; "it seems to me +you had made either a very lucky, or a very unlucky landfall." + +"'Twas lucky, and 'twas unlucky, if you can understand that. 'Twas +unlucky, for it proved a desperate trial; and yet 'twas lucky, all +things considered, in the ind. I did not touch a hair of their heads, +for a white man has no nat'ral gifts to take scalps; nor did I even make +sure of one of their rifles. I distrusted myself, knowing that a Mingo +is no favorite in my own eyes." + +"As for the scalps, I think you were right enough, my worthy friend; but +as for the armament and the stores, they would have been condemned by +any prize-court in Christendom." + +"That they would, that they would; but then the Mingos would have gone +clear, seeing that a white man can no more attack an unarmed than a +sleeping inimy. No, no, I did myself, and my color, and my religion +too, greater justice. I waited till their nap was over, and they well +on their war-path again; and, by ambushing them here and flanking +them there, I peppered the blackguards intrinsically like" (Pathfinder +occasionally caught a fine word from his associates, and used it a +little vaguely), "that only one ever got back to his village, and he +came into his wigwam limping. Luckily, as it turned out, the great +Delaware had only halted to jerk some venison, and was following on my +trail; and when he got up he had five of the scoundrels' scalps hanging +where they ought to be; so, you see, nothing was lost by doing right, +either in the way of honor or in that of profit." + +Cap grunted an assent, though the distinctions in his companion's +morality, it must be owned, were not exactly clear to his understanding. +The two had occasionally moved towards the block as they conversed, and +then stopped again as some matter of more interest than common brought +them to a halt. They were now so near the building, however, that +neither thought of pursuing the subject any further; but each prepared +himself for the final scene with Sergeant Dunham. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + Thou barraine ground, whom winter's wrath hath wasted, + Art made a mirror to behold my plight: + Whilome thy fresh spring flower'd: and after hasted + Thy summer prowde, with daffodillies dight; + And now is come thy winter's stormy state, + Thy mantle mar'd wherein thou maskedst late. + SPENSER. + + +Although the soldier may regard danger and even death with indifference +in the tumult of battle, when the passage of the soul is delayed to +moments of tranquillity and reflection the change commonly brings with +it the usual train of solemn reflections; of regrets for the past, and +of doubts and anticipations for the future. Many a man has died with a +heroic expression on his lips, but with heaviness and distrust at his +heart; for, whatever may be the varieties of our religious creeds, let +us depend on the mediation of Christ, the dogmas of Mahomet, or the +elaborated allegories of the East, there is a conviction, common to +all men, that death is but the stepping-stone between this and a more +elevated state of being. Sergeant Dunham was a brave man; but he was +departing for a country in which resolution could avail him nothing; and +as he felt himself gradually loosened from the grasp of the world, his +thoughts and feelings took the natural direction; for if it be true that +death is the great leveller, in nothing is it more true than that it +reduces all to the same views of the vanity of life. + +Pathfinder, though a man of peculiar habits and opinions, was always +thoughtful, and disposed to view the things around him with a shade of +philosophy, as well as with seriousness. In him, therefore, the scene +in the blockhouse awakened no very novel feelings. But the case was +different with Cap: rude, opinionated, dogmatical, and boisterous, the +old sailor was little accustomed to view even death with any approach to +the gravity which its importance demands; and notwithstanding all that +had passed, and his real regard for his brother-in-law, he now entered +the room of the dying man with much of that callous unconcern which +was the fruit of long training in a school that, while it gives so many +lessons in the sublimest truths, generally wastes its admonitions on +scholars who are little disposed to profit by them. + +The first proof that Cap gave of his not entering so fully as those +around him into the solemnity of the moment, was by commencing a +narration of the events which had just led to the deaths of Muir and +Arrowhead. "Both tripped their anchors in a hurry, brother Dunham," he +concluded; "and you have the consolation of knowing that others have +gone before you in the great journey, and they, too, men whom you've no +particular reason to love; which to me, were I placed in your situation, +would be a source of very great satisfaction. My mother always said, +Master Pathfinder, that dying people's spirits should not be damped, but +that they ought to be encouraged by all proper and prudent means; and +this news will give the poor fellow a great lift, if he feels towards +them savages any way as I feel myself." + +June arose at this intelligence, and stole from the blockhouse with +a noiseless step. Dunham listened with a vacant stare, for life had +already lost so many of its ties that he had really forgotten Arrowhead, +and cared nothing for Muir; but he inquired, in a feeble voice, for +Eau-douce. The young man was immediately summoned, and soon made his +appearance. The Sergeant gazed at him kindly, and the expression of his +eyes was that of regret for the injury he had done him in thought. The +party in the blockhouse now consisted of Pathfinder, Cap, Mabel, Jasper, +and the dying man. With the exception of the daughter, all stood around +the Sergeant's pallet, in attendance in his last moments. Mabel kneeled +at his side, now pressing a clammy hand to her head, now applying +moisture to the parched lips of her father. + +"Your case will shortly be ourn, Sergeant," said Pathfinder, who could +hardly be said to be awestruck by the scene, for he had witnessed the +approach and victories of death too often for that; but who felt the +full difference between his triumphs in the excitement of battle and in +the quiet of the domestic circle; "and I make no question we shall meet +ag'in hereafter. Arrowhead has gone his way, 'tis true; but it can never +be the way of a just Indian. You've seen the last of him, for his path +cannot be the path of the just. Reason is ag'in the thought in his case, +as it is also, in my judgment, ag'in it too in the case of Lieutenant +Muir. You have done your duty in life; and when a man does that, he may +start on the longest journey with a light heart and an actyve foot." + +"I hope so, my friend: I've tried to do my duty." + +"Ay, ay," put in Cap; "intention is half the battle; and though you +would have done better had you hove-to in the offing and sent a craft in +to feel how the land lay, things might have turned out differently: no +one here doubts that you meant all for the best, and no one anywhere +else, I should think, from what I've seen of this world and read of +t'other." + +"I did; yes. I meant all for the best." + +"Father! Oh, my beloved father!" + +"Magnet is taken aback by this blow, Master Pathfinder, and can say or +do but little to carry her father over the shoals; so we must try all +the harder to serve him a friendly turn ourselves." + +"Did you speak, Mabel?" Dunham asked, turning his eyes in the direction +of his daughter, for he was already too feeble to turn his body. + +"Yes, father; rely on nothing you have done yourself for mercy and +salvation; trust altogether in the blessed mediation of the Son of God!" + +"The chaplain has told us something like this, brother. The dear child +may be right." + +"Ay, ay, that's doctrine, out of question. He will be our Judge, and +keeps the log-book of our acts, and will foot them all up at the last +day, and then say who has done well and who has done ill. I do believe +Mabel is right; but then you need not be concerned, as no doubt the +account has been fairly kept." + +"Uncle!