THE
PATHFINDER:
OR, THE
INLAND SEA.
BY J. FENIMORE COOPER
" Here the neart
May.give a useful lesson to the head,
AlI LeAninag wiser grow witheout his books."
CowsuL
COMPLETE IN ONE TOLUME
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOIJGHTON
eanmbrtlbge: 3lfbersfbe Ftess.
1871.




THE PATHFINDER
Entered aeording to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by
J. FENIMORE COOPsIt,
1a the Olork's Offioe of the District Court of the United Statee m and for the
Northern District of New York.




PREFAC E.
THE plan of this tale is old, having 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 it should be found that the exhibition made of this
old acquaintance, in the novel circumstances in which
he appears, shall not lessen his favour 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 an object to avoid dwelling on it too much,
on the present occasion. Its association with the sailor,
J3)




iv                  PREFACE.
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-Ontario in the middle of the eighteenth century; but, in this particulari facts will fully bear out
all the license of the fiction. Although the precise
vessels mentioned in these pages nmay never have
existed on that water, or anywhere else, others so
nearly resembling them, as to form a sufficient authoritv for their introduction into a work of fiction, are
known to have navigated that inland sea, even at a
period much earlier than the one just mentioned. 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 manoeuvred
on those waters, which, half a century since, 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, an& 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 Pro.
vidence 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 sublimlty 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 imagina.
tion as he gazes into the depths of the illimitable void. The expanse of the ocean is seldom seen by the novice with indiffer.
ence, 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 dif.
fbrent 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.  As usual, the spot
was small, but owing to the circumstances of its lying on the
low acclivity mentioned, and that of the opening's extending
2                                 (13)




14                 THE PATHFINDER.
downward, it offered more than common advantages to t ne
eye. 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 that produce water-spouts
on the ocean; while others again impute it to sudden and
violent passages of streams of the' electric fluid; but the effeets in the woods are familiar to all. On the upper margin
of the opening to which there is allusion, 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 thiity 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 that had
been broken and driven by the force of the gust, lay blended
like jack-straws, while their branches, still exhaling the
fragrance of wilted 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 t-he 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
cean, and is too, in a station little, if any, above that of a
comnmon mariner; while his female associate was a maiden
of a class in no great degree superior to his own; though
her youth, sweetness of 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 gratefil




THE PATHFINDER.                  15
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.iIwards  the west, in which
direction the faces of the party were turned, and in which
alone could much be seen, the eye ranged over an ocean of
leaves, glorious and rich in the varied but lively verdure of a
generous vegetation, and shaded by the luxuriant tints that
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.
leafed linden, known in the parlance of the country as the
bass-wood, mingled their uppermost branches, forming one
broad and seemingly interminable carpet of foliage, that
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 i'egions less favoured, the quivering
aspen, various generous nut-woods, and divers others that
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 pllain of leaves.
It was the vastness of the view, the nearly unbroken sur.
face of verdure, that contained the principle of grandeur.
The beauty was to be traced in the delicate tints, relieved
by gradations of light and shadow; 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,"i term of affection the sailor often used in allusion to his
nLenes personal attractions, —" no one but a child would




16                THE PATHFINDER,
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 I
what more 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 green-horn 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 fancl
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
-as 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




TIE PATHENDMI.                   11
i must show it to Arrowhead, who may be runnrag past a
port without knowing it. It is probable there is a canlboose,
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 vapour that
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 that were 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 fa.
cetious moments, had not ventured on fhmiliarity, in an in.
tercourse that had now lasted more than a week. The sight
of the ctrling 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 quite 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. Hiis
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 tlhe long
journey they had attempted to make through a broad bel
of wilderness, was necessarily attended with danger, botb
2a*




18                THE PATHFINDER.
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 com.
pany 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 soldier's from a sail.
or's quid, or 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 faiti 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




THF, PATHFINDER.                  19
water; pale-face too much book, and burn any thing; 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 mane
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 -
1" 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 leastprofitable, and the farthest inland. If this body of fresh water is
so nigh, Arrowhead, and at the same time so large, one
might think a pair of good eyes would find it out, for, apparently, every thing 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 tile 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,
blt none in the world to the old one. I should know water
child, were I to see it in China."
"Ontario," repeated the 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, to all appearance, toward a
vacant point in the heavens, a short distance above the plain
uf leaves.' Ay, ay; this is much as I expected, when I left the coast




A20               THE PATIELNDER
to come in search of a fresh-water pond," resumed Cap, shrugging his shouiders 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, towork our
canoe. But, Arrowhead, if there be pale-faces in our neighbourhood, 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 uptor
tree, in silence. When they had 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 streama, 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
i:' the canoe," she added, as the rich blood slowly returned
t:- 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
0)unham, prepared to be of the party, while the Dew-of-Jun,




THE PATHFINDER.                  21
as the wife of Arrowhead was called, passively went her way
towards the canoe, too much accustomed to obedience, soli.
tude, 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, in the necessary direction. A few glances of the eye
s ifficed for Arrowhead, but od 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 thorough-bred 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-'t is 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 light and 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. Every
thing belonging to vegetation, had struggled towarcs the
light, and beneath the leafy canopy one walked, as it might
be, through a vast natural vault,. that was upheld by myriads
of rustic columns. These columns, or trees, however, often
served to conceal the adventurer, the hunter. or the foe, and




22-                THE.PATHfU)DER.
as Arrowhead  swiftly approached the spot where his
practised and un.erring 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, salt-water," he said exultingly, pointing at the same
time 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 ii
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 life and 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 fin
gers —" 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 this tree, Magnet, lest the knaves
take it into their heads to fire a broadside, without a parley,
and I will soon learn what colours 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 de
fasted the intention by deranging the instrument.
" Red man, Mohican," said the Tuscarora;; 44 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 pro.
claim ourselves friends."'Good, said the Tuscarora, " red man cool, and know;
oale-face hurried, and fire. Let the squaw go."
"What," said Cap, in astonishment, "send little Magnet




THE  PATHFINDER.                 2$
ahead, as a look-out, while two lubbers, like you and me, lieto, to see what sort of a land-fall 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 sur.
prise 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-ihke 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 colour 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.
Althou-gh 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 that
great natural appetite, hunger, to avert their looks, for an
instant, from the important business in which they were all
engaged.  When Agnes, however, had got withina, hundred
feet of the fire, she trod upon a dried stick, and the trifling
noise that was produced by' her light footstep caused the
Mohican, as Arrowhead had pronounced the Inditn 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 utteWed a few Words to his
companion, and resumed his seat and his meal, as calmly as




24                THE PATJFINDER.
iV 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 colour, though his
dress was so strange a mixture of the habits of th6 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, in obedience to a law of her
habits if not of nature, which rendered her averse to the
appearance of advancing too freely to meet one of the other
sex, under the circumstances in which she was placed.
"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 that 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, he had no reason to blush at the
reports.  The effect on Agnes. was instantaneous.  The
moment she heard the last soubriquet, 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 nore than scent."




THE PATHFINDER.                  25
C Then you are the friend my father promised to send tc
meet us!"
"If you are serjeant 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
ro remembei the Great Spirit; and Arrowhead is' an ambi.
tious 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
serjeant I wid see his child safe to the garrison, though 1
died for it.'Ve 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.
2




THE PATFINDiUR.
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!
WIosON.
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
te 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 langwlage,
and attire, being as strongly indicative of their calling, as the
opinions, speech, and dress of a Turk denote a Mussulmai,
Although the Pathfinder was scarcely in the prime of iife
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 admiratO, 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 that has had
honours as well as troubles in his day.  He has an Indian
name fit for a chief, but as the language is, not alwways 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 io
is wise, and has the cunning that becomes a warrior. Arrtowhead, there, knows what [ mean."
While the Pathfinder was delivering this address, the two
Indians gazed on each other steadily, and the Tuscarora ad.




THJE PATIiFINDIER.              27
vaced 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 haiiing of friendly vessels on the ocean. But, speaking oi
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 gripe; " though you must have
something still to learn, consicering 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
pretensions to understand the compass, I suppose.""The e ason 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
land-fall."
" Ha-you do make use of some, of the terms, I find, and
that with propriety and understanding; 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 that 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 rouni 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 know.
ing 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,




28               71 HE PATHFINDER.
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 cann, while I
join the mess of the Pathfinder and our Indian friends, 1
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 venlson, gave her a draught of pure water from the spring, and as
he sat near and opposite to 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 isnever
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, that, perhaps, Mabel never missed,
had those winning qualities that prove very sufficient as sub.
stitutes. Leaving these two inexperienced and unsophisticated
young people to become acquainted through their feelings,
rather than their expressed thoughts, we will turn to the
group, in which the uncle, with a facility of taking care
of himself that never deserted him, had already become
a principal actor




TED PATIFINDER.                  29
The party had taken their places around a platter of veni
son steaks, which served for the common use, and the dis
course naturally partook of the characters of the differen,
individuals that 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 and discursive, each of the latter being
garrulous and opinionated in his way. But as the dialogue
will serve to 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 savoury 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 border-men 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 aever believed
much in. the learning of them that dwell in towns, for I never yet met with one that had an eve 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 natur', if you wish him to understand
3*




30                THE PATHFINDER.
his own character. Now, there is my brother-in-law, the
serjeant, 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 serjeant, 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 in
clination. It is true, the serjeant 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 an honourable calling, 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
serjeant 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 fou't
side by side, these many years, without either's 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, use 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 favour of
your lakes, up hereaway."
" That towns and settlements lead to sin, I will allow; but
~ 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, how.
*ver, 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,




THE PATHFINDER.                  31
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 there 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 and palate concerning these
facts, as to oblige the serjeant and Magnet, though the first
was my sister's husband, and I love the last like a child."
" You are wrong-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 get to 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 differentlyI 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 that 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. For my part, I am one of them who think that the
same hand which made the sweet water, can make the salt."
" Hold on there, Master Pathfinder," interrupted Cap,- no
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
canvass, than to pray, when the hurricane comes, I know that,re are but helpless mortals at times, and I hope 1 pay reve.
rence where reverence is due. All I mean to say, and that
is rather insinuated than said, is this; which is, as vou all




32 QkTHE PATHFINDER.
know, simply an intimation that, being accustomed to see
water in large bodies salt, I should like to taste it, befbre 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
do 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," he said, " we will nipper
the argument where it is; and, as the serleant has sent you
to give us pilotage to this same lake, 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 concerning 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 that
do not befal 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 gi1.s
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, 1
pride not myself on either. The youth, Jasper, there, who,, discoursing with the serjeant's daughter, is a different
ereatur', for he may be said to breathe the water, as it might'e, like a fish. The Indians and Frenchers of the north




THE PATHFINDER.
shore call him AEau-douce, on account of his gifts in this particular. IHe 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 that I hold to be equal to steering in a dark
night by the edges of the scud."
" It's no great secret-it's no great secret," returned Path.
finder, laughing with great inward glee, though habitual caution prevented the emission of any noise. " Nothing is easier
to us who pass our timle 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 there
are plenty of them, as well as those that are thoroughly dried,
lying scattered about; and wet will bring dark smoke, as I
suppose even you followers of the sea must know. It's no
great secret-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 did'nt! 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
edication, 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
past 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




34                THE PATHFINDER.
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 China-man
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' sea-faring men know little of the red-skins.
Have you ever known any of your China-men 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 China-man, 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 unea.
sily 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 venlsor
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, ago.
nized 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 pri.
vateering 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 On.
tario 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 that 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




THE PATHFINDER.                  85
enemy that l, afraid to cross it, will be certain to come round
it."
"Ah! that comes of your d-d freshwater ponds!'
growled Cap, hemming so loud as to cause him instantly to
repcnt the indiscretion.  "No man, now, ever heard of a
pirate's, or a ship's getting round one end of the Atlantic!"
" Mayhap the ocean has no ends?"
" That it has n't; nor sides, nor bottom.  The nation that
ts 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 is n't so here. I don't wish to flurry the young woman, and therefore I will be no way particular-though she
seems pretty much listening to Eau-douce, as we call himbut without the edication I have received, I should think it,
at this very momenti 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 serjeant 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 carcase 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
cn their trails. The Sarpent has come up one side of the
liver, 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 serjeant 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
f think the lad would have dashed into a Mingo camp, single
aanded, rather than not a-come."
" We thank him —we thank him; and shall think the bet



36                 THE PATHFINDER.
ter of him for his readiness; though I suppose the boy has
run no great risk, after ail."
" 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 jour.
neys, that on an ambushed river is the most risky, in my
judgment, and that risk has Jasper run."
" And why the devil has the serjeant sent for me to trave
a hundred and fifty miles in this outlandish manner! Give
me an offing, and the enemy in sight, and I'11 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
humour. 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
safe, or lose our scalps."
Cap wore a tight solid cue, done up in eel-skin, 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 indifference and indiscretion with which his
brother-in-law, the serjeant, 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?"
I  Anan?"




THE PATHFIN DER.                 37
"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 dowr. stream, and that, to, with a swift current."
" And what the devil is to prevent these minks, of which
you speak, from shooting us as we double a head-land, or are
busy in steering clear of the rocks?"
" The Lord!-He who-has so often helped others, in greater
diffliculties. 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 bat.
tle, 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 tile worse fou'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, 1
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,
arid act at once, as was/ my case, or the Sarpent's spirit
would be hunting in the happy land of his people, at this vely
moment."
" Come, come, Pathfinder, this palaver is worse than being
skinned from stem tostern; we have but a few hours of sun,
and had better be drifting down this said current of vours
4




a8                THE PATHFINDER.
while we may.  Magnet, dear, are you not ieady to get
under way?"
Magnet started, blushed brightly, and made her prepara
tions for an immediate departure.  Not a syllable of the
discourse just related had she heard, for Eau-douce, as young
Jasper was oftener called than any thing else, had been fill.
ing her ears with a description of the yet distant port toss ards
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 interesting 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 entirely, 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, how
ever, 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," he said, "a
smoke at leaving an encampment may do good, instead of
harm. If there are a dozen Mingos within ten miles of us,
some on'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 shal
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 na-.
turally conclude tbat they who began by going up stream, will
end by going up stream   If they know any thing, they no




THE PATHFINDER.                   39
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 any thing about the serjeant's daughter, for the
greatest secrecy has been observed, on her account.": And they will learn nothing, here," returned Pathfinder,
caais:ng 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, lake 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. Harkee, Jasper," continued the scout, laughing
in his noiseless manner; "suppose we try the temper of his
t!ade, 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 acquaiqted. 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 serjeant's daughter will be frightened," he
said.
"Not she, if she has any of the serjeant'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
he canoe goes over, I must go in it."
"Well, have it so, then; shall we smoke the pipe of
agreement on the bargain?"




40                  THE PATHFINDER.
Jasper laughed, nodded his head, by way of consent, and
tden 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 tilled,
Full to the brim our rivers flowed;
The melody of waters filled
The fresh and boundless wood;
And torrents dashed, and rivulets played,
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 gentle 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, or
glances, or pursues its course 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 ha
travelled from Fort Stanwix, the last military station on th
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




THE PATHFINDER.                  41
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 how 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 dowp
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 obstruc
tions, 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
AMabel and her uncle had learned so far to humour its mnovements, 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 breadth 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
he whole fabric, though it was so slight and precarious to
the eye, was probably capable of conveying double the num.
ber of persons that it now contained.
Cap was seated on a low thwart, in the cenltre 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 reelining on some of her
owrn effects, behind her uncle, while the Pathfinder and Eau
iouce stood erect, the one in the bow, and the other in the
stern, each using a paddle, with a long, steady: noiseless
4*                2




42                THE PATHFINDER
sweep. The conversation was carried on in low tones, all
of the party beginning to feel the necessity of prudence, as
they drew nearer to the outskirts of the fort, and had. nc
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, that, in particular spots
almost shut out the light of the heavens. Here and ther
some half-fallen giant of the forest lay nearly across its sur
face, 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
which has been so beautifully described by our own admirable poet, and which we have placed at the head of this chapter, as an epigraph, 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 has been subjected
to the uses and desires of man; luxuriant, wild, full of pro.
mise, 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 civiliza.
tion, or the projects cf the adventurous. 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 that 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 jour.
neyed 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




THE PATHFINDER.                  43
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 serjeant's
daughter don't think me a wretch that takes pleasure in prey.
ing on human natur'?"
As this remark, a sort of half interrogatory, was made
Pathfinder looked behind him; and, though the most partia
friend could scarcely term his sun-burnt 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, and much more sweetly.
" That he would n't, that he would n't; the serjeant is a
man of feeling, and many is the march and the fight that
we have had-stood shoulder to shoulder in, as hie 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 serjeant has the advantage of me
by thirty years; yes, he is thirty years my senior, and as
many my betterl."
" Not in the eyes of the daughter, perhaps, friend Path.
finder," put in Cap, whose spirits began to revive, when he
found the water once more flowing around him. " The thirty
ears that you mention, are not often thought to be an ad.
antage in the eyes of girls of nineteen."
Mabel coloured, and in turning aside her face, to avoid the
looks of those in the bow of the canoe, she e ered the
admiring gaze of the young man in the s rn.  As a last
resource her spirited, but soft blue eyes, so ght refuge in the
water. Just at this moment, a dull heavy sound swept up
the avenue fbrned 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




14                 THE PATHFINDER.
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 mere.
ly this river tumbling over some rocks, half a mile below us.'
"Is there a fall in the stream!" demanded Mabel, a still
brigThter flush glowing in her face.
" Tilhe devil! Master Pathfinder-or you, Mr. Eau-deuce —
(for so Cap began to style Jasper, by way of entering cor
diially into the border usages,) 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 sue.
tion."
"Trust to us —trust to us, friend Cap," answered Path.
finder; " we are but fresh-water sailors, it is true, and I can.
not boast of being much even of that; but we understand
rifts, and rapids, and cataracts; and, in going down these,
we shall do our endeavours not to disgrace our edication."
"In going down!" exclaimed Cap-" the devil, man! you
do not dream of going down a water-fall, 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
nan 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 cur.
rent 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
ll of whom are used to the water, might carry the cano
over in safety, for we often shoot these falls."
"And we counted on you, friend mariner, as a mainstay;"
said Pathfinder, winking at Jasper over his shoulder,'*for
you are accustomed to see waves tumbling about, and with.
out some one to steady the cargo, all the finery of the set
ieant's daughter might be washed into the river, and be lost."
Cap was puzzled.  The idea of going over a water-fall
was perhaps more serious, in his eyes, than it would have
been in those of one totally ignorant of all that pertained to




THE PATHFINDER.                   45
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 In.
dians near?"
"Nay-no Mingo will be near the portage, for that is a
spot too public for their deviltries," 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 serjeant'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," he said, as those who hlad
landed moved away, "that I do not look on this affair as any
thing more than canoeing in the woods. There is no seamanship in tumbling over a water-fall, 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 serjeant's daughter stand on yonder rock, and she will
see the manner in which we ignorant back-woodsmen get
over a difficulty that we can't get under. Now, Eau-douce,
a steady hand and a Irmle eye, for all rests on you, seeing




4is~ j~THE PATHFINDER.
hat awe c an count Master Cap for no mole than a pasl
Se[lige, r.~
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
she 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
c 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 them 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 sunk 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, behino
a screen, but, becoming more and more distinct, louder ane
louder, and before him he saw its line cutting the fores'
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.




THE PATHFINDER.                  4,
"Ay-ay-down it is, sure enough," answered Pathfinder
looking behind him for a single instant, with his silent joyc;us
laugh —" down we go, of' a sartainty! Heave her starn up,
boy; further up with her starn!"
Tile 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 cauldron. 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
in the passage.
"' Fourteen spoonsful, Eau-douce; fourteen fairly measured
spoonsful. 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-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 cue, as if to
ascertain its safety, and then looked back, in order to examine
the dangerehe 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 fai
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 fiag.
ments 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 favoured its descent;
for, borne on the crests of the waves, and directed by a steady
eye and an arm full of muscle, it had passed like a feaiher
Kiln one pile of foam  to another, scarcely permitting its
glossv side to he wetted. There were a few rocks to b:




THE PATHFINDER.
avoided, the proper direction was to be rigidly observai,
and the fierce current did the rest.*
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 favour of fresh water, and inland navigation; and
no sooner had he cleared his throat with the aforesaid hemn,
than he loosened his tongue in the usual strain of superiority.
"I do not gainsay your knowledge of the channel, Master
Eau-deuce, (for such he religiously believed to be Jasper's
soubriquet,) 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, friend mariner,"
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 myvself, unless
by means of Providence, and it needs Jasper's hand and
Jasper's eye, to make sure of a dry passage. Fourteen
spoonsful, after all, are no great matter, though I wish it had
been but ten, seeing that the serjeant's daughter was a looker on."
"And yet you conned the canoe; you told him how to
head, and how to sheer."
"IIuman 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 halve given to the public. An Indian knows how to hold
his tongue; but we white folk fancy we are always wiser than
wir fellows. I'm curing myself fast of the weakness, but it
nfReds time to root up the tree that has been growing more
than thirty years."
"1 think little of this affair, sir; nothing at all, to speak
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'bese same falls in perfect safety.




TIHE PATHFINDER.                 49
my mind freely  It's a mere wash of spray to shooting
London Bridge, which is done every day by hundreds of per.
sons, 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'ern,) 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 serjeant's brother over
Niagara, yet, to show him what may be done on 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 Path.
finder, 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 wit.
nessed the descent of the falls, Kwith a degree of terror that
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 quick and sensitive might lEve had
her feelings awakened by the cool and gallant air with
which Eau-douce had accomplished this clever exploit. MH




60                 THE PATHFINDER.
had stood firmly erect, notwithstanding the plunge' and to
those who were on the shore, it was evident that by a timely
application of his s/1;ll and strength, the canoe had received a
sheer that 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 pictured 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, that might
have been remarked by one accustomed to his ordinary confident, careless manner, had such an observer been present
to note what was passing.
" We know too well a woman's gifts, to think of carrying
the serjeant'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, in these regions, that would
think but little of doing the thing."
" Mabel is faint-hearted, like her mother," returned Cap,
"and you did well, friend, to humour 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 may
juige what a time he had of it!"
" What became of the poor fellow?" asked Cap, scarce
knowing how to take the other's manner, which was so dry,
while i 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.'




THE PATHFINDER.                  5
"He was a poor fellow, as you say; and a plcor fronrier
man, too, though he came out to show his skill among us
ignoranters. What became of him?-Why, he went:own
the falls topsy-turvy like, as would have happened to a court
house or a fbrt."
"If it should jump out of a canoe," interrupted Jasper,
smiling, though he was evidently more disposed than his
fi;end to let the passage of the falls be forgotten.
" The boy is right," rejoined Pathfinder, laughing in
Ml;abel'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 that may seem
praiseworthy and bold; but neither Eau-douce, nor myself,
is of that race. My natur,' though perhaps the Sarpent
would be a better witness, 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 use and much consorting, and -I am sure he is not
boastful or vain-glorious."
Mabel rewarded the scout with a smile, that served to keep
the canoes together for some time longer, for the sight of
youth and beauty was so rare on that remote frontier, tha
even the rebuked and self-mortified feelings of this wander.
e: 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 oest. 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 w', can have little to fear, now! The canoes move
swiftly    I 1 two hours, you have said, will carry us down to
the fort




52                 THE PATHFINDER.
"It shall be a cunning Iroquois who hurts a hair of youi
head, pretty one, for all here are bound to the serjeant, 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, yon.
der, beneath the bushes,-I mean standing on the rock?"
"'T is the Big Serpent, Pathfinder; he is making signs to
us, in a way I don't understand."
"'T is 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
deviltry as becomes our colour, 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,
Framed of wanton yvie flowing fayre,
Through which the fragrant eglantines did spred."
SPENSRF
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 every
thing 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 pre.
sence of the rocks required care; when, 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 recognlsed the form of his




THE PATHFINDER.                  53
red friend, than, with a strong sweep of his paddle, he threw
the head of his own canoe towards the shore, motioning fo.
Jasper to follow.  In a minute both boats were silently drift.
ing 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;
nd then he and Pathfinder had a short but earnest confernrice, in the language of the Delawares.
"The chief is not apt to see enemies in a dead log," ob.
served 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.gain holding the thing he
had found up to the view of his friend.
The bowl of the pipe was of soap-stone, and it had been
carved with great care, and with a very respectable degree
of skill. In its centre was a small Latin cross, made with
an accuracy that permitted no doubt of its meaning.
"That does foretell deviltry and wickedness," said the
Pathfinder, who had all the provincial horror of the holy
ymbol in question, that then pervaded the country, and
which became so incorporated with its prejudices, by con
founding 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'11
warrant ye, the knave prays to the image every time he
wishes to sarcumvent the innocent, and work his fearfill
wickedness. It looks fresh, too, Chingachgook?"
" The tobacco was burning when I found it"
5at




~54               THE PATHFI1 DER.' That is close work, chief- where was the trail?"
The Mohican pointed to a spot not a hundred yards dis,
cant 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 re.
tur.ed 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, that 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 harbour 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 every
thing within the sweep of its hawse?"
" Nayj 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 out-lying Mingos, lying behind logs, and in a forest,
would be powder spent in vain.  AWe have but one course,




THE PATHFINIER.                  55
and that is a very nice one. We are judgematically 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 blood-thirsty 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-top chesnut, 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 tinder-box, 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, who too well understood his duty to de.
lay unnecessarily, 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
Dlace wfiere 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 chesnut, 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
adventurers.
"There goes the smoke!" exclaimed the Pathfinder, as a
current of airwhirled a little column of the vapour 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,
make a quick fire! I hope Eau-douce will have the wit to




f50               THE PATHFINDER.
bethink hiln 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 Mingos didn't
know that they are near soldiers; but soldiers conimollly
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
hem well too; it will all be laid to the stupidity of some
Scotch or Irish blunderer, who is thinking more of his oat.
meal, 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 have got to be
almost as wily as the red-men themselves."
" Not they-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 Mingos 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
of the travellers, than the one they now occupied. 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 dis




THE PATHFINDER.                   5t
aovery 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, for
such in fact they were, were forced into the mud, outside of
the canoes, the depth of the water being very trifling; mnd
in the course of ten minutes a very effectual screen was in.
terposed 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 favoured by the natural formation of the bank, the indentation in the shore, the shallowness of the water, and the,nwaner in which the tangled bushes dipped into the stream.
The Pathfirnder had the address to look for bushes that 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, wouid have
thought that the bushes shot out horizontally from the bank
before they inclined upwards towards the light. In short,
he shelter was so cunningly devised, and so artfully preared, that none but an unusually distrustful eye would have
een 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 Path.
finder, 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, and even the painter who
has been in the garrison, of late, could not tell which belong
to Providence, and which are ours. Hist! —yonder comes
Eau.doulce, wading, like a sensible boy, as he is, to leave his
A,




58                rHE PATHFINDER.
trail, in the water; and we shall soon see whetner our covex
is good for any thing 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
en tie 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 neai the leaves, to find many places to look
through, while one at a little distance lost this advantage; or,
even did his sight happen to fall on some small opening, the
bank and the shadows beyond prevented him from detecting
forms and outlines of sufficient dimensions to expose the fugitives. It was evident to those who watched his motions from
behind their cover, and they were all in the canoes, 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 shoaler 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.  Stil he detected nothing, and was actuall)
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. -1 would wager, with the serjeant's daughter,




THE PATHFINDER.                  59
here, a horn of powder against a wampum-belt for her girdle, that her filther's rijiment should march by this embank
ment of ours, and never find out the fraud! But, if the
Mingos 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
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 serjeant's pretty daughter, here, in our com.
pany, 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 be.
fore 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 serjeant a ser.
vice. Do I not speak your mind, Eau-douce?"
"To do her a service!" said Jasper, with emphasis. 4" No.
hing shall tempt me to desert Mabel Dunham, until she is
afe 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 befal 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;n
that of each, she answered them, though at first her voice
was choked,



60                 THE PATHFINDER.
" I have no right to expose you on my account. My dear
rather will thank you-I thank you-God will reward you
— but let thea'e 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
WMe get to be rough, and sometimes even hard-hearted, in the
w)ods, Mabel; but the sight of one like you brings us back
again to our young feelings, and does us good for the remain.
der of our days. I dare say 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 woods and lakes to
challenge her equals, but I would go into the settlements and
towns."
" We had better leave the canoes," Mabel hurriedly rejoin.
ed; " 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 01
m 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 Mingos'
eyes if we are to tell him where the cover is to be found
through the nose?   No-no-deny your appetites; 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 di(d 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
M-ohican remained stationary as the rock on which he stood,
fully ten minutes; and then it was apparent that something:t interest had occurred within his view, for he drew back
with a hurried manner, looked anxiously and keenly along
ttre margin of the stream, and moved quickly down it, takling
care to lose his trail in the shallow water. He was evidently
in a hurry and concerned, now looking behind him, and then
6




62                 THE PATHFINDER.
casting eager glances towards every spot on the shore, where
he thought a canoe might be concealed.
c" Call him in," whispered Jasper, scarce 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," re.
tarned his companion, " or the Sarpent would begin to creep
The Lord help us, and teach us wisdom! I do believe even
Chinga;hgook, whose sight is as faithful as the hcund'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 —Meng.
wes, or furies-all are pretty much the same.  I call all
rascals, Mingos. Come hither, chief, and let us convarse
rationally."
The two then stepped aside, and conversed earnestly in
the dialect of the Delawares. 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. sonme?listance 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 foot.




THE PATHFINDER.                  63
steps ofl 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 endeavoured 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 came 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 indi.
cations that were to be gathered from their gestures, how
ever, he thought it probable that their enemies might fbllow
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, eager.
ly; "the current is strong, and by using the paddles vigor.
ously we shall soon be beyond the reach of these scoun.
drels!"
" And this poor flower, that first blossomed in the clearings-shall it wither in the forest?" objected his friend, with
a poetry that he had unconsciously imbibed by his long asso.
ciation with the Delawares.
" We must all die first," answered the youth, a generous
colour 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,




64                 rHE PATHFINDER.
I will allow, but an accursed Mingo is more active, at his
mischief; the canoes are swift, but a rifle-bullet is swiller.'
"It is the business of men, engraed as we have been, by
a confiding fhther, 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 Path.
finder 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 com.
rade'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 listener 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.'T was 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 th
lake shore."
For the first time the colour deepened on the cheek of the
Pathfinder, and the solemn dignity that he had assumed,
under a purely natural impulse, disappeared in the expression
of the earnest simplicity, that was inherent in all his feelings.
He met the grasp of his young friend, with a squeeze as cor
dial 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.




THE PATHFINDER.                  65
I"T s well, Jasper,'t is well," he answered, laughing, " I
bear no ill-will, nor shall any one in 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 colour wil
have its way-"
A touch on his shoulder caused the speaker to cease
Mabel was standing erect in the canoe, her light, but swelling
ibrmn bent forward in an attitude of graceful earnestness, he)
finger on her lips, her head averted, the 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
Thle latter bowed his head to a level with a look-out, neal
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.
Ha 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 war-paint.  It wMas apparent that they
were undecided as to the course they ought to pursue, in ordei
6*




66                 THE PATHFINDER.
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.
"De4h is here, and death is there,
Death is busy every where."
SHELLEY.
IT was a breathless moment. The only clue the fugitives
possessed to the intentions of their pursuers, was in their ges.
tures, and the indications that 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 serjeant's daughter in danger.  I
shall hold myself in resarve against accident, lest a fourth
reptyle 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 tile 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




THE PATHFINDER.                  67
to you to run out the canoe, with the serjeant"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 that 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 thev 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 that 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, under.
stood. 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
clenched his teeth in order to suppress the sound of his own
breathing.




68                 THE PATHFINDER.
" 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 that 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 warpaint, 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 ren.
der 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 hirn, 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




THE PATHFINDER.                  69
src:tC'on of tils youth, was an additional motive for not acq.lailtMng his companions with his discovery.  Should he
reatlyv etect anything, his glory would be the greater fol
being unsnared; 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
w-lieh every warrior of the woods is keenly alive, to
ender 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 w;th his hand.
Notwithstanding their critical situation, the whole party
behind the cover had their eyes fastened on the working
countenance ot the young froquois, who was agitated by
conflicting feelr —s.  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 warpath; 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 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 con
cealed 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 Irm 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;




70                THE PATHFINDER.
but the blood-stained waters whirled down the current, carlying with them their quivering burthen.
All this passed in less than a minute; and the events west,
so sudden and unexpected, that men less accustomed tha,
the Pathfinder and his associates to forest warfare, wouldi
have been at a loss how to act.
"There is not a moment to lose," said Jasper, tearino
aside the bushes, as he spoke earnestly, but in a suppressed
voice. 6" 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 him
self 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 it 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 quick.
ly, 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




THE PATHFINDER.                   71
enemy, well knowing that their keen desire to secure a scalp
would control all other feelings.
" Keep well up the current, Jasper," shouted thoe gallant
guide, as he swept the water with long, steady, vigorous
strokes of the paddle —" keep well up the current, and Dull
for the alder bushes opposite. Presarve the serjeant's daughtaer, 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. 1
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 riflebullet 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 serjeant'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
nmianfully; for he was on his proper element, loved his niece
sincerely, had a proper regard for his own person, and was
not unused to fiir, though his experience certainly lay in a
very different species of warfare.  A few strokes of the pad.
dies 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'hat jllst as lie




72                 THE PATHFINDER.
drifted nearest to the enemy, the party onr 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 Pathfinde
did him good service. He knew that his safety dependeu
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'continoe 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, pre.
sented 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
that has been already related. They were no less than tell in
number, and understanding all the advantages of their bloody
occupation, they had -posted themselves at a spot where the
swater dashed among rocks and over shallows, in a way to
form a rapid, which, in the language of the country, is call.
ed a rift.  The Pathfinder saw that if helntered this rift, he
"hould 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 captlvlty would he the probable result of the attempt. All his
efforts, therefore, were turned towards 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 PATHFINDER.                   73
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 endeavouring 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 In.
dian, 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 that 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,n 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?"
ly t}




7A4               THE PATHFINDER.
"Be of good heart-friends are at hand, and not a single
Mmgo shall cross without suffering for his boldness. HIad
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 poach.  I have not
drawn a trigger this day, Eau-douce, and shouldn't relish the
idea of parting with those reptyles, 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 serjeant'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, nG
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 men, Pathfinder, would you expose Mabel
to the rifles of the Iroquois?"
"The serjeant'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.nwreasonable to suppose that one like the serjeant's daugh
ter 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,




THE } ATHFINDER.                  75
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?"
c" Can an eagle fly, Jasper?" returned the other, laughi'ng,
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 Ghances. 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
currents and throw yourself into it as it goes off," said Jjsuer, 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 Path.
fnder, proudly.  " I am not a red-skin born, and it is more




76                THE PATHFINDER.
a white man's gifts to fight openly, than to lie in ambushrnent."
"And Mabel?'
" True, boy, true-the serjeant'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 dare
cross the Oswego in the teeth of Killdeer! You are handier
with the oar, and the paddle, and the sail, than withi the rifle,
perhaps; but you have a stout heart, and a steady hald, and
them are things that count, in a fight."
" Mabel will find me between her and her enemies," said
Jasper, calmly.
"' Yes, yes, the serjeant'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 strean as to have gof




THE PATHFINDER.                  77
into the comparatively still water above ihe rift. It was ap.
parent, at a glance, that the savage whu 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,
anl if Master Cap, yonder, knows how to use the pop-gun3
he carries in his belt, we may even let them land, and then
we shall recover the canoe."
"But Mabel?-"
"No fear for the serjeant's daughter. She is safe, in the
hollow stump you say, with the opening judgematically 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 tle
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 breas,
of a Delaware. I am sorry that he interfered, but he could
not have known our condition-he could not have known out
condition."
The canoe 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
6tbout them, but could offer no resistance to the power of
7,/




?378               THE PATHFINDER.
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 least 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 themn,
for striking a rock, the light craft 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; butI
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 thai fell by my hand wantonly. By living much
alone with God in the wilderness, a man gets to feel the jus.
ti e 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 knov. that he is in thei,




THE PATHFINDER.                   79
neighbourhood. 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 con.
cealed 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 drift wood, when the life that was breathed
into its nostrils has 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 adrnirable 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




80                THE PATHFINDER.
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 breech of his rifle, he
carefully commenced reloading it. "Chingachgook and I
have consorted together since we were boys, and have fou't
in company, on thd 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 Serpent 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 hail-stone. 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 deviltry, boy; but Christian honesty shali
sarcumvent their arts."
As the man slowly approached, the observer~ began to
doubt the accuracy of their first impressions, and it was oniy
when two-thirds of the stream was 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 inta




THE PATHFINDER.                   S1
his eyes, with pure delight at the success of the artifice.
E-e has tied bushes to his head, so as to hide it, put the
horn on top, lahed the rifle to that bit of log he is pushing
before him, and has come over to join his friends. Ahs! 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 canr
ee no feature that I remember."
"Feature! Who looks for features in an Indian?-Nono-boy;'t is the paint that speaks,-and none but a Delaware would wear that paint. Them are his colours, Jasper,
just as your craft on the lake wears St. George's Cross, and
the Frenchers set their table-cloths 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 finger 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
n 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,
atnd inade the usual exclamation"HIlugh!"




682                THE PATHFINDER.
CHAPTEPR VI.
"These, as they change, Almighty Father, these
Are but the varied God."
THOMSON
As the chief landed he was met by the Pathfinder, wh
addressed him in the language of the warrior's people.
" Was it well done, Chingachgook," he said, 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 shoul-:]ers 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 ob.
sarved red-skin natur', but prudence as much becomes a
warrior as valour; 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.
HIarkee, Jasper," leading the other a little aside, just as they
heard the Indian's plunge into the water-" harkee, 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




THE PATHFINDER.                  83
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 honour, 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."
"'T is his gift, and let him enjoy it. We are white men,
and cannot mangle a dead enemy, but it is honour 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 concerning their
honour, 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
honour 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. If Indians are of no use,
ndians would not have been created, and I do supposo, could
one dive to the bottom of things, it would be found that even:he Mingo tribes were produced for some rational and proper
uurpose, though I confess it surpasses my means to say what
it is."
"Tlhe 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
nonour in it, according to the Sarpent's notions of warfare,
than a field covered with slain, that kept the hair on theiD




S4                THE PATHFINDER.
heads.  Now, there was the fine young captain of the 60th
that threw away his life, in trying to bring off a three-poundei
from amnong the Frenchers, in the last skrimmage we had;
he thought he was sarving honour; and I have known a
young ensign wrap himself up in his colours, 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 haulin
dowvn an ensign."
"And these are Chingachgook's colours-he will keep
hem to show his children's children-" here the Pathfinder
interrupted himself, shook his head in melancholy, and slowly
added- " Ahs me! no shoot of the old Mohican stem remains!
He has no children to delight with his trophies; no tribe to
honour 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; yes, there is something decent in that."
Here a great outcry from among the Iroquois, was suc-:eeded by the quick reports of their rifles, and so eager did.he enemy become, in the desire to drive the Delaware back
from his victim, that a dozen rushed into the river, several oi
whom even advanced near a hundred feet into the foaming
current, as if they actually meditated a serious sortie. But
Chingachgook continued as unmoved, as he remained unhurt
l.)y the missiles, accomplishing his task with the dexterity ol
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 ta
single instant, actually meditated flight.
- This surpasses all I have heard from the wretches,"
Jasper exclaimed, stopping his ears, equally in horror anJ
disgust.
"T is their music, boy; their drum and fife; their trum.
pets 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 got
to be like the whistle of the whip-poor-will, or the song of the




THE PATHFINDER.                  t35
eat bird In my car 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; solunds
and outcries beina more intended to alarm women and clildren, 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 favourable circumstance, though it was not without its
dangers, also, as the very obscurity which would thvour theii
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,ed 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
I;




86                 THE PATHFINDER.
aone under favour of this advantage.  What say you, Mlaster
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."
" And my near relationship to Mabel, Pathfinder, ought to
count for something —"
" I don't know that-I don't know that. Regard is regard,
and liking, liking, whether it be a gift of natur', or come from
one's own judgment and inclinations. I will say nothing for
the Sarpent, who is past placing his mind on the women, bu
as for Jasper and myself, we are as ready to stand between
the serjeant's daughter and the Mingos as her own brave father
himself, could be. Do I say more than the truth, lad?"
" Mabel may count on me to the last drop of my blood,"
said Jasper, speaking low, but speaking with intense feeling.
" Well, well," rejoined the uncle, 1" we will not discuss
this matter, as all seem willing to serve the girl, and deeds
are better than words. 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 look-outs can't see us, and run for the haven, as
wind and tide will tallow."
" 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
IMabel 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. Ahs 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?"




THE PATHFINDER.                   87
GC Go on," said Jasper; " Master Cap thinks he is on th6
ocean-water leaves no trail-"
"It leaves none, Eau-douce, hereaway, thoL gh 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 serjeant's daughter will be favoured 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 day-light, 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, considering the serjeant's
daughter, and her gifts, 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," cona
tinued the guide, into whose character there entered no ingredient that 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,
0tor Indian cunning could devise so many expedients for pass
Ing so narrow  a stream, that the Pathfinder was getting
impatient to quit the spot.  While Jasper and his com.
panion entered the river, armed with nothing but their knives
and the Delaware's tomahawk, observing the greatest caution




88                 THE PATHFINDER
not to betray their movements, the guide brought Mabel from
her place of concealment, and bidding her and Cap proceed
alQ.g 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 result
of the bold attempt of their comrades.
It will be understood that the two adventurers were com.
pelled to swim across a deep and rapid channel. ere 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 densei
than common, the outlines against the clouds being barely
distinguishable by the ragged tops of the trees. Once oi
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 near a quarter of an hour
and at the end of that period, which began to appear interminable to the young man, they found themselves apparentl.




THE'PATHFINDER.                  59
no nearer the object of their search than they had been at its
commencement. Just as thd 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 er
rand as he was himself.
" Mingo!" he uttered in Jasper's ear-" the Serpent wi
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,
ne 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 them.
selves. 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 weie
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
rnportant 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
8*                  6




90'*THE PATHFINDER
Sf course, being at the upper end of tile 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 circum.
stance that their own appearance had occasioned no surprise
In the individual they had met, both felt the necessity of ex.
treme 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 any thing occur to compel the Delaware and himself
to abandon their prize.
In the mean time, the Iroquois, who led the way, proceed.
ed 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 neighbour, 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 regret.
ted this indecision, for the three who clung to the canoe sud
denly ibund 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 satis.
faction, 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 ad(dress 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 conl




THE PATHFINDER.                  91
verse; 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 mander, the body of friends and foes united reach.
ed 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 tomerit, 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
favoured 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 tihe
chances of discovery, and waited with the indomitable pa.
tience 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 bcw of the
light craft, Chingachgook burying himself so deep in the
river, as to be passed by the others without detection.  "I he
splashing in the water, the tossing arms and the calls of one
lo another, soon announced that the four who had last joined
the party, were already swimming. As-soon as this fact was




go2                THE PATHFINDER.
certain, the Delaware rose, resumed his former station, and
began to think the moment fobr 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 trdined and expe.
rienced to risk anything unnecessarily. He suffered the In.
dian 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 further 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 ene.
mies. 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 ot
tlie darkness of that gloomy night, and floating in an element
so dangerous to man, when engaged in deadly strife, they
appeared to forget every thing 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 ten-fold 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




THE PATHFINDER,                   93
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 death-like 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?"
" Thl 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 gene.
rous regret, as the idea that he might have averted the
calamity presented itself to his mind, had he not deserted his
comrade.
"We call do the chief no good, lad, and must quit this
spot as fast as possible."




94                 THE PATHFINDER.
" 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. c" Your
true seaman cannot well desert a messmate; and I am glad
to find that'motives so correct exist among those fresh-water
people."
c" Tut - tut -" returned the impatient guide, forcing the
canoe into the stream as he spoke, " ye know nothing, and
_ye*-fiar nothing.  If ye value your lives, think of reaching
the garrison, and leave -the Delaware in the hands of Provi-.dmsap.- Ahs 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 cherished
So faithfully a waking dream?
An image that hath perished?
O 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.
Tn:E scene was not without its sublimity, and the ardent.,
generous-rminded 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
w.oods rendered the shores 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




THE PATHFINDER.                   95
every unusual sound that arose from the forest. kept.astalig
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 accessaries added to the impressive grandeur of
h1er situation, and contribited to render the moment much
tile most exciting that had ever occurred in the briefexisteonce 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 tear, 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
m 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 firsit
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;tnd weak-minded as you may think, for though only a giri
irom the towns, and like most of that class, a ilttle disposed t.:
see danger where there is none, I promise you, Jasper, no
foolish fears of mine shall stand in the way of yc;i_ doirng
your duty."
"The serjeant's daughter is right, and she is worthy of
being honest Thomas Dunham's child," put In the Pathfinder.
"Ahs me! pretty one, many is the time that your thther anrl
i have scouted and marched together on the flanks and rear
Df the enemy, ip nights darker than this, and that ton, whc-;




96                THE PATHFINDER
we did not know but the next moment would lead us into a
bloody ambushment.  I was at his side when he got l.hi
wound in his shoulder, and the honest fellow will tell you
when you meet, the manner in which we contrived to cross
the river that 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
creatur's! ~ I have seen some of you before, and have heard
of others! The serjeant, 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 i.e tells rnie. The honest serjeant 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?
Hie 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 preys gets to lose some of the feeling of kind,
in the end."
"From  the specimen I have seen," observed Mabel, " I
should say that they who live much in the forest, forget to
learn many of the deceits and vices of the towns."
i' It is not easy, Mabel, 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 causes



THE PATHFIN DER.                  97
and so I have endeavoured to worship garrison-fashion but
never could raise within me the solemn Ceelings and true
affection that I feel when alone with God in the forest. There
I seemn 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 hither 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 sea-faring 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! Ask your sea-faring man what
his real, private opinion is of your landsmen, parsons and all,
and you will hear the other side of the questimi. I know no
class of men whl have been so belied as sea-faring men, in
this particular; and it is all because they do not stay at home
to defend themselves, and pay the clergy. They haven't as
much doctrine, perhaps, as some ashore, but as 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 dare say some of it may be true. I want
no thunder and lightning to remind m{e 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
9




98                THE PATHFINDER.
in the song of a bird, as much in my ears at least, a.s it is
ever heard in uproar and gales. How is it with you, Eaudouce; 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 as often,
or as 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-watei
lakes."
" And why shouldn't they! I dare say they do the savages
no harm. They may not civilize them, but they will not
make them greater barbarians than they are. Ay-ayEau-deuce, that must mean the white brandy, which is no
great matter after all, and may well enbgh be called the
deuce, for deuced stuff it is!"
" The signification of Eau-douce is sweet-water, or water
that can be drunk, and it is the manner in which the French
express fresh-water," rejoined Jasper, a little nettled at the
distinction made by Cap, although the latter was the uncle of
Mabel.
" And how the devil do they make water out of Eau-indeuce, when it means brandy in Eau-de-vie? This may be
the French used hereaway, but it is not that they use in Burdux
and other French ports; 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




THE PATHFINDER.                  9'S
to your situation, and cannot be helped. II you wilt return
with me, and make a v'y'ge or two, on the Atlantic, it wilB
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 )ld 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 Larn
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 sound when he is on the watch as if I was up and
stirring myself; ay, and for that matter, sounder too. The
serjeant'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 movement unnecessary to conceal her face. But
Jasper filt that there was a necessity for his saying something; the pride of youth and manhood revolting at the idea
-' 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 head-land to head-land, 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 com.
pelled 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 —"




o00               THE PATHFINDER.
"I have theard of' such things, but conless I never saw
one."
"' Oh! deuce, with a vengeance. A trader, and no deep
sea! Why, boy, you cannot pretend to be any thing 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 TPathfinder, 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 dare say, 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 mabch by bones
bleaching in the rain, and have found their trail by graves,
years after they and their pride had vanished together. Gene.
rals 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"




THE PATHFINDER.                 101' 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
he things among which he dwells. For this I am not ac.
countable, 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. Nono-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 sea-faring man, which is a point 1
hardly think it worth while to dispute with him."
" My father has been taught to believe that it is honourable
to carry arms," said Mabel, " for his father was a soldier
before him."
" Yes, yes" —resumed the guide —-" most of the serjeant'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
refer a king's piece to a regular double-sighted, long-barreled
ifle! Such conceits will come over men, from long habit.
and prejudice is perhaps the commonest failing of human
natur'."
" Ashore, I grant you," said Cap.  "I never return from
a v'y'ge, bu: I make the very same remark.  Now, the last
time I came in, I found scarcely a man in all York, whi:
would think of matters and things in general as I thought
about them myself. Every mani I met appeared to have
bowsed all his idees up into the wind's eye, and when he did
fall off a little from Iris one-sided notions, it was commonly,).




102                THE PATHFINDER.
to ware short round on his heel, and to lay up as close as
ever on the bther tack."
"Do you understand this, Jasper?" —the smiling Mabel
half-whispered to the young man, who still kept his own
canoe so near, as to be close at her side.
s" There is not so much difference between salt and fresh
water, that we who pass our time on them cannot comprehend each other. It is no great merit, Mabel, to understandthe language of our trade."
"Even religion," continued Cap, " isn't moored in exactly
the same place it was in my young days. They veer and
haul upon it ashore, as they do on all other things, and It is
no wonder if, now and then, they get jammed. Every thing
seems to change but the compass, and even that has its variations."
" WVell," returned the Pathfinder, "I thought Christianity
and the compass both pretty stationary."
" So they are, afloat, bating the variations. Religion at
sea, is just the same thing to-day that it was when I first put
my hand into the tar-bucket. No one will dispute it who has
the fear of God before his eyes. I can see no difference between the state of religion on board ship now, and what it
was when I was a younker. But it is not so ashore, by any
means.  Take my word for it, Master Pathfinder, it is a dif.
ficult thing to find a man-I mean a landsman-who views
these matters to-day, exactly as he looked at them forty years
ago."
"And yet God is unchanged —his works are unchanged
-his holy word is unchanged, and all that ought to bless
and honour his name, should be unchanged too!":" Not ashore. That is the worst of the land; it is all the
while in motion, I tell you, though it looks so solid. If you
plant a tree, and leave it, on your return from a three years'
v'y'ge you dont find it, at all, the sort of thing you left it.
The towns grow, and new streets spring up; the wharves are
altered; and the whole face of the earth undergoes change.'Now a ship comes back from an India v'y'ge just the thing
she sailed, bating the want of paint, wear and tear, and the
accidents of the sea."
"-That is too true, Master Cap, and more's the pity. Ahs
me! —the things they call improvements and betterments, are




THE PATHFINDER                  103
undermining and defacing the land! The glorious works of
Grod are daily cut down and destroyed, and the hand of man
seems to be upraised in contempt of his mighty will. They
tell me there are fearful signs of what we may all come to,
to be met with, west and south of the great lakes, though I
have never yet visited that region."
"What do you mean, Pathfinder?" modestly enquired
Jasper.
"I mean the spots marked by the vengeance of heaven,
or which, perhaps, have been raised up as solemn warnings
to the thoughtless and wasteful, hereaways.  They call them
prairies, and I have heard as honest Delawares as I ever
knew, declare that the finger of God has been laid so heavily
on them, that they are totally without trees.  This is an
awful visitation to befall innocent earth, and can only mean
to show to what frightful consequences a heedless desire to
destroy may lead."
"And yet I have seen settlers who have much fancied
these open spots, because they saved them the toil of clearing.
You relish your bread, Pathfinder, and yet wheat will not
ripen in the shade."
" But honesty will, and simple wishes, and a love of God,
Jasper. Even Master Cap will tell you a treeless plain must
resemble a desert island."
1" Why that as it may be," put in Cap.  "Desert islands,
too, have their uses, for they serve to correct the reckonings
by. If my taste is consulted, I shall never quarrel with a
plain for wanting trees. As nature has given a man eyes to
look about with, and a sun to shine, were it not for shipbuilding, and now and then a house, I can see no great us'
in a tree; especially one that dont bear monkeys or fruit."
To this remark the guide made no answer, beyond a low
sound, intended to enjoin silence on his companions. 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




1.04              THE PATrIFINDER.
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
tinm they left the shore, and he and the Pathfinder had agreed
on the expediency of suffering the canoes to float of them.
selves, 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 boundles.s
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 cornpanions, however, to cease talking, in the manner just mentioned,
his vigilant ear had caught the peculiar sound that 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 Path.
finder 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 in to 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




THE PATHFINDER                   105
four voice, which is soft and pleasing, after 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 serjeant, 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 Path.
finder so noiselessly, tht it had been swallowed up in the
gloom before Mabel allowed herself to believe the young
man would really venture alone, on a service that struck her
imagination as singularly dangerous.  During this time, the
party continued to float with the current, no one speaking.
alnd it might almost be said, no one breathilng, so strong was
*  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 were 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 recognised 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
~17




106               THE PATHFINDER.
near the eyes of the Pathfinder and Mabel, they both recog,
nised 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 Mohi.
cans! 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 squlvs! —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 J will make our friends as knowing as
oulrselves."
The Delaware now related in a low earnest manner, the
substance of all his discoveries since he was last seen strurggling with his foe, in the river. Of the fate of his antago.
nist 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 east.
ern shore, landed with caution, and wound his way in
amongst the Iroquois, concealed by the darkness, undetected,
tand, in the main, even unsuspected. Once, indeed, he had
b)een questioned, but answering that he was Arrowhead, no
flrther 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.




THE PATHFINDER.                 10/
Pathfinder communicated no more of this i,. telligeLce to
his companions than he thought might relieve their appre.
hensions, 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 or
doubt," he continued, "and there it will be our fate to pass
them, or to fall into their hands. The distance to the garri.
son will then be so short, that I have been thinking of the
plan of landidg 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 serjeant'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 serjeant'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 lie values him; but I confess I should
not like to quit She canoe, with the certainty we have of there
being enemies like those we have seen, in the forest. But my
mncle can decide for me, in this matter."
" I have no liking for the woods," said Cap, " while one
ias a clear drift like this on the river. Besides, Master




108              THE PATHFINDER.
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 Nmerican forest?  A catamount is a skearv
animal, I will allow, but then it is nothing in the hands of' a
practised hunter. Talk of the Mingos, and their deviltries,
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 every thing, and it makes a man bold
when he might otherwise be bashfull. I have known seamen
in the low latitudes, swim for hours at a time, among sharks
fitteen or twenty feet long, and think no more of what they
were doing, than a countryman thinks of whom he is amongst,
when lie comes out of a church-door of a Sunday afternoon.'
" This is extraordinary!" exclaimed Jasper, who, in good
sooth, 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 tnat
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 serjeant: daughter will be safer in your can(  than in this;
and, tlhough 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."




THE PATHFINDER.                 109
"  do so consider'it," returned the youth, not losing a mo.
ment 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, tile canoes sepa
rated a short distance, and the paddles were used, though
with great care to avoid making any noise. The conversa.
tion gradually ceased, and as the dreaded rift was approachi
ed, all become impressed with the gravity of the moment.
That their enemies would endeavour 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 pro.
posal 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, every thing depended on the skill of those
who guided the canoes; ibr 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.
As 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 that scarcely permitted a view of the outlines of'
the wooded shore, and of' the gloomy vault above his head.
lie retained a vivid impression of the Falls, and his imagina.
tion 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
10




110               THE PATHFINDER.
and rocks, while the latter really deserved the name it bore
as has been already shown.
Mabel certainly felt distrust and apprehension; but hei
entire situation was so novel, and her reliance on her guide
so great, that she retained a self-command that might not
have existed had she clearer perceptions of the truth, or been
better acquainted with the helplessness of men, when placed
mn opposition to the power and majesty of nature.
(' That is the "spot you have mentioned?" she said to Jasper, when the roar of the rift first came fresh and distinct
on her ear.
"' 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 relianc3 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 no.
thing."
At the next moment, the swift current had sucked them
into the rift, and for the 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 gov.
erned its movements. Once, and once only, did Jasper seem;o lose command of his frail bark, during which brief space
it fhirly 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 fce  a draught.
"All is over, Mab l,"'the young man cried, cheerfully,




THE PATHFINDER                    1I
The danger is past, and you may now, indeed, hope to
rleet 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...
bl:t what has become of the other canoe?"
5" 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 cf which
the canoe glided, and then it shot up noiselessly upon a gra.
velly beach. The transition that followed was so hurtied
ant great, that Mabel scarce knew what passed. In the
course af a few minutes, however, sentinels had been passed,
a gate was opened, and the agitated girl found herself in the
urms of a parent who was almost a stranger to her.




112                THE PATHFINDER.
CHAPTER VIII
U 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."
QUEEN8' WAKRE.
THi  rest that succeeds fatigue, and which attends a newly awakened sense of securrty, is generally sweet and deep.
Such was the fact with Mabel, who did not rise from  her
humble pallet, such a bed as a serjeant'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. Serjeant 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, ere his child left her
room, and came into the fiesh air, equally bewildered, de.
lighted, 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 that had been originally
Scotch, but into which many Americans had been received,
since its arrival in this country,-an innovation that had led
the way to Mabel's father filling the humble, but responsible,
situation of the oldest serjeant. 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 trans.
porting 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 bar




THE PATHFINDER.                  113
racks 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
mioht be wanted, and one or two heavy iron guns looked out
from the summits of the advanced angles, as so many ad
monitions 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, that lay invitingly before her, with a
promise of..giving a coup d'omil 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 civil.
ization ceased. All beyond was forest; that dense, intermi.
nable forest that Mabel could now picture to herself, througl
her recollections, with its hidden, glassvy lakes, its dark, roll.
lng streams. and its world of nature!
Turning from this view, our heroine felt her cheek fanned
y 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 drunk in its beauties. To the north,
and east, and west, in every direction, in short, over one en.
tire half of the novel panorama, lay a field of rolling waters.
The element was neither of that glassy green, which distin
guishes the American waters in general, nor yet of the deep.
blue of the ocean; the colour being of a slightly amber hue!
that 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
10*




114                THE PATHFINDER.
bays, and low head-lands or points; still much of the shore
was rocky, and into its caverns the sluggish waters occasionally rolled, producing.~a hollow sound, that 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 boundles:3 expanse. It was a scene, on one side, of
apparently endless forests, while a waste of seemingly inter.
minable water spread itself on the other.  Nature had appeared to delight 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, Malbel
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
coarser and less refined habits and manners of one in hei
original position, without having quite reached a point that
disqualified her for the situation in life that the accidents of;irtlh and fortune would probably compel her to fill. All
else that was distinctive and peculiar in her, belonged to natural character.




THE PATHFINDER.                   115
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 vullar
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 that
ever pervades broad views of natural objects which are yet
undisturbed by the labours and struggles of man.
" How beautiful!" she exclaimed, unconscious of speaking
as she stood on the solitary bastion, facin(r 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 lone' 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," he said, " 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.  WVell, 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 lbr the Pathfinder to appear in, to
compliment a silly girl."
"' Not silly, Mabel; no, not in the least silly. The serjeant's daughter would do discredit to her worthy father,
were she to do, or say, any thing that, in'common honesty
could be called silly."
"Then she must take care and not put too much faith
treacherous, flattering words. But, Pathfinder, I rejoice to
see you among us again; for, though Jasper did not seem to
teel much uneasiness, I was afraid some accident might have
mhannened fo you and your friend, on that frightfuil rift."
"The lad kows us both, and was sartain that we should
not drown, which is scarcely one of my gifts. It would have.e.en hard swimming, of a sarta inty, with a loncg-barrelled
rifle in the hand; and what between the game, and the sa



116               THE PATHFINDER.
vages, 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 Qur arms in our hands  We
had to take our time for it, on account of the Iroquois, 1 will
ownl; but, as soon as the skulking vagabonds saw the lights
that the serjeant 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 water-side, 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 serjeant knows what the woods be,
and what men —true red-men be, too. There is little need
to tell him any thing about it. Well, now you have met
your father, do you find the honest old soldier the sort of
person you expected to find?"
"' _dear t                             me as a soldier
a father should receive a child.  Have you known  im
bn~g,  thafinder?"
"That is as people count time. I was just twelve when the
seijeant took me on my first scouting, and that is now more
than twenty years ago. We had a tramping time of it, ind
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 ser eant got a bad hurt, and would have lost his




THE PATHFINDER.                  117
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 serjeant carries about with him, this blessedl day."
"I You saved my father's life, Pathfinder!" exclaimed Ma
bel, unconsciously, though warmly, taking one of his hard
sinewy hands into both her own.  "God bless you for this.
too, among yourdother good acts."
"' Nay, I did not say that much, though I believe 1 did
save his scalp.  A man might live without a scalp, and so 1
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 an 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 fore-ground of the remarkable picture she had
been studying with so much pleasure. The Osweoo threw
its dark waters into the lake, between bankof some hei
triat on Its astern side, being bolder and projectingfrther
north than that on its western.  The fort       e latter
and immediately beneath _ it wre   W h~t  f logs,. which,
as they could not interfere with the defence of the place, had
been erected along the strand for the puirpose 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.  There were two low, curved
gravelly points, that had been formed with surprising reguiarity by the counteracting forces of the northerly winds and
the swift current, and which, inclining from the storms of
the lake, formed two coves within the river. Tlat 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. _ t, as a rthe   narr.o  strand thatlay between
the low height of the fort and the water of this cove, that the
rude buildings, just mentioned, had been erectd.
Several'' stifls, batteaux and canoes were hauled up on the




118                THE PATHFINDER.
shore, and In the cove itself lay the little craft,'rom 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 quite 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!"
"c Of what use would valour 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 humour, 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 1 see the reason of
the thing-I see its retason, though Jasper does not."




THE PATHFINDER.                 1 
Ahl! here is my uncle, none the worse for his swim,;oming 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 bas.
tion, 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 gratdually 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 any thing 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 linut water,'br miles on miles —far as the eye can see."
" And isn't there water-water-water-nothing but water




120                THE PATHF'INDER.
for mi.es 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 ar'n't there trees in
thousands, and ar'n'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 cani
see across a river."
"There you are out, Magnet. Ar'n't the Amazon, and
Oronoco, and La Plata rivers, and can you see across them?
Harkee, 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."
"6 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 any thing 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
o 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 light-houses-ay-ay-light-houses, 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 121
hadn't more or less light-houses on it, whereas, hereaway,
there is not even a beacon."
"There is what is better —there's 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 dare say, 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?"
1 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 dare say?"
" 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
ainong you?"
" I know nothing of your v'y'ges, Master Cap, though I
suppose them to have been many; but, as for what belongs
to natur' in the woods, what IUhave 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."
11          R




t22               THB PATHFINDER.
And yet, Pathfinder," said Mabel: looking so pretty and
sweet even while she played with the guide's infimrity, 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 will.
ing 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 them."
"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 mustmust be true," said the guide, quietly.'  ow long are their flights?"
"Not quite as hfar 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 favour 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 take, perhaps, but it's
no great affhir. 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?"




THE PATHFINDER.                 1 23' Sure enough-I must remember this is not the ocean,
hough it does look so much like it."
"Ah! uncle, then Ontario does look like the ocean, aftex
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 serjeant 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 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 serjeant Dunham that commanded
respect. Of a tall imposing figure, grave and saturnine dis.
position, 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 serjeant Dunham received more,
true-respect from Duncan of Lundie, the Scotch laird who
commanded the post, than most of the subalterns; for expe



124               THE PAThIFINDER.
rience and tried services were of quite as much value in the
eyes of the veteran major, as birth and money. While the
serjeant 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
coloured his whole deportment, that few were altogether Firee
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, tkit 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 serjeant at all as an equal, or even
with the cordial famil;arity of a friend.." Good morrow, b-other Cap," said the serjeant, 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 in the girl, to her we have so long lost?"
"Mabel is the image of her mother, serjeant, 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,




tHE PATHFINDER.                  125
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,
serjeant, 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, serjeant; I forgot nothing, but it did not seem
o 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 serjeant, 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 retief 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 ser.
vice, 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;
or 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 settlements, 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
hie trail of the Mingos, and you not at their head!"
" To be honest with you, serjeant," returned the guide.
not without a little awkwardness of manner, and a perceptible
11 *




126               THE PATHFINDER.
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 sopl
diers 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 good will. Besides, the Sarpent
is out with them,'and if the miscreants are to be found at all,
you may trust to his inmlty and sight: the first being strong.
er, 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
honour, this time, if honour there is to be, to the young en.
sign that commands, who, if he don't lse 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 serjeant,
kindly. " Mabel will think none the worse of you, for preferring her comnpany to the trail of the savages; and, I dare
say, will be happy to give you a part of her breakfast, if you
are inclined to eat. You must not think, girl, hoNter, 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, serjeant, 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, colouring with the
sincere earnestness with which she endeavoured 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




THE PATHFiNDER.                 127
I wvill not iake advantage of your ignorance neither, girl, and
therefore shall say I do not think the Mingos would have hurt
a hair (f your head, had they succeeded by their deviltries
and contrivances, in getting you into their hands. My scalp.
and Jasper's, and Master Cap's, there, and the Sarpentis, too,
would sartainly have been smoked; but as for the serjeant'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 any thing 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, serjeant," 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 fron.
tier."




128                THE PATHFINDIER
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 curious court?
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam."
As You LIKEc IT
SERJEANT 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 oui 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 vasl 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




THE PATHFINDER.                  129
lakes. a variely 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 some.
tines 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 desjit 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 Serjeant 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
odours, and several dishes of cold meats, all of which were
composed of game, had been set before the guests, in honour
of the newly-arrived visiters, and in vindication of the old
soldier's hospitality.
"You do not seem to be on short allowance, in this quar.
ter of the world, serjeant," 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 amono
two or three hundred of the fellows, that we have in this gci-l
rison, there are not half a dozen who will not swear *,hat the




130               THE PATHFINDER.
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 serjeant.
~" Even the Major himself, old Duncan of Lundie, will sometimes swear an oat-meal 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 differentl, and had it
pleased God to spare her, would have been sitting, at this
moment, on the very camp-stool that her daughter so well
becomes."
" I hope, serjeant, 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 chil d-were
respectably married."
" Father!"
"'T is not their gifts, serjeant, 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."