--Dearest father! this is a vain illusion! Oh, place all your +trust in the mediation of our Holy Redeemer! Have you not often felt +your own insufficiency to effect your own wishes in the commonest +things? And how can you imagine yourself, by your own acts, equal to +raise up a frail and sinful nature sufficiently to be received into +the presence of perfect purity? There is no hope for any but in the +mediation of Christ!" + +"This is what the Moravians used to tell us," said Pathfinder to Cap in +a low voice; "rely on it, Mabel is right." + +"Right enough, friend Pathfinder, in the distances, but wrong in the +course. I'm afraid the child will get the Sergeant adrift, at the very +moment when we had him in the best of the water and in the plainest part +of the channel." + +"Leave it to Mabel, leave it to Mabel; she knows better than any of us, +and can do no harm." + +"I have heard this before," Dunham at length replied. "Ah, Mabel! it is +strange for the parent to lean on the child at a moment like this!" + +"Put your trust in God, father; lean on His holy and compassionate Son. +Pray, dearest, dearest father; pray for His omnipotent support." + +"I am not used to prayer. Brother, Pathfinder--Jasper, can you help me +to words?" + +Cap scarcely knew what prayer meant, and he had no answer to give. +Pathfinder prayed often, daily, if not hourly; but it was mentally, in +his own simple modes of thinking, and without the aid of words at all. +In this strait, therefore, he was as useless as the mariner, and had +no reply to make. As for Jasper Eau-douce, though he would gladly +have endeavored to move a mountain to relieve Mabel, this was asking +assistance it exceeded his power to give; and he shrank back with the +shame that is only too apt to overcome the young and vigorous, when +called on to perform an act that tacitly confesses their real weakness +and dependence on a superior power. + +"Father," said Mabel, wiping her eyes, and endeavoring to compose +features that were pallid, and actually quivering with emotion, "I will +pray with you, for you, for _myself_; for us _all_. The petition of the +feeblest and humblest is never unheeded." + +There was something sublime, as well as much that was supremely +touching, in this act of filial piety. The quiet but earnest manner +in which this young creature prepared herself to perform the duty; the +self-abandonment with which she forgot her sex's timidity and sex's +shame, in order to sustain her parent at that trying moment; the +loftiness of purpose with which she directed all her powers to the +immense object before her, with a woman's devotion and a woman's +superiority to trifles, when her affections make the appeal; and the +holy calm into which her grief was compressed, rendered her, for the +moment, an object of something very like awe and veneration to her +companions. + +Mabel had been religiously educated; equally without exaggeration and +without self-sufficiency. Her reliance on God was cheerful and full of +hope, while it was of the humblest and most dependent nature. She +had been accustomed from childhood to address herself to the Deity in +prayer; taking example from the Divine mandate of Christ Himself, who +commanded His followers to abstain from vain repetitions, and who has +left behind Him a petition which is unequalled for sublimity, as if +expressly to rebuke the disposition of man to set up his own loose and +random thoughts as the most acceptable sacrifice. The sect in which +she had been reared has furnished to its followers some of the most +beautiful compositions in the language, as a suitable vehicle for its +devotion and solicitations. Accustomed to this mode of public and even +private prayer, the mind of our heroine had naturally fallen into its +train of lofty thought; her task had become improved by its study, and +her language elevated and enriched by its phrases. When she kneeled at +the bedside of her father, the very reverence of her attitude and manner +prepared the spectators for what was to come; and as her affectionate +heart prompted her tongue, and memory came in aid of both, the petition +and praises that she offered up were of a character which might +have worthily led the spirits of angels. Although the words were not +slavishly borrowed, the expressions partook of the simple dignity of the +liturgy to which she had been accustomed, and was probably as worthy +of the Being to whom they were addressed as they could well be made by +human powers. They produced their full impression on the hearers; for it +is worthy of remark, that, notwithstanding the pernicious effects of +a false taste when long submitted to, real sublimity and beauty are +so closely allied to nature that they generally find an echo in every +heart. + +But when our heroine came to touch upon the situation of the dying man, +she became the most truly persuasive; for then she was the most truly +zealous and natural. The beauty of the language was preserved, but it +was sustained by the simple power of love; and her words were warmed by +a holy zeal, that approached to the grandeur of true eloquence. We might +record some of her expressions, but doubt the propriety of subjecting +such sacred themes to a too familiar analysis, and refrain. + +The effect of this singular but solemn scene was different on the +different individuals present. Dunham himself was soon lost in the +subject of the prayer; and he felt some such relief as one who finds +himself staggering on the edge of a precipice, under a burthen difficult +to be borne, might be supposed to experience when he unexpectedly feels +the weight removed, in order to be placed on the shoulders of another +better able to sustain it. Cap was surprised, as well as awed; though +the effects on his mind were not very deep or very lasting. He wondered +a little at his own sensations, and had his doubts whether they were so +manly and heroic as they ought to be; but he was far too sensible of +the influence of truth, humility, religious submission, and human +dependency, to think of interposing with any of his crude objections. +Jasper knelt opposite to Mabel, covered his face, and followed her +words, with an earnest wish to aid her prayers with his own; though it +may be questioned if his thoughts did not dwell quite as much on +the soft, gentle accents of the petitioner as on the subject of her +petition. + +The effect on Pathfinder was striking and visible: visible, because +he stood erect, also opposite to Mabel; and the workings of his +countenance, as usual, betrayed the workings of the spirit within. +He leaned on his rifle, and at moments the sinewy fingers grasped the +barrel with a force that seemed to compress the weapon; while, once +or twice, as Mabel's language rose in intimate association with her +thoughts, he lifted his eyes to the floor above him, as if he expected +to find some visible evidence of the presence of the dread Being to whom +the words were addressed. Then again his feelings reverted to the +fair creature who was thus pouring out her spirit, in fervent but calm +petitions, in behalf of a dying parent; for Mabel's cheek was no longer +pallid, but was flushed with a holy enthusiasm, while her blue eyes were +upturned in the light, in a way to resemble a picture by Guido. At these +moments all the honest and manly attachment of Pathfinder glowed in his +ingenuous features, and his gaze at our heroine was such as the fondest +parent might fasten on the child of his love. + +Sergeant Dunham laid his hand feebly on the head of Mabel as she ceased +praying, and buried her face in his blanket. + +"Bless you, my beloved child! bless you!" he rather whispered than +uttered aloud; "this is truly consolation: would that I too could pray!" + +"Father, you know the Lord's Prayer; you taught it to me yourself while +I was yet an infant." + +The Sergeant's face gleamed with a smile, for he _did_ remember to +have discharged that portion at least of the paternal duty, and the +consciousness of it gave him inconceivable gratification at that solemn +moment. He was then silent for several minutes, and all present believed +that he was communing with God. + +"Mabel, my child!" he at length uttered, in a voice which seemed to be +reviving,--"Mabel, I'm quitting you." The spirit at its great and final +passage appears ever to consider the body as nothing. "I'm quitting you, +my child; where is your hand?" + +"Here, dearest father--here are both--oh, take both!" + +"Pathfinder," added the Sergeant, feeling on the opposite side of the +bed, where Jasper still knelt, and getting one of the hands of the young +man by mistake, "take it--I leave you as her father--as you and she may +please--bless you--bless you both!" + +At that awful instant, no one would rudely apprise the Sergeant of his +mistake; and he died a minute or two later, holding Jasper's and Mabel's +hands covered by both his own. Our heroine was ignorant of the fact +until an exclamation of Cap's announced the death of her father; when, +raising her face, she saw the eyes of Jasper riveted on her own, and +felt the warm pressure of his hand. But a single feeling was predominant +at that instant, and Mabel withdrew to weep, scarcely conscious of what +had occurred. The Pathfinder took the arm of Eau-douce, and he left the +block. + +The two friends walked in silence past the fire, along the glade, and +nearly reached the opposite shore of the island in profound silence. +Here they stopped, and Pathfinder spoke. + +"'Tis all over, Jasper," said he,--"'tis all over. Ah's me! Poor +Sergeant Dunham has finished his march, and that, too, by the hand of a +venomous Mingo. Well, we never know what is to happen, and his luck may +be yourn or mine to-morrow or next day!" + +"And Mabel? What is to become of Mabel, Pathfinder?" + +"You heard the Sergeant's dying words; he has left his child in my care, +Jasper; and it is a most solemn trust, it is; yes,--it is a most solemn +trust." + +"It's a trust, Pathfinder, of which any man would be glad to relieve +you," returned the youth, with a bitter smile. + +"I've often thought it has fallen into wrong hands. I'm not consaited, +Jasper; I'm not consaited, I do think I'm not; but if Mabel Dunham is +willing to overlook all my imperfections and ignorances like, I should +be wrong to gainsay it, on account of any sartainty I may have myself +about my own want of merit." + +"No one will blame you, Pathfinder, for marrying Mabel Dunham, any more +than they will blame you for wearing a precious jewel in your bosom that +a friend had freely given you." + +"Do you think they'll blame Mabel, lad? I've had my misgivings about +that, too; for all persons may not be so disposed to look at me with the +same eyes as you and the Sergeant's daughter." + +Jasper Eau-douce started as a man flinches at sudden bodily pain; but +he otherwise maintained his self-command. "And mankind is envious and +ill-natured, more particularly in and about the garrisons. I sometimes +wish, Jasper, that Mabel could have taken a fancy to you,--I do; and +that you had taken a fancy to her; for it often seems to me that one +like you, after all, might make her happier than I ever can." + +"We will not talk about this, Pathfinder," interrupted Jasper hoarsely +and impatiently; "you will be Mabel's husband, and it is not right to +speak of any one else in that character. As for me, I shall take Master +Cap's advice, and try and make a man of myself by seeing what is to be +done on the salt water." + +"You, Jasper Western!--you quit the lakes, the forests, and the lines; +and this, too, for the towns and wasty ways of the settlements, and a +little difference in the taste of the water. Haven't we the salt-licks, +if salt is necessary to you? and oughtn't man to be satisfied with what +contents the other creatur's of God? I counted on you, Jasper, I counted +on you, I did; and thought, now that Mabel and I intend to dwell in +a cabin of our own, that some day you might be tempted to choose a +companion too, and come and settle in our neighborhood. There is a +beautiful spot, about fifty miles west of the garrison, that I had +chosen in my mind for my own place of abode; and there is an excellent +harbor about ten leagues this side of it where you could run in and out +with the cutter at any leisure minute; and I'd even fancied you and your +wife in possession of the one place, and Mabel and I in possession of +t'other. We should be just a healthy hunt apart; and if the Lord ever +intends any of His creaturs to be happy on 'arth, none could be happier +than we four." + +"You forget, my friend," answered Jasper, taking the guide's hand and +forcing a friendly smile, "that I have no fourth person to love and +cherish; and I much doubt if I ever shall love any other as I love you +and Mabel." + +"Thank'e, boy; I thank you with all my heart; but what you call love for +Mabel is only friendship like, and a very different thing from what I +feel. Now, instead of sleeping as sound as natur' at midnight, as I used +to could, I dream nightly of Mabel Dunham. The young does sport before +me; and when I raise Killdeer, in order to take a little venison, +the animals look back, and it seems as if they all had Mabel's sweet +countenance, laughing in my face, and looking as if they said, 'Shoot me +if you dare!' Then I hear her soft voice calling out among the birds +as they sing; and no later than the last nap I took, I bethought me, in +fancy, of going over the Niagara, holding Mabel in my arms, rather than +part from her. The bitterest moments I've ever known were them in which +the devil, or some Mingo conjuror, perhaps, has just put into my head +to fancy in dreams that Mabel is lost to me by some unaccountable +calamity--either by changefulness or by violence." + +"Oh, Pathfinder! If you think this so bitter in a dream, what must it be +to one who feels its reality, and knows it all to be true, true, true? +So true as to leave no hope; to leave nothing but despair!" + +These words burst from Jasper as a fluid pours from the vessel that +has been suddenly broken. They were uttered involuntarily, almost +unconsciously, but with a truth and feeling that carried with them the +instant conviction of their deep sincerity. Pathfinder started, gazed at +his friend for full a minute like one bewildered, and then it was that, +in despite of all his simplicity, the truth gleamed upon him. All know +how corroborating proofs crowd upon the mind as soon as it catches a +direct clue to any hitherto unsuspected fact; how rapidly the +thoughts flow and premises tend to their just conclusions under such +circumstances. Our hero was so confiding by nature, so just, and so much +disposed to imagine that all his friends wished him the same happiness +as he wished them, that, until this unfortunate moment, a suspicion of +Jasper's attachment for Mabel had never been awakened in his bosom. He +was, however, now too experienced in the emotions which characterize the +passion; and the burst of feeling in his companion was too violent and +too natural to leave any further doubt on the subject. The feeling +that first followed this change of opinion was one of deep humility and +exquisite pain. He bethought him of Jasper's youth, his higher claims +to personal appearance, and all the general probabilities that such +a suitor would be more agreeable to Mabel than he could possibly be +himself. Then the noble rectitude of mind, for which the man was so +distinguished, asserted its power; it was sustained by his rebuked +manner of thinking of himself, and all that habitual deference for the +rights and feelings of others which appeared to be inbred in his +very nature. Taking the arm of Jasper, he led him to a log, where +he compelled the young man to seat himself by a sort of irresistible +exercise of his iron muscles, and where he placed himself at his side. + +The instant his feelings had found vent, Eau-douce was both alarmed at, +and ashamed of, their violence. He would have given all he possessed on +earth could the last three minutes be recalled; but he was too frank by +disposition and too much accustomed to deal ingenuously by his friend to +think a moment of attempting further concealment, or of any evasion of +the explanation that he knew was about to be demanded. Even while +he trembled in anticipation of what was about to follow, he never +contemplated equivocation. + +"Jasper," Pathfinder commenced, in a tone so solemn as to thrill on +every nerve in his listener's body, "this _has_ surprised me! You have +kinder feelings towards Mabel than I had thought; and, unless my own +mistaken vanity and consait have cruelly deceived me, I pity you, boy, +from my soul I do! Yes, I think I know how to pity any one who has set +his heart on a creature like Mabel, unless he sees a prospect of +her regarding him as he regards her. This matter must be cleared up, +Eau-douce, as the Delawares say, until there shall not be a cloud +'atween us." + +"What clearing up can it want, Pathfinder? I love Mabel Dunham, and +Mabel Dunham does not love me; she prefers you for a husband; and the +wisest thing I can do is to go off at once to the salt water, and try to +forget you both." + +"Forget me, Jasper! That would be a punishment I don't desarve. But how +do you know that Mabel prefars _me_? How do you know it, lad? To me it +seems impossible like!" + +"Is she not to marry you, and would Mabel marry a man she does not +love?" + +"She has been hard urged by the Sergeant, she has; and a dutiful child +may have found it difficult to withstand the wishes of a dying parent. +Have you ever told Mabel that you prefarred her, Jasper--that you bore +her these feelings?" + +"Never, Pathfinder. I would not do you that wrong." + +"I believe you, lad, I do believe you; and I think you would now go off +to the salt water, and let the scent die with you. But this must not be. +Mabel shall hear all, and she shall have her own way, if my heart breaks +in the trial, she shall. No words have ever passed 'atween you, then, +Jasper?" + +"Nothing of account, nothing direct. Still, I will own all my +foolishness, Pathfinder; for I ought to own it to a generous friend +like you, and there will be an end of it. You know how young people +understand each other, or think they understand each other, without +always speaking out in plain speech, and get to know each other's +thoughts, or to think they know them, by means of a hundred little +ways." + +"Not I, Jasper, not I," truly answered the guide; for, sooth to say, +his advances had never been met with any of that sweet and precious +encouragement which silently marks the course of sympathy united to +passion. "Not I, Jasper; I know nothing of all this. Mabel has always +treated me fairly, and said what she has had to say in speech as plain +as tongue could tell it." + +"You have had the pleasure of hearing her say that she loved you, +Pathfinder?" + +"Why, no, Jasper, not just that in words. She has told me that we never +could, never ought to be married; that _she_ was not good enough for +_me_, though she _did_ say that she honored me and respected me. But +then the Sergeant said it was always so with the youthful and timid; +that her mother did so and said so afore her; and that I ought to be +satisfied if she would consent on any terms to marry me, and therefore I +have concluded that all was right, I have." + +In spite of all his friendship for the successful wooer, in spite of all +his honest, sincere wished for his happiness, we should be unfaithful +chroniclers did we not own that Jasper felt his heart bound with an +uncontrollable feeling of delight at this admission. It was not that +he saw or felt any hope connected with the circumstance; but it was +grateful to the jealous covetousness of unlimited love thus to learn +that no other ears had heard the sweet confessions that were denied its +own. + +"Tell me more of this manner of talking without the use of the tongue," +continued Pathfinder, whose countenance was becoming grave, and who now +questioned his companion like one who seemed to anticipate evil in the +reply. "I can and have conversed with Chingachgook, and with his son +Uncas too, in that mode, afore the latter fell; but I didn't know that +young girls practysed this art, and, least of all, Mabel Dunham." + +"'Tis nothing, Pathfinder. I mean only a look, or a smile, or a glance +of the eye, or the trembling of an arm or a hand when the young woman +has had occasion to touch me; and because I have been weak enough to +tremble even at Mabel's breath, or her brushing me with her clothes, my +vain thoughts have misled me. I never spoke plainly to Mabel myself, and +now there is no use for it, since there is clearly no hope." + +"Jasper," returned Pathfinder simply, but with a dignity that precluded +further remarks at the moment, "we will talk of the Sergeant's funeral +and of our own departure from this island. After these things are +disposed of, it will be time enough to say more of the Sergeant's +daughter. This matter must be looked into, for the father left me the +care of his child." + +Jasper was glad enough to change the subject, and the friends separated, +each charged with the duty most peculiar to his own station and habits. + +That afternoon all the dead were interred, the grave of Sergeant Dunham +being dug in the centre of the glade, beneath the shade of a huge +elm. Mabel wept bitterly at the ceremony, and she found relief in thus +disburthening her sorrow. The night passed tranquilly, as did the whole +of the following day, Jasper declaring that the gale was too severe to +venture on the lake. This circumstance detained Captain Sanglier also, +who did not quit the island until the morning of the third day after the +death of Dunham, when the weather had moderated, and the wind had become +fair. Then, indeed, he departed, after taking leave of the Pathfinder, +in the manner of one who believed he was in company of a distinguished +character for the last time. The two separated like those who respect +one another, while each felt that the other was all enigma to himself. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + Playful she turn'd that he might see + The passing smile her cheek put on; + But when she marked how mournfully + His eyes met hers, that smile was gone. + _Lalla Rookh._ + + +The occurrences of the last few days had been too exciting, and had made +too many demands on the fortitude of our heroine, to leave her in the +helplessness of grief. She mourned for her father, and she occasionally +shuddered as she recalled the sudden death of Jennie, and all the +horrible scenes she had witnessed; but on the whole she had aroused +herself, and was no longer in the deep depression which usually +accompanies grief. Perhaps the overwhelming, almost stupefying sorrow +that crushed poor June, and left her for nearly twenty-four hours in a +state of stupor, assisted Mabel in conquering her own feelings, for she +had felt called on to administer consolation to the young Indian woman. +This she had done in the quiet, soothing, insinuating way in which her +sex usually exerts its influence on such occasions. + +The morning of the third day was set for that on which the _Scud_ was to +sail. Jasper had made all his preparations; the different effects were +embarked, and Mabel had taken leave of June, a painful and affectionate +parting. In a word, all was ready, and every soul had left the island +but the Indian woman, Pathfinder, Jasper, and our heroine. The former +had gone into a thicket to weep, and the three last were approaching the +spot where three canoes lay, one of which was the property of June, and +the other two were in waiting to carry the others off to the _Scud_. +Pathfinder led the way, but, when he drew near the shore, instead of +taking the direction to the boats, he motioned to his companions to +follow, and proceeded to a fallen tree which lay on the margin of the +glade and out of view of those in the cutter. Seating himself on the +trunk, he signed to Mabel to take her place on one side of him and to +Jasper to occupy the other. + +"Sit down here Mabel; sit down there, Eau-douce," he commenced, as soon +as he had taken his own seat. "I've something that lies heavy on my +mind, and now is the time to take it off, if it's ever to be done. Sit +down, Mabel, and let me lighten my heart, if not my conscience, while +I've the strength to do it." + +The pause that succeeded lasted two or three minutes, and both the young +people wondered what was to come next; the idea that Pathfinder could +have any weight on his conscience seeming equally improbable to each. + +"Mabel," our hero at length resumed, "we must talk plainly to each other +afore we join your uncle in the cutter, where the Saltwater has slept +every night since the last rally, for he says it's the only place in +which a man can be sure of keeping the hair on his head, he does. Ah's +me! What have I to do with these follies and sayings now? I try to be +pleasant, and to feel light-hearted, but the power of man can't make +water run up stream. Mabel, you know that the Sergeant, afore he left +us, had settled it 'atween us two that we were to become man and wife, +and that we were to live together and to love one another as long as the +Lord was pleased to keep us both on 'arth; yes, and afterwards too?" + +Mabel's cheeks had regained a little of their ancient bloom in the +fresh air of the morning; but at this unlooked-for address they blanched +again, nearly to the pallid hue which grief had imprinted there. Still, +she looked kindly, though seriously, at Pathfinder and even endeavored +to force a smile. + +"Very true, my excellent friend," she answered; "this was my poor +father's wish, and I feel certain that a whole life devoted to your +welfare and comforts could scarcely repay you for all you have done for +us." + +"I fear me, Mabel, that man and wife needs be bound together by a +stronger tie than such feelings, I do. You have done nothing for me, +or nothing of any account, and yet my very heart yearns towards you, +it does; and therefore it seems likely that these feelings come from +something besides saving scalps and guiding through woods." + +Mabel's cheek had begun to glow again; and though she struggled hard to +smile, her voice trembled a little as she answered. + +"Had we not better postpone this conversation, Pathfinder?" she said; +"we are not alone; and nothing is so unpleasant to a listener, they say, +as family matters in which he feels no interest." + +"It's because we are not alone, Mabel, or rather because Jasper is with +us, that I wish to talk of this matter. The Sergeant believed I might +make a suitable companion for you, and, though I had misgivings about +it,--yes, I had many misgivings,--he finally persuaded me into the idee, +and things came round 'atween us, as you know. But, when you promised +your father to marry me, Mabel, and gave me your hand so modestly, but +so prettily, there was one circumstance, as your uncle called it, that +you didn't know; and I've thought it right to tell you what it is, +before matters are finally settled. I've often taken a poor deer for my +dinner when good venison was not to be found; but it's as nat'ral not to +take up with the worst when the best may be had." + +"You speak in a way, Pathfinder, that is difficult to be understood. If +this conversation is really necessary, I trust you will be more plain." + +"Well then, Mabel, I've been thinking it was quite likely, when you gave +in to the Sergeant's wishes, that you did not know the natur' of Jasper +Western's feelings towards you?" + +"Pathfinder!" and Mabel's cheek now paled to the livid hue of death; +then it flushed to the tint of crimson; and her whole frame shuddered. +Pathfinder, however, was too intent on his own object to notice this +agitation; and Eau-douce had hidden his face in his hands in time to +shut out its view. + +"I've been talking with the lad; and, on comparing his dreams with my +dreams, his feelings with my feelings, and his wishes with my wishes, +I fear we think too much alike consarning you for both of us to be very +happy." + +"Pathfinder, you forget; you should remember that we are betrothed!" +said Mabel hastily, and in a voice so low that it required acute +attention in the listeners to catch the syllables. Indeed the last word +was not quite intelligible to the guide, and he confessed his ignorance +by the usual,-- + +"Anan?" + +"You forget that we are to be married; and such allusions are improper +as well as painful." + +"Everything is proper that is right, Mabel; and everything is right that +leads to justice and fair dealing; though it _is painful_ enough, as you +say, as I find on trial, I do. Now, Mabel, had you known that Eau-douce +thinks of you in this way, maybe you never would have consented to be +married to one as old and as uncomely as I am." + +"Why this cruel trial, Pathfinder? To what can all this lead? Jasper +Western thinks no such thing: he says nothing, he feels nothing." + +"Mabel!" burst from out of the young man's lips, in a way to betray the +uncontrollable nature of his emotions, though he uttered not another +syllable. + +Mabel buried her face in both her hands; and the two sat like a pair of +guilty beings, suddenly detected in the commission of some crime which +involved the happiness of a common patron. At that instant, perhaps, +Jasper himself was inclined to deny his passion, through an extreme +unwillingness to grieve his friend; while Mabel, on whom this positive +announcement of a fact that she had rather unconsciously hoped than +believed, came so unexpectedly, felt her mind momentarily bewildered; +and she scarcely knew whether to weep or to rejoice. Still she was +the first to speak; since Eau-douce could utter naught that would be +disingenuous, or that would pain his friend. + +"Pathfinder," said she, "you talk wildly. Why mention this at all?" + +"Well, Mabel, if I talk wildly, I _am_ half wild, you know, by natur', +I fear, as well as by habit." As he said this, he endeavored to laugh +in his usual noiseless way, but the effect produced a strange and +discordant sound; and it appeared nearly to choke him. "Yes, I _must_ be +wild; I'll not attempt to deny it." + +"Dearest Pathfinder! my best, almost my only friend! You _cannot, do +not_ think I intended to say that!" interrupted Mabel, almost breathless +in her haste to relieve his mortification. "If courage, truth, nobleness +of soul and conduct, unyielding principles, and a hundred other +excellent qualities can render any man respectable, esteemed, or +beloved, your claims are inferior to those of no other human being." + +"What tender and bewitching voices they have, Jasper!" resumed the +guide, now laughing freely and naturally. "Yes, natur' seems to have +made them on purpose to sing in our ears, when the music of the woods +is silent. But we must come to a right understanding, we must. I ask you +again, Mabel, if you had known that Jasper Western loves you as well as +I do, or better perhaps, though that is scarcely possible; that in his +dreams he sees your face in the water of the lake; that he talks to +you, and of you, in his sleep; fancies all that is beautiful like Mabel +Dunham, and all that is good and virtuous; believes he never knowed +happiness until he knowed you; could kiss the ground on which you have +trod, and forgets all the joys of his calling to think of you and the +delight of gazing at your beauty and in listening to your voice, would +you then have consented to marry me?" + +Mabel could not have answered this question if she would; but, though +her face was buried in her hands, the tint of the rushing blood was +visible between the openings, and the suffusion seemed to impart itself +to her very fingers. Still nature asserted her power, for there was a +single instant when the astonished, almost terrified girl stole a glance +at Jasper, as if distrusting Pathfinder's history of his feelings, read +the truth of all he said in that furtive look, and instantly concealed +her face again, as if she would hide it from observation for ever. + +"Take time to think, Mabel," the guide continued, "for it is a solemn +thing to accept one man for a husband while the thoughts and wishes lead +to another. Jasper and I have talked this matter over, freely and like +old friends, and, though I always knowed that we viewed most things +pretty much alike, I couldn't have thought that we regarded any +particular object with the very same eyes, as it might be, until we +opened our minds to each other about you. Now Jasper owns that the very +first time he beheld you, he thought you the sweetest and winningestest +creatur' he had ever met; that your voice sounded like murmuring water +in his ears; that he fancied his sails were your garments fluttering in +the wind; that your laugh haunted him in his sleep; and that ag'in and +ag'in has he started up affrighted, because he has fancied some one +wanted to force you out of the _Scud_, where he imagined you had taken +up your abode. Nay, the lad has even acknowledged that he often weeps at +the thought that you are likely to spend your days with another, and not +with him." + +"Jasper!" + +"It's solemn truth, Mabel, and it's right you should know it. Now stand +up, and choose 'atween us. I do believe Eau-douce loves you as well as +I do myself; he has tried to persuade me that he loves you better, but +that I will not allow, for I do not think it possible; but I will own +the boy loves you, heart and soul, and he has a good right to be heard. +The Sergeant left me your protector, and not your tyrant. I told him +that I would be a father to you as well as a husband, and it seems to me +no feeling father would deny his child this small privilege. Stand up, +Mabel, therefore, and speak your thoughts as freely as if I were the +Sergeant himself, seeking your good, and nothing else." + +Mabel dropped her hands, arose, and stood face to face with her two +suitors, though the flush that was on her cheeks was feverish, the +evidence of excitement rather than of shame. + +"What would you have, Pathfinder?" she asked; "Have I not already +promised my poor father to do all you desire?" + +"Then I desire this. Here I stand, a man of the forest and of little +larning, though I fear with an ambition beyond my desarts, and I'll +do my endivors to do justice to both sides. In the first place, it is +allowed that, so far as feelings in your behalf are consarned, we love +you just the same; Jasper thinks his feelings _must_ be the strongest, +but this I cannot say in honesty, for it doesn't seem to me that it +_can_ be true, else I would frankly and freely confess it, I would. So +in this particular, Mabel, we are here before you on equal tarms. As for +myself, being the oldest, I'll first say what little can be produced in +my favor, as well as ag'in it. As a hunter, I do think there is no man +near the lines that can outdo me. If venison, or bear's meat, or even +birds and fish, should ever be scarce in our cabin, it would be more +likely to be owing to natur' and Providence than to any fault of mine. +In short, it does seem to me that the woman who depended on me would +never be likely to want for food. But I'm fearful ignorant! It's true +I speak several tongues, such as they be, while I'm very far from being +expart at my own. Then, my years are greater than your own, Mabel; and +the circumstance that I was so long the Sergeant's comrade can be no +great merit in your eyes. I wish, too, I was more comely, I do; but +we are all as natur' made us, and the last thing that a man ought to +lament, except on very special occasions, is his looks. When all is +remembered, age, looks, learning, and habits, Mabel, conscience tells me +I ought to confess that I'm altogether unfit for you, if not downright +unworthy; and I would give up the hope this minute, I would, if I didn't +feel something pulling at my heart-strings which seems hard to undo." + +"Pathfinder! Noble, generous Pathfinder!" cried our heroine, seizing his +hand and kissing it with a species of holy reverence; "You do yourself +injustice--you forget my poor father and your promise--you do not know +_me_!" + +"Now, here's Jasper," continued the guide, without allowing the girl's +caresses to win him from his purpose, "with _him_ the case is different. +In the way of providing, as in that of loving, there's not much to +choose 'atween us; for the lad is frugal, industrious, and careful. Then +he is quite a scholar, knows the tongue of the Frenchers, reads many +books, and some, I know, that you like to read yourself, can understand +you at all times, which, perhaps, is more than I can say for myself." + +"What of all this?" interrupted Mabel impatiently; "Why speak of it +now--why speak of it at all?" + +"Then the lad has a manner of letting his thoughts be known, that I +fear I can never equal. If there's anything on 'arth that would make my +tongue bold and persuading, Mabel, I do think it's yourself; and yet in +our late conversations Jasper