THE PATHFINDER.                  131
"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 always in his 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?"
"4 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
every thing! If you had had the skinning of that pig, Mas.
ter Cap, it would have left you sore hands.  The creatur' is
a hedge-horg!"
" 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. It
seemed no more than reason That a fresh-water hog should
not be altogether so good as a salt-water hog. I suppose,
serjeant, by this time, it is all the same to you?"
"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 satis.
fied with Jasper and the Pathfinder, as the Pathfinder and
Jasper are satisfied with her, serjeant, we shall be friends for
the remainder of our days."
As the guide spoke, he turned his eyes towards the blush.
ing g;rl, with a sort of innocent desire to know her opinion,
and then, with an inborn delicacy that proved he was far su.
perior to the vulgar desire to invade the sanctity of feminine
feeling, he looked at his plate, and!geemed to regret his own
boldness.
i" Well, well, we must remember that women are not men,
my friend," resumed the serjeant, 1" and make proper allow.
ances for nature and education. A recruit is not a veteran.
Any man knows that it takes longer to make a good soldier,




32                 THIE PATHFINDER.
than it takes to make any thing else; and it ought to require
unusual time to make a good soldier's daughter."
"This is new doctrine, serjeant," 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 sea-faring men have of themselves," returned the bro
thor-in-law, with a smile as bland as comported with his
saturnine features; " for I was many years one of the garrison in a sea-port. You and I have conversed on the subject before, and I'm afraid ee shall never agree. But if
you wish to know what the difference is, between a real sol.
dier, 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, serjeant, there is very little differencenot more than you'll find between a brig and a snow. To
me they seem alike; all scarlet, and feathers, and powder,
and pipe-clay."
" So much, sir, for the judgment of a sailor," returned the
serjeant 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 obsti.
nate predilection of each of the disputants in favour of his
own calling; "and when a man has his gift from Providence,
it is commonly idle to endeavour to bear up against it. The
55th, serjeant, is a judicious regiment, in the way of eating.
as I know from having been so long in its company, though
I dare say 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 hard



THE PATHFINDER.                 133
ly 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 Serjeant
Dunham and his friend, the Pathfinder, alone, together. As
soon as his adversary had beat a retreat, the serjeant, wh-)
did not quite so'well understand the manceuvre of his
daughter, turned to his companion, and with a smile that 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, serjeant; you have
reason to be proud at finding yourself the father of so hand
some and well-mannered a young woman. I have seen many
of her sex, and some that were great and beautiful, but never
be te did I meet with one, in whom t thought Providence
haiso 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, serjeant, 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:
12




1 34              THE PATHFINDER.
but fire arms should sparkle and glitter in the sun, and I never
yet could see any beauty in a clouded barrel."
" Lord Howe thought otherwise, serjeant; and he was ac.
counted a good soldier!"
"Very true-his lordship had all the barrels of his regi.
ment 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 honourable trade. Had you
much discourse with Mabel, Pathfinder, as you came along
in the canoe 7"
"There was not much opportunity, serjeant, and then I
found myself so much beneath her in ideas, that I was afrail
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 serjeant in the regiment, I was the youngest.
Dignity is commanding and useful, and there is no geg
on without it, as respects the men; but if you woulJdbe
thoroughly esteemed by a woman, it is necessary to condescend a little, on occasions."
" Ahs me! serjeant; 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 that if Mabel should prove what you told
me she was, and if the girl could fancy a rude hunter and
guide, that I would 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 serjeant, sternly —-" Did 1
not understand you to say that you were pleased? —And s
Mabel a young woman to disappoint expectation?"
"' Ahl serjeant, it is not Mabel that I distrust; but myself.




THE PATHFINDER.                 18M
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?-Is it not my especial duty, and am
I often deceived?  Ask Major Duncan, sir, if you desire any
assurances in this particular."
"But, serjeant, we have long been friends; have fou't side
by side, a dozen times, and have done each other many ser.
vices. 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 likel) to view a plain, ignorant hunter as favourably
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 dare say you have been under fire, some thirty
or forty times, counting all the skirmishes and ambushes that
you've seen."
"Al: of that, serjeant, 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-that may be too; but I'm afeard 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 won.
der 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
o1es I was bound to protect and defend. The case is now




136               THE PATHFINDER.
different. Maoel and I are so nearly alike, that I feel weigheu
down with a load that is hard to bear, at finding us so unlike.
I do wish, serjeant, 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 know.
ledge 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, serjeant?" said the guide, whose meek
and modest nature shrunk from viewing himself in colours so
favourable. " Can this be truly so! I am but a poor hunter,
and Mabel, I see, is fit to be an officer's lady. Dg..i..Lhink
the girl will consent to quit all her beloved settlement usages,
tnfier vl     n   chu"ch —goings, to dwell with a plain
gui —eand hunter u   ereaw,                   Will she
not, in the enll   crave her old ways, and a better man?"
"A better man _Pathfinder. win~rld be hard t, find," returned
the father. " As for town usages, the are soon forgotten in.     mio e              a lhas       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 sdierin all the
eanings of the word,.youare a sdldier in its hpt meaning,
and I              have the good-wilo          fficer in
the corps. As long asiv, b    e can  dwell with me, and
you will lwy~ bve    game, whenyou return from your
scoutnnas and inmar'This is very pleasant to think of, serjeant, if the girl can
only come into our wishes with good will. But, ahs 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 serjeant, snapping his
fingers.  "If not actually a younger, you are a younger




THE PATHFINDER.                137
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 whip-cord, than Jasper, or any o.
them; and there will be more of you, thirty years hence,
han 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,
serjeant!-and is as likely to wear, on that account, as any
young man in the colony."
"Then you are my friend," squeezing the other's hand" my tried, sworn and constant friend."
"' Yes, we have been friends, serjeant, near twenty yearsbefore 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, serjeant, 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 theil
brother; but, serjeant, I have never been puffed up by their
12*                 9




THE PATHFINDER.
eonmpany, 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 evei
pulled trigger in all this region."
"If Mabel could fancy a man for that, I might have no
great reason to despair; and yet, serjeant, 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, Pathfind.
er, 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 then Mabel
will form some judgment concerning your true character."
"Will that be fair, serjeant?  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 serjeant 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 free.
dom quite a matter of course.
The reader will have gathered from the conversation just
related, one of the plans that Serjeant 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
till 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 Wfas, few knew the Pathfinder, intimately.




THE PATHFINDER.                 IS9
without secretly coming to believe him to be one of extraor.
dinary 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 ds such, and never engaged in anything to call a blush
to his cheek, or censure on his acts; it was not possible to
iive much with this being, who, in his peculiar way, was a
sort of type of what Adam might have been supposed to
before the fall, though certainly not without sin, and not fee
a respect and admiration for him, that had no reference to
his position in life. It was remarked, that no officer passed
him, without saluting him as if he had been his equal; no
common man, without addressing him with the confidence
and freedom of a comrade. The most surprising peculiarity
about the man himself, was the entire indifference with which
he regarded all distinctions that 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 de
fiance. In short, a disbeliever in the ability of man to dis.
tinguish 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 coloured by the character and usages of the individual,
were deep-rooted, and had almost got to form a part of his
nature. But the most striking feature about the moral or.
ganlzation 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,
probaby had its unseen influence on all who associated witl
nim; 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,
Rnd improved by his example.j As might have been expected'
with so elevated a quality, his fidelity was like the immovo



1408               THE PATHFINDER.
able rock. Treachery in him was classed among the things
that 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, that led him, insensibly
to himself, most probably, to cling clbsest to those whose
characters would best reward his friendship. In short, it was
said of the Pathfinder, by one accustomed to study his feltw's, that he was a fair example of what a just-minded and
Fiure 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 Serjeant Dunham had selected,s 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 as 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
lid not apprehend; while, on the other hand, he saw many
advantages to himself, In dim perspective, that were connect
ed with the decline of his days, and an evening of life pass.
ed 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 serjeant 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.




THE PATBlFiNDR                  11
CHAPTER X.
"Think not I love him, though I ask for him:'T is but a peevish boy — yet he talks wellBut what care I for words?"
A WE.EK 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-con.
cealed 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 serjeant.
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 dis.
Dosed 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 quarter-master, in particular, a middleaged 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 serjeant, though their




142               THE. PATHFINDER.:utles 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 honour
of the "serjeant's daughter," however, limited their stric.
tures; 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 Serjeant
Dunham, after evening roll-call, on business of a nature that,
it was understood, required a personal conference. The old
veteran dwelt in a moveable 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 antechamber.  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;
and Mabel and her father were lodged nearly, if not quite as
well,":a the commandant of the place, himself.
"Walk in, serjeant, 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 bed-room 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, serjeant?"
"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
-t is, man, and you'll be finding that the 55th make almost
as good farmers as soldiers. I never saw better potatoes in




THE PATHFINDER.                 143
Seotland, thail we are likely to have in that new patch ot
ours."
"They promise a good yield, Majcr Duncan, and, in that
tight, a more comfortable winter than the last."
"Life is progressive, serjeant, 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 honour, yet."
"It may be so, Serjeant Dunham, especially if he shouH
happen to have a spare lieutenant-colonelcy left."
" The 55th will be honoured the day that commission is
given to Duncan of Lundie, sir."
"And Duncan of Lundie will be honoured the day he
receives it. But, serjeant, if you have never had a lieutenant.
colonelcy, you have had a good wife, and that is the next
thing to rank, in making ax 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, serieant 
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 thai
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, serjeant," returned the
su)erior, a shade of melancholy passing over his hard Scottish features as he spoke; " and bonny Scotland is a far-off
country. Well, if we have no heather and oat-meal in this
region, we have venison for the killing it; and salmon as
plenty as at Berwick.upon-Tweed. Is it true, serjeant, that
the men complain of having been over-veniFsned, 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
oegin to throw their remarks about concerning the salmon,




144               THE PATHFIINDER.
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 oat-meal, grumbling occasionally of our wheaten bread."
".Ah I that is human nature, serjeant; 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 honour, —but if the men ever
pine seriously for their natural food, I would humbly recommend that some oat-meal 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, serjeant; but hang me-if I am sure you
are not right. There may be sweeter things in this world,
after all, than oat-meal. You have a sweet daughter, Dun
ham, for one."
" The girl is like her mother, Major Duncan, and will
pass inspection,' said the serjeant, proudly. " Neither was
brought up on anything better than good American flour.
The girl will pass inspection, sir."
" That would she, I'1l 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, is disposed to make your daughter his wife, and he
has just got me to open the matter to you, being fearfill of
compromitting his own dignity-and I may as well add, thal
half the youngsters in the fort toast her, and talk of her from
morning till night."
" She is much honoured, sir," returned the father, stiffly,'but I trust the gentlemen will find something more worth)
of them, to talk about, ere long. I hope to see her the wilie
of an honest marnbefore many weeks, sir."
"Yes, Davy is an honest man, and that is more than can
be said for all in the Quarter-Master's department, I'm thinking, serjeant," returned Lundie, with a slight smile.'i Well,
then, may I tell the Cupid-stricken youth, that the matter is
as good as settled?"
"I thank your honour, but Mabel is betrothed to anothw "'




THE PATHFINDSR.                 145
"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, serjeant, I'm no great admirer of unequal matches."
"I think with your honour, 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, serjeant, who is the lucky man that you
tntend to call son-in-law?"
"The Pathfinder, your honour."' 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 honour? the man is at the head of his
calling.  There is no other guide, or scout, connected with
the army, that has half the reputation of Pathfinder, or
who deserves to have it half as well."
" Very true, serjeant; 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 Albin itself. Is she of your way of thinking, in this matter?though, I suppose she must be, as you say she is betrothed."
i" We have not yet conversed on the subject, your honour'
but I consider her mind as good as made up, from several
little circumstances that might be named."
"And what are these circumstances, serjeant?" asked the
major, who began to take more interest than he had at first
felt, in the subject. " I confess a little curiosity to know something about a woman's mind, being, as you know, a bachelor
mysel f."
"Why, your honour, when I speak of the Pathfinder to
-he girl, she always looks me full in the face; chimes in with
every thing I say in his favour and has a frank, open way
Q




146               THE PATHFINDER.
with her, which says as much as if she half?onsidered him,
already, as a husband."
"' Hum-and these signs you think, Dunham, are faithful
tokens of your daughter's feelings?"
" I do, your honour, 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 honour'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."
c" Is there not some material difference in the age of the
intended bridegroom, and that of his pretty bride, serjeant?"
"You are quite right, sir; Pathfinder is well advanced
owards forty, and Mabel has every prospect of happiness
that a young woman can derive from the certainty of possess.
ing an experienced husband. I was quite forty myself, your
honour, 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, serjeant?" asked the major, looking at his
inferior, with the sort of reverence which a Scot of his day,
was more apt than at present to entertain for mysterious
agencies.  " He is a soldier, so far as danger is concerned,
and one that is much more than usually exposed, and, being




THE PATHFINDER.                 147
tree of his person, why should he expect to escape, when
others do not?"
" I do not believe, your honour, 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, serjeant," returned Lundie, with a
countenance that was grave with thought, "and the less we
say about it, perhaps, the better. But, will your daughterMabel, 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, serjeant!"
"He is at the head of his corps, already, your honour.
In short, Mabel has made up her mind on this subject, and,
as your honour 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-Serjeant
Dunham!"
" Your honour," said the other, rising, and giving the cus.
tomary 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 Quarter-Master, I do not like to break up
well-established arrangements.  Are the men drafted?"
" Every thing is ready, your honour.  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."




148               THE PATH1INDEn.
" So Jasper thinks, Major Duncan, and I know no one
more to be depended on, in such an affair, than young Jasper
Western.'
i" Young Jasper Eau-douce!" said Lundie, a slight smile
gathering around his usually stern mouth. "Will that lad
be of your party, serjeant?"
" Your honour will remember that the Scud never quits
port without him."
" True, but all general rules have their exceptions. Have
I not seen a sea-faring person about the fort within the last
few days?"
" No doubt, your honour; it is Master Cap, a brother-inlaw of mine, who brought my daughter from below."
" Why not put him. in the Scud for this cruise, serjeant,
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 honour'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, serjeant, an'd 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 honour 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, serjeant, 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."
Serjeant 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, serjeant, 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 ansilver-mounted powder-horn, a leathern flask ditto," read



THE PATHFINDER.                 149
ing 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 honour, 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
o come forward. Latterly, I have observed that he takes no
snare 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, serjeant.  Whether he will be
as successful in all others, remains to be seen. I wish you
good evening, Dunham."
The serjeant 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 that was 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 ap
pearance, and was saluted as "Mr. Muir."
" I have come, sir, at your bidding, to know my fortune,"
said the quarter-master, in a strong Scotch accent, as soon
as he had taken she 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; 1
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 fbr all the lassies to peer in at, to see what.he combustible material was worth."
13*




lbO               TlHE PATHFINDER.
"Ye'11  have your own way, Major Duncan, and youi
father and mother would have theirs before ye, even if the
enemy were in the camp. I see nothing so extraordinar' in
young people's following tho 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 ad, 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, thiat
may be a weakness in my disposition, perhaps, and inveigled
me into a contract that 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 had n'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 lus.
trum, leaving neither chick nor chiel behind her. I do think
if Jeannie had survived I never should have turned my
thoughts towards another wife."
"B,  But as she did not, you married twice after her deathand are desirous of doing so a third time."
" The truth can never justly be gainsayed, 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 thought.
Iul, I confess. I was looking back to my boyish days, when
1, 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."
"S' urely, Lundie, ye do not complain of your 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 honoured father gave me my first commis,.
sion, and a poor deevil of a quarter-master."
"And the four wives?"
"Three, tundie; 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 -edu.
cated 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 y6, but thrice, Lundie. Ye'11 weaken auld friendship, if ye call it four."
w' Put it at ye'r own number, Davy; and its far more than
ye'r 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 the'gither, 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 honour, Major
Duncan," interrupted the quarter-master. "Each new expe.
riment 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 noost
for the fifth time?"




THE PATHFINDER.' I desire to say, it will be but the fourth, Major Duncan,"
said the quarter-master, 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 colo.
nials 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 your
arithmetic-three times one, make three."
"All three, then, were what might be termed gentlewo.
men."
"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 Dun.
can; for I've always married without regard to consequences. Every man lMs 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 favour to speak to the serjeant 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 quarter-master, in
the bargain, and not succeed with a serjeant's daughter!"
"It's just that, Davy."
"And why not, Lundie?- will you 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 "




THE PATHFINDER.                 1583
"And who may it be, major?" asked the quarter-master,
who viewed the whole matter with the philosophy and cool.
ness that are acquired by use. " I do nob 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 knGw 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 quarter-master,
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 ye'r 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, stopping 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 Serjeant Dunham, can
take a serious fancy to a man of your years, and appearance,
and experience, I might add?"
"l Hout, awa', Lundie, ye dinna know the sax, and that's
the reason ye'r unmarried in ye'r 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'11 no deny it, Lundie; and if I get Mabel,
there'll be just a wife for every twa lustrums! But I did'na
think Serjeant 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
10




154                THE PATHFINDI.L
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 Ame.
rica. I'm auld bluid, 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 ser.
jeant's answer, and so you perceive that my influence, on
which you countea so much, can do nought for ye. Let us
take a glass the'gither, 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 thqught 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 bonny 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 1I..5
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 lille, at a post,
however small; but this below can be done by the serjeant as
well as by the Quarter-Master General, and better too."
"But not better than by a regimental officer. There is
great waste, in common, among the orderlies."
"I'11 think of it, Muir," said the major, laughing, " ana
you shall have my answer ihn 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'11 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 former 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.
A/nd what of the storming parties?"
" They may do for younger men, Lundie," returned the
quarter-master, rising and winking, a liberty that he often




1.6                THE PATHFINDER.
took with his commanding officer, on the score of a long intio
macy; "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. Re.
member the passage of arms for the morrow."
The Quarter-Master 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 hum ours, 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, as como
pletely as the wishes of the young men of the garrison were
met by the state of the weather, on the succeeding day. It
may be no more than the ordinary waywardness of man, but
the Americans are a little accustomed to taking pride in things,
that the means of intelligent companions would probably show
were, in reality, of a very inferior quality; while they overlook, or undervalue advantages that place them certainly on
a level with, if not above most of their fellow-creatures.
Among the latter is the climate, which, as a whole, though
far from perfect, is infinitely more agreeable, and quite ad




THE PATHFINDER.                 15]7
hea.lthy, as those of most of the countries which are loudest,n their denunciations of it.
The heats of summer were little felt at Oswego, at the pe.
riod of which we are writing, for the shade of the forest, ad.
ded 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 some.
times feels that genia. 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
Darts 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,
that were 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 bound&cl the
view all along the northern horizon, and on the slumbering
and seemingly boundless forest, that filled the other half of
ihe 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 hun.
dreds, 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 unwelcome
and unguarded moment. Parties were sent out, under old
14




aGOd              THE PATHFINDIRU
ad 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 reputations 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 cus,
tomary 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 vet
appeared.




THE PATBfLNDEL                  15
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 Serjeant 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 ex.
traction, bore the euphonious name of Van Valtenburg, but
was familiarly called Follock, 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 recognised as belonging to
the class of ladies, there were but three in the fort, all of
whom were officers' wives; staid matronly women, with the
simplicity of the habits of middle life, singularly mixed in
their deportment, with their notions of professional superiority,
the rights and duties of caste, and the etiquette of rank. The
other women were the wives of non-commissioned officers
and privates; Mabel being strictly, as had been stated by the
Quarter-Master, the only real candidate for matrimony among
her sex. There were a dozen other girls, it is true, but they
were still classed among the children, none of them being
yet of an age to elevate them into objects of legitimate adminr.ion.
Some little preparation had been made for the proper reception of the females, who were placed on a low staging of
panks, near the immediate bank of the lake. In this vici.
nity 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
amin     d to the society of the officers' wives, on the foot.




1                  THE PATHFINDER.
ing of an 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 pre.
vious 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 indis.
criminately placed, nor were the casual visiters 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 diffirent 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 mar.
shal 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 Quarter-Mas.
ter, 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 under.
stood by all present, as a proof that he did not consider him.
self a competitor for the honours of the day. All made way
for Major Duncan, who, as he approached the stand, in a
good-humoured way took his station, levelled his rifle care.
lessly, aid fired. The bullet missed the required mark by
several inches.
" Major Duncan is excluded from the other trials!" pro.
claimed the adjutant, in a voice so strong and confident, that
all the elder officers and the serjeants well understood that
this failure was preconcerted, while all the younger gentle
men and the privates felt new encouragement to proceed, on




THE PATHFINDER.                 161
account of the evident impartiality with whici the laws of
the sports were administered, nothing being so attractive to
the unsophisticated as the appearance of rigorous justice, and
nothing so rare as its actual administration.
"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 ascer.
talned 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 ingle
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 ye'r not
philosophic, nor scientific in ye'r management of the weepon.
Now, Serjeant 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 Quarter-Master 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 manners "Ye see, Lundie, that something is to be gained by ex
citing a female's curiosity.  It's an active sentiment, is
curiosity, and properly improved may lead to gentler innova.
tions in the end."
14*




162               THE PATHPINDER.
"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."
6" 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 ye'r welcome to all ye' 11
learn. Do ye no mean to try a shot, yersel', man?"
"Why should T, Quarter.Master-why should I? I want
none of the prizes; and as for honour, I have had enough of
that, if it's any honour 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 to be impatient."
" The Quarter-Master's department, and the adjutant's department, are seldom compliable, Lundie; but I'm readystand a little aside, Pathfinder, and give the ladies an op..ortunity."
Lieutenant Muir now took his attitude, with a good deal
of studied elegance, raised his rifle slowly, lowered it, raised
it again, repeated the manmuvres, and fired.
" Missed the target altogether!" shouted the man, whose
duty it was to mark the bullets, and who had little relish for
the Quarter-Master'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 a calumny of the leddies, nor sic'
a reproach on my own'skill," returned the Quarter-Master,
growing more and more Scotch, as he warmed with his feel.
ings; " it's a conspiracy to rob a meritorious man of his
dues."
"It's a dead miss, Muir," said the laughing Lundie, " and
ye'11 jist sit down quietly with the disgrace."
" No-no —major," Pathfinder at length observed, "' the
Quarter-Master is a good shot, for a slow one, and a
measured distance; though nothing extr'ornary, for real ser.




THE PATHFINDER.                 163
vice. 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 Quarter-Master's bullet had gone through the
hole made by Jasper's, and that too, so accurately, as to ret
-quire 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 Quarter-laster, advancing
towards the staging occupied by the females. " Major Dun.
can derides the idea of mathematics entering into target shooting; but I tell him, philosophy colours, 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 Quarter.
Master's marriages, and who had a woman's malice against
the monopolizer of her sex-"lit 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, philoso
phical is the most lasting, as it is the most rational."
"'You would then recommend experience as an improve.
ment 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 1'11
no deny that there is such a thing as a husband's being too
old for a wife. Here is Serjeant Dunham's charming daughter, now, to approve of such sentiments, I'm certain,-her




)L64              THE PATHFINDER.
character for discretion being already well established in the
garrison, short as has been her residence among us."
"Serjeant 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, hur
rying 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 snorts 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, Quarter-Master," returned
Pathfinder, calmly, " and no one here thinks of disturbing it.
I did not think, myself, of pulling a trigger to-day, but Serjeant Dunham has been persuading me that I shall not do
proper honour to his handsome daughter, who came in undei
my care, if I am backward on such an occasion. I'm using
Jasper's rifle, Quarter-Master, 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 thorough
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 mucr conifidence, and commanded respect. Tall, and even muscular,
his frame might have been esteemed nearly perfect, were it
not for the total absence of every thing like flesh. Whip-cora
was scarcely more rigid than his arms and legs, or, at need,
more pliable; but the outlines of his person were rather too
angula: for the proportion that the eye most approves. Still,
uis motions being natural, were graceful, and being calm and
regulated, they gave him an air of dignity that associated well
with the idea, that was so prevalent, of his services and pecu,;iar merits  His honest, open features were burnt to a bright
red, that comported well with the notion of exposure and hard,




TRHi  PATHFINDURb               165
ships, while his sinewy hands denoted force, and a species of
use that was removed from the stiffening and deforming effects of labour. 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 breech 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 did n'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 quarter-master's and
Jasper's; 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'11
own to a miss. The Quarter-Master cut the wood, but you'11
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
Quarter-Master did cut the wood,.and by that means he
opened a passage for your bullet, which went through the
hole he had made."
" Well, Quarter-Master, there goes the nail, and we'11 see
who can drive it closest, you or I; for, though I did not
think of showing what a rifle can do to-day, now my hand
is in, I' 11 turn my back to no man that carries ing George's
IommissitE.. Chingachgook is outlying, or h'might force
me into some of the niceties of the art; but as for you, Qual
ter-Master, if the nail don't stop you, the potatoe will."
"You're over-boastful this morning, Pathfinder; but you'




166                tHE PATHFINDER.
find you ve no green boy, fresh from the settlements and the
towns, to deal with, I will assure ye!"
" I know that well, Quarter-Master; 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, mar.. 1've no lived so very long, neither."
" I'11 do you justice, lieutenant, even if you get the best in
the potatoe 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 serjeant'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 shrunk 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 charm.
ingly, smiled so sweetly, and altogether presented so winning
a picture of youth, spirit, modesty and beauty, that he ftund
it exceedingl tempting, to be kept so prominently before her.maginatlonhnd to be able to address her freely.
"You shall have it your own way, Pathfinder," he an
swered as soon as his doubts had settled down into determina
tion —" Let the serjeant's daughter-his charming daughter,
I should have termed her —be -the umpire then; and t9 her




THE PATHFINDER.                 167
we will both aedicate the prize, that one or the other must
certainly win. Pathfinder must be humoured, ladies, as you
perceive, else, no doubt, we should have had the honour to
submit ourselves to one of your charming society."
A call for the competitors, now drew the Quarter-Master
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
honours 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 three first adventurers failed, all coming quite
near the mark, but neither touching it. The fourth person
who presented himself was the Quarter-Master, who, afte.
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 tbe side of its point. This was not considered
an extraordinary shot, though it brought the adventurer within
the category.
"You've saved your bacon, Quarter-Master, as they say
in the settlements of their creatur's," cried Pathfinder, laugh.
ing, " 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 cF his
steadiness of hand, and sartainty of eye. You would have
(lone 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 that same thing, over again."
"Jasper is not in tie 55th, but there goes his rap!"
As the Pathfinder spoke, the bullet oft Eau-douce hit the
nail square, and drove it into the target, within an inch of
the head.




168               THE PATHFINDER
"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 mosquitoe'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
breech 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
he art! Any one, in the least refined and elevated in senti.
ment, 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 po.
tatoe.'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 potatoe 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 Quarter-Master 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 humourist, in his own quiet Scotch way, had secretly
ordered it to be introdzed, expressly to mortify him; for, a
laird himself, Lundie did not relish the notion that one who
tniaht claim to be a gentleman, should bring discredit on his




THE PATHFINDER.                 169
caste, by forming an unequal alliance. As soon as every.
thing was prepared, Muir was summoned to the -stand, and
the potatoe 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 potatoe, 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 Quarter-Master, 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 potatoe was thrown in the
usual manner, the rifle was discharged, but the flying target
was untouched.
"To the right-about, and fall out, Quarter-Master, "'said
Lundie, smiling at the success of his own artifice —-" the
honour 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 potatoe 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 colour 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, be fore 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 be.
fore so much bornd 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-  Shoot.
ing is my gift boy, and no common hand can equal mine!",'1i. ~ —11




170               THE PATHFINDER.
"1 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 con.
fessing her love. Then squeezing the other's hand, he said
climly, like one whose manhood has overcome all other,iensations"I would lose an arm, Pathfinder, to be able to make an
ofering 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
whih are not of his gift, and treats the bounties of Provi.
dence lightly. No matter-no matter. Take your station
Jasper, for the major is waiting-and, harkee, lad-I must
touch the skin, for 1 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 colour, as before; —" but I will make
the effort, if 1 die."
c "What a thing is mortal man!" repeated Pathfinder, fall.
ing back to allow his friend room to take his aim-" he over.
looks his own gifts, and craves those of another!"
The potatoe 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.
" Iere is a competitor worthy of you, Pathfinder," cries
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, scarce
seeming to n:tice what was passing around him, so much
were his thoughts absorbed in his own reflections-" Toss."
The potatoe 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 171
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 honours of the day!"
" The calash is his," returned the other, shaking his head,
and walking quietly away from the stand. " What a crea-,ure is a mortal man! Never satisfied with his own gifls,
jut for ever craving that whichProvidence denies!"
As Pathfinder had not luried his bullet in the potatoe, but
had cut through the skin, the prize was immediately adjudged
to Jasper. The calash was in the hands of the latter, when
the Quarter-Master approached, and with a politic 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!"
"IHoot-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 Quarter-Mas.
ter 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 diffi.
dence, no less than admiration for another, would have pre.
vented him from aspiring to the honour of complimenting any
whom he thought so much his superiors.
"Mabel," he said, " this prize is for you, unless —"




172                THE PATHFINDER.
"Unless what., Jasper?" answered the girl, losing her own
bashfit.n'3s, in the na'tal and generous wish to relieve his
embarrassmrn't, 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 rhay come another day; mine and the
Quarter-Master'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,
voursel', 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 un.
reflecting 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
serjeant'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
ariticised, and the work examined, and divers opinions were
privately ventured concerning the fitness of so handsome a
Ihing's passing into the possession of a non-commissioned
officer's child.




THE PATHFINDER.                 173
" 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 mo
destly, "but I should not like to part with it either."
"I dare say Serjeant Dunham keeps you above the necesty of selling your clothes, child; but, at the same time, it ii
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 for.
gotten. 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 6verlook
their real advantages. Remember, however, if you do de.
termine 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 imnagin.
able, 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 remaindif the fema4es soon followed
their example. Mabel was returning along the low flat rocks.hat 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,15*




974              THE PATHFINDER.
"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 potatoe, and no man could have done more; though
others might have done as much."
"But no one did as much!" exclaimed Mabel, with an anl.
tnation 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 ob.
serve 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 twonow 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 the victims. No sooner had the gulls fallen
into the lake, than Pathfinder dropped the breech 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've no calash to give you! But ask Jasper, himself; I'11
leave it all to Jasper, for a truer tongue and heart, are not in
America."
"Then it was not Jasper'sAlult 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."




THE PATIFINDER.                175
"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 favour of my shooting, on this frontier, than of
your talking about the water in the lake, or the sun in the
heavens. Every body 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 has so unhandsomely availed
himself?" said Mabel, the colour 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."
"1'11 try to forget all, but the kindness you've both shown
to a poor motherless girl," said Mabel, struggling to keep.
down emotions that 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




176               THE PATHFINDER.
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 betweeo
us, and a sign that I can never forget you or your services.'
Mabel then smiled an adieu, and bounding up the bani}
she was soon lost to view behind the mound of the fo,-.
CHAPTER XII.
"Lo! dusky masses steal in dubious sight,
Along the leagur'd wall, and bristling bank
Of the arm'd river; while with straggling light,
The stars peep through the vapour, 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
that 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. Every thing 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




THEn PATHFINDER.                177
might have wanted. For the first time, Mabel feltk the hold
that the towns and civilization had gained on her habits sen.
sibly weakened, and the warm-hearted girl began to think
that a life passed amid objects, such as these around her,
might be happy. How far the experience of the last ten
days came in aid of the calm and holy even-tide, and con.
tributed 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 sllouid 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 tne 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!though I should think the serjeant would scarcely make a
second march with such trumpery among his baggage. Is
not nature the same, indeed!-Now, Mabel, do you imagine
that the nature of a soldier is the same as that of a sea-faring
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
xcepting your own father. Here have they had a shootingmatch-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 quite likely
would not have been the case, would have been left in the
cook's coppers. It may be an honourable 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 dis.
paruge nothing. No real sea-farer disparages anything; but
a —-e, if I regard this here Ontario, as they call it, as more




178               THE PATHF'RDUR,
than so much water in a ship's scuttle-butt. Now, look you
here, Malel, 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
syphon. 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! One may call a bubble a ripple, if
he will, and washing decks a surf; but Lake Ontario is no
more the Atlantic, than a Powles Hook periagua 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 5'nt little, for




TUBl PATHFINDIL                179"
booke  are not plenty in this part of the world, but he has
thought much; at least so it seems to me, for one so young."
"4 He is ignorant, he is ignorant, as all must be who navi
gate an inland water, like this. He can make a flat knot
and a timber hitch, it is true; but he has no more notion ot
crowning a cable, now, or of a carrick bend, than you have
of catting an anchor. 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. Some people say it is the vice of a king; but
I say it is the failing of a hog; for treat the animal to your
own dinner, and he would eat you for the dessert."
"Very true, dear uncle, and we ought indeed to do all we
can to express our proper sense of the services of both these
orave 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 serjeant 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
ake more time, or never get to be rated able, yet one could
make something of him, too,'particularily 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 maste of some
square-rigged craft."
"And would he be any the nappier for it, dear uncle?




180               THE PATHFINDER.
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 encour
ager of our exertions."
Cap nodded his head, and then ceased to speak, while the
hunter approached, not with his usual frank and easy man.
ner, 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 wel.
come 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-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'l1 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




THIE PATHFIN-DIR.               181
)eyond the sound of the war-whoop, and safe enough from
any Indian bullet."
" And what should I do on the salt-water? Hunt in four
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 shade of the woods, to put me in the sun of the
clearings!"
"I did not propose to leave you in the settlements, Pathtinder, 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 any thing else. Am I
right, Mabel, or are you so much a woman as to wish to see
a natur' altered?"
" I wouldvish 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 ad.
mires 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 noblestjhunt.
er 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?-rDo you hear what the
serjeant'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
God.send."
" 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
16




(82               THE PATHFINDER.
none the less secure, Pathfinder, because you will be aniong
our protectors."
1" The serjeant would do that, Mabel, the serjeant would
do that, 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 serjeant, is as closemouthed 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, anti 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 mat.
ter as two or three, like the killed and wounded of a great
battle."
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 could n't count beyond
a certain number. Your real land-birds never know their
own roosts, even in a land-fall at sea; they are what I call
all things to all men. 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 183
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. To my notion, fresh-water
can't make a bony fidy island; not what I call an island."
" We'11 show you hundreds of them-not exactly a thousand, perhaps, but so many that eye cannot see them all, or
tongue count them.";' And what sort of things may they be?"
" Land with water entirely around them."
"Ay, but what sort of land, and what sort of water? I'11
engage, when the truth comes to be known, they'11 turn out
to be nothing but peninsulas, or promontories, or continents;
though these are matters, I dare say, of which you know
little or nothing. But islands or no islands, what is the ob.
ject of the cruise, Master Pathfinder?"
" Why as you are the serjeant's brother, and pretty Mabel
here is his daughter, and we are all to be of the party, there
can be no harm in giving you some idea of what we are go.
ing to do. Being so old a sailor, Master Cap, you've heard,
no doubt, of such a port as Frontenac?"
" Who has n't?  I will not say I've ever been inside the
harbour, but I've frequently been off the place."
"Then you are about to go upon ground with which you are
acquainted, though how you could ever have got there, from
the ocean, I do not understand. 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."




THE PATHFINDER.
"A y —-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: as for reason's having any teeth, I'll
say nothing; but conscience has, and sharp ones too. 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 arq sent up the river to Frontenac, to be forwarded along the shores of this and the other lakes, in order.o enable the enemy to play his deviltries 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
batteaux 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 serjeant is prudent, and of the first quality at an ambush.
ment-yes, he is both prudent and alert."
" Is this all!" said Cap, contemptuously-" by the pre.
parations 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?"
"Ana-n?"
" 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."




[HE PATHFUINDL2'.               a5
Although the Pathfinder did not dare to look at Matel,
while he made this direct allusion to his change of life, he
would have given the world to know whether she were listening, and what was the expression of her countenance. Mabel
little suslected the nature of the allusion, however; and her
countenance was perfectly unembarrassed, as she turned: her
eyves towards the river, where the appearance of some move.
mnent 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 sea
manship-" 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 soldiei
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 sea-farers 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 skilfully as any
man can desire, on this lake at least. You did n't find him
backward 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 fiuture 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 nanceuvre in the
river, which then formed the harbour 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 pas.
sage, 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, andw she drifted towards
16*                 12




186f              THE PATHFINDER.
the outlet. In the narrow pass itself her movement was rapid, and in less than five minutes, the Scud was floating out.
side of the two low gravelly points that 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 glassy surface of the lake, fully a quarter of a mile
beyond the low bluff, which formed the eastern extremity of
what might be -alled the outer harbour, or roadsted. 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 sin.
gle moment, while it had thus been changing its position;
"I dare say you can find faults in her appearance, and
in the way she is managed; but to my ignorance both are
perfict!"
"Ay-ay —she drops down with a current well enough,
girl, and so would a chip. But when you come to niceties,
an old tar, like myself, has no need of spectacles to find
fault."
" Well, Master Cap," put in the guide, who seldom heard
any thing to Jasper's prejudice, without manifesting a disposition to interfere, ", I've heard old and experienced salt-water
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 manifbst faults."
"Do name them, sir, and Pathfinder will mention them tc
his friend."
"Name them? it is no easy matter to call off the stars,
Ibr the simple reason that they are so numerous. Name
them, indeed! —Why, my pretty niece, Miss Magnct, 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




THE: PATHFINDER.                 187
pennant is foul; and-and-ay, d —— e, if there isn't a top.
Bail gasket adrift-and, it wouldn't surprise me at all, if there
should prove to 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 that 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; let him
manage his own cutter. 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 sea-farers 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 lie did not think it necessary to push his criticisms any farther, just at that moment.
His air and manner gradually became more superciilious and
lofty, though he now wished to seem indifferent to any discussions on points of which one of the parties was entirely ignorant.  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 canvass 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 soli.
loquy, "not over-lubberly, though he should have put his
helm a-star'board instead of a-port, for a vessel ought always
to come-to with her head off shore, whether she is a league




188                THE PATHFINDER.
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 Serjeant
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 day.light;o
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 Serjeant Dunham consisted of but ten privates
and two non-commissioned officers, though it was soon posi.
tively known that Mr. Muir was to accompany the expedition
The Quarter-Master, 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 males of the entire 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.
Serjeant Dunham carried off his command in a large bat.
teau, 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 189
to use, he ascended the hill to seek his last interview with
Lundie.  The major was on the bastion so often mentioned'
leaving him and the serjeant together, for a short time, we
will return to the beach.
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 as
bring the batteaux into the river to receive their freights, bl.
the beach outside being totally without surf, and the water a
tranquil as that of a pond, every body embarked there
As Cap had said, there was no heaving and setting, no working of vast lungs, nor any respiration of an ocean; for, on
Ontario, unlike the Atlantic, gales were not agitating the element at one point, while calms prevailed at another. This
the distances did not permit, and it is the usual remark of
mariners, that the sea got up faster and went down sooner,
on all the great lakes of the west, than on the different seas
of their acquaintance. When the boat left the land, there.
fore, Mabel would not have known that she was afloat on so
broad a sheet of water, by any movement that 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 her.
As soon as this was effected, the young man pointed out to
Mabel and her companion, the accommodations prepared for
their reception, and they took possession of them. 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 ofi
air and light. This was uniformly devoted to females, when.
ever any were-on board; and as Mabel and her companion
were alone, they had ample space and accommodation. The
main-cabin was larger, and lighted from above.  It was
now appropriated to the uses of the Quarter-Master, the serjeant, Cap, and Jasper; the Pathfinder roaming through any
part of the cutter he pleased, the female apartment excepted




190               THE PATHFINDER.
The corporals and common soldiers occupied the space be
neath the main hatz'h, 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 and pretty cabin, in doing which she could not
abstain from indulging in the pleasant reflection that some of
Jasper's favour 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 re.
ducea 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, that was 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
tifle, 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 youi, Pathfinder, expeditions like this, can be no great
novelty," she said, " 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."




THE PATHFINDER.                I1 1'" But we are neither an army, nor in the woodE  T'lere
can be no danger of Mingos, in the Scud."
"Ask Jasper, how he got to be mastr of this cutter, and
you will find yourself answered, as to that opinion! No one
is safe from a Mingo, who does not understand his very natur'; and, even tlhen, 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 the command?" inquired Mabel,
with an earnestness and interest that delighted her simpleminded and true-hearted companion, who was never better
pleased than when he had an opportunity of saying aught in
favour of a friend. " It is honourable to him, that he has
reached this station, while yet so young."
"That is it-but he deserved it all, and more. A frigate
would n'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, howsever, 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 serJeant, 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've heard him questioned about this afihir,
and he never made a good tale of it, although every body
knows it was a good thing. No-no —Jasper is not good at
a story, as his best friends must own. The Scud had neat
fallen into the hands of the French and the Mingos, when Jasper saved her, in a way, that none but a quick-witted mind
and a bold heart would have attempted. The serjeant will
tell the tale better than I can, and I wish you to question
him  some day, when nothing better offers.  As for Jasper.
himself, there will be no use in worrying the lad, since he
will make a bungling matter of it, for he don't know how to
give a history at all."
Mabel determined to ask her father to repeat the incidents
of the affair that very night, for it struck her young fance
that nothing better could well offer than to listen to the
oraises of one who was a bad historian of his own exploits.
"Will tne Scud remain with us, when we reach the island?'




192               THE PATHFINDER.
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 acti
vity 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 Serpentwhy 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 serjeant is
toc good a soldier, to forget his rear, while he is facing the
enemy in front! It's a thousand pities, Mabel, your father
was n't born a general, as some of the English are who come
among us, for I feel sartain he would n'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 -tred to remember what I owe to my deal
father."
"Ay, your mother was so before you! —'You will fi'Mabel, like her mother, no screamer, or a faint-hearted gii.
to trouble a man in his need,'but one who would encourage
her mate, and help to keep his heart up, when sorest pressed
by danger'-said the serjeant to me, before 1 ever laid eyes
on that sweet countenance of yours,-he did I"




THE PATHFINDER                  193
"And why should my father have told you this, Path
finder?" the girl demanded a little earnestly. " Perhaps he
fancied you would think the better of me, if you did not be.
lieve me a silly coward, as so many of my sex love to make
themselves appear."
Deception, unless it were at the expense of his enenrres 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. To own
the truth openly, he felt, by a sort of instinct for which it
would have puzzled him to account, would not be proper;
and to hide it, agreed with neither his sense of right, nor his
habits. 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," he said, " that the serjeant and
I are old friends, and have stood side by side —or if not ac.
tually 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 fou'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 natu.
ral that the serjeant, 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 any
thing but the Delawares to love, I naturally chimed in, as' it
were, and got to love you, Mabel, before I ever saw youyes 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 friend.
ships for people before you know anything about them, ex.
cept 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 tfo  the best
17




1X94               THE PATHFINDER.
of them, are not the same as those I got from the serjeant for
you; and, especially, now that I begin to know you better.
I'm sometimes afear'd it isn't wholesome for one who is much
occupied in a very manly calling, like that of a guide, or a
scout, or a soldier even, to form friendships for womenyoung 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 hold, 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 fool-hardy; but before we became so
intimate, as I may say, I loved to think of my scoutings, and
of my marches, and out-lyings, 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 serjeant, that he and his daughter will be
the spoiling of one of the best and most experienced scouts
on thQ lines!"
"Not they, Pathfinder; they will try to make that which
is already so excellent, perfect. You do not know us, it 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 coun.
tenance of her listener, but her own sweet face was turned
towards him, as she spoke with an energy equal to her frank.
ness, 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 appear.
ance 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 mer




THE PA'rHFIN DER.               195
ited, without any of the emotion that invariably accompa.
nies the consciousness of an inclination which might lead to
softer disclosures.
Tht 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 quite 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
serjeant.
" 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 serjeant, but which it was too dark to
read.
"All, your honour; 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, serjeant. 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,.nd forward."
"As for that, serjeant, time will show," returned Lundla




196               THE PATHFINDER.
smiling; though here, too, the obscurity concealed the nicet
shades of expression,-" one woman is sometimes more dif.
ficult 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 thia,
your honour's wish would be sufficient."
6" I thank you, serjeant. 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 favour. In love, as in war, each man
must gain his own victories. Are you certain that the ra.
tions have been properly calculated?"
"1'11 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,
harply; " and it comes of your American birth, and American training! No thorough soldier ever relies on any thing
but his commissary for supplies; and I beg 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, serjeant; 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 no.
thing 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,it any longer."
"General Braddock, your honour, might have been advised
by Colonel Washington."
" Out upon your Washington! You're all provincials to.
gether, 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 honour."




THRI PATHFINDER.               197
"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, serjeant; for, though born in America,
a better soldier never shouldered a musket."
"And Colonel WVa-hington, your honour-?"
"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, serjeant?"
"Not a drop, your honour. 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 honour 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 instructer for a Britis'X
sailor, notwithstanding!"
" I beg your pardon, sir; Jasper Eau-douce was brought
up under a real English seaman; one that had sailed undei
the king's pennant, and may be called a thorough-bred: that
>s to say, a subject born in the colonies, but none the worse
at his trade, I hope, Major Duncan, for that."
"Perhaps not, serjeant; 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 layally, or better."
17*




1 98              THE PATHFINDER.
I (1 more bravely, Major Duncan. J 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 honour considers me fit to be intrusted with
any particular reason that may exist for doubting Jasper,
since you have seen fit to intrust me with this command."
" It is not that I doubt you, Dunham, that I hesitate to re.
veal 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 datughter?"
" For the Pathfinder's honesty, I will an wer with my life,
sir'-returned the serjeant firmly, and not without a dignity
of manner that struck his superior.  " S oLb a man does n't
know how to be false."
" I believe you are right, Dunham, and yet this last infor
mation has unsettled all my old opinions.  I have received
an anonymous communication, serjeant, 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 false.
hood, 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 honour?"
"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 tht Iroquois, when they,ame in, merely to give Jasper credit with me. I am told




THE PATHFINDER.                 199
that the gentry at Frontenac will care more fol the capture
of the Scud, with Serjeant Dunham and a party of men, to.
gether with the defeat of our favourite plan, than for the cap.
ture of a girl, and the scalp of her uncle."
"1 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 honour, as distrust
him!"
"It would seem so, serjeant; 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 h;.
nour; but the boy learned it by compulsion, as it were, and
ought not to be condemned too hastily, for the circumstance.
by your honour's leave.  If he does speak French, it's be.
cause he can't well help it."
" 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, serjeant, and
who is a sailor?"
" A real sea-faring man, your honour, and somewhat pre.
judiced 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 jus.
tice."
" Being in the service of the crown, your honour, 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..aw of yours must be able to find the way back, after he has
once travelled the road"




)OO               THE. PATHFIN DER.
" I make no doubt, Major Dunham, 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
nis'truth."
" I like your confidence: it speaks well for the fellow-but
that infernal letter!-There is such an air of truth about itnay, there is so much truth in it, touching other matters-"
"I think your honour said it wanted the name at the bot
tom; 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,
serjeant; 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
endeavouring to put you in the vacancy, to which you have
many claims!"
"I! humbly thank your honour," coolly returned the ser.
jeant, who had been encouraged in this manner, any time
for the twenty preceding years, " and hope I shall never dis.
grace 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 villany that may be stirring. His simple ho.
nesty will favour his observation, by concealing it. He lmust
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."




THE PATHFINDER.                 201
"Of all wretched sensations, Dunham, distrust, where one
is compelled to confide, is, the most painful.-You have be.
thought you of the spare flints?"
"A serjeant is a safe commander for all such details, your
honour."
"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 widowerhood, 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 favour 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; anda
now, once more, farewell, serjeant. Beware of that Jasper,
and consult with Muir, in any difficulty. I shall expect you
to return triumphant, this day month."'" God bless your honour: if any thing 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 lionI,
-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 serjeant took the extended hand of his superior with
proper respect, and they finally parted; Lundie hastening
into his own moveable abode, wihile the other left the fort, descended to the beach, and got into a boat.
Duncan of Lundie had said no more than the truth, when
he spoke of the painful nature of distrust. Of all the feelings
of the human mind, it is that which is the most treacherous
in its workings, the most insidious in its approaches, and the
least at the command of a generous temperament. While doubt
exists, everything may be suspected; the thoughts, having
no definite facts to set bounds to their wanderings; and dis13




202                THE,THRPINDER.
trust once admitted, it is impossible to say to what extent
conjecture may lead, or whither credulity may follow. That
which had previously seemed innocent, assumes the hue of
guilt, as soon as this uneasy tenant has taken possession of
the thoughts; and nothing is said or done, without being sub.
iected to the colourings and disfigurations of jealousy and
apprehension. If this is true in ordinary affairs, it is doubly
true when any heavy responsibility, involving life or death,
weighs on the unsettled mind of its subject;-as in the case
of the military commander, or the agent in the management
of any great political interest. It is not to be supposed, then,
that Serjeant Dunham, after he had parted from his com.
manding officer, was likely to forget the injunctions he had
received. He thought highly of Jasper, in general; but dis.
trust 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,he side of the Scud, he was in a proper humour to let no.uspicious circumstance go unheeded, or any unusual movement in the young sailor past without its comment.  As a
natter of course, he viewed things in the light suited to his
aeculiar 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
*erjeant, who was the last person expected, was seen to quit
the shore, and the head of the cutter was cast to the east.
ward 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 of 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 enter.
ing 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 siient, 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 203
got as far as the river-current would carry her, when she
became stationary, waiting for the usual land-brecze. 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 Serjeant 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 he was be.
yond the reach of eaves-droppers, he commenced as follows:
"It is now many years, my friend, siuce you began to
experience the hardships and dangers of the woods in my
company."
" It is, serjeant; yes it is. I sometimes fear I am too ol
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 any thing 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
alk about this very youngster. Major Duncan has received
s:me information which has led him to suspect that Eau-douce
is false, and in the pay of the enemy; I wish to hear your
apinion on the subject."
"rAnan!"
"'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




~04               THE' PATHFINDER.
shall meet with enemies when we least suspect it, and by his
means."
"Duncan of Lundie has told you this, Serjeant 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 behoeve in presentiments, my friend?"
"In what, serjeant?"
"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, con
cerning 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
endeavoured to convince him, all I could, that he dickthe boy
injustice. But there is no use in holding out against a pre.
sentiment, I find, and I fear there is something in the suspi.
cion after all."
"I know nothing of presentiments, serjeant, 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, serjvant, and let us question him i
this matter; for to sleep with distrust of one's friend in ti




THE PATHFINDER.                 205
heart, is like sleeping with lead there. I have no faith in
your presentiments!"
The serjeant, although he scarce knew, himself, with what
object, complied, and Cap was summoned to join in the con.
sultation. 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 any.
thiing out of the common way, in the movements of Eau-douce,
this evening."
"'His movements are common enough, I dare say, for
fresh-water, Master Pathflnder, 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 serjeant 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 serjeant, gravely. "Pathfinder knows this to be true."'"I'll not gainsay it —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 Mississagua, 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, in 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
unprovements. The serjeant's observation shows that he
18




206               TIE PATHFINDER.
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 sea-faring 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 serjeant, touching the other on a
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, serjeant."
" He speaks French, and he might as well be, in that par
ticular. 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, serjeant, 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 calledc-ll
7llerling a rope, too, when I asked himp what he was about;
but I am not certain that anything was meant by it; though I
dare say 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




TEE PATHFINDER.                 207
stretcher in the rigging, instead of bringing them into the
mast, where they belong, at least among British sailors."
i" I dare say 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, is n'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, rising to spit out
of the cabin-window, as is customary with men when they
most feel their own great moral strength, and happen to chew
tobacco —" 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 neces.
sary 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 by
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. Now,
according to our senses, young Eau-douce is this moment on
deck, and by going up there, either of us might see and feel
him; but, should it afterwards appear that a fact was corn




208               THE PATHFINDER.
municated to the French at this precise moment, which fact
no one but Jasper could communicate; why, we should
be bound to believe that the circumstance was true, and that
our eyes and fingers deceived us. Any lawyer will tell you
that."
" This is hardly right," said Pathfinder; "nor is it possible,
seeiag that it is ag'in fact."
"It is much more than possible, my worthy guide; it is
law; absolute, king's law of the realm, and, as such, to be
respected and obeyed. I'd hang my own brother on such testi.
mony; no reflections on the family, being meant, serjeant."
"God knows how far all this applies to Jasper; though I
do believe Mr. Cap is right, as to the law, Pathfinder; circumstances being much stronger than the senses, on such
occasions. We must all of us be watchful, and nothing
suspicious should be overlooked."
"Now  I recollect me," continued Cap, again using the
window, — " 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 make-weight 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 all that, he got the flag union down!"
" That might have been accident," returned the serjeant,
"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, Serjeant Dunham, I could prevail on you to use proper
terms.  An ensign-halyard-block is no more a pulley, than
your halbert 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 any.
thing occur to induce me to arrest Jasper."
"'11 not fail vou, serjeant; and in such an event you'l




THE PATHFINDER.                  209
probably learn what this cutter can really perform; for as
yet, I fancy it is pretty much matter of guess-work."
" 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'11 put
Jasper Western against all the presentiments and circumstances in the colony."
"That will never do," rejoined the serjeant.  "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
[ 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.
SHAKSPZARE.
ALL this time, matters were elsewhere passing int their
usual train. Jasper, like the weather, and his vessel, seemed
to be waiting for the land-breeze; while the soldiers, accus.
tomed to early rising, had, to a man, sought their pallets in
the main hold.  None remained on deck bat the people of
the cutter, Mr. Muir, and the two females.  The QuarterMaster was endeavouring to rendcr himself agreeable to Mamel, while our heroine herself, little affected by nis assiduities
which she ascribed partly to tle habitual gallantry of a sol
18 *




t10                TVH PAtHPINDER.
dier, and partly, perhaps, to her own pretty face, was enjoying the peculiarities of a scene and situation, that, 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 Quarter-Master had to
repeat his compliments, ere 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 canvass, the
creaking of the boom, and the flap of the jib. These wellknown 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 al little as you can possibly like them yourself!"




THE PATHFINDER.                211
"  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 ]nau-deuce?"
"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, Mastef
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 ta
unexpected shifts of wind. I hope, however, to carry this
land-breeze as far as the first islands; after which, there wil
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
neen out-lying that night, as usual, we should have secured
one, if' not both of them."
It was too dark to betrav the colour that deepened on the




212                THE PATHFINDER.
weather-burnt features of the guide, for he felt the conscious.
ness 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 a countenance that, 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," he said, 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 rebukeyes, he needs a rebuke."
" Rebuke, Pathfinder! I never dreamed 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 i! Now I know where you were, I think your absence the
most natural thing in the world."
" I think nothing of it, Jasper, I think nothing of whnat
you said, 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 neat
us so lately.  This looks amazingly like a circumstance!"
As the mariner uttered the last sentence, he pressed a foot
slyly on that of the serjeant, and nudged the guide with his
elbow, winking, at the same time, though this sign was lost
in the obscurity.




THE PATHFINDER.                213
" It is known, because their trail was found next day, by
the Serpent, and it was that of a military boot and a mocca
sin. 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 school-boy. "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 way, 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 Path.
finder, " 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'11 engage, Master Eau.deuce, had you given me a call, that
said Tuesday morning, that we should have overhauled the
blackguards."
" I dare say, Master Cap, that the advice of as old a sea.
man as you might have done no harm to as young a sailoI
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."
4" 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




214                THE PATHFINDER
one is se, heedless of drowning, as to put off into this lake, in
one of them egg-shells, 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 browbeating 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 serjeant, still it produced some ef.
fect  He thought it a little singular himself, that there should
have been spies detected so near the fort, and he know no.
thing 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 know.
ledge, 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," he said, 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 215
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
oauld 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 parsecuted."
" 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; I
may say well know by experience; at least I speak for mown human nature."
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 serjeant and his
brother-in-law had nearly reasoned themselves into settled
convictions in favour 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 uniustly
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 serjeant 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 tairrall,
kMabel sat silent 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




216                TRiE PATHRINDER.
wandering from the sails to the clouds, from the. clouds to
tile dusky outline of the shore, from the shore to the lake, and
tfrom 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 ar.
rival 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, that 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 or.
der to make certain that she had known Jasper, and the Path.
finder, 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 men.
tioned. As yet, however, her pure mind was free from the
blight of distrust, and she had no suspicion of the views of
e;ther of her suitors; and one of the last thoughts that could
lhave voluntarily disturbed her confidence, would have been
to suppose it possible either of her companions was a traitor
to 3;s king and country.
America, at the time of which we are writing, was re.
inarkable fosits 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 politicat
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




THE PATHFINDER.                 217
and whose demerits it was treason to reveal. It is a conse.
quence 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 settle.
ments, 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. In a word, as fashions are exaggerated in a pro.
vince, so are opinions; and the loyalty, that, at London,
merely formed a part of a political scheme, at New York
was magnified into a faith that might almost have moved
mountains. Disaffection was, consequently, a rare offence;
and, most of all, would treason, that should favour 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 wea.
ther was warm, as is not always the case in that region even
19           14




218               TIIE PATHFINDER.
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, per.
haps, to keep attention alive, in the uncertainty that, more or
tess, 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
blabel.
"At this rate, Eau-douce," lbr 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 to6 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 seer
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 has said so much against us fresh-water sailors,
that you had begun to look upon us as little better than pre.
tenders."
" Give yourself no uneasiness on that account, Jasper, fior
I know my uncle, and he says as many things against those
who live ashore, when at York, as he now says against those




THE PATHFINDER.                 219
who sail on fresh.water.  No-no; neither my father, not
myself, think any thing 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 every thing else. You say my
father wishes me to marry a soldier, and yet there is no sol.
dier, 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.
"I. is true, Mabel," he said, " 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 serjeant, and l
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 soffrmiise above them, and some fall below
them.  Many serjeants have become officers-even generals; and why may not serjeants' daughters become officers
ladies?"
"In the case of Serjeant 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.




220                THE PATHFINDER.
" 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 Durham 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 hex
professions of contentment, she felt that she had been too
well educated to fill wvith 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 serjeant."
" 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
near 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 that was slightly melancholy:
"Parent and child ought so to live as not to have two
hearts, or two modes of feeling and thinking. A common
nterest 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 22-1
Lo have any unusual cause for unhappiness, the world fur.
nishing 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 ridicu.
ious; no notion so cruel!"
" Would it, then, be cruel to wish you the wife of a Quarter-Master?"
" 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~requent 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 Quarter-Master 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 Quarter-AMaster, though she had hardly supposed to the extent
that Jasper believed: and she, too, had even gathered froln
1O




222                THE PATHFINDERI
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 con.
versation, 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 Dun.
ham. And now, tell me of your voyage; — when will it
end?"
"c 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 closemouthed, 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 fhat 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




THE  PATHFINDER.                223
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 got to be 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 nIt be at a loss in discovering the out.
lines 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 wind.
ward, 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 care.
ful 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.




'924              THE PATHFINDER
CHAPTER XV.
"What pearl is it that rich men cannot buy,'Phat 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 occursence,
but Mabel, and all who knew of the manner in which this
chief had been separated fiom 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 reslects 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, for he made no doubt that all who could not effect
this much, would he massacred on the spot. In a word, he
had run away, in order to save his life.
"This is well," returned Pathfinder, affecting to believe:he 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 getting to be
images familiar to his thoughts. The Tuscarora, -though he




THE PATHFINDER.                 225
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 in
English, passing from one language to the other, insensibly
to himself, as his feelings or habit dictated,-" 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. Mabel, herself, would have been likely
to follow the serjeant, had he been present, and retreated in
this manner; and, no doubt, no doubt, the warm-hearted girl
would have followed her husband! 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."
"Pathfindet 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 maLrimony. But, Tuscarora, how did you get that canoe, and
why are you paddling towards the St. Lawrence, instead of
the garrison?"
" Ariowhead can tell his own from that of another. This.canoe is mine; I found it on the shore, near the fort."
i" 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
(bllow and his wife, fobr the canoe must have left the river be.
fore we did ourselves."




226               THL PATHFINDER.
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 him to her. 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."
Alli'this, too, was plausible, and in conformity with Indian
character, and Indian customs. As was usual, Arrowhead
had received one half of his compensation previously to quit.
ting 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 say.
age, 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 phle-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 Path.
finder, "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 I" 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'>




THE PATHFINDER.                 221
business, and we have a right to be here, though we may not
have a r;ght 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
turrns 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 ad.
mitted 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 serjeant an.
swered, " but irons are unnecessary so long as he remains
in the cutter. In the morning the matter shall be inquired
into."
Arrowhead was no  summoned and told the decision. The
Indian listened gravely,nd made no objections. On the
contrary, he submitted wi:h 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 fill.
ed, and the Scud resumed her course.
It was now getting near the hour to set tne 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 selJeant,
Jasper, and two of the crew. Arrowhead and his wife also
remained, the former standing aloof in proud reserve, and the




228                THE PATHFINDER.
latter exhibiting, by her attitude and passiveness, the meel
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 ser.
jeant, 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 d',.
tain 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 serjeant, in a lower tone, " it may be well to se.
cure 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 sub.
missive quiet, immediately repairing an error she had made,
by laying aside the blanket she had taken, and searching
another that was more to her tyrant's mind.
" Come, bear a hand, Arrowhead" said the serjeant, 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,swer, as the Tusca.
rora stepped towards the head of' 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 station.
ary. So suddenly and dexterously was this manceuvre per.
formed, that the canoe was on the lee quarter of the Scud,
before the serjeant 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 canvass flapping, or was running into the wind's
eye, as seamen term it, until the light craft was a hundred feet




THE PATHFINDER.                 229
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 yes.
sels, 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 6f the latter's
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 forged 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 serjeant, manifesting
the eagerness of a boy to join in the pursuit, " let us launch
it, and give chase!"
"PTrwill 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 serjeant 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 ere its pursuers couit
probably get half the distance. The canoe, itself, might
have been seized, but it would have been a useless prize; for
Arrowhead, in the woods, would be more likely to reach the
other shore without detection, than if he still possessed the
means to venture on the lake again; though it might be, and
probably would be, a greater bodily labour to himself. The
helm of the Scud was reluctantly putup again, and the cutter wore short round on her heel. coming up to her course
20




;&au              THE PATHFINDER.
on the other tack, as if acting on an instinct. All this was
done by Jasper in profound silence, his assistants understand.
tg what was necessary, and lending their aid in a sort of
mechanical imitation.  While these manceuvres were in the
course of execution, Cap took the serjeant 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.
"I Iarkee, brother Dunham," he said 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 Ai rmwnead as a circumstance-and I might add his escape as another. This Jaspei
Fresh-water 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 favour,
that he was first taken."
i" Ay, ay, but two circumstances do not contradict each
other, like two negatives. If you will follow the advice of
an old seaman, serjeant, 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 Fresh-water
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."
Serjeant Dunham deliberated more than an hour on the
propriety of this proposal; for, though sufficiently prompt
when his mind was really made up, hp was habitually
thotightful and wary.  The habit of superintending the per




THE PATHFINDER.                  231
sonal police of' the garrison had made him acquainted with
character, and he had long been disposed to think wiell 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 the recollection of
years of good conduct, should vanish under the influence of
a distrust so keen, and seemingly so plausible. In this em.
barrassment, the serjeant consulted the Quarter.Master, whose
opinion, as his superior, he felt bound to respect, though, al
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: favour; the
party consulted being almost certain to try to think in the
manner which will be the most agreeable to the party consuiting. In the present instance, it was equally unfortunate,
as respects a candid consideration of the subject, that Cap,
instead of the serjeant 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
Quarter-Master 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 serjeant, who, forthwith, set about
the execution of the necessary measures.
Without entering into any explanations, Serjeant 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 involunr
tary 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
serjeant cautiously abstaining from making any allusion to
his suspicions — the young man was accustomed to obey




232               THE PATHFINDER.
with military subm.ssion; 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, serjeant," said Cap, as soon as he found him.
self 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 Dim.n
ham, 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.' Thaf'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, Serjeant 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 Yahooe.
And do you suppose, Serjeant Dunham, that I can find one
island out of a thousand, without knowing its name, c -i.
position-withoutt even a course, or a distance?"




THE PATHFINDER.                 233
"As for the name, brother Cap, you need not be particu
lar, 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 conse.
quence, provided we find the spot. Perhaps one of the hands
on deck can tell us the way."
" Held on, serjeant-hold on, a moment, if you please,
Serjeant Dunharn. 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 un.
derstand that it is better in a commander to go wrong, than
to go nowhere. At all events, the Lord High Admiral
could n'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 —-e, I'11 go down ship-shape and with
dignity."
"But, brother Cap, I have no wish to go down anyqthere,
unless it be to the station among the Thousand Islands, whither we are bound."
" Well, well, serjeant, rather than ask advice, that is, direct,
bare-faced advice, of a fore-mast hand, or any other than a
quarter-deck officer, t 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 rowse all there
is, out of these hands, and make them think, all the while, that
I am cramming them with my own experience.  WVe 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. I suppose you know in the army, serjeant, that
the next thing to knowing that which is desirable, is to seem
to know all about it. When a youngster, I 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 serjeant, " but in the course of a few hours we
shall be up with a headland, where we must feel our way
with more caution."
20*                15




2s34              THE PATIIHFINDER.
" Leave me to pump the man at the wheel, brother, and
you shall see that I will make him suck, in a very few min.
utes."
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, as it
might be incidentally, and in the manner that a superior on
board a vessel sometimes condescends to use to a favoured
inferior. "Of course, you have it in this fashion, off the land:
every night?"
" At this season of the year sir," the man returned, touch.
ing his hat, out of respect to his new commander and Serjeant Dunham's connexion.
" 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 further 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,s no difference, though it'squite 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 serjeant,
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.




THI  PATH1FIDIm.                235
c" 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 tie
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 Habt, Master Cap,
there is no more town than there is on your chin, and not
half as much tallow."
The serjeant smiled grimly, but his brother-in-law did not
detect this proof of facetiousness.
"No church-tower, nor light, nor fort, ha! There is a
garrison, as you call it hereaway, at least."
"Ask Serjeant 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
tbl~mhe best, the one you went last, or-or-or-ay, or the
"'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 of the course, aftel we are
once fairly up with the islands. No one lChows anything of
either, but Jasper and the pilot."
"Here is a circumstance for you, serjeant!" 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?"




236               THE PATHFINDER.
"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 dis-covery would be the greatest of them all, for it would not
only be discovering one island, but one island out of a thou
sand. I might make out to pick up a single needle on this
deck, old as I am, but I much doubt if I could pick one out of
a haystack."
" Still, the sailors of the lake have a method of finding the
places they wish to go to."
" If I have understood you, serjeant, this station, or block.
house, is parti u rly private?"
" It is indeea; the utmost care having been taken to pre.
vent 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-e, 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."? I
"'Hum-this looks like another circumstance!      t
matter, the case is getting to be so fuill 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 serjeant 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?'




THE PATHFINDER.                 23t
"Not I, sir," returned the man, hesitating, " though I be.
lieve 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! Harkee, young man; do you know what longitid:
means?"
"I believe I do, sir-that is five feet six, the regulatioi
height for soldiers in the king's service."
"There's the longitude found out for you, serjeant, 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 —- e, brother Dunham, if I think even Faith can get
along on this lake, much as they say it can do with mountains. I'm sure character is in no security. 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-notheeast, 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,
serjeant," 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 gct
the soundings; after which we will be governed by circumstances."
To this the serjeant, who, to coin a word, was very much
of an idiosyncratist, 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
oight did he close his eyes.
It was broad daylight when Serjeant Dunham awoke, and




238                THE PATHFINDER.
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 staysail, 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, serjeant," the old
sailor added; "'but it blows forty-two pounders! I had no
idee 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-"
spitting from his mouth, with distaste, a dash of the spray
that had just wetted his face, "and if this d  d water had
a savour 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 neighbourhood
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'1l 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 thou.
sana, the better way is to give it up at once, and to slide
down under their lee, as fast as poQsible.  Nq.,-no-there




THE PATHFINDER.                 239
they are, up yonder in the drizzle,-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?  It
is quite impossible we should ever reach the station with this
wind directly in our teeth."
"There are several serious professional reasons, serjeanlt,
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 shade of
the head, but nothing capsizes discipline so much, as to crnfess ignorance.  1 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
himrn."
" 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, serjeant, 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, serjeant, and I pledge you the character of
Charles Cap, that all will go well."
Serjeant 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 good opinion.  On the other hand, as distrust, like
love, 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, should have been confided to a commissioned officer




240                TuI PATI N.D R.
of right; and Major Duncan had excited a good deal of dis.
content among the subalterns of the garrison, by having
confided it to one of the serjeant'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 wotld, at
once, be.the means of placing a superior in his ahoes.




TnIE PAlMUFIND R.:./
CHAPTER XVI.'Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's f9rm
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?
BYtoN.
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 infer.
red, 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 serjeant, Cap, Pathfinder, the QuarterMaster, and Mabel.  There was a shade on the brow of the
21




242               THE PATHFINDER.
latter, who had been made acquainted with the real state of
things; and who had fruitlessly ventured an appeal in favoui
of Jasper's restoration to the command. A night's rest, and a
night's reflection, appeared also to have confirmed the Path.
finder in his opinion of the young man's innocence; and
he, too, had made a warm appeal in behalf of his friend.
though w:th the same want of success.
Several hours passed away, the wind gradually getting to
be heavier, and the sea rising, until the motion of the cutter
compelled Mabel and the Quarter-Master 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 huntbr 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 tile
captious, supercilious, and dogmatic critic, quarrelling with
trifles, and exaggerating immaterial things, he began to exhibit the qualities of the hardy aod experienced seaman, that
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 re.
semblance to those of th-e gulf stream.  I like this, serjeani,
[ 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
unpulse of the old seaman was to give an order to " stand




THE PA'rHFINDER.                243
by, to ware offshore;" but the cool-headed soldier restrained
him.
"By going a little nearer," said the serjeant, "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
Tained 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 serjeant 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 flag-staff, 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 garrisgn did not slumber.
One of the look-ouits 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 fhe picturesque.  The raging of the tempest
had a character of duration, that rne it easy to ima.
gTee it might be a permanent feature of the spot. The
roar of the wind was without intermission, and the rai
waVer answered to its dulf    grran  strains, with hissing
spray, a menacing wash and sutten surges  T        Izle
mae  medi,,m  Cr thu  ove which closelV resembled that
oa thinmist  softenin'  and rendering m sterious'the ima-ges
it revealed. while thb o.enial feeing that is apt to accompan-y
a gale of wind on water, contribued to aid the milder mnflu.
rnces of the moment.    e     atermina
up out of the obscurity, grand, sombre and impressive, while




244               THE PATHFINDER.
the solitary, peculiar and picturesque glimpses of' life that
were caught in and about thp fort, formed a refuge for the
eye to retreat to, when oppressed with the more imposing
objects of nature.
"They see us," said the serjeant, "'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 tlh
north-eastern bastion; I know him by his height, and by the
officers around him!"
"Serjeant, 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 out.
side, in weather like this."
" I know it-I see it-serjeant, and pleasant as is that
sight to you landsmen, we must leave it. For myself, I am
never as 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 indis.
pensable 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 beforeithe gale. While mak.
ing 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,
hau obtained some general knowledge of the size and shape




THE PATHFINDER.                  245
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, that twenty-four lours
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 peo.
ple 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 head-lands and havens, Jasper would have carried the cutter in shore, long ere this, and
placed her in safety, in some secure anchorage. But, Cap
stilr 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 canvass 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; fobr 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 b6dy with a seaman's instinct.
Ri -9




246               THE PATHFINDER
while his eves watched the caps of the seas, as they broke ano
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 brqad 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 steer.
ing a course to render it probable that the latter would pass
within a few yards of her.  She was a fill-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 canvass she had set, was a close.
reefed main-top-sail, and two small storm-staysails, one fbrward and the other aft. Still the power of the wind pressed
so hard upon her as to bear her down nearly to her beamends, whenever the hull was not righted by the buoyancy of
some wave under her lee. Her spqrs 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 relnark had been addressed. "That is the




THE PATHFINDER.                 247
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 have 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," return
ed the man shaking his head despondingly, " for we are get.
ting 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!"
" Poh! man, poh!-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 appear.
ance of the approaching passage. The Scud was now head.
ing directly for the fore-foot of the Frenchman; and, the dis.
tance between the two vessels having diminished to a hundred
yards, it was momentarily questionableif 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 wind.
ward, and a few muskets were pointed, as if to order the peo.
ple 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, bhut the wind howled through her rigging,
whistling the thousand notes ofra ship,; and the hails and cries
that escape a Frenchman with so much readiness, were inau.
dible.
" Let him hollow 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 ex
pectation that, at the next surge ahead,-she would drive hows
foremost directly into the planks of the other vess-. But
this was not to be. Rising from the crouchkng posture she




248                THE PATHFINDER.
had taken, like a panther about to leap, the cutter dashej 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 taffrailr 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 bonhommie and good taste in this act of courtesy, when
circumstances allowed of no otlier 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. Serjeant, he's a humbug."
"'T was civil, brother Cap," returned the other, lowering
his hand from the military salute which his pride as a soldier
had induced him to r.eturn —"'t was 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 glit
tering black mass, of the Montcalm's hull, her waving top-sail,
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 consola.
tion   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 through.
out the night, the -cutter was lying-to, as before, head.
reaching as a matter of course, and occasionally waring to
keep off the land. It is unnecessary to dwell on the incl



THE P4 THFINDER.                249
dents 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 howling of the wind, and the fearful drift. The
last was the most serious danger; for, though exceedingly
weatherly under her canvass, 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 fol.
lowed through the forest to manifest in his own skill. But
he nowthought himself justified in interfering, which he did
in his own unsophisticated and peculiar manner.
" Sleep is sweet, Master Cap," he said, as soon as the eyes
of the latter were fairly open, and his consciousness had sufficiently returned —" Sleep is sweet, as I know from expe.
rience, 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,
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
ccnfidencea 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 mat/ be different with Mabel Dunham. She has her gifts,
too, it is true; but they are not rude like oui s, 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
16




l50                THE PATHFINDCER.
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 rea.
sonable and silent. Not a word have I heard from her, con.
cerning 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'11 warrant it!-Girl-like, and Dunham-like, too. Any.'hing is better than an old uncle, and everybody knows more
than an old seaman!  This is human natur', Master Path.
finder, and d —— e, if I'm the man to sheer a fathom, star.
board 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
fhis 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?" de.
manded the Pathfinder.
"Ha! encouraging, disheartening?-Why, neither.  No,
no-there is nothing encouraging about it; and, as for dis.
heartening, nothing ought to dishearten a seaman. You
never get disheartened or afraid in the woods, my friend."
" I'll not say that —I'11 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'ught to remember there is such a person as Mabel Dunham




THE PATHFINDER.                 251
un 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 serjeant, 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 fe.
rocity, as it' he would gladly have quarrelled with the weather.
"It may be well, brother," the serjeant 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 circum
stances, the boy will save us from drowning if possible."
" Ay-ay-'t is 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'11 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 highlands 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 forecas.
Ile, " 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 to 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-I knew it!" cried the Pathfinder, clapping




252               THE rATHFINDER.
his hand kindly on Jasper's shoulder.  "The lad is as true
as the best compass that ever run a boundary, or brought a
man off from a blind trail!  It is a moral 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 blackguardsbut, 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, per.
haps 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, every thing 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, nefore 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-deuce, you would
anchor on a lee shore, in a gale of wind!"




THE PATHFIND)E;..                253
"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.
Harkee, young man, 1'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 dare say, 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-deuce."
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 ex.
pressed in every lineament of his face.
CIHAPTER 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."
COWPEa
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 serjeant, he had bees
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
22




2aS4               THE PATHFINDPIR.
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 n6t 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," she said, 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 that 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 be.
hind the teeming word, at which Jasper hesitated; but the
ndefinable and controlling sense of womanly diffidence made
her suppress her womanly curiosity. She waited in silence
fb)r him to explain his own meaning.
1 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 ex..pressed, before they yield them all their own sympathies,
and she had a vague consciousness that these of Jasper's
might properly be enumerated in the class; with a readiness
that belonged to her sex, therefore she preferred changing




THE P&TIUIINDER.               255
the discourse to permitting it to proceed any fur.her, in a
manner so awkward and so unsatisfactory.
"Tell me one thing, Jasper, and I shall' be content," she
said, speaking now with a firmness that 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 harve
shaken strong distrust. "As I hope for mercy,;ereafter, 1
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 quar.
ter, just now, that I scarce 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 older, and 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 Ma.
bel, 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 theocean 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 cutteryou must be the best judge of our real situation!"
4" 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"
" I think of you, Mabel, and that is more, much more,
than all the rest put together," returned the young man, wnth




258(.              THR PATHFINDER.
a strength of expression and an earnestness of look, that uttered
infinitely more than the words themselves.
Mabel's heart beat quick, and a gleam of grateful satisfactior shot across her blushing fiatures; 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 that was naturally upper.
most.
"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 dash.
ing 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 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 that elapsed ere the serjeant 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," she added 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 prudent, or excusable in one in'command of an expedition. Jasper may think the chance of drowning in get.
ting ashore, fully repaid by the chance of escaping as soon
as he reaches the land."
" Serjeant Dunham I"




THE PATHFINDER.                 257
" 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
franl;lv 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."'1"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 colours. 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 suspicicus 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, 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
slhe, 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
ook of concern that he cast around at the scene, as soon as
he was in thle open air. Some rumours of the situation of
the Scud had found their way below, it is true; but, in this
instance, rumour had lessened, instead of magnifying the dan.
ger. He was allowed a few minutes to look about him, and
then the question was put as to the course that he thought it
prudent to follow.
"I see no means of saving the cutter but to ancho,' no
answered simply, and without hesitation.
22 *




TO    PATH&'I2DER.
W V'hat, 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 break
e'rs."
The effict 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," he said, in answer to the
remonstrances of the serjeant 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, as 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 edicts of the gale, as well as for the opinion he had just
given.
"It would at least do no harm," Eau-douce mildly replied.'Bv 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




RtHE PATHDTNR. D5
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. Serjeant,
a word with yo'l, 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," he said,
blowing his nose, and speaking with a slight tremour —" You
and I, serjeant, 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 sea-faring man can with propriety make to such
an event, is that it should happen on this bit of d-d freshwater."
Serjeant 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, serjeant, what chance will even the stoutest:nan 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 shoreo,
on which the gale was blowing at right angles, with a vio




260                THE PATHFINDER.
ience that forbade the idea of showing any additional can.
vass, with a view to claw off: The small portion of the
mainsail that was 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 compliceaed 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 an.
nounced 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 near a half a mile; while the water within
their line was white with foam, the air above them was so far
filled with vapour 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 serjeant 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 permis.
sion 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 that 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 labour 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 over.
hauled, 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 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




ThE P.TEPINDER.                 261l
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 wefe dashing inboard, at every plunge oYf
the vessel; the duty just mentioned having been executed
with the bodies of the crew frequently buried in the whiaiy,
and walked to a drier part of the deck, aft. Here  h"iwas
met by the Pathfinder, who was standing near Mabel; n'd the
Quarter-Master.  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 frienq, the guide, "-I have been
of no use this morning, for my giffs are of little account, as
you know, in a vessel like this; but, should it please God to
let the serjeant'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 re.
joined, the party being so near together that all that was
said by one, was overheard by the others. " I am afraid none
of us could live to reach the fort."
"I' t 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 any thing 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 serjeant 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."




262               THE PATHFINDER.
Jasper drew nearer to the serjeani, and took his hand,
pressing it earnestly, and in a way to denote strong, almost
uncontrollable feelings.
"Serjeant Dunham," he said, 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 ser.
jeant, huskily.
"Will you give her — give us all, the only chance for
libe, 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 serjeant 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 fromr the post he had some time occu.
pied, which was at the side of the man at the helm, and drew
nigh the group.
" Master Eau-deuce," he said, 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 serjeant, 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, ".nd 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-deuce, 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 263
rag of sail that had so long been set was taken in. At that
mnment, 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
got to be 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 that 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," he added,
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.




264               THE PATHFINDER.
" 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
gathered round the spot, and 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 grave, for
he well know nothing would hold the vessel did she get within
the vortex of the breakers, the first line of which was appear.
ing 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, serjeant, 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 as 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 mes that this cut
ter 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, r, —-I trust to the under-tow. I headed for the bluff
because Iknew that it was stronger at that point than at any




THE PATHFINDER.                 25
other, and because we could get nearer in with the land with.
out entering the breakers."This was said with spirit, though without any particular
show of resentment.  Its effect on Cap was marked, the
fieling 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!"  J
"This may never happen on the ocean, sir," Jasper an.
-swered, modestly, "but we have known it to happen here."
"The lad is right, brother," put in the serjeant; " for though
[ 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 unddr-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 return.
ing to the lake by some secret channels. This could not be
done on the surface, where both wind and waves were con.
8tantly 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 necessa.
rily, act on the bottom of a vessel that 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 cur.
rents 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. In.
stead of resembling bars of iron in rigidity, as before, they
2.       J 17




266               THE PATHFINDER.
were curving downwards, and to a seamen'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
"'T is the under-tow!.' he exclaimed, with delight, fairly
bounding along the deck to steady the helm, in order that
tle cutter might ride still easier-" Providence has placed us
directly in its current, and there is no longer any dasnger!"'
"Ay-dy, 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
frqm shipwreck by the skill and knowledge of Jasper, without regarding the opinions of Cap, whose remarks were nov,
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 fantasy,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."
SHAKSPEARE.
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;




THE PATHFIIN DER.               267
and in double that time, the entire sheet presented the ordi.
nary scene of disturbed water, that was unbroken by the
violence of a tempest. Still the waves came rolling inces.
santly 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 that 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 to 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 confine.
ment 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 serjeant was appealed to:-his opinion
proved to be favourable, and preparations to carry the whim
into effect were immediately made.
The party that was to land, consisted of Serjeant 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, bhv steering in the stern. There was lit.
tle 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, ere 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




2t8               THE PATHFINDER.
felt the novelty of her situation, in landing through a surtf
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, up.
pearing 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 out-done 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 serjeant 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 i quest of game.
t-  tiffTnder wiii remain near  you, ir[, a  no doubt he
will t or1 you some of the traditions of this part of the world,
o~"me oef hi.~.L wn-exriences win the   Minos. 
Tlg';`"e-"''aughed, p;romisedtohave  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 direc.
tion, 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 pa.
norama. 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-erist and
the north. Far as the eye could reach, nothing but forest
was visible, not even a solitary sign of civilization oreaking
mn upon the uniform and grand magnificence of nature. The




THE PATHFIN DER.                269
gale had driven the Scud beyond the line of those forts, with
which the French were then endeavouring 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 streight.
The cutter rode at single anchor, with6ut the breakers,
esembling some well imagined and accurately executed toy,
that was intended rather for a glass case, than for the 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 and musing 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 cornpanion, 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. 1 have coasted
this lake, in search of skins, afore the war, and have beei
here already; not at this very spot, for we landed yonder
where you may see the blasted oak that stands above the
gluster of hemlocks —"
23 *




270                THE PAT7IN'DIm.
"How   Pathfinder, can you remember all thes 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 extra.
ordinary neighbourhood 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 leg.
gings and muddied moccasins. 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 de-..ineating 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 at frontier girl,




THE PATHFINDER.'271
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 con.
tinue with him, and not to return to the sea shore."
"The woods are never silent, Mabel, to such as under.
stand their meaning.  Days at a time, have I travelled them
alone, without feeling the want of company; and, as for con.
versation, 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 craved no more than his bounty and his care. But other feelings have got uppermost, and
I suppose natur' will have its way.-Al 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," enquired the girl, with
the directness and simplicity that the pure of heart, and the,rndesigning, 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 t 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 think
ing of the welfare of men as humble as we are. We lhave
our pleasures, it is true, as well as our gifts, but we rnmght 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 the real wants, men ought to be nothing
less than as perfectly happy, as their infirmities will allow."
" Every creatur' has its gifts, Mabel, and nen have theirs,"
answered the guide, looking stealthily at his beautifiul companion, whose cheeks had flushed and eyes brightened under
the ardour of feelings, excited by the novelty of her striking
situation; "and all must obey them. Do yolu see yonder




272'HE PATHFINDER.
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, be.
sides 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 het
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 as ignorant, as frivolous, as vain, and as 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 faull.n 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.hey are about to take wives, I do."




THE PATHFINDER.                 273
"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 her.
self a favourite 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,"
she said, with an earnest sincerity, " nor should there be any
cloud between us. You are too upright and frank to meet
with any thing but sincerity and frankness in return. Surely
-surely, all this means nothing-has no other connexion
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 sarjeant
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 dare say 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 shrunk with maiden
shame, from adding what she wished so earnestly to say.
Rallying hei courage, however, and determined to know all




274               TIE PATHFINDERL.
as soon and as plainly as possible, after a moment's hesita.
tion 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
Ibrest gifts and frontier ways, would ever be able to do. The
Sarjeant 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 en.
couraged 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?"
"Anall?"
"I mean, Pathfinder, that you have talked of this match
more to oblige my father than any thing else; that yourfeelings are no way concerned, let my answer be what it
mav?"
T'he scout looked earnestly into the beautiful face of Mabel,
which had flushed with the ardour 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 vigour 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, Path.
finder, than of most others —I am not certain that 1 do not
think better of you, than of any other; for your truth, ho.




THE P'ATHFIN DER.              275
nasty, simplicity, justice and courage are scarcely equalled
oy any of earth."
"Ak! Mabel! —These are sweet and encouraging words
from you, and the sarjeant, after all, was not as 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, reve.
rence you, almost as much as I reverence my own dear
father, it is impossible that I should ever become your wifethat I"
The change in her companion's countenance was so sud
den 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
hink 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 maoming to my words than I do myseilf-a match
like that would be unwise —unnatural, perhaps."




276               THE PATHFINDER.
" Yes, unnat'ral-ag'in natur'; and so I told the sarjeant,
but he would have it otherwise."
" Pathfinder!-Oh! this is worse than I could have ima.
gined-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 1
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 sarjeant 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," any thing but this-any thing but this. Speak to me,
Pathfinder,-smile again —say one kind word-any thing to
prove you can forgive me."
" The sarjeant 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 sarjeant was wrong,
after all."
"We can be friends, though we cannot be man and wife,"
continued Mabel, almost as much disturbed as her companion, scarce knowing what she said; "we can always be
friends, and always will."
"I thought the sarjeant was mistaken," resumed the Pathfinder, when a great effort had enabled himn 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




THE PATHFIN DER.                277
notion; and it might have been better, too, had you not beer,
so pleasant and confiding, like; yes, it would.",
" If 1 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, IJ'ould 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 misch ef. 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 ine! Mabel, I have indeed been on a false trail,
since we met!"
"But you will now travel on the true one. 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."
"But it is not a proper feeling that you should love me,
nor am I a lovely sight.  You will forget it all, when you
come seriously to recollect that I am altogether unsuited to be
your wife."
"So I told the sarjeant —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, not
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,
-ny misgivings in this affair would not have been so greats. apd
they might not have been so true."
24




~2'8              THE PATHFINDER.' We will not talk of Jasper Western," repeated Mabel,
the colour mounting.o her temples —" he may be good
enough in a ga-e, 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 sarjeant says that never can
take place. But the sar jeant was wrong once, and he may
oe 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! "
I "And what care I for Lundie? He is major of the 55th,
ndl may command his men to wheel and march about as he
pleases, but he cannot compel me to wed the greatest or the
reanest of his mess: besides, what can you know of Lun.l~'s wishes on such a subject?"
x, From Lundie's own mouth. The sarjeant had told him
that hie 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 itewould not be more ginerous in
mne 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,,hat I thought it might; but when he told me that the quartermaster would be his choice, I would not abide by the condi.




THE PAl HFINDER.-               279
tions.  No —no-Mabel; I know  Davy Muir well, and
though -he may make you a lady, heca nenver make you a
happy woman, or himself a gentleman. I say this honestly;
I do; fbr I now plainly see that the sarjeant has been wrong."
"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 in.
fluence with me. I would rather remain as I am, to my
dying day, than become a lady, at- the cost of being his
wi fe."
" 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 Quarter-master.  I feared the com.
mission 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 your.
self, 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've discovered the sarjeant'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
sarjeant 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 Ifrget 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 niever know'd it afore, Mabel, but girls, as you- call
4*




320               A'HE PATHFINwDER.
them, though gals is the name I've been taught to use, are
of more account in this life, than I could have believed.
Now, afore I know'd you, the new-born babe did not sleep
more sweetly than I used to could; 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
afbot, 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 vil.
lages 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 any
thing rude in my dreams, but the very last night we staid 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 that were among the branches, sung ballads,
instead of the notes that natur' gave, and even the deer stopped
to listen. I tried to shoot a fa'an, but Killdeer missed fire, and
the creator' 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'1l 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 sarjeant was wrong —yes, he was wrong, and it's




THE PATHFINDER.                281
of no avail to attempt to make the dove consort with the
wolf.'
"Here comas 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 serjeant's foot was heard crushing
the dried twigs hard by, and then his form appeared shoving
aside the bushes of' a copse, quite near. As he issued into
the open ground, the oild 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 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 serjeant 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 anv.
"She has her mother's lightness and activity, my friend,
with somewhat of her father's force," he said. "Her mother
was not quite as handsome, I think myself; but the Dunhams
were always thought comely, whether men or women. Well,
Pathfinder, I take it {or 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,
sarjeant," 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, sarieant; I fear she was taken quite by
surprise —yes, I do."
24*              18




282                THE PATIHFIN DIR
"Well, well, surprises in love, are like an ambush in wai
and quite as lawful; though it is not as 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, sarjeant, Mabel did not try to escape; that I can
say with a clear conscience."
"I hope the girl was not too willing, neither! Her mother
was shy and coy for a month, at least-rbut frankness, after
all, is a recommendation, in 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 experi.
ence. A mistake in you, or in 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 Serjeant Dunham was not
a Hebrew scholar.
The muscles of the listener's face twitched, as the serjeanl
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 featutes, 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, that 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 humour gleamed over a mind that was almost
infantine in its simplicity and nature; an impression, how.
ever, that was soon driven away, by the discovery of emotions so painful and so deep, that they seemed'fo6 harrow the
very soul. Indeed, in this respect, the Pathfinder was a mere
child: unpractised in the ways of the world, he had no idea
of concealing a thought of any kind, and his mind received
and reflected each emotion, with the pliability and readiness
of that period of life; the infant scarcely yielding its way.
ward imagination to the passing impression, with greater
hacility, than this man, so simple in all his personal feelings,




THE PATHFINDER.                 283
so stern, stoical, masculine and severe in all that touched his
ordinary pursuits.
s" You say true, sarjeant," 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, sarjeant!"'A man of your merits, would make an impression on a
rock, give him time, -Pathfinder."
"Sarjeant 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-as 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, sarjeant, 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 cornmmissary, or a parson, but it's the devil and all when it gents possession of either 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,)ossible, in matters of this sort. If like loved like, women
would love one another, and men also. No-no-like loves
dislike,"-the serjeant was merely a scholar of the damp,'and you have nothing to fear from Mabel on that scores




28~                TH~tL  PATHPiFIN i:R.
Look at Lieutenant Muir; the man has had five wives, al
ready, 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 fbathers 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."
"Sarjeant, 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 serjeant
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 honourable to betray
Mabel, and expose her to the resentment of one whom he
well knew to be stern in his anger.
"MWe 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, sarjeant, to make me think any better of myself."
"The girl has not dared to refuse you —to refutse her
father's best friend?"
Pathfinder turned his face away to conceal the 1ook 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 any thing, or to utter harsh
words to a dog. I have not put the question in a way to be
downright retused, serjeant."
" 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'11 speak to Mabel myself, this very
evening, using your name as principal in the affair."
" I'd rather not-I'd rather not, sarjeant.  Leave the mat




THE PATHFINDER.                  285
le7 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 thatjs, that you
promise me on the honour of a scout, that you will put the
matter plainly to Mabel, the first suitable opportunity, and rno
mincing of words."
"I will ask her, sarjeant-yes, I will ask her, on condi.
nion that you promise not to meddle in the affair —yes, I will
promise to ask Mabel the question whether she will marry
tne, even though she laugh in my face, at my doing so, on
that condition."
Seijeant Dunham  gave the desired promise, very cheer.
Ufliy, for he had completely wrought himself up into the
belief that the man he so much esteemed and respected him.
self, 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 xwas
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; for it is one of the most unpleasant features in the intercourse between knowledge and ignorance,
taste and unsophistication, refinement and vulgarity, that thp
higher qualities are often necessarily subjected to the judgments
of those who have absolutely no perception of their existence.
It followed that Serjeant 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
nls estimate of the Pathfinder's chances, as might at first
appear.  Knowing, as he well did, all-the sterling qualities
of the man, his truth, integrity of purpose, courage, self
devotion, disinterestedness, it was far from unreasonable tc
suppose that qualities like these would produce a deep impression on any female heart, where there was an opportunity to acquire a knowledge of their existence; 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.




as9cm             THE PATHFIN DEk.
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 that seemed
plausible, and it was so grateful to fancy that the daughter
might yet be his, the reader is not to be surprised, when he,s 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
serjeant 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 Quarter Master is no favourite," 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,
tuod discretion is the word."; Oh's me! sarjeant, I fear you are mistaken!"




THE PATHFINDER.'28'
CHAPTER XIX.
"Thus was this place
A happy rural scat of various view." —MILION.
MABEi, was in waking on the beach, and the canoe was
soon launched. Pathfinder 9arried the party out through the
surf, in the same skilful manner as he had brought it in, and,
though Mabel's colour heightened with excitement, and hbe
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 anger.
ed, 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 that
had been dropped into a pool. The cable of the Scud was
scarce seen above the water, and Jasper had al'ready hoisted
his sails, in readiness to depart, as soon as the expected
breeze from the shore should fill the canvass.
It was just sun-set, 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 front
being appeased, Cap retained a supervisory power, while
the young man was allowed to work the craft, subject, at all
rimes, to the control and interference of the old seaman.
To this Jasper consented, in preference to exposing Alabel
any longer to the dangers of their present situation; for now
that the violence of the elements had ceased, he well anew
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




288               THE PATIFINDER.
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 mid-way between the two shores, as the best
means of commanding a broatdview; 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
serjeant'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, ere 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
liut 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, block-houses, and palisadoes, frowned on
a head-land, 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
flag-stafl.
Cap gave an ejaculation as he witnessed this ungrateful
exhibition, and he cast a quick suspicious glance at his bro.
ther-in-law.




THE PATHFINDER.                 29
"The dirty table-cloth hung up to air, as my name is
Charles Cap! " he muttered, " and we hugging this d. —-.shore, as if it were our wife and children, met on the return
from an India v'y'ge! Harkee, 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 undertow makes an easy cable: we owe all our lives to the undertow of this very lake."
" French flummery!" growled Cap, though he did not care
to be heard by Jasper. " Give me a fair, honest, EnglishYankee-Alnerican 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 dare say, 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 serjeant.  "Let us be all eyes in passing.,
and remember that we are almost in face of the enemy."
This advice of the serjeant's 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,arth, itself, to tremble.
"That sounds like surf on some long unbroken coast!"
sxclaimed Cap, as a swell, deeper than common came to his
ears.




2Oi9              THE PFATHFINDER.
"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 ag'in.is consarned.  That is old
Niagara that you hear, or this noble stream tumbling down a
mountain!'"
"No one will have the ilnpudence 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 dare say you beat us down on
tile 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 enquired.
" 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 neighbourhood, and he asked me to vary from the line of march a
little to look at the wonder. I had heard some marvels con.
sarning 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 dan.
ger that led to no ind; but the youth among the Delawares are
very much the same as the youth among the soldiers, risky




TIHE PATIIFINDER.               291
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, that is 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,et 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 up
stream, 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 ort
the speaker.
"He went to the happy huntintrounds of his people, no
Joubt; fcr 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 block-house
near the fort, and the shot, one of light weignt, came whistling over the cutter's mast, an admonition to approach no
Inearer. Jasper was at the helm, and he kept away, smiling
at the same time. as if he felt no anger at the, rudeness of




292               THE PATHFINDER.
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
cbntinued 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 frolm 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 head-lands presented them.
selves, and the cutter, in running from one to another,
stretched across bays so deep, as almost to deserve the
names of giAfs, but nowhere did the eye meet with the evi.
dences of civilization. Rivers occasionally poured their tri.
bute 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, communica.
ting 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 pintI  be wandering beneath the high
arches of the maples, oa]s, 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 light-houses,
church-towers, beacons, or roadsteads with their shipping.
Such another coast, he protested, the world did not contain;
and, taking the serjeant aside, he gravely assured him that
the regi, n could never come to any thing, as the havens were
qleglected, the rivers had a deserted and useless look. and




THE PA1rHFINDER.                293
that even the' breeze had a smell of the forest about it, M hich
spoke ill of its properties.
But the humours of the different individuals in her, didi 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 Serjeant Dunham now thought it his duty to
go, In order to receive any communications that Major Dun.
can 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 her 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 canvass reduced to barely enough to keep
her stationary, lay the Montcalm, evidently in waiting for
their appearance. To pass her was impossible, for, by fill.
ing 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 serjeant 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 every thing set that would draw.
Guns were fired from the fort, ensigns shown, and the ram.
parts were again crowded. But sympathy was all the aid.hat I. ndie 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 canvass.
For several hours the two vessels were pre.sing throilgh
95 *




294               THE PATHFINDER.
the water as fast as possible, making short stretches to windward, appar'ently with a view to keep the port under their
2ee, 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 lee.
ward, the disparity of sailing on a wind being vary great,
and some islands were near by, behind which Jasper said it
would be possible for the cutter to conceal her future move.
ments.  Although Cap and the serjeant, 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
Quarter-Master discreetly observed that Jasper could not well
betray them, without running openly into the enemy's harbour, 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 inrmediate 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 run.
ning 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 day-light, 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




THE PATHFIN'DER.:"5
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
Dut 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 neces.
sary.
" How's this, Master Western!" demanded Cap, with.af.
ficient 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 these 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 hold, and then
you 11 be safe from any circumstances that I can contrive."
" Humph!"
Cap was obliged to acquiesce, and as every thing arouno
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 sensi
tive on the subject of circumstances, to fancy that the Scudc
was anywhere in the vicinity of a port as long established,
and as 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




296                TuIE PATHFINDER.
the main channel, and was winding his way, with a good
stiff breeze, and a favourable current, through passes thaW
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, Salt-.water,'t is the parfection 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."' Nor pilot, no lead, no beacons, buoys or light.houses,
no  "
"Trail l" 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
moccasins on leaves, as plainly as we can see the sun in the
heaven."
" D- -e, 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 spectators
time to note the different evolutions, ere the Scud had been
thrown into the wind until her mainsail shivered, next cast a'ittle by the use of the rudder only, and then she set bodily




'THE PATHFINDER.                 2'3
alongside of a natural rocky quay, where she was irnmediately 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 that a
relief usually brings.
Mabel sprang upon 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 beconme
of the cutter. The station, as the place was familiarly termed
by the soldiers of the 55th, was indeed a spot to raise expect.
ations 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. It
was the opinion of the officer who had made the selection of
this spot for a military post, that a sparkling spring near by,
had early caught the attention of the Indians, and that they
had long frequented this particular place, in their hunts, or
when fishing for salmon, a circumstance that had kept down
the second growth, and given time for the natural grasses to
take root, and to gain dominion over the soil. Let the cause
be what it might, the effect was to render this island far more
beautiful than most of those around it, and to lend it an air
of civilization that was then wanting in so much of that vast
region of country.
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. Favoured'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, &c. These  huts
were built of logs, in the usual manner, had been r-csed by
19




298                THE PATHIFINDER.
bark brought from a distance, lest the sians of labour should
attract attention, and as they had now been inhabited some
months, were as comfortable as dwellings of that description
asually ever get to be.
At the eastern extremity of the island, however, was a
small densely wooded peninsula, with a thicket of under-brush
so closely matted, as nearly to prevent the possibility of see.
ing across it, so long as the leaves remained on the branches.
Near the narrow neck that connected this acre with the res:
of the island, a small block-house 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 de.
fenceless points; the windows were loop-holes; the door mas.
sive and small, and the roof, like the rest of the structure
was framed of hewn timber, covered properly with bark to
exclu le the rain. The lower apartment, as usual, contained
store. and provisions; here indeed the party kept all their sup.
pIlies the second story was intended for a dwelling, as well
as for the citadel, and a low garret was subdivided into two
or thrfee rooms, and could hold the pallets of some ten or fifteen p( rsons. All the arrangements were exceedingly simple
and cl eap, 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 con.
cealed I y the tops of the trees, except from the eyes of those
who ha I reached the interior of the island. On that side the
view M as open from  the upper loops, though bushes even
there, I lore or less, concealed the base of the wooden tower.
The object being purely defence, care had been taken to
place t ie block-house so near an opening in the lime-stone
rock, hat formed the base of the island, as to admit of a
bucket's 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 block-houses, 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;o retreat to, in the cases of attacks, the general reader wll!




THE PATHFINDER.                  299
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 the glimpses caught through the openings, this particular island would be taken for a part of some
other. Indeed, the channels between the islands, that 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
their centre, with the express desire of ascertaining the truth.
The little bay, in particular, that Jasper used as a harbour, 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 ad.
mirably adapted to its present objects, and its natural advan.
tages had been as ingeniously improved as economy and the
limited means of a frontier post would very well allow.
The hour that 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
serjeant 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 serjeant had a private conference with the
ensign, who had been relieved, in which the latter was made
acquainted with the suspicions that existed against the fidelity
of the young sailor.  Promising due caution, the officer em.
barked, 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
arrangemlents, of which the circumstance4 would admit, not




300               TrEe PATHFIN DER.
only for her own comfort, but for that of her father. To save
labour, 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 labour. The hut
of the serjeant, 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, the girl felt proud of. her
home. As soon as these important duties were discharged
she strolled out on the island, taking a path that led through
the pretty glade, and which conducted to the only point that
was 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
sile 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'11 no engage you're not just the handsomest of thle
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 be.
lieve you think I have sufficient faculties to understand them."
"Hoot! vour mind, beautifill 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."' T thought so, two hours since, Mr. Muir, hut 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 fasten



THHE PATHFINDER.                3at
ed 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 Quarter-Master, 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 serjeant 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 an extraordinair, Mabel, if truth may be said of the
man."
" Truth should be said of him, or nothing. Pathfinder is
ray 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
ai. favour."
26




302               THIE PAT'HFINDERD.
"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 Lu-ndie, himself, were to call on me for an opinion
which I admired most, your person or your wit, beautiful
and caustic Mabel, I should he 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 dare say, 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 every body 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 any thing 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 wonderfui
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 Quarter-Mastel:o meditate on his success. Mabel had been induced to;usf
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




THE -PATHFINDER                 303
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 atten.
tions that 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.
"'T will never do, Quarter-Master,'t will never do!" com.
menced the latter, laughing in his noiseless way; "she is
young and actyve, and none but a quick foot can overtake
her. They tell me you are her suitor, if you're not her follower."' And I hear the same of yourself, man, though the presumption would be so great, that I scarce 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 momett, 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'an, 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 harboured 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-.-"
"Quarter.-Master," interrupted the other, regarding his
companion keenly, " you and I have lived together much
behind the ramparts of forts, but very little in the opea
woods, or in front of the enemy."




304               THE, PATHFINDER.
"Garrison or tent,-it all passes for part of the salne cam
paign, you know, Pathfinder; and then my duty keeps. me
much within sight of the store-houses, greatly. contrary to
my inclinations, as ye may well suppose,, having, yourself
the- aydour of battle in your temperament.  But had ye heard
what Mabel hasjust 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 selfdenial 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.
YQou 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."
" Tome her eyes, Lieutenant Muir, have always seemed
winning- and soft-kthough I wil acknowledge that they sometinmes laugh-yes, It have known them to laugh; and that
right heartily, and with downright good will-"
"Well,- it wasi just that, then; her eyes. were laughing
with all their might, as it were, and in the midst of all her
fun, she broke outwith an exclamation to this effect-I hope't will no hurt your sensibility, Pathfinder'!"
"I will not say, Quarter-Master, I will not say-Mabel's
opinion of me —is of more account than that of most others."
" Then I'll no tell ye, but just keep discretion on the sub.
ject; and why should a man be telling another what his
friends say of himn especially when they happen to say that
which may not he pleasant to hear. I'll notadd another
w'Jrd to this present communication."




THE PATHPFI DER.                305
"1 cannot make you speak, Quarter-Master, if ym,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 favour,
Ah's me-if we could be what we wish to be, instead of be.
ing 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 awn failings, in
the strongest light, just as we wish to hear the least about
therm,"
"That's just; the rationale, as the French say, of the,matterS and so I was tellingMNabel, when she ran away and lef:
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."
" AnZI what could you find to say in my behalf, QuarterMaster?"
" Why, d'ye understand, my friend, I was ruled by cir.
cumstanees, 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, Quarter-Master?"
"I'11 no swear to the exact words, but the idea was pre.
valent in my mind, ye'11 understand.  The girt was Impa.
tient, 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
26 *




30j               THE PATHFINDER.
longer. I fear her mind may be said to have come to its
conclusion."
"I fear it has, indeed, Quarter-Master, and: her father,
after all, is mistaken. Yes, yes; the sarjeant 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."
"Quarter-Master, Mabel is not my inemy; 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 dare say, ye
think so; but reason and nature are both against you, as
ye'll find in the end. Ye've heard the saying of'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 exceed.
ingly 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!"
lere the Quarter-Master indulged in a sneering laugh,




THE PATHFINDER.                 307
chat proclaimed any thing but respect and admiration for his
friend Lundie's sagacity in selecting that particular spot foi
his operations.
"The post is as well chosen, as any I ever put foot in,'
said Pathfinder, looking around him, as one surveys a pice
ture.
" I'11 no deny it-I'11 no deny it. Lundie is a great sol
dier, 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 its 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
Lundiehirnself, 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, Serjeant 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 that 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 ~6tice if any
danger approaches from that quarter. If.'ye should look a
few miles on the main, especially on the York side, the in.
formation you'd bring in would be all the more accurate,
and, consequently, the more valuable.
" 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 bNt 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 that shall help this little
enterprise to come off with flying colours. To tell you the
truth, my friend, he is conscious it should never have been
Itttempted; hut 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 Quarter-Master then continued to reason with hi




cotmtanon, in order to induce him to quit. the island, W.ithout
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 met bad reasons by good
ones, resisted every inducement that was not legitimate, by
his intimate acquaintance with his peculiar duties, and was
blind, as usual, to the influence of every incentive that could
not stand the test of integrity.  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 Serjeant
Dunham and the lieutenant, led to more consequences. When
it was ended, secret orders were issued to the men, the block,
house 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 serjeant, who had been much occupied at what was called the harbour, came into his own
hut, followed by Pathfinder and Cap, and as he took his seat
at the neat table that 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 thos who
know how to face their enemies."
"You do not expect me, dear father, to play Joan of Are,
and to lead the men to battle?"
" Play whom, child-did you ever hear of the person Ma
oel mentions, Pathfinder?"
"Not I, sarjeant; but what of that? I am ignorant and unedicated, and it is too great a pleasure to me to listen to her
oice and take in her words, to be particular about persons."




THE PATHFINDER.                309
" I know her," said Cap, decidedly; " she sailed a pri ateer
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 Pathfindor'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 McNab,
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 honours their memories, by taking a fifth."
"The Quarter-Master tells me," said Pathfinder, innocentiy, "that when a man's feelings have been harrowed by so
nlany losses, there is no wiser way to soothe' them, than byploughing 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 serjeant with a grim smile. "But
let him tell Mabel his mind, and there will be an end of his
suit. I very wel know that my daughter will never be the
wife of Lieultenant Muir."
This was said in a way that was tantamount to declaring




310               THE PATHFINDER.
that no daughter of his, ever should become the wife of the
person in question. Mabel had coloured, 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
X 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 Path.
finder, who was any thing but learned in the ordinary lore of
white men —" tell it to us, in your own pretty way; I dare
say the sarjeant 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 dare say 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 deat
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 serjeant nodded at the guide, as much as to say, you
see how the land lies; and then he had sufficient consideras.
tyon 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 b-.
hind, on the island; but you may counsel and influence.




THE PATHFINDEP;- i,
Strictly speaking, Corporal McNab wie, oe tr..   ~.sanding
officer, and I have endeavoured to impress hiri with a sense
of his dignity, lesa ne 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 Quarter.Master
once break through the regulations of the expedition, he may
pretend to command me, as well as McNab."
"More particularly, should Mabel really cut him adrift,
while you are absent. Of course, serjeant, you'll leave
every thing that is afloat, under my care? The most d —le
confusion has grown out of misunderstandings between commanders-in-chief, ashore and afloat."
"In one sense, brother, though, in a general way, the cor.
poral is commander-in-chief. History does indeed tell us
that a division of command leads to difficulties, and I shall
avoid that'danger. 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 re.
treat should the're 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 Quarter-Master'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 mutAihalt here. We shall ieave 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
vwo largest boats, leaving you the other, and one bark canoe.
WVe 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 that 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,s piracy, unless your boat is regularily cornmis
Rloned, either as a public, or a private armed cruiser."




312               TIHE PATHFINDER.
"I have the honour to hold the colonel's appointment as
Serjeant-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 them, 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 car.
tied 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 naught 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 sen'
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 every body can
understand."
"' That is plain enough, brother Dunham; but I do not
see my way so clear, in the matter of the ship's papers."
" An English colonel's appointment ought to satisfy any
Frenchman of my authority; and what is more, brother, it
shall."
" But I do not see the difference, father, between an Eng-!ishman's and a Frenchman's employing savages in war?"
"All the odds in the world, child, though you may not be
able to see it. In the first place, an Englishman is naturally
humane and considerate while a Frenchman is naturally
ferocious and timid."
"And you may add, brother, that he will dance from
morning till night, if you'11 let him."
"Very true," gravely returned the serjeant.
" But, father, I cannot see that all this alters the case. Ift
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?"




THE P-ATHlNDER.               313
"It's reasonable-it's reasonable, and I have never been
one of them that has raised a ciy 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 —iwomen
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 endeavour 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."
"' The King of -France's real name is JCaput," observed
Cap, with his mouth full of venison.'" I once carried -a great
scholar, as a passenger, and he told me that these Lewises
thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, were all humbugs, and
that the men's real name was Caput; which is French for' head;' meaning that they ought to be put at the foot of the
ladder, until ready to go up to be hanged."
"Well, this does look like being given to scalping, as a
nat'ral gill," Pathfinder remarked, with the air of surprise
with which one receives a novel idea, " and I shall have less
compunction than ever in sarving ag'in the miscreants,
though I can't say I ever yet felt any worth naming."
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. The trio of men, indeed, in
this particular, so much resembled the great mass of their
fellow-creatures, who usually judge of character equally
without knowledge and without justice, that we might not
have thought it necessary to record the discourse, had it not
some bearing in its facts on the incidents of the legend, and
in its opinions on the motives of the characters.
Supper was no sooner ended, than the serjeant dismissed
his guests, and then held a long and confidential dialogue
with his daughter.  He was little addicted to giving way to
the gentler emot ons, but the novelty of his present situation
awakened feelings that he was unused to experience. Thie
20




814                TUE PATHFINDER.
soldier, or the sailor, so long as he acts under the immediate
supervision of a superior, thinks little of the risks lie runs'
but the moment he feels the responsibility of conlmand, 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 Serjeant Dunham, who, instead of looking f6rward 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 sheappeared 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.f 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 and intimately
with beings who could only be kept in subjection by an
unremitted discipline. On the present occasion, however, o'
after they were left alone, 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.
"' Thel,; 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
ue to another."
"And her eyes, father?"
"Her eyes were like thine, child, too-blue and soft, and
inviting like; though hardly so laughing."




THE PATHFINDER.                 315
"Mine will never laugh again, dearest fathei, 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 nlay mieet
with many gayer, and many dressed in finer clothes; 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 honour one's parents?'
"It is just as right to honour 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 honour. I cannot live for ever, Mabel, but must
drop off in the course of nature, ere long, if I am not carriec
off in the course of war. You are young, and may yel 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 pro.
tector?"
Mabel did not; at least another who had expressed a desire to that effect, whatever might have been her hopes and
her wishes.




316               THE PATHFINDER.
"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 offi.cer's daughter."
"There will be little fear of that, father, if I marry Pathfinder!" returned the girl, looking up archly in the serjeant'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!"
"'T is 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 serjeant, 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 emo.
tons, that 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 meanwould 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 yvou might repent. Kiss me, Mabel, aud go'o yoau
bed' e
Had Serjeant Dunham exacted of Mabel the pledge that
he really so much desired, he would have encountered a
resistance that he might have found 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 affctions, much more than she
would ever have yielded to menace.  At that touching moment she thought only of her parent, who was about t9 quit
her, perhaps for eyer; and all of that ardent lpve for- him,
whichthad possibly been as much fed by the imagination as
by any thing 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 that 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 endeavouring 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!"
"lie 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 shoujl
do that office for me"-and the blood stole across the pallid
cheeks of Mabel, as she spoke, for high and generous resoluLions had driven back the stream of life to her heart,-" no
27 *




318 lTHE PAtHrIDEnr.
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, and 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 expe.
dition with a light heart, and trust in God. For me, you
will have, now, no caret 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 n6t living for whom I have more respect, than for Path.
finder; 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 man should seek the woman,
and not the woman the man —"  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-" Nono-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 Serjeant Dunham soon started, as it
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.




THE PATHFINDER..319
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 day-light, when Mabel awoke, but
tle 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 benefited 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.
But the island seemed absolutely deserted. The previous
night, the bustle of the arrival had given the spot an appearance of life that 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 the girl, and
she examined the remainder, with a curiosity natural to her
situation. Besides Cap, and the Quarter-Master, 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 block-house, rose above the bushes,
ry which it was half conceaied, in picturesque beauty. The
situ was just casting its brightness into the open places of the




320               THE PATH-  NDEh
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
gqt 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 that 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 and true 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 look.
ed 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 that 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 is'land, and waved toward
her significantly, and, as she fancied in token of amity. This
was a breathless and a trying moment, to one as inexpe.
rienced 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




Ts.- l:r* TlRgNXR.'_.s
those who dwelt onl the frontiers of America were liable, to
bring out the moral qualities of.the women to a degree thal
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 pre.
sence of mind, fortitude, and spirit that their wives and sis.
ters 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 Serjeant
Dunham's child. The motion of the branch was such as,
she believed, indicated amity; and, after a moment's hesitatation, 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, thue wife ofArrowhead. During the lime 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 comrn
panion, 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 whien
the human heart is led into confidence. Such a feeling,
however, had the youpg Tuscarora woman awakened in the
breast of our heroine; andthe latter, under the impression
that this extraordinary visit was intended for her own good,
felt every disposition to have a closer communication.  She




322               THE PATHFINDER.
no,anger hesitated about showing herself clear of the bushes,
and was not sorry to see the Dew of June imitate her confi.
dence, 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 friend.
ship, and the latter beckoned to her friend to approach,
though she knew not the manner, herself, in which this ob
ject could be effected. But the Dew of June was not slow in
letting it be seen that it was in her power; for, disappearing
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 bdyv 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 favourable instant
for the interview flashed on the mind of Mabel; and, ex.
cusing herself on the plea of not being prepared for.thbe
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 halfa-dozen noiseless strokes of the paddles, her canoe was con.
cealed 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 hei power
to command.
"Late come, late served, Mabel," satd her uncle, between
two mouthfuls of broiled salmon, for though the cookery
might be very unsophisticated on that remote frontier, the




THE PATHFINDER.                 323
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 near an
hour, and exploring our island."
" It's little you'll make o' that, Mistress Mabel," put in
Mluir, " 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 —" it might be bet.
ter to style him Major Duncan in this presence, 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 lei.
sure hours, more especially in calms, and moments of inac.
tivity."
"I know the spot you mean, Quarter-Master; 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 cocoa-nuts and bitter water, that Sancho's Island!"
"It's no very famous for dinners," returned Muir, repressing the smile that 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's 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 lan.
guage."
" We might think ourselves happy, did it not prove to be
he 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
endeavour 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 depart.
ment, 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




324               THE PATHFIN tER.
Cap,' actually suspending his mastication of a bit cf venison,
for he passed alternately, like a modern eldgant, from  fish
to flesh and back againt 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 use 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 block.
house, as the citadel, for on that all the different detachments
would naturally fall back for support, as. the French ad
vanced;:and an entrenched camp might be laid out around
the strong-hold, 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 picketed and
ditched, would be converted into very eligible positions fox
that object."
1" Whe-e-e-w! Quarter-Master.  And who the d —- 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 ven.
geance.  You could be sent down to the shore to oppose the
landting, Mabel might skirmish with her tongue at least, the




THE PATHFINDER.                ~3-5
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 block-house.  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 re.
membered the guest in the hut, c" 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 wor.
thy 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 serjeant, 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'I. no deny the serjeant'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. Serjeant Dunham has
taken counsel of his heart, instead of his head, in resolvilng
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 determina.
tion 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 scarce fifty yards




326               THE PATHFINDER
before we shall ne 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 favourable moment, she.eft 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?"
1" 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 labour,
"more slow-too quick."
Mabel repeated her questions, endeavouring 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 bel;eve you; what
cas this to do with your visit?"




THE PATHFINDER.                 327
VFriend 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."
"Block-house good place to sleep-good place to stay."
" Do you mean that I may save my life by keeping in the
block-house, 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,n the soft gentle voice of an Indian girl, permitting its notes.o fall so low as to cause them to sound melancholy and
aimid, —" Arrowhead love pale-face girl."




328               THE PATHFINDER.
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.
I 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 block-house to-day —this morning-now?"
" Block-house very good; good for women. Block-house
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
tiu!l of his soldiers."
" No full; gone away,"-here June held up four of hei
fingers,-" so many red-coats."
"And Pathfinder-would you not like to see the Path.
finder?-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 in-.4ntile laugh of an Indian girl, that Mabel could riot refrain
from joining in it, much as her fears were aroused by all that
had passed.
"' You appear to know, or to th;nk you know, all about
us, June. But, if Pathfinder be gonle, Eau-douce can speak
French, too. You know Eat-douce; shall I run and bring
hint to talk with you?"
"Ea'l-douce gone, too, all but heart; that there." As Jun
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 scarce 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 impend



THE PAT1FIN KP,                329
ed over -them might really be, she rose from the camristool, 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 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.
"Block-house very good," she repeated, as soon as her
countenance ceased to express uncertainty, laying strong emphasis on the two last words.
" Well, I understand this, June, and will sleep in it tonight. Of course, I am to tell my uncle what you have
said."
The Dew of June started, and she discovered a very mani.
fest uneasiness, at the interrogatory.
" No —no-no- -no"-she answered, with a volubillty and
vehemence that was imitated from the French of the Canadas
" no good to tell Salt-water. He much talk and long tongue.
Thinks woods all water; understand not'ing. Tell Arrow.
head, and June die."
— You do my dear uncle injustice, for he would be as little
likely to betray you, as any one."
"No understand. Salt-water got tongue, but rno eyes, no
ears, no nose-not'ing but tongue, tongue, tongue."
Although Mabel did not exactly coincide in thb;s 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,
28 *           21




330               THE PATHFINDER.
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-humouredly
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-" Salt-water," "Quarter-Master." All this was being
very accurate, and Mabel began to entertain serious doubts
of the propriety of her permitting her visiter 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 was 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 block-house?"
"Good place for woman. Block-house 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.




THE PATHIN DER.                 331
"Tuscarora everywhere-Oswego, here, Frontellac, 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."
Mlabel 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 any thing else.
" Pale-face know now-" she added —" Block-house good
for girl-no matter for men and warriors."
"But it is much matter with me, June, for one of these
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 net -know that you have been here.
Still, they must be on their guard, and we can all go into the
Dlock-house."
"Arrowhead know —see every thing, 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."




332               THE PATHFINDER.
Mabel was greatly distressed at this declaration of hei
wild friend, for it was now evident the young creature underr
stood that her communication was to go no farther. She
was ignorant how far these people considered the point of
honour interested in her keeping the secret; and, most of all
was she unable to say how far any indiscretion of her own
Inight actually commit June, and endanger her life. Al
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," she said eagerly, folding her arms round the gen.
tie, 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 intothe block-house
— 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-twvo-t'ree-four-five
-six"-here June held up her fingers, and laughed —" all
out of 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
s,he stopped, and looked back entreatingly at the Indian
wornan.
"Is there no hope of your telling me more, June?" she said.
"Know all now-block-house good-pigeon tell-Arrowhead kill."
The last words sufficed; for Mabel could not urge further
communications, when her companion herself told her, that




THE PATHFINDER.                 333
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 situa.
tion 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 store-house 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, " block-house 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 re.
pose of nature; and nowhere could any sign or symnptom be
Jiscovered, 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




t34               THE PATHFINDERo
with a little circumstance, that, in an ordinary situation,
would have attracted no attention, but which, now that hex
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 tha.
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, scarce 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 thev 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 block-house, with the woman, though
sh3 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 serjeant will deride my breeding, if he hear that his daughter passes the mornings alone
and unattended to, though he well knows that 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 havo some authority hlre,"




THE PATHFINDER.                  5
Mabel suddenly arrested her steps to say.  " Oie 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 serjeant. 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'11 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 momentIf"" 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 Quarter-Master 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.," lye are not in a part of the world, where our ensigns




:M66              THE PATHFINDER.
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 colours
being of silk, as you may understand, or painted canvass.
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-comn.
mand not to attempt an answer.
"It must be looked to," Muir continued, " and after all, 1
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 block-house, and to take
the woman with me."
"I do not see the prudence of that, Mabel. The block.
house 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, 1
would recommend your taking refuge in the boat, which, as
you may now perceive, is most favourably 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 as far advanced, and
as much exposed, as this."
"It's too late to regret it now, Mr Muir and we have
only to consult our own security."




THE PATHFINDER.                 337
"And the King's honour, 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 block-house, with a disposition 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, successfil
himself, and filled with the confidence of our having been as
faithfill 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, "1
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 block-house."
"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 possession of the means of safety,
and overlooked the want of ability to use them. But you'11
no 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 further to listen to love speeches, that, 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 hut of the other woman.
when Muir arrested the movement, by laying a hand on her
arm.
"One word, Mabel," he said, "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
29




338                 THE PATHFINDER.
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 Quarter-Master 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 be.
fore 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,
Rear'd 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 responsibl
lities of life and death rested on her shoulders. It is true,
that distrust of June's motives mingled with her ibrebodings;
but when she came to recall the affectionate and natural man.
ner of the young Indian girl, and all the evidences of good
faith and sincerity that 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




THE 1PATHF1NDER.                 339
herself compelled to act cautiously, and with a fbrethought
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 block-house, 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 m
walking about the island, that 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 Scotch woman, was
ready enough to listen to any thing that confirmed her dread
of Indian cruelties.  As soon as Mabel believed  hat her com.
panion was sufficiently frightened to make he,:' 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 McNab.
the individual who had been left in command during the alb
sence of Serjeant Dunham. On the one hand he was reso
lute, prompt, familiar with all the details of a soldier's lifi
and used to war; on the other, he was supercilious as regard.
the'provincials, opinionated on every subject connected with
the narrow limnits 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 mili
tary service, in particular, as undigested and absurd. Brad.
cock, him1slf, was not less disposed to take advice from o




340               THE PATHFINDER.
provincial, than his humble imitator; and he had been known,
on more than one occasion, to demur to the directions and
orders of two or three.commissioned officers of the corps,
who happened to be born in America, simply for that reason,
taking care, at the same time, with true Scottish wariness, to
protect himself from the pains and penalties of positive disobedience. 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 McNab, a little apart
from the rest of the soldiers; " for should the island fall into
the hands of the enemy, not only would 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
McNab, drily.
" I do not doubt your understanding it, as well as myself,
Mr. McNab; 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
vou indifferent."
" My courage, Mistress Dunham, is doubtless of a very
poor quality, being nothing but Scottish courage; your father's is Yankee, and were he here amang us, we should see
different preparations beyond a doubt. Well, times are get.
ting wtang, when foreigners hold commissions and carry
nalberds 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 0o




THE PATHFIN/DER,                 341
June was still too vividly impressed on her mind, to allow
her to yield the mutter. She changed her mode of operati,ng,
therefore; still clinging to the hope of getting the whole party
within the block-house, without being compelled to betray
the source whence she obtained her notices of the necessity
of vigilance.
" I dare say you are right, Corporal McNab," she observed,
for I've often heard of the heroes of your country, wno
have been among the first of the civilized world, if what they
tell me of them is true."
" Have you read the history of ~cotland. 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'11 warrant ye, the serjeant 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
1 know, was got from the lady I have mentioned."
"She'll no he forgetting to tall ye o' Wallace?"
"Of him, I've even read a good deal."
"And o' Bruce-and the affair o' Bannock-burn?"
" 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 haa
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,
McNab 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
tervice of the House of Hanover.  He fancied that his woun6
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.
*() *




342               THE PATHFINDER.
"' Hoot! hoot awa'."' he fairly shouted, "with your Culb
loden and Sherrif-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't will be a lang time bafore 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 deter.
mined 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 McNab will sustain
the national renown."
" Ask ye'r own father, Mistress Dunham: he is acquaint'
with Corporal McNab, and will no be backward to point out
his demerits. We have been in battle the'gither, 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, McNab, 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
block-house, in particular, to be strictly attended to."
" If he wishes to defend the honour of the 55th behind
logs, he ought to have remained in command himsal'; for,
to speak frankly, it goes against a Scotsman's bluid and
opln-ions, to be beaten out of the field even before he is attacked. We are broad-sword men, and love to stand foot to
foot with the foe. This American mode of fighting, that is
getting into so much favour, 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 broad.
sword 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 nc
surer method to encourage your enemy, than to seem to fear
him; and that there is no danger in this Indian warfare, that




THE PATHFINDER.                 343
the fancies and imaginations of your Americans I ave not aug.
mented and enlarged upon, until they see a sat age in every
bush. We Scots come from a naked region, and have no
need, and less relish, for covers, and so ye'11 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 he.
roine did not shriek —did not evw  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 McNab 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 wilful and obstinate
sinner.
" Ye'll be getting into the block-house, as fast as possible;" McNab 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 pro.
duced, prevented the woman within from undoing quickly
the verv 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 tumultuousiy, and she gained sufficient self-command
to aci collectedly. Instead of yielding to the almost convulb
sive efforts of her companion to close the door again, she
him it open long enough to ascertain that none of her own




344               THE PATHFIN Dl;n.
party was in sight, or likely, on the instant, to endeavour 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 di.
rected 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 loop-hole, 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, shenade 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 McNab
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
block-house, 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 scene
as fearfill as it was extraordinary.' For God's holy sake, Mistress Mabel," called out the wo.
man from below, for, though her fear had got to be too ungovernable to allow her to keep silence, our heroine's superior




THEi PATHIINDER.                J45
ref.nement, more than the regimental station of her father,
still controlt!ed her mode of address; " for His holv sake!
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 becbme 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 oi 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 McNab," was the answer, for it seemed sacrilegious in
her eyes to teil 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 vainglorious notions of
honour! 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 ths direction of the cluster of dead. It took
the woman but an instant to reach the fatal spot. So sudden
22




346               THE PATHFINDER.L
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
Ihorrid 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, heart-reaching, 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 thie insensible Jennie, and her reeking hair was hang
ing at his girdle as a trophy, in less than two minutes after
she had quitted the block-house. His companions were
equally active, and McNab 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 blockhoise door unbarred.  Her heart beat violently, for that detbi  alone stood between her and immediate death, and she




THE PATHFINDER.                 347
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 grat.
ing on its hinges, and she gave herself up for lost. Sinking
on her knees, the terrified but courageous girl, endeavoured
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 cars heard the bars, which went on
pivots, secured to the centre of the door, turning into theii
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 block-house,
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 savour 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 quite two
minutes more, a breathless silence reigned in the building.
During this time, the girl stood at the foot of the upper lad.
ier, 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 filly expected, though it were orfly 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
intcher effort to pray, but the moment was too horrible for




348               THI  PATHFINDER.
that relef. 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
tier 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 ex.
treme 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 counteuance 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,
es 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
Ltne.




THE PATHFINDER.               o'34P
CHAPTER XXIT
" — Spectre though I be,
1 am not sent to scare thee or deceive;
But in reward of thy fidelity."
WORDSWORTH.
rT 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 visiter
was the wife of Arrowhead, and not Arrowhead himself; or
June, at discovering that her advice had been followed, and
that the block-house contained the person she had so anxi.
ously 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.
"Block-house, 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 block-house?" 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 pro
tect you for this humanity. Tell me what is to be done, and
if my poor uncle is still living?"
I "Don't know   Salt-water has boat; maybe he go on
river"
30o




,354r0            THE PATHFINDER.
"The boat is still on the shore, but neither my uncle nor
the Quarter-Master 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 war.
rior!"
"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-wick.
ed 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 Oases, 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."
"Block-house 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 tho.ught curdles my
blood. Your people cannot. know that I am alone in the
block-house, but may fancy my uncle and the Quarter-Master with me, and may set fire to the buiiding, in order to diolodge them. They tell me that fire is the great danger to
such places."
"No burn block-house," said June, quietly.




TH- PATHFINDER..               35J1,"You cannot know that, my good June, and I have no
means to keep) them off."," No burn block-house. Block-house good; got no scalp."
"s But tell me why, June; I fear they will burn it!"
"Block-house wet-much rain-logs green-no burn easy.
Red man know it-fine t'ing —then no burn it to tell Yen.
geese that Iroquois been here.  Fader come back, miss
block-house, no found. No, no; Indian too much cunning
no touch any thing."
"I understand you, June, and hope your prediction may
be true; for as regards my dear father, should he escapeperhaps 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 block-houseblock-house 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 endeavouring 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 Quarter-Master. I cannot keep out even Mr.
Muir at a moment like this."
"' Why no look-plenty loop-hole-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.




352              THE PATHFINDER.
" Four, and harrible 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 move.
ments. It was but for an instant, however, for she imme.
diately 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 loop-hole, and taking care to make noise enough
to attract attention, 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 Salt.water and Quarter-Master 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 tool"




THE PATHFINDER.                353
"'June! —what do these words-that look imnply —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 hor.
rors to-day, without increasing them by an act like this.
dWhat 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 unpractNsed features of
this unsophisticated being, the pain of blighted affections, no
distrust could have tortured the earnest expression of her ho.
nest 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 confi~
dence. "You will not give up one of your own sex to the
omahawk?"
" No tomahawk touch vou. Arrowhead no let'em..f
June must have sister-wife, love to have you."
" No, June; my religion, my feelings, both forbid it; and,;f I could be the wife of an Indian at all, I would never tkq
the place that is yours, in a wigwam'
30 *




,%Mwi~p4x          TRE':PTATr-PIWDER.
June made no answer, but she looked grafied, anid even
grateful. She knaw 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 ia 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 infl,.ence,
had actually been one of the strongest of the -incentives that
had induced her to riskso -much, in order to save;her imaginary rival'frorn 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 tile'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 lher, which, though certainly very different, was
scarcely less strong than that of her husband's. Arrow.
head 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 entrenched
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 block-house 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 ac.
cording to the notions 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."




THE PATHFINDER.                 355
" Must have good husband," said June-" marry Eau.
douce, if do'nt like Arrowhead."
" June! this is not a fit subject for a girl who scarce knows
ii' she to live another hour, or not. I would obtain some
signsz 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 block-house with that object,
the moment a favourable 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 Dlock-house, but enough were found
outside, to reward the Indians for an attack that hal been
attended by so little risk. A party had already remol ed the
lead bodies, and Mabel saw that their arms were collected
in a piie, near the spot chosen for the banquet.  June sug



356               THE PATHFINDER.
gested that, by some signs which she understood, the deaa,
themselves, were carried into a thicket, and either buried, oI
concealed from view. None of the more prominent objects
on the island, however, were disturbed, it being the  ire of
the conquerors to lure the party of the serjeant 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 block-house 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 serjeant'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 favourable for her to quit the
block-house. 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 conll
vulsive 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.
Lon)g, 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: occasionally caught glimpses of their
mad orgies through the loops, and, at all times, was con




THE PATHFINDER.                 357
scious of their fearful presence,' by sounds and sights that
would have chilled the blood of one who': had not'so latAly
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, al.
though 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 succour
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, andher tendency to resignation more confirmed.
She understood the reasoning of June; and believed it highly probable that the block-house 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 imme.
diate 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 back-ground; 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 cf
her sex had passed the remainder of their lives in the wig.
warns of their conquerors.  Such thoughts as these inva-,iably 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 fiury, for they had possessed themselves of' all the
liquor of the English, and their outcries and gesticulations




358               THE PATHFINDER.
were those of men truly possessed of evil spirits. All ttie
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,
lezt the Indians should burn the block-house, 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 honour, 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 f4t, proposed to
fire the block-house. 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 wakefull 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
block-house might hold, though they did retain dim recollectlons 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
thei efforts.  The rush of a hundred men, with the same
object, would have heen'useless.  This Mabel, however, did
aot know, and her heart seemed to leap into her mouth, as




THE PATHFINDER.                   59
she heard the heavy shock, at each renewed effort. At
length, when she found that the door resisted these assaults,
na 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 endeavouring to light a fire. The
interest with which they laboured, 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 forests 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 ilame 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
thlat the work of destruction was commenced.  Mabel remained looking down, scarcely able to tear herself away
fiom the spot, so intense and engrossing was the interest she
/flt in the progress of the fire. As the pile kindled throughcut, however, the flames mounted, until they flashed so near
her eyes, as to compel her to retreat. Just as she reached
the )ppos'te side of the room, to which she had retired in her
alarm, a forked stream shot up through the loop-hole,.he 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




8O40               THE PATHFIDBER.
door, the only means of retreat, had been blocked up by the
brush and fire, with hellish ingenuity, and she addressed her.
self, 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
dividediher 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
Mabeli 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 shte 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 smo.
king, though no longer burning.
"W1ho is there?" said Mabel, with her mouth at the loop.
"What friendly hand has a merciful Providence sent to my
succour?"
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?"
"Salt.water no here. St. Lawrence sweet water," was
the answer.  "Open quick —want to come in."'Phe 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 that did not admit of caution. Her first impulse was to rush into the open air, in the
blind hope of quitting the block-house, but June repulsed
the attempt, and, entering, she coolly barred the door again,
before she would notice Mabel's eager efforts to embrace her.
"IBless you-bless you, June," cried our heroine most fervently.-" you- are sent by Providence to be my guardian
A-eI 1X




ThE PATrFINDPEA. tR.1
" No hag so tight-'" answered the Tuscarora woman.-'" Pale lace woman all cry, or all laugh. Let June fasten
door."
Mabel became more rational, and in a few minutes the two
were again in theupper room, seated as before, hand in hand,
all feeling of distrust or rivalry between them, being ban.
ished on the one side by the consciousness of favours received,
and on the. other by the consciousness of favours conferred.
"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 any t'ing. -Salt.water run into river, I t'ink, for
I no find him. Quarter-Master gone too. I look, and look,
and look; but no see'em, one, t'other, no where."
"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
teeling-all over Tuscarora.  Lily wouldn't run and tell
French that her fader was coming to gain victory?","PrChatps.not," ~returned Mabel, pressing a.hand on a
31             23




362               THE PATHFINDER.
brain that felt bewildered,-" perhaps not; but you trve ii,
aid me-have saved me, June! Why have you done this1 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
calml y and with greater coherence.
"Let me know the worst, June;" she said. "To-night,
your people are feasting; what do they intend to do tomorrow?"
"Don't know-afraid to see Arrowhead-afraid to ask
question —t'ink hide away, till Yengeese come back."
" Will they not attempt any thing against the block-house?
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 fox
her people."
" I am like you, June, if a wish to serve my countrymen
can make a resemblance with one as courageous as your
self."
"No-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 the 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."
4"T'ink that too; then stay where you be —block-house
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 block-house 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 PATHFINDER..363
the island? —might I not get one, and go and give mny 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 enougn 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 eyetoo 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 tnderstand 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
block-house that he may enter."
" Sartain-he prisoner here, and June like prisoner, better
than scalp; scalp good for honour, prisoner good for feeling.
But, Salt-water 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 suf.
ficiently deep to change her natural character. A long and:iscurslve dialogue now followed, in which Mabel endeavoured




iG64              THE PATHFINDER.
to obtain clearer notions of her actual situation, under a faihi
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.  Our heroine was incapable or
making; an attempt to entrap her companion, though she
plainly perceived, that, could she have been guilty of the
meanness, she would have found the undertaking one of extreme difficulty. June, however, was not required to exercise
mere than a discreet discrimination about what she revealed;
and the substance of the information she gave, may b, summed up as follows.
Arrowhead had long been in communication with the
French, though this was the first occasion on which he had
ever, entirely, thrown aside'the mask. He no longer in.
tended to trust himself among the English, for he had disco.
vered 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, that had been thought to be so
concealed from the eyes of 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, like
that of some sharp instrument, piercing her heart, 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 wars intimated, however, rather than said; and
when Mabel had time to reflect on her companion's words,
and to remember how sententious and brief her periods were,
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.




THE PATHFINDER.                 365
June did nGt hesitate to confess that she had been sent to
the island, to ascertain the precise number, and the occupatons 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 that had gone with
Serjeant 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 reve.
lations that 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 serjeant had gone, and when he was expected to
return; but she abstained from putting the question, with a
delicacy that would have done honour 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 informa.
tion, 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
that almost suspended respiration.
In this manner, the hours passed away unheeded; fol
both were too much interested to think of rest. Nature as.
serted 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 in
vaded by man.
When Mabel awoke, the light of the sun was streaming m
through the loop-hole3; and she found that the day.was con.
siderably advanced. June still lay near her, sleeping as
31 *




rHE PATHFINDER.
tranquilly as if she reposed on-we will not say down, for
the superior civilization of our own times repudiatds the
simiie —but on a French mattress; and as profoundly as if
she had never experienced concern.  The movemen/t of
Mabel, notwithstanding, soon awakened one so accustomMd
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 slouthfull 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 kind.
FAERIE QUEEN.
THE tranquillity of the previous night was not contradicted
by the movements of the day. Although Mabel and June went
to every loop-hole, 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 McNab and
his comrades had cooked, as if the smoke that curled up..
wards 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 quite near the block-house; so near,
indeed, as to have been overlooked at the first eager inquiry:
and there was a mocking levity in their postures and ges
tures, for their limbs were stiffening in different attitudes,
intended to resemble life, at which, the soul revolted.  Still,




THE PATHFINDER.                i4
horrible as these objects were to those near enough to dscover the frightful discrepancy between their aasumed and
their real characters, the arrangement had been rmade with
an art that would have deceived a negligent observpr, at
the distance of a hundred yards.  After carefully exam.
ining the shores of the island, June pointed out to,her comrn.
panrion the fourth soldier, seated with his feet hanging over
the water, his back fastened to a sapling, and holding a fish.
ing.rod in his hand. The scalpless heads were covered with
the caps, and all appearance of blood had been carefuilly
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 it.
self 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 loop.
hole. The latter then pointed out the body of Jennie, seem.
Ingly 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 l.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, that 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 de.
"oured with a feverish desire to be always at the loops, sel,




368'THE PATItFINDER.
dom 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 throwrr into the attitudes and acts of care.
less merriment and rude enjoyment. The effect on our he.
roine was much as if she had found herself an observer ot
the revelries of demons.
Throughout the livelong day, not an Indian nor a French.
man 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 heioine 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," Ma.
bel 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
canl be no more."
"Salt-water!" exclaimed June, laughing, as she stood
peeping through a loop.hole.
" My dear uncle!-Thank God, he then lives. —Oh! June
-June, you will not let them harm him?"




THE PATHFINDER.                 36It
"June poor sqiaw. —What warrior t'ink of what she say I
Arrowhead bring him here."
By this time Mabel was at a loop, and, sure enough, there
were Cap and the Quarter-Master 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 offi
cer was among them. A low conversation followed, in
which both the white leader and Arrowhead spoke earnestly
to their captives, when the Quarter-Master called out to her,
in a voice loud enough to be heard.
"Pretty Mabel! —Pretty Mabel!" he said-" look out of
one of the loop-holes, 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 reso
lution to hold the place as long as possible.
"Speak to me, uncle," she said, 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
f kentledge had been stowed in it. You ask me what you
ught 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 any thing, in order to fal into
them.  As to the Quarter-Master 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 yea




370               THE PATHFINDER.
or the next, and as for myself, why, if I were on the sea
board, I shor'Jd know what to do-but up here, it! this water)
wilderness, I can only say, that if I were behind that bit of e
bulwafk., it would take a good deal of Indian logic to rowws
me oul of it."
"You'11 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'11 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 block-house, until the
fate of the island is settled," returned Mabel. " Out enemies
can feel no concern oh 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 block-house, 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 de.
o,.,,,"l




THE PATHFIFNDgR.                371
C-No leave block-house," muttered June, who stood at
iatbel's s4ide, attentive to all that passed.' Block-house go6d;
got,no scalp."
Our heroine might have yielded, hut for this appeal; for it
began to appear io 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 noor, or to 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. Buiit
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 pris.
oner, 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 tongie; and she plainly intimated that it was not her intention to yield the building.
"You forget the capitulation, Mistress Mabel," said Muir;
"' the honour of one of His Majesty's servants is concerned;
and the honour of His Majesty, through his servant. You
will remember the finesse and delicacy that belong to mili.
tary honour?"
" I know enough, Mr. Muir, to understand that you have
no command in this expedition, and, therefore, can have no
right to yield the block-house; 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 dishonouring 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 ivhat'e uncle say," ejaculated June, who was
occupied in z. far corner of the room.  "Block-house good;
got no scalp'




372               THE PATHFINDER
"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 serjeant 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 Quarter-Master,
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 that 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 as.
certain that it was not pointed in his particular direction, and
he coolly took a pinch of snuff. As neither Muir nor Cap
had any thing 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 charac.
ters may be involved in the explanation."
"What do ye think of the Pathfinder, Master Muir, for a
garrison to so strong a post!" cried Mabel, resorting to an
equivocation that the circumstances rendered very excusable.
"What will your French and Indian companions think of the
uim of the Pathfinder's rifle?"
"Bear gently on the unfortunate, pretty Mabel, and do.not -onfnund th-' 1-...'




THE PATHFINDER.                373
and all his royal lineage! with the king's enemies.  IL Path.
finder be indeed in the block-house, let him speak, and we
will hold our negotiations directly with him.  He kncws 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 fteeling
and tastes."
The reliance on Pathfinder's friendship did not extend be.
yond the Quarter-Master and Cap, however, for even the
French officer, who had hitherto stood his ground so well,
shrunk 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 be to remain exposed to
the assaults of Killdeer, whose reputation throughout all that
frontier was as well established as that of Marlborou(h 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 block-house, for the presdnt; and June, who had as.
cended 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 that 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 serjeant 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 commandeo
32




374                THE PATHFINDER.
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, know.
ing 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 as fatal as it might otherwise prove, and which
possibly might enable her to give some more intelligible sig.
nal, by means of fire, than it would otherwise be in her power
to do. Her eye had turned carefully round the whole hori.
zon, 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 barkcanoe. 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
fromt 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 Chingach.
gook. 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 heave recognised her, as he knew that
she was of the party; and no. doubt, as soon as it was suffi.
ciently 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 ervery




1HE PATHFINDEIt.                375
reliance on his prudence and address.  The principal difficulty now existed with June, for Mabel had seen too inuch
of her fidelity to her own people, relieved as it was by symnpathy for herself, to believe she would consent to a hostile
Indian's entering the block-house, or indeed tco her leaving it,
with a view to defeat Arrowhead's plans. The half hour
that succeeded the discovery of the presence of the Grei.t
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 as sincere and natural,
as pure of heart and as 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 wduld receive
no positive injury, and she had feelings and interests directly
touching herself, that would have removed greater scruples.
As soon as it was dark, Mabel's heart began to beat
with violence; and she adopted and changed her plan of
proceedings, at least a dozen times in the course of a
single hour. June was always the source of her greatest
embarrassment; for she did not well see, firstly, how she
was to ascertain when Chingachgook was at the door, where
she doubted not he would so6n 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 neces.
sarv to determine on some course, even at the risk of choosing
one that was indiscreet. After running over various pro.
jects 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 block-house, that they will come, and try to
set it on fire?"
" No t'ink such t'ing. No burn block-house. Block-house
gpod: got no scalp."




376               THE PATHFINDER.
" ut,,, 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 any.
thing 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. Ma.
bel'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 fiist, 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
tha: the block-house 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 sagacityas a woman of high fashion entertains of the accomplish.
ments 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 sug.
gested itself to our heroine; and, by expressing it in a hurried,
but natural manner, she gained a great advantage in' execut.
mng her projected scheme.




THf1E PATHFINDER.               3'7
"; I will go down," she said, " and listen by the doo 5, 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 savoured of unnecessary caution, well knowing 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; and
June felt no unusual inducement to watch her. The dis.
tance between the two was now too great to admit of conver
sation; 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 at 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 un.
steady hands, she commenced unbarring the door. The moc.
casin of June was heard on the floor above her, when only
a single bar was turned. The second was released as her
fbrm reached half-way down the lower ladder.
" What you do!" exclaimed June, angrily.-" Run awaymad-leave block-house?  Block-house 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
32 *              24




376               THE PATHFINDER.
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
aTfraid 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 the'r
visiter, whose wary ascent of the ladder was distinctly audible, though sufficiently deliberate. It would not be easy to
say which was the most 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
block-house would be impregnable with such a garrison, at
once crossed her mind.  "Oh! Pathfinder, what has become
of my father?"
" The sarjeant 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;-wtell 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
deviltries needs but little explanations on such a subject
Every thing 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
loats, druv' the Frenchers out of them, got possession and
sunk them, according to orders, in the deepest part of thei
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 actyve
warridrs may relish. We did not lose a man, or have even
a skin barked; nor do I think the inemy suffered to speak of.
fn short, Mabel, it has been just such an expedition as Lun.
die likes; much harm to the. foe, and little harm to ourselves."




TEIE PATHF'lNDER.               379
"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 sarjeant 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 colne 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 block-house.
"' 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 sarjeant to comfort you, and to look aflei
your safety. Ah's me! I reconnoitred the island with I
heavy heart this forenoon; and there was a bitter hour wher
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 tc
tell the hound where to find the deer, and the deer how to
throw off the hound. No-no-these artifices and deviltries
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 rlptyles
have set up the poor wretch with art, it was not ingenious
enough to take in a practysed eye. The rod was held too higrh,
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




380               THE PATHFINDER.
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 any thing but witches
when Indian sarcumventions are in the wind."
"Do you think my father and his men may yet be de.
ceived?" said Mabel, quickly.
"Not it' I can prevent it, Mabel. You say the Sarpent is
on the look-out, too; so there is a double chance of our sue.
ceeding 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
sarjeant 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-honour 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
sarjeant. 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 the 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 circumrn.
siai._~; they will not lessen my endeavours, neither."
"Now we understand each other, Pathfinder-" Mabel
added, hoarsely, " let us not lose one of the precious moinents, which may be of incalculable value. Can we not get
into your canoe, and go and meet my father?"
"That is not,he course I advise. I don't know by which




THE PATHFINDER.                 381
channel the sarjeant 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
block-house 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 frot:this fortress, so long as we can keep the flames off it.
The sarjeant 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 sarleant; though
escape for our two selves will be no very difficult matter."
" Stay," murmured Mabel-" stay, for God's sake, Pathfinder. Any thing-every thing, 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 sarjeant fairly supported.
As the matter now stands, he has gained himself credit; and
could he once drive off these miscreants, and make an honourable retreat, laying the huts and block in ashes, no doubt,
no doubt, Lundie would remember it and sarve him accordingly. Yes, yes, Mabel, we must not only save the sarjeant'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 iln
them; but, lip hereaway, even the Indians rate a warrior's
character according to his luck. The principal thing with
a soidie', 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 as I
can, when we get the better; as for feeling moderate, after a
defeat. little need he said on that score, as a flogging is one




382               THE PATHFINDER.
of the most humbling things in natur'. The parsons preach
about humility, in the garrisons; but is 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 serjeant.
" 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! Patlfinder, 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 fait
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, impe.
tuously.  "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 Quarter-Master, and the sarjeant, 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'11
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 reot covet
such a wife as yourself, but would leave you to be sued for,
oy some gentleman of the garrison, as your desarts require!"
" We will not talk of this any more to night," Mabel an
swered in a voice so sm:.thered, as to seem nearly choked.
~*We must think less of ourselves, just now, Pathfinder, and




THE PATHFINDER.                 ~ A,.
more of our friends. But I rejoice from my sou rha. you
believe Jasper innocent. Now let us talk of other thingsought we not to release June?"';  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
block-house 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 woula
be netter to let her depart, for I think she is too much my
friend to do any thing to harm me."
" You do not know the race, Mabel; you do not know the
race. It's true she is not a full.blooded Mingo, but she consorts with the vagabonds, and must have lamed 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 suirrounding 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




384               THE PATHFINDER.
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 mo.
ment, induced her to speak low. "Pathfinder, if you love
me, let me go to my dear father!"
"This will not do, Mabel.-lt is singular that no one
speaks; no gne 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, endeavouring to steal past him, doubt.
less with the intention of intercepting their retreat to the
block-house.  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 burthen, 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
inr which the body exerts itself, apparently without the control
of the mind. She re-lighted the candle mechanically, as her
companion had desired, and returned with it below, where he
was waiting her re-appearance. 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 himselfl'
that he left no enemy in his rear. The result was the con.
viction that the block-house now contained no one but Mabel
and himself, June having escaped. When perfectly con.




THE PATHFIN DER.                385
vmnced 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 as 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 day-light, 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!"
"'T is 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 per.
son from a loop."
Not a little precaution was necessary, according to Path,
finder'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 igno33




386                THE PATHFI-DER.
rant, supererogatory means of safety.  Ile 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 ar.
rangements were made to his mind.  "Is any one in suffer
ing? 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 serjeant's —" Path.
finder, 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 every thing to do it."
"This is natur', and it is the law of God. But, Mabel,
be calm, and endivour to be cool.  All that can be effected
for the sarjeant 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 farther 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
orack, the door was permitted to swing back, when the body
of Serjeant Dunham, which was propped against it, fell partly
within the block. To draw in the legs and secure the fast.
enings, occupied the Pathfinder but a moment. Then there
existed no obstacle to their giving their undivided care to the
wounded man.




THE [ATIIFIN DER.               38'7
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, Mabet had merely conjectured the condition of her parent.  Pathfinder, however, had shown
greater attention to the physical danger of the serjeant.  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.
CIIAPTER XXIV.
"Then-drink my tears, while yet they fallWould that my bosom's blood were balm;
And-well thou knowest-I'd shed it all,
To give thy brow one minute's calm."
MOOR=.
THE eyes of Serjeant 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 forever.
"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 his.
tory of this sad business, Pathfinder."
"Ah's me! sarjeant; it has been sad, as you say. That
there has been treachery, and the position of the island has




;188              THE PATHFINDER.
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 armn.
"Not in the sense you mean, sarjeant-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 serjeant motioned to him to proceed.
"You know the spot. where the Sarpent and I left you,
sarjeant," 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 staid 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 na.
tur' bestows its gifts, and some must be better than other
some. I dare say, poor Gilbert, who took my place, has
suffered for his mistake."
"He fell at my elbow;" the serjeant answered, in a low,
melancholy tone. "We have, indeed, all suffered for our
mistakes!"
"No, no, sarjeant, I meant no condemnation on you; for
men were never better commanded than your'n, 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 serjeant brightened; and his face even
wore an expression of military triumph, though it was of a




THE PATHFINDER.                 389
degree that suited the humble sphere in which he had been
an actor.
"'Twas not badly done, my friend," he said; "and we
carried their log breast-work by storm!"
"'Twas nobly done, sarjeant: 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 disagree.
able, and to remember only the pleasant part of the matter.
That is your truest philosophy; ay, and truest religion, too.
If the inirny has got the howitzer ag'in, they've only got
what belonged to them afore, and what we couldn't help.
They hav'n't got the block-house, yet, nor are they likely to
get it, unless they fire it in the dark.  Well, sarjeant, 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.  MWhat 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, sarjeant; before this matter is over, we shall hear
of him at some critical time, and that in a- discreet and credit.
able 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, notwith.
standing all that has been told them of its danger. This
made me more carefill, until I came in sigiht 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, sarjeant, 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
l11 her concern centred in the situation of her parent. As
the latter held out his hand, she took it in her own, and kissed
33 *




390              THE PATHFINDER.
it. Then kneeling at his side, she wept as If her heart would
break.
" Mabel," he said, steadily, "the will of God must be
done. It is useless to attempt deceiving either you or my.
self: 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," ex.
claimed 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'11 forget it; you did not mean it; you
could not think it. It is useless, now, to talk of escaping,
for the sarjeant cannot be moved; and the block-house must
be defended, cost what it will. May be, Lundie will get the
tidings of our disaster, and send a party to raise the siege."
" Pathfinder-Mabel!" said the serjeant, 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, Path.
finder, take it. I can do no more than give you the girl in
this way. I khow you will make her a kind husband. Do
not wait on account of my death; but there will be a chap
lain in the fort, before the season closes, ahd 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, sarjeant," 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 391
particular  Maoel, 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, whea the serjeant, in broken sentences, briefly related
what had passed, since he parted with Pathfinder and the
Delaware. The wind had come more favourable, 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 neighbouring island, where,
no doubt, the noise made by the men, in getting off the boat,
gava 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. Serjeant Dunham fell with the others; and he had heard the voice of
Mabel, as she rushed from the block-house. This frantic ap.
peal 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 serjeant 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




392                IHE PATHFINDER.
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 over
head, 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 ardour might have endured to the end; but there, in
the silence of that nearly untenanted block-house, 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 colours, 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 succour, appeared like reversing the order of nature.
Then it was that he felt the full responsibility of the parental
character, and had some clear glimpses 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:nstant admission.  Without an instant of hesitation, she
turned the bar, and Cap entered. He had barely passed the
orening, when Mabel closed the door again, and securedit




THE rATHFINDER.                 393
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 Qularter-Master 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 block-house, 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 serjeant, and the apparent security of his present quarters.'" If the worst comes to the worst, Master Pathfinder," he
said, "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,-anid rightly are they named, for viler vagabonds
do not walk the earth-"
"' You've found out their characters!" interrupted Path.
finder, 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 diflbrence."
"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 McNab 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-regular geological underground burrows made by the water, as the lieutenant says,-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
25




394               THE PATHFINDER.
Quarter-Master 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 exp6stulatory 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-inlaw were left alone. Cap took a seat by the side of the serjeant, 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, Serjeant Dunham," Cap at length commenced, in his peculiar manner, "that there has been mls.
management 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 say as much,




THE PATHFINDER.                 395
In plain language. In short, serjeant, on this point there
cannot well be two opinions, for, seaman as I am, and no
soloier, I can see several errors myself, that it needs no great
eriucation 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."
"sVery true, brother Dunham, but not to repent of it; the
good book tells us, it is never too late to repent; and I've
aiwavs heard that this is the precious moment. If you've
any thing on your mind, serjeant, 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 bro.
tnher. It's a thousand pities that you did n'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, serjeant, 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 him consolation."
"I know all this, brother Cap; and hope I'm prepared to
meet a soldier's fate-there s poor Mabel —"
"Ay, ay-that's a heavy drag, I know; but you would n't
take her with you, if you could, serjeant; 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 mnanner of viewing things; and, to my notion, this match
will be any thing but agreeable to Mabel.  I have no objec.
tion 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




396              THE PATHFINDER.
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, serjeant, 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
serjeant, his eyes filling with tears —" and it is my mislbrtune, that I have seen so little of her."
"She is, indeed, a good girl, and knows altogether tno
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 trigonome.
try, serjeant."
"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, serjeant, 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 pooer 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, serjeant,
you had better compose your mind, and think of other mtatters; 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'vage-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.  lhow now




THE PATHfLN DER.                 397
Pathfinder! is there any thing 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 serjeant.
"We must be prudent, and -we must be bold, too," he
said, 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 deviltry this very night. We must be
stirring, Salt-water, 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.  Path.
finder had opened a loop, having so far conceailed the light
that it would not expose him to a treacherous shot, and, ex.
pecting 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, Quarter-Master-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 favourite, and to the Delalwares more than to either. But what would you have, QuarterMaster? It must be a pressing errand that brings you under
the loops of a block-house, at this hour of the night, with
the sartainty of Killdeer's 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 fool-hardiness to obtain a character.
You'll very well understand, my good friend, there is as
much credit to be gained by submitting gracefully, when re34




398                THE PATHFIN DER.
instance 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, Quarter-Maister, 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 fobod and
water last."
"Well, I'd be the last, Pathfinder, to recommend any
thing 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 —" 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 block-house 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 your 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 Serjeant
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 com.
missioned officer in command.  Dunham was a brave man,
notwithstandling, and shall have justice done his memory. In
sbort, we have all acted for the best, and that is as much as
could be said in favour of Prince Eugene, the Duke of Marl.
borough, or the great Earl of Stair himself."
"You're wrong ag'in, Quarter-Master, you're wrong
ag'in," answered Pathfinder, resorting to a ruse to magnify
his force. " The sarjeant 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 serjeant among the slain.  If pretty Mabel is in the block
still, let her not delay an instant, for Heaven's sake, in quit.
ting 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 act




THE PATHFINDER,                 399
ing more like the discreet and experienced warrior ye're uni.
versally allowed to be, in yielding a place you canna' defelnd
than in drawing down ruin on yourself and companions."
" I know the potency of fire, as you call it, Quarter-Mas.
ter, 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 roofS but good solid logs and green bark, and plenty ol
water besides. The roof is so flat, too, as you know your
self, Quarter-Master, that we can walk on it, and so no dan:
ger on that score while water lasts.  I'm peaceable enough
If let alone, but he who endivours 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'11 no
maintain it yourself when ye come to meditate on the reali.
ties. I hope ye'11 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, Quarter.
Master, 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'11 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
nair of her iead shall fall, while my arm and sight remain
true; and though you may trust the Mingos, Master MAuir, I
put no faith in them. You've a knavish Tuscarora in your




400               THE PATHFINDER.
company there, who has art and malice enough to spoil the
character of any tribe with which he consorts, though he
Ibund 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 com.
menced.
These were sounds, however, that appalled neither Path.
finder 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 formi.
dable 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 vaga.
bonds have got the howitzer we took from the French, and




THE PATHFINDER.                 401
have discharged it ag'in the block; but fortunatey, they
have fired off the only shell we had, and there is al; 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,
anti that in Indian hands."
Mabel murmured her thanks, and tried to give all hei at.
tention to her father; whose efforts to rise were only counteractted by his debility. During the fearful minutes that
succeeded, she was so much occupied with the care of the
invdlid, that she scarce heeded the clamour that reigned
around her. Indeed, the uproar was so great, that, had,Aot her thoughts been otherwise employed, confusion of facultles, rather than alarm, would probably have been the
consequence.
Cap preserved his coolness admirably. He had a pro.
found 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 clamour among the
assailants; who, unused to see their enemies so reckless,
opened upon him with their tongues, like the pack that has
the fox in view. Still he appeared to possess a charmed
fifb; 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 dan.
gcrous missile exploded. This characteristic feat probably
34 *




402               THE PATHFINDER.
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'" Salt-water" 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.  Every.
thing he did was regulated by the most exact calculationthe 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 that
was quite removed from  danger.  This celebrated guide
had often been known to lead forlorn hopes; he had once
stood at the stake, suffiring 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 be.
thought him of Mabel, and of what might possibly be the
consequences to that poor girl, should any casualty befal
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 howit.
zer, 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 loop-hole.
One or two of these accidents did occur, but the balls entered




THE PATHFINDER.                 A403
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 moccasined feet, and the rust.
ling 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 bush, 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 be.
gins 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
saman replies to such a demand.




404               THE PATHFINDER.
" 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.
T'he 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 tc
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 tonight.  When day-light appears, we may have hotter work."
All this time, another rifle was getting 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 dif
ferent places for safety.
"' Now, pour away, Master Cap," said Pathfinder —" I've
made my mark on the blackguards; and we shall have no
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 after.
nately, though neither can be said to have slept. Sleep, in.
deed, 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 fatigie..
Mabel watched by her father's pallet, and began to fee.
how much our happiness, in this world, depends even on
things that are imaginary.  Hitherto, she had virtually lived
without a father, the connexion with her remaining parent
being ideal, rather than positive; but, now that sh:e was about
to ose him, she thought, for the moment, that the world
would be a void after his death, and that she could nevei be
acquainted with harniness again.




THE PATHIFINDKR:                 405
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."
WORI~SWORTH
As the light returned, Pathfinder and Cap ascended again
to the roof, with a view to reconnoitre the state of things once
mluore, on the island. This part of the block-house 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 defencesslight, 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
generally oval, and its greatest 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 coinpa.
nion's face, and there, sure enough, was just visible the ob.
ject of the old sailor's exclamation.  The elevation enabled
the two to overlook the low land of several of the adjacent
islands; and:the canvass of a vessel was seen through the
bushes that fringircd the shore of one Lhat lay to the southward




4(}0               THE PATHFINDER.
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 cpenings of the ver
dure, with the velocity of a fast-travelling horse; resembling
a cloud driving in the heavens.
"That cannot be Jasper!" said Pathfinder, i l disappointment; for he did not recognise the cutter of his friend, in
the swift-passing object.  "No-no —the lad is behind the
hour; and that is some craft that the Frenchers have sent
to aid their friends, the accursed Mingos."
"'<This time you are out in your reckoning, friend Path.
finder, 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 goar 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 any thing! Now, to me, nothing is plainer
than that goar 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, 1 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 befel the sarjeant!"
"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 neigh
bourhood of this island, we may look upon the cutter as lost,
A&n,-, 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 serjeant views the
matter in that light, and I must say this whole affair looks
like treason!"




THE PATHFINDER.                 401
"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 scarce 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 ex.
planation with an ominous shake of the head.
"This proves that the Sarpent has not reached Oswego,"
he said, " and that we are not to expect succour 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 i.f 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 man.
ful 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 Eau-douce's honesty as another. This Jasper is
a young mrian of prudence, vou find. for he keeps a good off.




40)8              THE PATHFINDER.
ing, 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 exult.
ation, —-" 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."
Pathfinder's disposition to think well of the Delawates, and
to think ill of the Mingos, must, by this time, be very appa.
rent to the reader. Of the veracity of the former he entertained the highest respect, while of the latter he thought, as
the more observant and intelligent classes of this country are
getting pretty generally to think of certain scribblers among
ourselves, who are known to have been so long in the habits
of mendacity, that it is thought they can no longer tell the
truth, even when they seriously make the effort.
~" That canoe may not belong to the cutter," said the can
tious seaman-" Oh! Deuce had one on'board, when we
sailed."
" Very true, friend Cap, but, if you know your sails and
masts, by your goars 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 garri.
son, 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 water-falls!" said Pathfinder, nudg
ing the ribs of his companion with an elbow, and laughing in
his silent but hearty manner. "' We will give the boy hidule, 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 tc
draw.
The gale was still blowing violently: many of the smalle:'rees bowed their -tops, as if ready to descend to the earth




THE PATUF1NDFAR..409
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 harbour. 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'all
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 block-house, for though Pathfinder
and Cap could command a view of the channel, they took
the precaution necessary to lie concealed. The unusual
absence of any thing like animal life on board the Scud,
too, was still more remarkable. As the Indians witnessed
her apparently undirected movements, a feeling of awe gain.
ed 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 appear.
ance of this unmanned vessel, and he would gladly, at that
moment, have been landed again on the main.
In the mean time, 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 can.
vass, hei 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 block-house. 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
35              26




410       ~        HE PATHFINDER.
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 mo.
menr 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'11 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 block-house
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 ma.
nceuvre, 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 ma
chine. 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,
close reefed as it was, sounded like the report of a gun, and
Cap trembled lest the seams should open.
" His Majesty gives good canvass, it must be owned," mut.
tered the old seaman; "and it must be owned, too, that boy
handles his boat as if he twere thoroughly bred! D —— e,
Master Pathfinder, if I believe, after all that has been reported in the matter, that this Mister Oh! Deuce got his tradt
on this bit of fresh-water."
"' le did; yes he did. He never saw the ocean, and has
come by his calling altogether up here on Ontario. I have




TIlE PATHFINDER.                411
often thought he has a nat'ral gift, in the way of stchooners
and sloops, ind have respected him accordingly.  As for
treason, an~ ying, and black-hearted vices, friend Cap, Jas.
per 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.
tile 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 block-house 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
Durham boats, by this bold and successful attempt, the sav
ages 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 sunk 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.'T is a good bar
rel, though not sartain death. Well-well-with Chingach
15'




4 12'IlHE PATHFINDER.,ook and Jasper on the water, and you and I in the block,
Friend Cap, it will be hard if we don't teach these Minge
scamps the rationality of a fight!"
All this time, the Scud was in motion. As soon as she
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 pas.
sage. 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 iro.
quois; 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 per.
sons. Chingachgook alone lay in ambush; more, however,
from habit than distrust.
" You've triumphed, Pathfinder;" called out the Quarter.
Master, "and Captain Sanglier has come himself to offer
terinrs. You'1l no be denying a brave enemy an honourable
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.
[ am authorized to offer, on the part of the enemy, an evacuttion of the island, a mutual exchange of prisioners and a




THE PATHFINDER.                 4131
restoration of scalps. In the absence of baggage and artil
lery, little more can be done."
As the conversation was necessarily carried on in a high
key, both on account of the wind, and on account 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
hall we mark them, as they mark their sheep in the settle.
ments, 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 in the block. " If a hair of her head
has been touched, it will go hard with tie 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 ser-.
jeant's hurt, which comes of lawful warfare; and as for Mabel   "
" She is here," exclaimed the girl, herself, who had mount.
ed 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, Pathfinderif 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, tul, 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 honour 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 honour, ill that
35 *




414              TgH  PATHFINDER.
meaning, it will do better for young ensigns and recruits, than
for cool-headed, obsarvant, Christian men.' here is honour
in doing what's right, and unhonour 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 for.
tune 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 tes.
tify 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, Quarter-Master, 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-1
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 any thing 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 be got the good opinion of his
companions on his novel claim to be a wit. After a shcort
discussion, all the savages on the island were collected in a
body, without arms, at the distance of a hundred vards from
the block, and  under the gun of the Scud, while Pathfinder
descended to the door of the block-house, and settled the




THE PATHFINDER.                 415
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 lndiuns
were compelled to give up all their arms, even to their knives
and tomahawks, as a measure of precaution, their forc be-ing
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 thenm 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 bloik-house, 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 dispatched 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 way, 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,
quite 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
Lhe morning.
Captain Sanglier, Arrowhead, and June, alone remained,




416                THE PATHFINDER.
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 retained, for the departure
of these three, when the proper moment should arrive.
In the mean time, 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 serjeant, 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
alock, while the incidents we are about to relate were in the
course of occurrence, and even the indispensable meal was




THE PATHFINDER.                 417
less relished by the hardiest of the soldiers, than it might
have bexen had not the serjeant been so near his end.
As Pathfinder returned from the block,,he was met by
NMuir, who led him aside in order to hold a private discourse.
The manner of the Quarter-Master had that air of supere.
rogatory 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
netween 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 Quarter-Master 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 seven-fold, after your late
conduct, than ever ye wore, ye've just established yourself,
in this late transaction! It's true, that they'll not be making
ye a conlmissioned officer, for that species of prerairment 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 carrv away




418                THE PATIFtND1l~.
with him from America, as mlch credit as will fall to yelf
share, an(d ye ought just to sit down in content, and enjoy
yourself for the remainder of yer' days. Get marr'ed, man,
without delay, and look to your precious happiness, for ye'e
no occasion to look any longer to your glory. Take Mabel
Dunham, for Heaven's sake, to your bosom, and ye'11 have
both a bonny bride, and a bonny reputation."
"Why, Quarter-Master, 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 formidable one. too, I can. tell
ye  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' sucess with Mabel, and were the honest serjeant
likely to survive, ye might rely on my good word with him,
too, for a certainty."
" I feel your friendship, Quarter-Master, I feel your friend.
ship, though I have no great need of any favour with Serjeant
Dunham, who has long been my friend. I believe we may
look upon the matter to be as sartain as most things in wartime; 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'11 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 Dehind,
will be well provided for, after its departure. All the Mistress Muirs have duly expressed that sentiment, with their
dying breaths."
" All your wives, Quarter-Master, 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'11 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




TliH  PATHFINDIEi.             4109
loses such a bride, will probably stand in need of sorme on.
solation?"
"Quite likely-quite likely, Quarter-Master," 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 sarjeant
will be likely to put it off, and you'll have time to think more
manfully of it, you will."
"I'11 bear up against it-yes, I'11 bear up against it,
though my heart-strings crack; and ye might help me, man,
by giving me something to do. Ye'11 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 honour of the
country, and his Majesty's rights-"
"Quarter-Master," 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'11 all say nothing
about it. Serjeant Dunham is hors-de-combat_-"
"Anan!" said the guide.
"Why the serjeant 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 com.
mission. As for the men, they'll no dare to raise any objaction, and as for yoursal', my dear friend, now that ye've
vs much honour, 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
ate men ewho 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 any thing hostile to your wishes."
" That's just it, Pathfinder; and when I come to draw up




420                THE PATHFINDEIR.
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, Quarter-Master! 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'
father, who, in one sense, is the commanding officer at thi
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 that was assembled round the fire.
Here the Quarter-Master began, for the first time since leaving Oswego, to assume some of the authority that might pro.
perly be supposed to belong to his rank. Taking the re.
maining 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 tlfi dynasty
was effected without any of the usual symptoms of a revolution; for as all well understood the lieutenant'slegal 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 Serjeant Dunham would have sufficiently explained the circumstance, had an explanation been reql'red.
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-inchief, as a suitable agent to be employed in directing the
military operations of his Indian allies  In this capacity
hen, he had risen to the titular rank of captain, and, with




THIE PATHFINDER.                421
hbis promotion, had acquired a portion of the habits and
opinions of his associates, with a facility and an adaptatioa
of self; that are thought, in this part of the world, to be pe.
culiar 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 re.
sources of civilization. In other words, he planned enter.
prises that, in their importance and consequences, much ex.
ceeded tae 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 great.
esc;ia;?iness in tormenting the helpless and the innocent;
and the name of Sanglier, which was a soubriquet 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.
[t took place at the fire; and the parties stood earnestly
regarding each other for more than a minute without speak.
Ing. Each felt that in the other, he saw a formidable foe;
ano 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
36




V2t2               TIlE I'ATHFINDER.
the tranquillity of Pathfinder; nlor had iie ever Inown an am.
bitious thought, as ambition usually betrays Itseii; until hli
became acquainted with Mabel. Since then, indeed, distrust
of himself, reverence for her, and the wish to pllace 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 hesoon
came to feel, that the woman who would not hesitate to accept him for her husband, would not scruple to share his for.
tunes, 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 ae
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 closemouthed and wily.
Ater the two heroes had gazed at each other, in the man.
ner mentioned, Monsieur Sanglier touched his cap; fbr the
rudeness of a border life had not entirely destroyed the cour.
tesy of manner he had acquired in youth, nor extinguishe
that appearance of bonhommie which seems inbred in a
Frenchman.
" Monsieur le Pathfinder," he said with a very decided ac.
cent, though with a friendly smile, "un militaire honoui
le couzrage, et la loyaute.  You speak Iroquois?".
"Ay, I understand che 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 nay taste. Wherever you find the Mingo blood, in my
opinion, Master Flinty-heart, you fino a knave. Wel., I've
seen you often, though it was in battle; and I- must say, it
was always in the van. You must know most cf our bullets
by sight 1"




THE PATHFINDER.                423
" Nevvair, sair, your own; une balle from your ionoura.
ble hand, be sairtaine deat'. You kill my best warrior on
some island."
"That may be —that may be-though I dare say, if the
truth was known, they would turn out to be great rascals.
No offence to you, Master Flinty-heart, but you keep desper.
ate evil company."
"Yes, sair," returned the Frenchman, who, bent on say.'ng 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, step
ing 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 bold
ness to do it before my eyes?"
"I t is by my orders, Pathfinder," answered the Quarter.
Master; "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 savours 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 Serjeant 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 natu.
ral, and almost necessary, to believe that this young man




4:4               THE PATHFINDER.
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 o' human
nature."
Captain Sanglier shrugged his shoulders; then he looke
earnestly from Jasper towards the Quarter-Master, and from
the Quarter-Master 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
Im in the way to prevent it. You may have authority
over your soldiers, but you have none over Jasper, or 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'11 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'11 be at the trouble to look at the fly of the Scud's
ensign, ye'11 just say that the cloth has been cut from oi; it.
Circumstantial evidence was never stronger."
"Ma foi, c'est un peu fort, ceci;" growled Sanglier, be.
tween 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
mnuch as you underrate Eau-douce's truth."
" Tres bon!"
"Well, if I must speak plainly, Pathfinder, I e'en must.




THE PATHFINDER.                425
Cantain SangiieT, here, and Arrowheads 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."
"Scle'rat," 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 stir."
" 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 honour. 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 a 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 Quarter-Master 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:"Voild 1'afaire finie-mais"-shrugging his shoulders,'ce n'est qu'un scdlerat de moins."
The act was too sudden to be prevented, and when Arrow.
nead, 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 or
the passing body of the Tuscarora, than they were agailn
opened by that of the Delaware in full pursuit.
36 *           27




%4W                TH.E PATHFINDEIR.
Jasper Western spoke French fluently, and the words and
manner of Sanglier struck him.
" Speak, Monsieur," he said, in English, " am  I the
traitor?"
" Le voild"-answered the cool Frenchman,-" dat is our
espion-our agent-our friend —ma foi-c'etait un graynd
scelerat —-vaici."..
While speaking, Sanglier bent over the dead body, and
thrust a hand into a pocket of the Quarter-Master, 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 indifferrcee that the most stoical Indian warrior might have envied
CHAPTER XXVII.
UThe only amaranthine flower on earth
Is virtue; th' only lasting treasure, truth."
Cowpza.
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 great-coat, Chingachgook silently re.
sumed 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, al.
though perfectly satisfied that Arrowhead had fallen, manifested neither curiosity nor feeling.  He continued calmly
eating his soup, as if the meal bad been tranquil as usual.
There was something of pride, and of ari assumed indiffer
ence 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 Plathfinder




THE PATHRFINDER,                1-27
thie case was a little different in feeling, though much the
same in appearance.  He disliked Muir, whose sm othtongued 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 se.
cresy, 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 inform.
ation 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 Quarter-Master'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 Serjeant 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 ac.
cept 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 connexion with
Mabel, and he did not fail to let his auditors into the whole
Secret, frequently laughing in a sarcastic manner, as he;re




428                THE PATHFINDER.
vealed the different expedients of the luckless Quarter.
Master.
" Touchez-la," said the cold-blooded partisan, holding out
his sinewy hand to Pathfinder, when he ended his expianations-" you be honn~te, and dat is beaucoup. We tak' de
spy, as we tak' la medicine, for de good; mais, je les deteste! Touchez-la."
"I'1ll shake your band, captain, I will, for you're a law.
ful and nat'ral inimy," returned Pathfinder, "and a manful
one; but the body of the Quarter-Master shall never disgrace English ground.  I did intend to carry it back to Lun.
die, that he might play his bagpipes over it; but now it shall
lie here, on the spot where he acted his villany, and have
his own treason for a head-stone. 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 awfill 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," he said,
"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 Quarter-Master neither."
"And he holding His Majesty's commission, Pathfinder!"
" It is n't so much that, Jasper Western; it is n't so much
that.  He held a commission from God to act right, and to
deal fairly with his fellow-creatur's, and he has failed awi
fully 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 haa
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 sarjeant, poor man, ca




THrE PATHFINDR.                429
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 sup.
pressing any other outward signs of agitation, his cheek waE
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 thec 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; fobr it is nat'ral and according to friendship, for people to look over-favourably at thenr 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, endeavouring 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 your.
self, with none of that excellence that makes even the generals respect you."




430               THE PATHFINDER.
" 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 sarjeant first set me tc
thinking about his daughter, but after we got a little acquaint.
ed 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
('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 rigbt to interfere. As for the Quarter-Master, his feigning love bor 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
demeanour an appearance of something like contemnpt for
all around him, had disappeared, and he seemed thoughtful,
if not meek.
"This death, gentlemen," he said, when he had got sufficiently near, "is a melancholy business, make the best of
it. Now, here is Serjeant Dunham, a very good soldier, 1
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 ai.
ways wish him well and happily off."
"You.wouldn't kill the sarjeant 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'




THE PATHFINDER.                 43 1
Nothing had been farther from Cap's real thoughts, than the
wish to hasten his brother-in-law's end. He had found him.
self embarrassed with the duties of smoothing a death-bed,
and all he had meant was to express a sincere desire that the
serjeant were happily rid of doubt and suffering. A little
stocked, 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
wn wishes justice —
"You are too old and too sensible a person, Pathfinder,"
ne said, " to fetch a man up with a surge, when he is paying
out his ideas in distress, as it might be. Serjeant 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
maln, and I respect and honour 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'II not deny; and it ought to be a lesson
not to feel pride in our strength and beauty. WXhere is the
Quarter-Master, Pathfinder?-It is proper he should come
and have a parting word with the poor serjeant, who is only
going a little before us."
" You have spoken more truth, Master Cap, than you've
been knowing to, all this time; in which there is no great
wonder, howsoever; mankind as often telling biting truths
when they least mean it, as at any other time. You miglht
have gone farther, 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 Quarter-Master's coming to speak a
)artlng word to the sarjeant. 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 as 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 par.
ables."
" If my words are not plain, the idee is. In short, Master
Jap, while Sarjeant Dunham has been preparing himself for. long journey, like a conscientious and honest man as he is.




432               THE PATHIINDER.
deliberately and slowly, the Quarter-Master has started, it
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 Quarter-Master,
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 great-coat,"
returned the guide, who then briefly related the manner of
the Lieutenant's death.  "The Tuscarora was as venomous
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, dd 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 ardour 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," he said, " 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 fbllow, 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 bloody Frenchman too?"
"To sell any thing-country, soul, body, Mabel and all
our scalps; and no ways particular, I'li 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 tlin when they can do neither."




THE PATHFINDER.                 433
Mons. 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. If a French.
man is sometimes skeary, so is' an Englishman; and as for
running away., why a man-will now and then do it, as well
as a horse, let him come of what people he may."
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
tnink, he finished his breakfast without allowing his attention
to be again diverted from that important pursuit.
"6 My business here was principally with the Quarter-Mas
ter," Cap continued, as soon as he had done regarding tS,
prisoner's pantomime.  " The serjeant must be near his ert.,
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 lieuten.
ant has truly gone before."
" That he has, though on a different path. As for autho.
rity, 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 any thing needs to be
done, the chances are greatly in favour 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.',
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."
37




434               THE PATHFSNDER.
"' 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
subnrt 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 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, 1 tramp over the grouitid as freely as if I was
lord and owner; and what more need heart desire?  I do.. 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 valy considerable, though they are too noisy for warfare, and so we are compelled to live separate for a while,
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 lengthsix feet, to a hair's breadth; but, bating these, and a pipe
that the Sarpent gave me, and a few tokens, received front
travellers, all of which might be put in a pouch, and laid un.
der 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 feeli:.g
and reasoning. How often have I felt, when near shipwreck,
the relief of not owning the craft!'If she goes, I have said




THE PATIIINDER.                 435
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
beit round my body, in order, as I say, to keep the vitals in
the right place.  D-  e, Pathfinder, if I think a man with.
out 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 creature' 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.p.e.c, and I colec so much peltry thfliaTfund
my right feelings givingn way toa ti-raaih-'aleii piroperiy; and
if I have consarn  i/marrying Mabel, it is that I may Aget to
love such things too well, in ord6r t"o "nia;e 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 humour 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 1
hold to Christianity and white gifts. With me, it is as oncreditable for a white man not to be a ChristTan, as it is fir
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 Chris.
tian, though he never saw a Moravian; and a good Christian
a good Delaware, so far as natur' is consarned. The Sar.
pent and I talk these matters over often, for he has a han,
kerin' 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,




t36               THE PATHFINDER.
and all depend on edicatlon 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?
Ali this, and a great deal more of the same kind that I could
oint out, has been ordered for some'special purpose; and it
s not for us to fly in the face of facts, and deny their truth.
/No-no —each colour has its gifts, and its laws, and its tra.
ditions; 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 as clear as this," returned Cap, who was not a little
mystified by his companion's simple creed-," t'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 churcht
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 —noI'll not deny my blood.and colour, 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 serjeant 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 ot
this natur', I doubt if she may not be stronger than most
men. But Sarjeant Dunham is my friend, and he is your
brother-in-law; so, now the press of fighting and maintain.
ing our rights is over, it is fitting we should both go and wit.
ness his departure.  I're stood by many a dying man, Mas.




THE PATHFINDER.                 437
tel Cap," continued Pathfinder, who nad a besetting propensity
to enlarge on his experience, stopping and holding his com-.
panion 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 mo.
~ments. Some go their way as stupid and ignorant as if God
had never given them  reason, and an ac:ountdable state;
while others quit us rejoicing, like men who leave heavy bur.
thens behind them. I think that the mind sees clearly at
such moments, my friend, and that past deeds stand thick
before the recollection."' I'11 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 dare say, 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-dare say, your trade is not alto~g
ther without blemish, honourable and useffil as it seems to
be?"
"Many, of the scouts.and guides are desperate knaves;
and, like the Quarter-Master here, some of them take pa-'
of both sides. I hope I'm not one of them, though all occ.pations 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 mo.
ments. The first time was when I found in the, oods a
pack of skins that I knowed belonged to a Frencher, who
was hunting on our side of the lines, where he had no busi.
ness to be; twenty-six as handsome beavers as ever gladdened human eyes! Well, that was a sore temptation, for
thought the law would have been almost with me, although
it was in peace-times. But then 1 remembered that such laws
37 *




438                I IE PATHFINDER.
warnA't made for us hunters, and bethought me that the pool
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 as 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 a way that enabled
me to get possession of them without waking a miscreant
of them all.  What an opportunity that would have been for
thie Sarpent, who would have despatched them, one after another, with his knife, and had their six scalps at his girdle,
*-bout the time it takes me to tell you the story.  Oh! he's
aliant 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.ne 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 desporate 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 fa
vourite, in my own eyes."
1" As for the scalps, I think you were right enough, my
worthy friend; but as for the armament and the stores, they




THE PATHFINDER.                 439
vwould have been condemned by any prize-court in Chris.
tendom!"
" That they would-that they would; but then tile 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 colour, 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," Path.
finder 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 scoundrel's scalps hanging where
they ought to be; so, you see, nothing was lost by doing
right, either in the way of honbur or in that of profit."
Cap grunted an assent, though the distinctions in his com.
panion'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 Serjeant Dunham.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
"'Thou barraine ground, whom winter's wrath hath wasted,
Art mnade a mirror to behold my plight:
-Whil'ome thy fresh spring flower'd; and after hasted
Thy summer proude, with daffodillies dight;
Ana now is come thy winter's stormy state,
Thy mantle mar'd wherein thou maskedst late."
SPERSE t.
ALTH.OUG:H the soldier may regard danger, and even death,
with indifibrence, in the tumult of battle, when the passage




440               THE PATHFINDER.
of the soul is delayed to moments of tranquillity and refiee.
tion, the change commonly brings witth 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 an
neroic expression on his lips, but with heaviness and distrust
at his heart; fbr, whatever may be the varieties of our religious creeds,-ilet 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. Serjeant 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 quaint and 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 that 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 uncon.
cern which was the fruit of long training in a school, that,
while it gives so many lessons in the sublimest truths, gener
ally wastes its admonitions on scholars who are little disposed to profit by them.
The first proof that Cap gave of his not entering as fully
as those arournd 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
vou have the consolation of knowing that others have gone
b3e:bre 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




THE PATHFINDER.                 441
satisfaction.  My mother always said, Master Pathfindei
that dyi;ng people's spirits should not be damped, but thel
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 block.
house 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 appear.
ance. The serjeant 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 block-house now con.
sisted of Pathfinder, Cap, Mabel, Jasper, and the dying man.
With the exception of the daughter, all stood around the serjeant's pallet, in attendance on 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, sarjeant," said Path.
finder, who could hardly be said to be awe-struck by the
scene, for he had witnessed the approach and victories of
death too often for that; but who felt the full difference be.
tween 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 ir,
the offing, and sent a cratt in to feel how the land lay; things
might have turned out difberently; no one, here, doubts that
you meant all for the best, and no one anywhere else 1
28




442               THE PATHFIN:DER.
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 sinfuil 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 Patih.
finder 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 serjeant 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."
s" I have heard this before"-Dunham at length replied<C Ah! Mabel; it is strange for the parent to lean on the
child. at a moment like this!"




THE PATHFI DER.               443
"Put your trust in God, father-lean on his holy'and
ctumpassionate 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 scarce knew what prayer meant, and he had no
answer to give. Pathfinder prayed often, daily if noQ hourly
-hut 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
endeavoured to move a mountain, to relieve Mabel, this was
asking assistance, it exceeded his power to give, and he
shrunk 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 endeavouring to compose features that were pallid, and actually quiver.
ing with emotion-" I will pray with you —for you-for
myself, for us all. The petition of the feeblest and hum.
blest 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 im.
mense object before her, with a woman's devotidn, and a
woman's superiority to trifles, when her affections make the
ppeal; and the holy calm into which her grief was com.
pressed, rendered her, for the moment, an object of some.
thing very like awe and veneration to her companions.
Mabel had been religiously and reasonably 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
Deen accustomed from childhood, to address herself to the
Deity, in prayer; —taking example fromi the divine mandate
of Christ himself, who commanded his followers to abstain




444               THE PATHFINDER.
frornivain repetitions, and who has left behind him a petition
that is unequalled for sublimity and sententiousness, 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 of 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. In
short, Mabel, in this respect, was an instance of the influence
of familiarity with propriety of thought, fitness of language,
and decorum of manner, on the habits and expressions of
even those who might be supposed not to be always so susc.eptible of receiving high impressions of this nature.  When
she kneeled at the bed-side 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 that
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
nernicious effects of a false taste when long submitted to,
real sublimity and beauty are so closely allied to nature, that.hey 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 refriain.
The effect of this singular but solemn scene, was different




THE PATHFINDER.                 445
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 sup.
posed 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 weil 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 as manly and heroic
as they ought to be; but he was far too sensible of the influ.
ence of truth, humility, religious submission and human de.
pendency, to think of interposing with any of his crude ol).
jections. Jasper knelt opposite to Mabel, covered his face,
and followed her words, with an earnest wish to aid hex
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.
T'he effect on Pathfinder was striking and visible; visible,
because he stood erect, also opposite to Mabel; and the work.
ings 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 feel.
ings/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 flush.
ed with a holy enthusiasm, while her blue eyes were upturned
in the light, in a way to resemble a picture by Guido. Al
these moments all the honest and manly attachment otf Path.
finder glowed in his ingenuous features, and his gaze at our
heroine was such as the fondest parent might fasten on the
ohild of his love.
Serjeant Dunham laid his hand feebly on the head of Ma.
bel, as she ceased praying, and buried her face in his blan
ket.
"Bless you-my beloved child —bless you —-" he rather
38




446               THE PATHFINDER.
whispered than uttered aloud —" this's truly cnsoiationwould 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 serjeant'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 incon^eivable 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 that.
seemed to be reviving —" Mabel-I'm quitting you."-r-ho
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 serjeant, 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 youbless you both-"
At that awful instant, no one would rudely apprise the ser
jeant 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. Tile Path.
finder 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 isl.
and, in profound s'lence. Here they stopped, and Pathfinder
spoke.
"'Tis all over, Jasper," he said; "'tis all over. Ah's
me! Poor Sarjeant 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 your'n or
mine, to-morrow or next day!"
" And Mabel?-What is to become of Mabel, Pathfinder?"




THE PATHFINDER.                447
"You heard the sarjeant's dying words —he has left his
child in myare, Jasper; and it is a most solemn trust, it:s; 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 im.
perfections 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'11 blame Mabel, lad?-I've had my
misgivings about that, too; for all persons may not be as dis.
posed to look at me with the same eyes as you and the sar.
jeant's daughter." Jasper Eat-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 Jas.
per, 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 count.
ed 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




448               THE PATHFINDER.
our neighlbourhood. There is a beautiful spot, about fifty
miles west of the garrison, that I had chosen i my mind,
for my own place of abode; and there is an excellent har.
bour 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 creatures 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'ee, 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 conjurer, 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 dne who feels its reality, and knows it al
to be true-true —true.  So true, as to leave no hope; to
leave notning 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 feel.
ing, that carried with them the instant conviction of their
deep sincerity   Pathfinder started, gazed at his friend for
quite a minute, like one bewildered; and then it was, that, in




THE PATHFINDER.                 449
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 dispo.
sed 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 expe.
rienced in the emotions that 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 feel.
ing 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 re
buked 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. Takina the arm of Jas.
per, he led him to a log, where he compelled the young mall
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 de.
manded. Even while he trembled in anticipation of what
was about to fbllow, 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 Mabei,
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,
38 *




450               THE PATHFINDER.
who has set his heart on a creature like Mabel, Atni/s
he sees a prospect of her regarding him, as he regards ker.
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?  It 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 dcn'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 mat,
she does not love?"
"She has been hard urged by the sarjeant, 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 Jas.
per?"
"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 that silently marks
the course of sympathy united to passion. " Not I, Jasper
-1 know nothing of all this. Mabel has always treated me
fairly, and said what she has had to say, in speech as plain
ts tongue could tell it."
"9 You have had the pleasure of hearing her say that she
aved you Pathfinder?"




TIIE PATHFINI ER.               451
"Why no, Jasper, not just that, in words.  She lhm  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 honoured me, and respected me. But then the sarjeant
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 wishes 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 leat% that no
other ears fiad 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
getting to be grave, and who now questioned his companion,
like one that 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, ox
a hand, when the young woman has had occasion to touch
me; and because I hive 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 farther remarks at the moment, " we will talk
of the sarjeant'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 sarjeant's daughter. This matter nius!. be looked into; for the father left me the care of his;hild."




152               THE IAN...l" -'.; Dt;.
Jasper was glad enough to change the subject, and the
friends separated, each charged with the duty most peculiai
to his own station and habits.
That afternoon all the dead were interred-the grave of
Serjeant 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 Path.
finder, 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 an enigma to himself.
CHAPTER XXIX.
"Playful she turned, 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 ex
citing, 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 that u,,Ually 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 MAabel
in conquering her own feelings, for she had felt calied on to




THE PATHFINDEIt.                403
administer consolation to the young Indiaih 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 oni whichthe 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 ihe 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, that 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
olace 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, and3
both the young people wondered what was to come next,the idea that Pathfinder could have any weight on his con.
science, 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 Salt-water 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 I
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
sarjeant, 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' tooi "




454                THE PATHFIN DER.
Mabel's cheeks had regained a little of their ancient bloomn,
in the fresh air of the morning; but at this unlooked-for ad
dress they blanched again, nearly to the pallid hue which
grief had imprinted there.  Still she looked kindly, though
seriously, at Pathfinder, and even endeavoured 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 re.
pay 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
Parjeant 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, an
things came round atween us, as you know. But, when you
promised your father to marry me, Mabel, and gave me youl
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!ikely when you gave in to the sqrjcant's wishes, that you




THE PATHFINDER.                 455
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; arid her
whole frame shuddered. Pathfinder, however, was too in.
tent 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,
concerning 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 allu.
sions are improper, as well as painfill."
" Every thing is proper that is right, Mabel; and every
thing 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.
Aiabel buried her face in both her hands; and the two sat
like a pair of guilty beings, suddenly detected in the combmis.
sion of some crime that involved the happiness of a common
patron. At that instant, perhaps, Jasper himself was inclined
to deny his passion, through an extreme unwillingness'o
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 scarce knew whether to




4C56              THY PATHFSX ItmF..
weep or to rejoice.  Still she was the first to spealt; siCe
Eau-dbuce could utter naught that would be disingenuous, oi
that would pain his friend.,"Pathfinder," she said, " 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 tbis, re
ndeavoured to laugh in his usual noiseless way, but the ef.
fect produced a strange and discordant sound; and it appeared nearly to choke him. " Yes, I must be wild; I'11 not
attempt to deny it."
"Dearest Pathfinder!-my best, almost my only friend!
you cannot, do not think I intended to say that i" interrupted
Mabel, almost breathless in her haste to relieve his morti.
fication-" If courage, truth, nobleness of soul and conduct,
unyielding principles and a hundred other excellent qualities
can render any man respectable, esteemed, or beloved, youi
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 scarce
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 slee)p;
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 of 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,'ead the truth of all he said in that lbrtive, look, and instantly




THE PATHFINDER.                 5
concealed her face again, as if she would hide it from obser.
vation for ever.
"'I'ake time to think, Mabel," the guide contihued, " 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 particu.
lar 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 hmm in his sleep; and that,
ag'in and ag'in, has he started up aftrighted, 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 per.
suade 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 sarjeant left me your protector, and not your tyrant.  I
told him that I would be a father to you, as well as a hus.
hand, 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 sarjeant him.
self, 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: "t Have
not already promised my poor father to do all you desire?'
"Then I desire this.  Here I stand, a man of the torest
I 9            29




458               THE PATHFINDER.
and'of little larning, though I fear with an ambition beyond
my desarts, and I'1ll do my endivours to do justice to becth
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'11 first say what
little can be produced in my favour, 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 sarjeant'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 ail is remembered,
age, looks, larning 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 youi promise-you do not know me /"
"Now, here's Jasper," continued the guide, without allow.
ing the girl's caresses to win him from his purpose; "with
4im, 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
i scholar-knows the tongue of the Frenchers-reads many
nooks, and soine, I know, that you like to read yourself



THE  a'tTHFI; NER.              459
can understand you at all times, which, pkrhaps, is more
than I can say for myself."
"What of all this" — interrupted Mabel, impatiently -
"C 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 any thing
on'arth that would make my tongue bold and persuading,
Mabel, I do think it's yourself; and yet, in our late con.
versations, 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'an, 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 co.
herency.  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 coneerned; 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 favourable wind. Her firds
thought was of him, who was so likely to feel the recent be.
trayal of her real emotions.
"Oh! Jasper!" she exclaimed, like one suddenly self
convicted-" the Pathfinder!"
Eau-douce fairly trembled, not with unmanly apprehen.
sion, but with the painfill conviction of the pang he had given




460                TnI1  PATHI'INDER.
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
mi  te4 the two lovers sate, silently waiting his return, un.
certain 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 eat," 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
sarjeant 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 sate, resembling Milton's picture of our
first parents, when the consciousness of sin first laid its leaden
weight on their souls. Neither spokes 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 palecas 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 scarce
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. Path.
finder gazed at her, with an intentness he did not endeavour
to conceal, and then he fairly laughed in his own way, and
with e sort of wild exultation, as men that are untutored are
wont to express their delight.  This momentary indulgence,
however, was expiated by the pang that followed the sudden
consciousness that this glorious young creature was lost to
him for ever. It required a full4ninute for this simple-mind
ed 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," he said; "but I'd forgotten that it did not
belong to mine, to please the young, and beantiftl, and'




THE PATHFINDER.                461
l'arned. I hope the mistake has been no very heaN y 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 feet
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 thle 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-" nono —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'11 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 be.
lieve the sarjeant; and I ought to have put faith in what Mabel told me at the head of the lake, for reason and judgment
mnight 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 coWrent.
ing, 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
hav'n't. I sometimes think I should like to live in your neighbourhood, 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 rijement, as it might
be. It would have been better, perhaps, had I never left it,'hough my sarvices were much wanted in this quarter, and
39 *




l'd been with some of the 55th, years agone-Sajearit Dut
ham, for iistanee, when he was in another corps. Still,
Jasper, I do not regret that I'ye known you-"
" And me, Pathfinder!" impetuously interrupted Mabel"do you regret having known me?-cotuld I think so, I should
never be at peace with myself!"
1" 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 as light-hearted, as I once used to could, oi
to sleep as sound, for some- time to come; but I shall always
remember how near I was to being undesarvedly happy, I
shall. So far from blaming you, Mabel, I only blame my'
self 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 be.
lieVed 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 Mastel
Cap must be impatient, and there is danger of his coming
on srhore to look for us all."
"To take leave!" exclaimed Mabel.
"Leave!" echoed Jasper: " you do not mean to quit us,
rmy friend?"
"'Tis best, Mabel-'tis altogether best, Eau-douce; and
it's wisest. I could live and die in your company, if I only
folibted feeling; but, if I follow reason, I shall quit you
hrot   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 wilderaess 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




ThE PATHFINDER.                 463
freedom and warmth she had been far from manifesting
while held to the bosom of Jasper —" God bless you, dearest
Pathfinder! You will come to us hereafter.  WVe 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'11 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 ieto 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. "Qh! 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'11 get to under.
stand 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 reaehed 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.




464                THE PATHFINoER
CHAPTER XXX.
"Oh! let me only breathe the air,
The blessed air that's breathed 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 Chingachgoojk 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. Al
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 pre-occupied 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
f;ne 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 ex




THE PATHFINDER.                 4-65
tremely 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 that had been dug from the excavation
made by the grave, and was hanging over the spot that 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
Sbot was too noiseless, rudely to undeceive her.
Pathfinder stood gazing at the woman, for several minutes,
Ln mute attention. The contemplation of her grief, the re.
collection of her irreparable loss, and the view of her deso.
lation, 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 de.
prived of her husband, than in himself.
" Dew of June," he said, solemnly, but with an earnest.
ness that 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. Tile 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.'T is 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.''he
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 alraudy;a your company."




466               TIm JAWrWv1
"Arrowhead was a great chief!" returned the wokman
proudly.
" He had his merits, he had; and he had his demerits, too.
But, June, you're 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 flavour 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, Path.
finder 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, foi
she was conscious of the protection of a friend, though Path.
finder 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 renderher 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 re-appeared. 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 endeavoured
to soothe his sorrow, with a woman's gentleness, and with a
woman's instinct.
"Thank you, June — thank you"-he said-"'t is 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 man



TnII PATMF1NDMh2               467
ner 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 imita.
tive, 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 in.
vited 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 road-stead. A
small, ancient clearing was on the shore, and near the mar.
gin of the lake, was a log dwelling, recently and completely,
though rudely fitted up. There was an air of frontier com.
f)rt, 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 inter.
view; and he even laughed cordially in his face, as he told
him how happy and well he appeared.
S"Where is she, Jasper-where is she?" the guide dt




468               THE PATHFINDER.
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, Salt-water-"
"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.  Chin.
gachaook 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, Ja,
per, lead the way, and I'11 endivour to look upon her sweet
countenance, once more."
Jasper did lead the way, and they were soon in the pre.
sence 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 workings of the human mind, might- have seen a
faithful index to the feelings of Mabel, in her manner to Path.
finder and her husband.'With thle latter, she still had a littte
of the reserve that usually accompanies young wedlock; but
the tones of her voice were kinder, even than common; the
glance of her eve was tender, and she seldom looked at him




THE PATHFINDER.               46.
without the glow that tinged her cheeks, betraying the exist.
ence 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
-he 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 any body 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 —'11 never
kiss you ag'in, Mabel; I'1l 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 youa
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, 1
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'11 come back for it woull lighten
40




470               THE PATHFINDER.
my very heart to witness your gladness. But it I cannotfarewell-farewell-the sarjeant was wrong-yes, the sar.
jeant 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 fornm 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
wh6se vigour no sorrow could enfeeble, soon bore him out of
view, and he 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 successfil 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 pro.
tector. 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 Leather-stocking. Further than this, Mrs. Western could
not ascertain; though the distant glimpse, and singular de.
uortment 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 effe,:t that Pathfinder had foreseen. She died in the cot



THE PATHFINDER.                47 ~
tage 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
rother, who succeeded to his territorial title, which, however,
as shortly after merged in one earned by his valour on the
Fcean.
THI END.