has outdone me, even on this point, in a +way to make me ashamed of myself. He has told me how simple you were, +and how true-hearted, and kind-hearted; and how you looked down upon +vanities, for though you might be the wife of more than one officer, +as he thinks, that you cling to feeling, and would rather be true to +yourself and natur' than a colonel's lady. He fairly made my blood warm, +he did, when he spoke of your having beauty without seeming ever to have +looked upon it, and the manner in which you moved about like a young +fa'n, so nat'ral and graceful like, without knowing it; and the truth +and justice of your idees, and the warmth and generosity of your +heart--" + +"Jasper!" interrupted Mabel, giving way to feelings that had gathered +an ungovernable force by being so long pent, and falling into the +young man's willing arms, weeping like a child, and almost as helpless. +"Jasper! Jasper! Why have you kept this from me?" + +The answer of Eau-douce was not very intelligible, nor was the murmured +dialogue that followed remarkable for coherency. But the language of +affection is easily understood. The hour that succeeded passed like a +very few minutes of ordinary life, so far as a computation of time was +concerned; and when Mabel recollected herself, and bethought her of the +existence of others, her uncle was pacing the cutter's deck in great +impatience, and wondering why Jasper should be losing so much of a +favorable wind. Her first thought was of him, who was so likely to feel +the recent betrayal of her real emotions. + +"Oh, Jasper," she exclaimed, like one suddenly self-convicted, "the +Pathfinder!" + +Eau-douce fairly trembled, not with unmanly apprehension, but with the +painful conviction of the pang he had given his friend; and he looked in +all directions in the expectation of seeing his person. But Pathfinder +had withdrawn, with a tact and a delicacy that might have done credit to +the sensibility and breeding of a courtier. For several minutes the +two lovers sat, silently waiting his return, uncertain what propriety +required of them under circumstances so marked and so peculiar. At +length they beheld their friend advancing slowly towards them, with a +thoughtful and even pensive air. + +"I now understand what you meant, Jasper, by speaking without a tongue +and hearing without an ear," he said when close enough to the tree to +be heard. "Yes, I understand it now, I do; and a very pleasant sort of +discourse it is, when one can hold it with Mabel Dunham. Ah's me! I told +the Sergeant I wasn't fit for her; that I was too old, too ignorant, and +too wild like; but he _would_ have it otherwise." + +Jasper and Mabel sat, resembling Milton's picture of our first parents, +when the consciousness of sin first laid its leaden weight on their +souls. Neither spoke, neither even moved; though both at that moment +fancied they could part with their new-found happiness in order to +restore their friend to his peace of mind. Jasper was pale as death, +but, in Mabel, maiden modesty had caused the blood to mantle on her +cheeks, until their bloom was heightened to a richness that was scarcely +equalled in her hours of light-hearted buoyancy and joy. As the feeling +which, in her sex, always accompanies the security of love returned, +threw its softness and tenderness over her countenance, she was +singularly beautiful. Pathfinder gazed at her with an intentness he did +not endeavor to conceal, and then he fairly laughed in his own way, and +with a sort of wild exultation, as men that are untutored are wont to +express their delight. This momentary indulgence, however, was expiated +by the pang which followed the sudden consciousness that this glorious +young creature was lost to him for ever. It required a full minute for +this simple-minded being to recover from the shock of this conviction; +and then he recovered his dignity of manner, speaking with gravity, +almost with solemnity. + +"I have always known, Mabel Dunham, that men have their gifts," said he; +"but I'd forgotten that it did not belong to mine to please the young, +the beautiful, and l'arned. I hope the mistake has been no very heavy +sin; and if it was, I've been heavily punished for it, I have. Nay, +Mabel, I know what you'd say, but it's unnecessary; I _feel_ it all, and +that is as good as if I _heard_ it all. I've had a bitter hour, Mabel. +I've had a very bitter hour, lad." + +"Hour!" echoed Mabel, as the other first used the word; the tell-tale +blood, which had begun to ebb towards her heart, rushing again +tumultuously to her very temples; "surely not an hour, Pathfinder?" + +"Hour!" exclaimed Jasper at the same instant; "No, no, my worthy friend, +it is not ten minutes since you left us!" + +"Well, it may be so; though to me it has seemed to be a day. I begin to +think, however, that the happy count time by minutes, and the miserable +count it by months. But we will talk no more of this; it is all over +now, and many words about it will make you no happier, while they will +only tell me what I've lost; and quite likely how much I desarved to +lose her. No, no, Mabel, 'tis useless to interrupt me; I admit it all, +and your gainsaying it, though it be so well meant, cannot change my +mind. Well, Jasper, she is yours; and, though it's hard to think it, +I do believe you'll make her happier than I could, for your gifts are +better suited to do so, though I would have strived hard to do as much, +if I know myself, I would. I ought to have known better than to believe +the Sergeant; and I ought to have put faith in what Mabel told me at the +head of the lake, for reason and judgment might have shown me its truth; +but it is so pleasant to think what we wish, and mankind so easily +over-persuade us, when we over-persuade ourselves. But what's the use +in talking of it, as I said afore? It's true, Mabel seemed to be +consenting, though it all came from a wish to please her father, and +from being skeary about the savages--" + +"Pathfinder!" + +"I understand you, Mabel, and have no hard feelings, I haven't. I +sometimes think I should like to live in your neighborhood, that I might +look at your happiness; but, on the whole, it's better I should quit the +55th altogether, and go back to the 60th, which is my natyve rigiment, +as it might be. It would have been better, perhaps, had I never left it, +though my sarvices were much wanted in this quarter, and I'd been with +some of the 55th years agone; Sergeant Dunham, for instance, when he was +in another corps. Still, Jasper, I do not regret that I've known you--" + +"And me, Pathfinder!" impetuously interrupted Mabel; "do you regret +having known _me_? Could I think so, I should never be at peace with +myself." + +"You, Mabel!" returned the guide, taking the hand of our heroine and +looking up into her countenance with guileless simplicity, but earnest +affection; "How could I be sorry that a ray of the sun came across the +gloom of a cheerless day--that light has broken in upon darkness, though +it remained so short a time? I do not flatter myself with being able +to march quite so light-hearted as I once used to could, or to sleep as +sound, for some time to come; but I shall always remember how near I was +to being undeservedly happy, I shall. So far from blaming you, Mabel, +I only blame myself for being so vain as to think it possible I could +please such a creatur'; for sartainly you told me how it was, when we +talked it over on the mountain, and I ought to have believed you then; +for I do suppose it's nat'ral that young women should know their own +minds better than their fathers. Ah's me! It's settled now, and nothing +remains but for me to take leave of you, that you may depart; I feel +that Master Cap must be impatient, and there is danger of his coming on +shore to look for us all." + +"To take leave!" exclaimed Mabel. + +"Leave!" echoed Jasper; "You do not mean to quit us, my friend?" + +"'Tis best, Mabel, 'tis altogether best, Eau-douce; and it's wisest. I +could live and die in your company, if I only followed feeling; but, if +I follow reason, I shall quit you here. You will go back to Oswego, and +become man and wife as soon as you arrive,--for all that is determined +with Master Cap, who hankers after the sea again, and who knows what is +to happen,--while I shall return to the wilderness and my Maker. Come, +Mabel," continued Pathfinder, rising and drawing nearer to our heroine, +with grave decorum, "kiss me; Jasper will not grudge me one kiss; then +we'll part." + +"Oh, Pathfinder!" exclaimed Mabel, falling into the arms of the guide, +and kissing his cheeks again and again, with a freedom and warmth she +had been far from manifesting while held to the bosom of Jasper; "God +bless you, dearest Pathfinder! You'll come to us hereafter. We shall +see you again. When old, you will come to our dwelling, and let me be a +daughter to you?" + +"Yes, that's it," returned the guide, almost gasping for breath; "I'll +try to think of it in that way. You're more befitting to be my daughter +than to be my wife, you are. Farewell, Jasper. Now we'll go to the +canoe; it's time you were on board." + +The manner in which Pathfinder led the way to the shore was solemn and +calm. As soon as he reached the canoe, he again took Mabel by the hands, +held her at the length of his own arms, and gazed wistfully into her +face, until the unbidden tears rolled out of the fountains of feeling +and trickled down his rugged cheeks in streams. + +"Bless me, Pathfinder," said Mabel, kneeling reverently at his feet. +"Oh, at least bless me before we part!" + +That untutored but noble-minded being did as she desired; and, aiding +her to enter the canoe, seemed to tear himself away as one snaps a +strong and obstinate cord. Before he retired, however, he took Jasper by +the arm and led him a little aside, when he spoke as follows:-- + +"You're kind of heart and gentle by natur', Jasper; but we are both +rough and wild in comparison with that dear creatur'. Be careful of her, +and never show the roughness of man's natur' to her soft disposition. +You'll get to understand her in time; and the Lord, who governs the lake +and the forest alike, who looks upon virtue with a smile and upon vice +with a frown, keep you happy and worthy to be so!" + +Pathfinder made a sign for his friend to depart, and he stood leaning on +his rifle until the canoe had reached the side of the _Scud_. Mabel wept +as if her heart would break; nor did her eyes once turn from the open +spot in the glade, where the form of the Pathfinder was to be seen, +until the cutter had passed a point that completely shut out the island. +When last in view, the sinewy frame of this extraordinary man was as +motionless as if it were a statue set up in that solitary place to +commemorate the scenes of which it had so lately been the witness. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + Oh! let me only breathe the air, + The blessed air that's breath'd by thee; + And, whether on its wings it bear + Healing or death, 'tis sweet to me! + MOORE. + + +Pathfinder was accustomed to solitude; but, when the _Scud_ had actually +disappeared, he was almost overcome with a sense of his loneliness. +Never before had he been conscious of his isolated condition in the +world; for his feelings had gradually been accustoming themselves to the +blandishments and wants of social life; particularly as the last were +connected with the domestic affections. Now, all had vanished, as it +might be, in one moment; and he was left equally without companions +and without hope. Even Chingachgook had left him, though it was but +temporarily; still his presence was missed at the precise instant which +might be termed the most critical in our hero's life. + +Pathfinder stood leaning on his rifle, in the attitude described in the +last chapter, a long time after the _Scud_ had disappeared. The rigidity +of his limbs seemed permanent; and none but a man accustomed to put his +muscles to the severest proof could have maintained that posture, with +its marble-like inflexibility, for so great a length of time. At length +he moved away from the spot; the motion of the body being preceded by a +sigh that seemed to heave up from the very depths of his bosom. + +It was a peculiarity of this extraordinary being that his senses and his +limbs, for all practical purposes, were never at fault, let the mind +be preoccupied with other interests as much as it might. On the present +occasion neither of these great auxiliaries failed him; but, though +his thoughts were exclusively occupied with Mabel, her beauty, her +preference of Jasper, her tears, and her departure, he moved in a direct +line to the spot where June still remained, which was the grave of her +husband. The conversation that followed passed in the language of the +Tuscaroras, which Pathfinder spoke fluently; but, as that tongue is +understood only by the extremely learned, we shall translate it freely +into the English; preserving, as far as possible, the tone of thought +of each interlocutor, as well as the peculiarities of manner. June had +suffered her hair to fall about her face, had taken a seat on a stone +which had been dug from the excavation made by the grave, and was +hanging over the spot which contained the body of Arrowhead, unconscious +of the presence of any other. She believed, indeed, that all had left +the island but herself, and the tread of the guide's moccasined foot was +too noiseless rudely to undeceive her. + +Pathfinder stood gazing at the woman for several minutes in mute +attention. The contemplation of her grief, the recollection of her +irreparable loss, and the view of her desolation produced a healthful +influence on his own feelings; his reason telling him how much deeper +lay the sources of grief in a young wife, who was suddenly and violently +deprived of her husband, than in himself. + +"Dew-of-June," he said solemnly, but with an earnestness which denoted +the strength of his sympathy, "you are not alone in your sorrow. Turn, +and let your eyes look upon a friend." + +"June has no longer any friend!" the woman answered. "Arrowhead has gone +to the happy hunting-grounds, and there is no one left to care for June. +The Tuscaroras would chase her from their wigwams; the Iroquois are +hateful in her eyes, and she could not look at them. No! Leave June to +starve over the grave of her husband." + +"This will never do--this will never do. 'Tis ag'in reason and right. +You believe in the Manitou, June?" + +"He has hid his face from June because he is angry. He has left her +alone to die." + +"Listen to one who has had a long acquaintance with red natur', though +he has a white birth and white gifts. When the Manitou of a pale-face +wishes to produce good in a pale-face heart He strikes it with grief; +for it is in our sorrows, June, that we look with the truest eyes into +ourselves, and with the farthest-sighted eyes too, as respects right. +The Great Spirit wishes you well, and He has taken away the chief, lest +you should be led astray by his wily tongue, and get to be a Mingo in +your disposition, as you were already in your company." + +"Arrowhead was a great chief," returned the woman proudly. + +"He had his merits, he had; and he had his demerits, too. But June you +are not desarted, nor will you be soon. Let your grief out--let it out, +according to natur', and when the proper time comes I shall have more to +say to you." + +Pathfinder now went to his own canoe, and he left the island. In the +course of the day June heard the crack of his rifle once or twice; and +as the sun was setting he reappeared, bringing her birds ready cooked, +and of a delicacy and flavor that might have tempted the appetite of an +epicure. This species of intercourse lasted a month, June obstinately +refusing to abandon the grave of her husband all that time, though she +still accepted the friendly offerings of her protector. Occasionally +they met and conversed, Pathfinder sounding the state of the woman's +feelings; but the interviews were short, and far from frequent. June +slept in one of the huts, and she laid down her head in security, for +she was conscious of the protection of a friend, though Pathfinder +invariably retired at night to an adjacent island, where he had built +himself a hut. + +At the end of the month, however, the season was getting to be too far +advanced to render her situation pleasant to June. The trees had lost +their leaves, and the nights were becoming cold and wintry. It was time +to depart. + +At this moment Chingachgook reappeared. He had a long and confidential +interview on the island with his friend. June witnessed their movements, +and she saw that her guardian was distressed. Stealing to his side, she +endeavored to soothe his sorrow with a woman's gentleness and with a +woman's instinct. + +"Thank you, June, thank you!" he said; "'tis well meant, though it's +useless. But it is time to quit this place. To-morrow we shall depart. +You will go with us, for now you've got to feel reason." + +June assented in the meek manner of an Indian woman, and she withdrew to +pass the remainder of her time near the grave of Arrowhead. Regardless +of the hour and the season, the young widow did not pillow her head +during the whole of that autumnal night. She sat near the spot that held +the remains of her husband, and prayed, in the manner of her people, for +his success on the endless path on which he had so lately gone, and for +their reunion in the land of the just. Humble and degraded as she would +have seemed in the eyes of the sophisticated and unreflecting, the +image of God was on her soul, and it vindicated its divine origin by +aspirations and feelings that would have surprised those who, feigning +more, feel less. + +In the morning the three departed, Pathfinder earnest and intelligent +in all he did, the Great Serpent silent and imitative, and June meek, +resigned, but sorrowful. They went in two canoes, that of the woman +being abandoned: Chingachgook led the way, and Pathfinder followed, +the course being up stream. Two days they paddled westward, and as many +nights they encamped on islands. Fortunately the weather became mild, +and when they reached the lake it was found smooth and glassy as a pond. +It was the Indian summer, and the calms, and almost the blandness of +June, slept in the hazy atmosphere. + +On the morning of the third day they passed the mouth of the Oswego, +where the fort and the sleeping ensign invited them in vain to enter. +Without casting a look aside, Chingachgook paddled past the dark waters +of the river, and Pathfinder still followed in silent industry. The +ramparts were crowded with spectators; but Lundie, who knew the persons +of his old friends, refused to allow them to be even hailed. + +It was noon when Chingachgook entered a little bay where the _Scud_ lay +at anchor, in a sort of roadstead. A small ancient clearing was on the +shore; and near the margin of the lake was a log dwelling, recently +and completely, though rudely fitted up. There was an air of frontier +comfort and of frontier abundance around the place, though it was +necessarily wild and solitary. Jasper stood on the shore; and when +Pathfinder landed, he was the first to take him by the hand. The meeting +was simple, but very cordial. No questions were asked, it being apparent +that Chingachgook had made the necessary explanations. Pathfinder never +squeezed his friend's hand more cordially than in this interview; and he +even laughed cordially in his face as he told him how happy and well he +appeared. + +"Where is she, Jasper? Where is she?" the guide at length whispered, for +at first he had seemed to be afraid to trust himself with the question. + +"She is waiting for us in the house, my dear friend, where you see that +June has already hastened before us." + +"June may use a lighter step to meet Mabel, but she cannot carry a +lighter heart. And so, lad, you found the chaplain at the garrison, and +all was soon settled?" + +"We were married within a week after we left you, and Master Cap +departed next day. You have forgotten to inquire about your friend +Saltwater." + +"Not I, not I; the Sarpent has told me all that: and then I love to hear +so much of Mabel and her happiness, I do. Did the child smile or did she +weep when the ceremony was over?" + +"She did both, my friend; but--" + +"Yes, that's their natur', tearful and cheerful. Ah's me! They are very +pleasant to us of the woods; and I do believe I should think all right, +whatever Mabel might do. And do you think, Jasper, that she thought of +me at all on that joyful occasion?" + +"I know she did, Pathfinder; and she thinks of you and talks of you +daily, almost hourly. None love you as we do." + +"I know few love me better than yourself, Jasper: Chingachgook is +perhaps, now, the only creatur' of whom I can say that. Well, there's +no use in putting it off any longer; it must be done, and may as well +be done at once; so, Jasper, lead the way, and I'll endivor to look upon +her sweet countenance once more." + +Jasper did lead the way, and they were soon in the presence of Mabel. +The latter met her late suitor with a bright blush, and her limbs +trembled so, she could hardly stand; still her manner was affectionate +and frank. During the hour of Pathfinder's visit (for it lasted no +longer, though he ate in the dwelling of his friends), one who was +expert in tracing the working of the human mind might have seen a +faithful index to the feelings of Mabel in her manner to Pathfinder and +her husband. With the latter she still had a little of the reserve +that usually accompanies young wedlock; but the tones of her voice +were kinder even than common; the glance of her eye was tender, and she +seldom looked at him without the glow that tinged her cheeks betraying +the existence of feelings that habit and time had not yet soothed into +absolute tranquillity. With Pathfinder, all was earnest, sincere, even +anxious; but the tones never trembled, the eye never fell; and if the +cheek flushed, it was with the emotions that are connected with concern. + +At length the moment came when Pathfinder must go his way. Chingachgook +had already abandoned the canoes, and was posted on the margin of the +woods, where a path led into the forest. Here he calmly waited to be +joined by his friend. As soon as the latter was aware of this fact, he +rose in a solemn manner and took his leave. + +"I've sometimes thought that my own fate has been a little hard," he +said; "but that of this woman, Mabel, has shamed me into reason." + +"June remains, and lives with me," eagerly interrupted our heroine. + +"So I comprehend it. If anybody can bring her back from her grief, and +make her wish to live, you can do it, Mabel; though I've misgivings +about even your success. The poor creatur' is without a tribe, as well +as without a husband, and it's not easy to reconcile the feelings to +both losses. Ah's me!--what have I to do with other people's miseries +and marriages, as if I hadn't affliction enough of my own? Don't speak +to me, Mabel,--don't speak to me, Jasper,--let me go my way in peace, +and like a man. I've seen your happiness, and that is a great deal, and +I shall be able to bear my own sorrow all the better for it. No,--I'll +never kiss you ag'in, Mabel, I'll never kiss you ag'in. Here's my hand, +Jasper,--squeeze it, boy, squeeze it; no fear of its giving way, for +it's the hand of a man;--and now, Mabel, do you take it,--nay, you must +not do this,"--preventing Mabel from kissing it and bathing it in her +tears,--"you must not do this--" + +"Pathfinder," asked Mabel, "when shall we see you again?" + +"I've thought of that, too; yes, I've thought of that, I have. If the +time should ever come when I can look upon you altogether as a sister, +Mabel, or a child,--it might be better to say a child, since you're +young enough to be my daughter,--depend on it I'll come back; for +it would lighten my very heart to witness your gladness. But if I +cannot,--farewell--farewell,--the Sergeant was wrong,--yes, the Sergeant +was wrong!" + +This was the last the Pathfinder ever uttered to the ears of Jasper +Western and Mabel Dunham. He turned away, as if the words choked him, +and was quickly at the side of his friend. As soon as the latter saw him +approach, he shouldered his own burthen, and glided in among the trees, +without waiting to be spoken to. Mabel, her husband, and June all +watched the form of the Pathfinder, in the hope of receiving a parting +gesture, or a stolen glance of the eye; but he did not look back. +Once or twice they thought they saw his head shake, as one trembles in +bitterness of spirit; and a toss of the hand was given, as if he knew +that he was watched; but a tread, whose vigor no sorrow could enfeeble, +soon bore him out of view, and was lost in the depths of the forest. + +Neither Jasper nor his wife ever beheld the Pathfinder again. They +remained for another year on the banks of Ontario; and then the pressing +solicitations of Cap induced them to join him in New York, where Jasper +eventually became a successful and respected merchant. Thrice Mabel +received valuable presents of furs at intervals of years; and her +feelings told her whence they came, though no name accompanied the gift. +Later in life still, when the mother of several youths, she had occasion +to visit the interior; and found herself on the banks of the Mohawk, +accompanied by her sons, the eldest of whom was capable of being her +protector. On that occasion she observed a man in a singular guise, +watching her in the distance, with an intentness that induced her to +inquire into his pursuits and character. She was told he was the +most renowned hunter of that portion of the State,--it was after the +Revolution,--a being of great purity of character and of as marked +peculiarities; and that he was known in that region of country by the +name of the Leatherstocking. Further than this Mrs. Western could not +ascertain; though the distant glimpse and singular deportment of +this unknown hunter gave her a sleepless night, and cast a shade of +melancholy over her still lovely face, that lasted many a day. + +As for June, the double loss of husband and tribe produced the effect +that Pathfinder had foreseen. She died in the cottage of Mabel, on the +shores of the lake; and Jasper conveyed her body to the island, where he +interred it by the side of that of Arrowhead. + +Lundie lived to marry his ancient love, and retired a war-worn and +battered veteran; but his name has been rendered illustrious in our own +time by the deeds of a younger brother, who succeeded to his territorial +title, which, however, was shortly after merged in one earned by his +valor on the ocean. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pathfinder, by James Fenimore Cooper + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PATHFINDER *** + +***** This file should be named 1880.txt or 1880.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/8/1880/ + +Produced by Nigel Lacey + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |