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THE
PATHFINDER:
OR,
THE INLAND SEA.
BY
THE AUTHOR OF
"THE PIONEERS," "LAST OP THE MOHICANS," "PRAIRIE," ie.
Here the heart
May give a useful lesson to the head,
And Learning wiser grow without his books.
COWPER.
IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I.
PHILADELPHIA: LEA AND BLANCHARD,
1840.
s
STEREOTYPED BY J. FAGAN PHILADELPHIA.
PRINTED BY T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS.
PREFACE.
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 sup posed 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 peculiari ties that are indispensable to identity, without incur ring 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,
(3)
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 cen tury ; but, in this particular, facts will fully bear out all the license of the fiction. Although the precise vessels mentioned in these pages may never have existed on that water, or anywhere else, others so nearly resembling them, as to form a sufficient author ity 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 mano3uvred 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, and fraught with all the interests of human society. A passing glimpse, even though it be in a work of fiction, of what that vast region so lately was, may help to make up the sum of knowledge by which alone a just appreciation can be formed of the wonderful means, by which 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 sublimity connected with vastness is familiar to every eye. The most abstruse, the most far-reaching, perhaps the most chastened of the poet's thoughts, crowd on the imagina tion as he gazes into the depths of the illimitable void. The ex panse of the ocean is seldom seen by the novice with indiffer ence, and the mind, even in the obscurity of night, finds a par allel to that grandeur, which seems inseparable from images that the senses cannot compass. With feelings akin to this ad miration and awe — the offspring of sublimity — were the dif ferent 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 VOL. I. 2 (13)
14 THE PATHFINDER.
downward, it offered more than common advantages to the 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 ef fects in the woods are familiar to all. On the upper margin of the opening to which there is allusion, the viewless in fluence had piled tree on tree, in such a manner as had not only enabled the two males of the party to ascend to an elevation of some thirty feet above the level of the earth, but, with a little care and encouragement, to induce their more timid companions to accompany them. The vast trunks 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 the group in question. They were all wayfarers in the wilderness ; and had they not been, neither their previous habits nor their actual social positions would have accustom ed 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 Tusca- roras ; while their companions were a man, who bore about him the peculiarities of one who had passed his days on the ocean, and is too, in a station little, if any, above that of a common 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 grateful
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. Towards 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 regions 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 plain 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,"-— a term of affection the sailor often used in allusion to his niece's 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 ! 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 7 say, rather, what less 1 Where are your combing seas, your blue water, your rollers, your breakers, your whales, or your water spouts, 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 fancy wind aloft. Now, where are your gales, and hurricanes, and trades, and levanters, and such like incidents, in this bit of a forest, and what fishes have you swimming beneath yonder tame surface !"
" That there have been tempests here, these signs around us plainly show ; and beasts, if not fishes, are beneath those leaves."
" I do not know that," returned the uncle, with a sailor's dogmatism. "They told us many stories at Albany, of the wild animals we should fall in with, and yet we have seen nothing to frighten a seal. I doubt if any of your inland animals will compare with a low latitude shark !"
" See !" exclaimed the niece, who was more occupied with the sublimity and beauty of the " boundless wood," than with her uncle's arguments, " yonder is a smoke curling over the tops of the trees — can it come from a house ?"
" Ay, ay ; there is a look of humanity in that smoke," returned the old seaman, " which is worth a thousand trees.
THE PATHFINDER. 17
I must show it to Arrowhead, who may be running past a port without knowing it. It is probable there is a camboose, 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 dis tance of about a mile, and was diffusing itself in almost imperceptible threads of humidity, in the quivering atmo sphere. The Tuscarora was one of those noble-looking war riors 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 accus tomed 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 familiarity, in an in tercourse that had now lasted more than a week. The sight of the curling smoke, however, had struck the latter like the sudden appearance of a sail at sea, and, for the first time since they met, he ventured to touch the warrior, as has been related.
The quick eye of the Tuscarora instantly caught a sight of the smoke, and for 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 singu lar a contrast to its harsher cries, in the Indian warrior's voice, was barely audible ; otherwise, he was undisturbed. His countenance was calm, and his quick, dark, eagle eye moved, over the leafy panorama, as if to take in at a glance every circumstance that might enlighten his mind. That the long journey they had attempted to make through a broad belt of wilderness, was necessarily attended with danger, both 2*
18 THE PATHFINDER.
uncle and niece well knew ; though neither could at once de termine whether the sign that others were in their vicinity, was the harbinger of good or evil.
" There must be Oneidas, or Tuscaroras, near us, Arrow head," 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 7"
" No wigwam there," Arrowhead answered, in his un moved 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 bloom ing cheek and brightened the eye of the fair creature at his side, but she soon turned with a look of surprise to her relative, and said hesitatingly, for both had often admired the Tuscarora's knowledge, or we might almost say, instinct —
" A pale-face's fire ! Surely, uncle, he cannot know that!"
" Ten days since, child, I would have sworn to it ; but, now, I hardly know what to believe. May I take the liberty of asking, Arrowhead, why you fancy that smoke, now, a pale-face's smoke, and not a red-skin's ?"
" Wet wood," returned the warrior, with the calmness with which the pedagogue might point out an arithmetical demonstration to his puzzled pupil. "Much wet — much smoke ; much water — black smoke."
" But, begging your pardon, Master Arrowhead, the smoke is not black, nor is there much of it. To my eye, now, it is as light and fanciful a smoke as ever rose from a captain's tea kettle, when nothing was left to make the fire, but a few chips from the dunnage."
" Too much water," returned Arrowhead, with a slight nod of the head : " Tuscarora too cunning to make fire with
THE PATHFINDER. 19
water ; pale-face too much book, and bum 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 read ing, Magnet, for the Chief has sensible notions of things in his own way. How far, now, Arrowhead, do you make us by your calculation, from the bit of a pond, that you call the Great Lake, and towards which we have been so many days shaping our course'.'"
The Tuscarora looked at the seaman with quiet superiority, as he answered —
" Ontario, like heaven ; one sun, and the great traveller will know it."
" Well, I have been a great traveller, I cannot deny, but of all my v'y'ges this has been the longest, the least profit able, 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, appa rently, 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 the niece, laughing as girls will laugh at their own idle conceits.
" How now, Magnet, dost suppose that I shouldn't know my native element, if it were in sight ? "
" But, Ontario is not your native element, dear uncle, for you come from the salt water, while this is fresh."
" That might make some difference to your young mariner, but none 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 of leaves.
" Ay, ay ; this is much as I expected, when I left the coast
20 THE PATHFINDER.
to come in search of a fresh- water pond," resumed Cap, shrug ging his shoulders like one whose mind was made up, and who thought no more need be said. " Ontario may be there, or, for that matter, it may be in my pocket. Well, I suppose there will be room enough, when we reach it, to work our canoe. But, Arrowhead, if there be pale-faces in our neigh bourhood, 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 uptorn tree, in silence. When they had reached the ground, Arrow head intimated his intention to go towards the fire, and ascer tain who had lighted it, while he advised his wife and the two others to return to a canoe, which they had left in the adjacent stream, and await his return.
" Why, chief, this might do on soundings, and in an offing where one knew the channel," returned old Cap, " but in an unknown region like this, I think it unsafe to trust the pilot alone too far from the ship : so, with your leave, we will not part company."
" What my brother want ?" asked the Indian, gravely, though without taking offence at a distrust that was suffi ciently plain.
" Your company, Master Arrowhead, and no more. I will go with you, and speak these strangers."
The Tuscarora assented without difficulty, and again he directed his patient and submissive little wife, who seldom turned her full rich black eye on him, but to express equally her respect, her dread, and her love, to proceed to the boat. But, here, Magnet raised a difficulty. Although spirited, and of unusual energy under circumstances of trial, she was but woman, and the idea of being entirely deserted by her two male protectors, in the midst of a wilderness, that her senses had just told her was seemingly illimitable, became so keenly painful that she expressed a wish to accompany her uncle.
" The exercise will be a relief, dear sir, after sitting so long in the canoe," she added, as the rich blood slowly returned to a cheek that had paled, in spite of her efforts to be calm ; " and there may be females with the strangers."
" Come, then, child — it is but a cable's length, and we shall return an hour before the sun sets."
With this permission, the girl, whose real name was Mabel Dunham, prepared to be of the party, while the Dew-of-June,
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 sufficed for Arrowhead, but old Cap deliberately set the smoke by a pocket-compass, before he trusted himself within the shadows of the trees.
" This steering by the nose, Magnet, may do well enough for an Indian, but your 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 dis covered, 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 wil derness, Mabel followed with a step as light and elastic as that of the Indian, keeping close in the rear of her com panions. 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 towards 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 PATHFINDER.
as Arrowhead swiftly approached the spot where his practised and unerring senses told him the strangers ought to be, his footstep gradually became lighter, his eye more vigilant, and his person was more carefully concealed.
" See, 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 if they were in the cabin of a three-decker."
" Arrowhead is but half right," whispered Mabel, " for there are two Indians and only one white man."
" Pale-faces," said the Tuscarora, holding up two fingers ; " red man" holding up one.
" Well," rejoined Cap, " it is hard to say which is right and which is wrong. One is entirely white, and a fine comely lad he is, with an air of 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 feated the intention by deranging the instrument.
" Red man, Mohican," said the Tuscarora ; " good ; pale faces, Yen geese."
" 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 ; pale-face hurried, and fire. Let the squaw go."
" What," said Cap, in astonishment, " send little Magnet
THE PATHFINDER. 23
ahead, as a look-out, while two lubbers, like you and me, lie- to, 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-like look," answered Cap, " but, being in the woods, no one will know it. If you think Mabel—"
" Uncle, I know. There is no cause to fear for me ; and you are always nigh to protect me."
"Well, take one of the pistols, then — "
" Nay, I had better rely on my youth and feebleness," said the girl, smiling, while her 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. Although the heart of the girl beat quick, her step was firm, and her movements, seemingly, were without reluctance. A death-like silence reigned in the forest, for they towards whom she approached, were too much occupied in appeasing 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 within a 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 Indian to be, and his companion whose character had been thought so equivocal, to rise to their feet, as quick as thought. Both glanced at the rifles that leaned against a tree, and then each stood without stretching out an arm, as his eyes fell on the form of the girl. The Indian uttered a few words to his companion, and resumed his seat and his meal, as calmly as
24 THE PATHFINDER.
if no interruption had occurred. On the contrary, the white man left the fire, and came forward to meet Mabel.
The latter saw, as the stranger approached, that she was about to be addressed by one of her own colour, though his dress was so strange a mixture of the habits of the two races, that it required a near look to be certain of the fact. He was of middle age, but there was an open honesty, a total absence of guile, in his face, which otherwise would not have been thought handsome, that at once assured Magnet she was in no danger. Still she paused, 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 up right 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 con fidence 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 more than scent."
THE PATHFINDER. 25
" Then you are the friend my father promised to send to 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 to remember 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 would see his child safe to the garrison, though I died for it. We expected to meet you before you reached the falls, where we have left our own canoe; while we thought it might do no harm to come up a few miles, in order to be of service if wanted. It is lucky we did, for I doubt if Arrowhead be the man to shoot the current."
a 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 ihe strangers. As soon as this was done, the party proceeded towards the two who still remained near the fire.
VOL. I. 3
THE PATHFINDER.
CHAPTER II.
Yea! long as nature's humblest child
Hath kept her temple undefiled
By simple sacrifice,
Earth's fairest scenes are all his own,
He is a monarch, and his throne
Is built amid the skies !
WILSON.
THE Mohican continued to eat, though the second white man rose, and courteously took off his cap to Mabel Dun ham. He was young, healthful, and manly in appearance ; and he wore a dress, which, while it was less rigidly professional than that of the uncle, also denoted one accustomed to the water. In that age, real seamen were a class entirely apart from the rest of mankind ; — their ideas, ordinary language, and attire, being as strongly indicative of their calling, as the opinions, speech, and dress of a Turk denote a Mussulman Although the Pathfinder was scarcely in the. prime of life, Mabel had met him with a steadiness that may have been the consequence of having braced her nerves for the interview ,• but, when her eyes encountered those of the young man at the fire, they fell before the gaze of admiration, with which she saw, or fancied she saw, he greeted her. Each, in truth, felt that interest in the other, which similarity of age, condi tion, 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 always easy for the inexperienced to pronounce, we naturally turn it into English, and call him the Big Sarpent. You affc not to sup pose, however, that by this name we wish to say that he is treacherous, beyond what is lawful in a red-skin, but that he is wise, and has the cunning that becomes a warrior. Ar rowhead, there, knows what I mean."
While the Pathfinder was delivering this address, the two Indians gazed on each other steadily, and the Tuscarora ad-
THE PATHFINDER. 27
vanced 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 hail ing of friendly vessels on the ocean. But, speaking of water, it reminds me of my young friend, Jasper Western, here, who can claim to know something of these matters, seeing that he has passed his days on Ontario."
'* I am glad to see you, friend," said Cap, giving the young fresh-water sailor a cordial gripe ; " though you must have something still to learn, considering the school to which you have been sent. This is my niece, Mabel — I call her Mag net, 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 reason is easily comprehended," said the young man, involuntarily fastening his keen dark eye, at the same time, on the suffused face of the girl ; " and I feel sure that the sailor who steers by your Magnet, will never make a bad 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 round your lake."
" And, uncle, is there not more or less land around the ocean?" said Magnet, quickly ; for she dreaded a premature display of the old seaman's peculiar dogmatism, not to say, pedantry.
" No, child, there is more or less ocean all round the land ! that 's what I tell the people ashore, youngster. They are living, as it might be, in the midst of the sea, without 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 THE 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 lie 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, I make no doubt she will remember it."
Master Cap uttered more than he was aware of at the time. Jasper Western did attend to the wants of Mabel, and she long remembered the kind, manly attention of the young sailor, at this their first interview. He placed the end of a log for a seat, obtained for her a delicious morsel of the veni son, 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 ; ho mage that woman always wishes to receive, but which is never so flattering, or so agreeable, as when it comes from the young to those of their own age ; from the manly to the gentle. Like most of those who pass their time excluded from the society of the softer sex, young Western was earnest, sin cere, 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. ,
THE PATHFINDER. 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 different individuals that composed it. The Indians were silent and industrious, the appetite of the aboriginal American for veni son 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 journey ings 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 never believed much in the learning of them that dwell in towns, for I ne ver yet met with one that had an eye for a rifle, or a trail."
" That 's my manner of reasoning, Master Pathfinder, to a yarn. Walking about streets, going to church of Sundays, and hearing sermons, never yet made a man of a human being. Send the boy out upon the broad ocean, if you wish to open his eyes, and let him look upon foreign nations, or, what I call the face of 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 1 why, nothing but a sol dier. 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 cither'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 our lakes are bordered by the forests, and one is every day called upon to worship God, in such a temple. That men are not always the same, even in the wilderness, I must admit, for the difference between a Mingo and a Delaware, is as plain to be seen as the difference between the sun and the moon. I am glad, friend Cap, that we have met, how ever, 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 Ser pent 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 Path finder, earnestly. " They that live in the settlements and the towns get to have confined and unjust opinions con- sarning the might of His hand, but we who pass our time, in his very presence, as it might be, see things differently — I mean such of us as have white natur's. A red-skin has his notions, and it is right that it should be so, and if they are not exactly the same as a Christian white man's, there is no harm in it. Still there are matters 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, not without some heat ; " in the way of a proper and manly faith, I will turn my back on no one, when afloat. Although more accustomed to make all snug aloft, and to show the proper canvass, than to pray, when the hurricane comes, I know that we 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 you all
82 THE PATHFINDER.
know, simply an intimation that, being accustomed to see water in large bodies salt, I should like to taste it, before I can believe it to be fresh."
" God has given the salt lick to the deer, and he has given to man, red-skin and white, the delicious spring at which to slake his thirst. It is unreasonable to think that he may not have given lakes of pure water to the west, and lakes of impure water to the east."
Cap was awed, in spite of his overweening dogmatism, by the earnest simplicity of the Pathfinder, though he did not relish the idea of believing a fact which, for many years, he had pertinaciously insisted could not be true. Unwilling to give up the point, and, at the same time, unable to maintain it against a reasoning to which he was unaccustomed, and which possessed equally the force of truth, faith, and proba bility, 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 serjeant 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 gifts are with the rifle, and on a trail, and in the way of game and scouting ; for* though I can use the spear and the paddle, I pride not myself o,n either. The youth, Jasper, there, who is discoursing with the Serjeant's daughter, is a different creatur', for he may be said to breathe the water, as it might be, like a fish. The Indians and Frenchers of the north
THE PATHFINDER. 33
shore call him Eau-douce, on account of his gifts in this par ticular. He is better at the oar and the rope too, than in making fires on a trail."
" There must be something about these gifts of which you speak, after all," said Cap. " Now this fire, I will acknow ledge, 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 cau tion prevented the emission of any noise. " Nothing is easier to us who pass our time in the great school of Providence, than to larn its lessons. We should be as useless on a trail, or in carrying tidings through the wilderness, as so many woodchucks, did we not soon come to a knowledge of these niceties. Eau-douce, as we call him, is so fond of the water, that he gathered a damp stick or two for our fire, and 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 venison as his bonne bouche ; " for though these torments belong only to the red-skin natur', in the way of bearing them like braves, white-skin natur' may be, and often has been, 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. 35
enemy that is 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 repent 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 is snugly moored on one of its coasts need fear nothing from the one anchored abeam, let it be ever so savage, unless it possesses the art of ship-building. No — no — the people who live on the shores of the Atlantic need fear but little for their skins or their scalps. A man may lie down at night, in those regions, in the hope of finding the hair on his head in the morning, unless he wears a wig."
" It is n't so here. I don't wish to flurry the young wo man, and therefore I will be no way particular — though she seems pretty much listening to Eau-douce, as we call him-— but without the edication I have received, I should think it, at this very moment, a risky journey to go over the very ground that lies between us and the garrison, in the present state of this frontier. There are about as many Iroquois on this side of Ontario, as thers 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 on their trails. The Sarpent has come up one side of the river, and I have come up the other, in order to scout for the outlying rascals, while Jasper brought up the canoe, like a bold-hearted sailor, as he is. The 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 I think the lad would have dashed into a Mingo camp, single handed, 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 all."
" Only the risk of being shot from a cover, as he forced the canoe up a swift rift, or turned an elbow in the stream, with his eyes fastened on the eddies. Of all the risky 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 travel 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."
11 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 pass ed 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 mat ter, 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 foit?"
" Little more than fifteen miles ; and swift miles too, as the river runs, if the Mingos let us go clear."
" And I suppose the woods will stretch along, starboard and larboard, as heretofore?"
"Anan?"
THE PATHFINDER. 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 float ing down stream, and that, too, with a swift current."
" And what the devil is to prevent these minks, of which you speak, from shooting us as we double a head-land, or are busy in steering clear of the rocks ?"
" The Lord ! — He who has so often helped others, in'greater difficulties. Many and many is the time that my head would have been stripped of hair, skin and all, hadn't the Lord fi't of my side. I never go into a skrimmage, friend mariner, without thinking of this great ally, who can do more in 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 the 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 bul let from this long rifle of mine, saved his scalp that day, for it had fairly started, and half a minute more would have left him without the war-lock. When the Mohican squeezes my hand, and intermates that I befriended him in that matter, I tell him, no ; it was the Lord, who led me to the only spot where execution could be done, or his necessity be made known, on account of the smoke. Sartain when I got the right position, I finished the affair of my own accord, for a friend under the tomahawk is apt to make a man think quick, and act at once, as was my case, or the Sarpent's spirit would be hunting in the happy land of his people, at this very moment."
" Come, come, Pathfinder, this palaver is worse than being skinned from stem to stern ; we have but a few hours of sun, and had better be drifting down this said current of yours,
VOL. I. 4
38 THE PATHFINDER.
while we may. Magnet, dear, are you not ready 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 towards which she was journeying, with accounts of her father, whom she had not seen since a child, and with the manner of life of those who lived in the frontier garrisons. Unconsciously, she had become deeply interested, and her thoughts had been too intently directed to these 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 shall leave a broad path to the river."
" The broader the better ; when there, it will surpass Mingo cunning, even, to say which way the canoe has gone ; up stream or down. Water is the only thing in natur' that will thoroughly wash out a trail, and even water will not always do it, when the scent is strong. Do you not see, Eau-douce, that if any Mingos have seen our path below the falls, they will strike off towards this smoke, and that they will na turally conclude that they who began by going up stream, will end by going up stream. If they know any thing, they now
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 can not 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, causing his companion to see that he trod with the utmost care, on the impression left on the leaves, by the little foot ot 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 blade, and run him over the falls ?"
" And what would be done with the pretty niece, in the meanwhile T'
" 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 ac quainted. 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 the 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 ihen 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 lan guage 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 junc tion 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 recepta cle of the Ontario. The canoe in which Cap and his party had travelled from Fort Stanwix, the last military station on the Mohawk, lay by the side of this river, and into it the whole party now entered, with the exception of Pathfinder, who remained on the land, in order to shove the light vessel off*.
" Let her starn drift down stream, Jasper," said the man of the woods to the young mariner of the lake, who had dispossessed Arrowhead of his paddle, and taken his own station as steersman ; " let it go down with the current. Should any of these infarnals, the Mingos, strike our trail, or follow it to this point, they will not fail to look for the
THE PATHFINDER. 41
signs in the mud, and if they discover that \ve have left the shore, with the nose of the canoe up-stream, it is a natural belief to think we went up stream."
This direction was followed ; and, giving a vigorous shove, the Pathfinder, who was in the flower of his strength and activity, made a leap, landing lightly, and without disturbing its equilibrium, in the bow of the canoe. As soon as it had reached the centre of the river, or the strength of the current, the boat was turned, and it began to glide noiselessly down the stream.
The vessel in which Cap and his niece had embarked for their long and adventurous journey, was one of the canoes of bark, which the Indians are in the habit of constructing, and which, by their exceeding lightness, and the ease with which they are propelled, are admirably adapted to a navi gation 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 princi pal defect in the eyes of the uninitiated. A few hours prac tice, however, in a great measure remedied this evil, and both Mabel and her uncle had learned so far to humour its move ments, 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 the 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 centre of the canoe ; the Big Serpent knelt near him. Arrowhead and his wife occupied places forward of both, the former having relin quished his post aft. Mabel was half- reclining on some of her own effects, behind her uncle, whUe the Pathfinder and Eau- douce stood erect, the one in the bow, and the other in the stern, each using a paddle, with a long, steady, noiseless 4*
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 no longer the cover of the woods.
The Oswego, just at that place, was a deep, dark stream, of no great width, its still, gloomy-looking current winding its way among overhanging trees, that, in particular spots, almost shut out the light of the heavens. Here and there some half-fallen giant of the forest lay nearly across its 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 admira ble poet, and which we have placed at the head of this chap ter, 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 Cham plain 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. 48
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 partial 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 he would call it — though I always keep my limbs free, when near a Frencher, or a Mingo."
" You are then the young friend of whom my father has spoken so often in his letters ?"
" His young friend — the serjeant has the advantage of me by thirty years ; yes, he is thirty years my senior, and as many my better."
" Not in the eyes of the daughter, perhaps, friend Path finder," put in Cap, whose spirits began to revive, when he found the water once more flowing around him. " The thirty years that you mention, are not often thought to be an ad vantage 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 encountered the admiring gaze of the young man in the stern. As a last resource her spirited, but soft blue eyes, sought refuge in the water. Just at this moment, a dull heavy sound swept up the avenue formed by the trees, borne along by a light air that hardly produced a ripple on the water.
" That sounds pleasantly," said Cap, pricking up his ears
44 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 brighter flush glowing in her face.
" The devil ! Master Pathfinder — or you, Mr. Eau-deuce — (for so Cap began to style Jasper, by way of entering cor dially into the border usages,) had you not better give the canoe a sheer, and get nearer to the shore ? These water falls have generally rapids above them, and one might as well get into the Maelstrom, at once, as to run into their suc 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 man in the stern of the canoe, for just at that moment a fresh roar of the fall was borne to her ears, by a new 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, all of whom are used to the water, might carry the canoe over in safety, for we often shoot these falls."
" And we counted on you, friend mariner, as a mainstay ;" said Pathfinder, winking 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 ser- jeant'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 beep 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, affec tion 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 unpre pared 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 had landed moved away, "that I do not look on this affair as any thing more than canoeing in the woods. There is no sea manship 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 true eye, for all rests on you, seeing
46 THE PATHFINDER.
that we can count Master Cap for no more than a pas- senger."
The canoe was leaving the shore, as he concluded, while Mabel went hurriedly and trembling to the rock that had been pointed out, talking to her Companion of the danger her uncle so unnecessarily ran, while her eyes were riveted on the agile and vigorous form of Eau-douce, as he stood erect in the stern of the light boat, governing its movements. As soon, however, as she reached a point where she got a view of the fall, she gave an involuntary but suppressed scream, and covered her eyes. At the next instant, the latter were again free, and the entranced girl stood immovable as a statue, a scarcely breathing observer of all that passed. The two Indians seated 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 com panion. 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 cen tre of the stream, with its head pointed towards the fall, and it had already begun to quicken its motion, by the increased force of the current. At that moment, Cap would cheerfully have renounced every claim to glory that could possibly be acquired by the feat, to have been safe again on shore. He heard the roar of the water, thundering as it might be, behind a screen, but, becoming more and more distinct, louder and louder, and before him he saw its line cutting the forest below, along which the green and angry element seemed stretched and shining, as if the particles were about to lose their principle of cohesion.
" Down with your helm — down with your helm, man !" he exclaimed, unable any longer to suppress his anxiety, as the canoe glided towards the edge of the fall.
THE PATHFINDER. 47
" Ay — ay — down it is, sure enough," answered Pathfinder, looking behind him for a single instant, with his silent joyous laugh — " down we go, of a sartainty ! Heave her starn up, boy ; further up with her starn !"
The rest was like the passage of the viewless wind. Eau- douce gave the required sweep with his paddle, the canoe glanced into the channel, and for a few seconds it seemed to Cap, that he was tossing in a 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 be gan deliberately to measure the water that had been taken in in the passage.
" Fourteen spoonsful, Eau-douoe ; 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 danger he had gone through. His safety is easily ex plained. Most of the river fell perpendicularly ten or twelve feet ; but near its centre, the force of the current had so far worn away the rock, as to permit the water to shoot through a narrow passage, at an angle of about forty or forty-five degrees. Down this ticklish descent the canoe had glanced, amid frag ments of broken rock, whirlpools, foam, and furious tossings of the element, which an uninstructed eye would believe men aced 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 feather from one pile of foam to another, scarcely permitting its glossy side to be wetted. There were a few rocks to be
48 THE PATHFINDER.
avoided ; the proper direction was to be rigidly observed, 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 ad miration of the boldness of the exploit. Still he was indis posed 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 hem, 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 myself, 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 look er on."
" And yet you conned the canoe ; you told him how to head, and how to sheer."
" Human frailty, master mariner ; that was a little of white-skin natur'. Now, had the Sarpent, yonder, been in the boat, not a word would he have spoken, or thought would he have given to the public. An Indian knows how to hold his tongue ; but we white folk fancy we are always wiser than our fellows. I 'm curing myself fast of the weakness, but it needs time to root up the tree that has been growing more than thirty years."
"I think little of this affair, sir; nothing at all, to speak
* Lest the reader suppose we are dealing purely in fiction, the writer will add that he has known a long thirty-two pounder carried over these same falls in perfect safety.
THE 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 'em,) in the canoe, in going over these falls ; for a boat's breadth, either way, may make a drowning matter of it. Eau-douce, we shall have to carry the Serjeant's brother over Niagara, yet, to shosv 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, T 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, with 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 have had her feelings awakened by the cool and gallant air with which Eau-douce had accomplished this clever exploit. He
VOL. I. 5
50 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 skill 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 pictures presented by the plunging canoe, and the unmoved steersman. She admitted that insidi ous 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 Path finder, by floating at her side, was most in view, the con versation 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 con fident, 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 judge 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 it was so simple, that a less obtuse subject than the old sailor might well have suspected its sincerity. " One who has passed the place knows how to feel for him."
THE PATHFINDER. 51
" He was a poor fellow, as you say ; and a poor frontier man, too, though he came out to show his skill among us ignoranters. What became of him ? — Why, he went down the falls topsy-turvy like, as would have happened to a court house or a fort."
" If it should jump out of a canoe," interrupted Jasper, smiling, though he was evidently more disposed than his friend to let the passage of the falls be forgotten.
" The boy is right," rejoined Pathfinder, laughing in Mabel's face, the canoes being now so near that they al most 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 ma.de."
" 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, that even the rebuked and self-mortified feelings of this wander er of the forest, were sensibly touched by the blooming love liness of the girl.
" We did it for the best," Pathfinder continued ; " 'twas all for the best. Had we waited to carry the canoe across the portage, time would have, been lost, and nothing is so precious as time, when you are mistrustful of Mingos."
" But we can have little to fear, now ! The canoes move swiftly, and 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 your 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."
" 7T is the Sarpent, as sure as I 'm a white man, and he wishes us to drop in nearer to his shore. Mischief is brew ing, 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."
SPENSER.
THE Oswego, below the falls, is a more rapid, unequal stream, than it is above them. There are places where the river flows in the quiet stillness of deep water, but many shoals and rapids occur ; and, at that distant day, when 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 recognised 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 for Jasper to follow. In a minute both boats were silently drift ing down the stream, within reach of the bushes that over hung the water, all observing a profound silence ; some from alarm, and others from habitual caution. As the travellers drew nearer the Indian, he made a sign for them to stop ; and then he and Pathfinder had a short but earnest confer ence, 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 1"
" 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 frech trail that led towards the garrison" — for so it was the usage of that frontier to term a military work, whether it was occupied or not.
" That may be the bowl of a pipe belonging to a soldier. Many use the red-skin pipes."
" See," said the Big Serpent, again holding the thing he had found up to the view of his friend.
The bowl of the pipe was of soap-stone, and 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 symbol 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 fearful wickedness. It looks fresh, too, Chingachgook 1" " The tobacco was burning when I found it." 5*
54 THE PATHFINDER:.
" That is close work, chief — where was the trail t"
The Mohican pointed to a spot not a hundred yards dis tant 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 investi gation had lasted a quarter of an hour, the white man re turned alone, his red friend having disappeared in the forest.
The ordinary expression of the countenance of the Path finder, 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, per- mitting 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 ?"
" Nay, the forts this-a-way are not like forts in the settle ments, and two or three light cannon are all they have dowp at the mouth of the river ; and then, broadsides fired at 9 dozen out-lying Mingos, lying behind logs, and in a forest would be powder spent in vain. We have but one course.
THE PATHFINDER. 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 1 — 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 1 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 ambush- ments."
" 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 pe culiar 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 ob ject to the risk was disregarded, and the party immediately prepared to change its position, as it could be seen from the place where Jasper intended to light his fire. The move ment 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 ar whirled 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
56 THE PATHFINDER.
bethink him of the damp wood, now, when it may serve us all a good turn."
" Too much smoke — too much cunning," said Arrowhead, sententiously.
" That is gospel truth, Tuscarora, if the Mingos didn't know that they are near soldiers ; but soldiers commonly think more of their dinner, at a halt, than of their wisdom and danger. No, no ; let the boy pile on his logs, and smoke them well too ; it will all be laid to the stupidity of some Scotch or Irish blunderer, who is thinking more of his oat meal, or his potatoes, than of Indian sarcumventions, or In dian rifles."
" And yet I should think, from all we have heard in the towns, that the soldiers on this frontier are used to the arti fices 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. 57
covery 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, ac companied 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 ; and 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 essen tially favoured by the natural formation of the bank, the in dentation in the shore, the shallowness of the water, and the mariner in which the tangled bushes dipped into the stream. The Pathfinder had the address to look for bushes that had curved stems, things easily found in such a place; and by cut ting them some distance beneath the bend, and permitting the latter to touch the water, the artificial little thicket had not the appearance of growing in the stream, which might have excited suspicion; but, one passing it, would have thought that the bushes shot out horizontally from the bank before they inclined upwards towards the light. In short, the shelter was so cunningly devised, and so artfully pre pared, that none but an unusually distrustful eye would have been turned for an instant towards the spot, in quest of a hiding-place.
" This is the best cover I ever yet got into," said the 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-douce, wading, like a sensible boy, as he is, to leave his
58 THE PATHFINDER.
trail, in the water ; and we shall soon see whether our cover 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 on the shore, by the party, and the place where he believed them to have taken refuge below. Should the Canadian In dians return on their own trail, and discover that made by the Pathfinder and the Serpent, in their ascent from, and de scent to, the river, the clue to their movements would cease at the shore, water leaving no prints of footsteps. The young man had, therefore, waded, knee-deep, as far as the point, and was now seen making his way slowly down the margin of the stream, searching curiously for the spot in which the canoes were hid.
It was in the power of those behind the bushes, by placing their eyes near the leaves, to find many places to look through, while one at a little distance lost this advantage ; 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 fugi tives. It was evident to those who watched his motions from behind their cover, and they were all in the canoes, that Jas per 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 deliber ately, 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. Still he detected nothing, and was actually passing the spot, when Pathfinder made an opening beneath the branches, and called to him, in a low voice, to enter.
" This is pretty well," said the Pathfinder, laughing ; " though pale-face eyes and red-skin eyes are as different as human spx' glasses. I would wager, with the Serjeant's daughter,
THE PATHFINDER. 59
here, a horn of powder against a wampum-belt for her gir dle, that her father'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, 1 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 Sarperit, 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 can not bear that all your lives should be exposed on my account."
" No, no, pretty one ; we think you anything but a hin drance, 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 1"
" To do her a service !" said Jasper, with emphasis. " No thing shall tempt me to desert Mabel Dunham, until she is safe in her father's arms."
" Well said, lad ; bravely and honestly said, too ; and I join in it, heart and hand. No, no ; you are not the first of your sex I have led through the wilderness, and never but once did any harm 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 in 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 father will thank you — I thank you — God will reward you — but let there be no unnecessary risk. I can walk far, and have often gone miles, on some girlish fancy ; why not now exert myself for my life — nay, for your precious lives?"
" She is a true dove, Jasper," said the Pathfinder, neither relinquishing the hand he held until the girl herself, in native modesty, saw fit to withdraw it, " and wonderfully winning ! We get to be rough, and sometimes even hard-hearted, in the woods, Mabel ; but the sight of one like you brings us back again to our young feelings, and does us good for the 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. Path finder 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. 61
in a twelvemonth. Notwithstanding their situation as regards the enemy, the time flew by swiftly, and the young people, in particular, were astonished when Cap informed them how long they had been thus occupied.
" If one could smoke, Master Pathfinder," observed the old sailor, " this berth would be snug enough ; for, to give the devil his due, you have got the canoes handsomely land locked, 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 corning."
" Then let us see if Mohican eyes are better than them of a lad who follows the water."
The Mohican had indeed made his appearance in the same direction as that by which Jasper had rejoined his friends. Instead of coming directly on, however, no sooner did he pass the bend, where he was concealed from any who might be higher up stream, than he moved close under the bank, and, using the utmost caution, got a position where he could look back, with his person sufficiently concealed by the bushes to prevent its being seen by any in that quarter.
" The Sarpent sees the knaves !" whispered Pathfinder — " as I 'm a Christian white man they have bit at the bait, and have ambushed the smoke !"
Here a hearty, but silent, laugh, interrupted his words, and nudging Cap with his elbow, they all continued to watch the movements of Chingachgook, in profound stillness. The Mohican remained stationary as the rock on which he stood, fully ten minutes ; and then it was apparent that something of interest had occurred within his view, for he drew back with a hurried manner, looked anxiously and keenly along the margin of the stream, and moved quickly down it, taking care to lose his trail in the shallow water. He was evidently in a hurry and concerned, now looking behind him, and then
VOL. I. 6
62 THE PATHFINDER.
casting eager glances towards every spot on the shore, where he thought a canoe might be concealed.
" 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 turned his companion, " or the Sarpent would begin to creep. The Lord help us, and teach us wisdom ! I do believe even Chingachgook, whose sight is as faithful as the hound's scent, overlooks us, and will not find out the ambushment we have made !"
This exultation was untimely, for the words were no soon er 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 transplant ed 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 commu nication was over, Pathfinder rejoined the rest, and made them acquainted with all he had learned.
The Mohican had followed the trail of their enemies, some distance towards the fort, until the latter caught a sight of the smoke of Jasper's fire, when they instantly retraced their steps. It now became necessary for Chingachgook, who ran the greatest risk of detection, to find a cover where he could secrete himself, until the party might pass. It was, perhaps, fortunate for him, that the savages were so intent on this recent discovery, that they did not bestow the ordinary attention on the signs of the forest. At all events, they passed him swiftly, fifteen in number, treading lightly in each other's footsteps ; and he was enabled again to get into their rear. After proceeding to the place where the foot-
THE PATHFINDER. 63
steps of Pathfinder and the Mohican had joined the principal trail, the Iroquois had struck off to the river, which they reached just as Jasper had disappeared behind the bend below. The smoke being now in plain view, the savages plunged into the woods, and 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 arti fice 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 Jas per 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 follow down in the margin of the stream, but could not be certain.
As the Pathfinder related these facts to his companions, the professional feelings of the two other white men came uppermost, and both naturally reverted to their habits, in quest of the means of escape.
" Let us run out the canoes, at once," said Jasper, 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 clear ings — 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 THE PATHFINDER.
I will allow, but an accursed Mingo is more active, at his mischief; the canoes are swift, but a rifle-bullet is swifter.'
" It is the business of men, engaged as we have been, by a confiding father, to run this risk — "
" But it is not their business to overlook prudence."
" Prudence ! a man may carry his prudence so far as to forget his courage."
The group was standing on the narrow strand, the 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 know ledge ; but take the advice of one who faced the Mingos when you were a child, and know that their cunning is easier sar- cumvented by prudence, than outwitted by foolishness."
" I ask your pardon, Pathfinder," said the repentant Jasper, eagerly grasping the hand that the other permitted him to seize; " I ask your pardon, humbly and sincerely. 'Twas a foolish, as well as wicked thing to hint of a man whose heart, in a good cause, is known to be as firm as the rocks on the lake shore."
For the first time the 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
" 'T is 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 will have its way — "
A touch on his shoulder caused the speaker to cease. Mabel was standing erect in the canoe, her light, but swelling form bent forward in an attitude of graceful earnestness, her finger on her lips, her head averted, 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. The latter bowed his head to a level with a look-out, near which he had intentionally kept himself, and then whispered to Jasper —
" The accursed Mingos ! Stand to your arms, my men, but lay quiet as the corpses of dead trees !"
Jasper advanced rapidly, but noiselessly, to the canoe, and with a gentle violence induced Mabel to place herself in such an attitude as concealed her entire body, though it would have probably exceeded his means to induce the girl so far to lower her head that she could not keep her gaze fastened on their enemies. He then took his own post near her, with hisjifle cocked and poised, in readiness to fire. Arrowhead and Chingachgook crawled to the cover, and lay in wait like snakes, with their arms prepared for service, while the wife of the former bowed her head between her knees, covered it with her calico robe, and remained passive and immovable. Cap loosened both his pistols in their belt, but seemed quite at a loss what course to pursue. The Pathfinder did not stir. He had originally got a position where he might aim with deadly effect through the leaves, and where he could watch the movements of his enemies ; and he was far too steady to be disconcerted at a moment so critical.
It was truly an alarming instant. Just as Mabel touched the shoulder of her guide, three of the Iroquois had appeared in the water, at the bend of the river, within a hundred yards of the cover, and halted to examine the stream below. They were all naked to the waist, armed for an expedition against their foes, and in their war-paint. It was apparent that they were undecided as to the course they ought .to pursue, in order 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.
" Death 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 pre sented themselves clearly, and as it might be, by intuition, to the mind of Pathfinder, who perceived the necessity of imme diate 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 com munications 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 skrim- mage. Eau-douce, do you take the fellow that is painted like death ; Chingachgook, I give you the chief; arid Arrow head 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 the rifle be heard except in the last resort, since all the rest of the miscreants are still within hearing. Jasper, boy, in case of any movement behind us, on the bank, I trust
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 mov ing along the bank at an equally graduated pace, and directly abreast of them. In consequence of the distance between the bushes planted by the fugitives and the true shore, the two parties became visible to each other, when opposite that precise point. Both stopped, and a conversation ensued, that may be said to have passed directly over the heads of those who were concealed. Indeed nothing sheltered the travellers, but the branches and leaves of plants so pliant, that they yielded to every current of air, and which a puff of wind, a little stronger than common, would have blown away. Fortunately the line of sight, carried the eyes of the two par ties 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 riot follow."
" The pale-faces have left the shore, in their canoes," an swered 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 war paint, like coals of living fire. After a pause of two or three minutes, these three began also to descend the stream, though it was step by step, as men move who look for an object that has been lost. In this manner they passed the artificial screen, and Pathfinder opened his mouth, in that hearty but noiseless laugh, that nature and habit had contributed to ren der a peculiarity of the man. His triumph, however, was premature ; for the last of the retiring party, just at this mo ment casting a look behind him, suddenly stopped ; and his fixed attitude and steady gaze at once betrayed the appalling fact that some neglected bush had awakened his suspicions.
It was, perhaps, fortunate for the concealed, that the war rior who manifested these fearful signs of distrust was young, and had still a reputation to acquire. He knew the impor tance 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 In dian ; 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
suspicion of this youth, was an additional motive for not ac quainting his companions with his discovery. Should he really detect anything, his glory would be the greater for being unshared ; arid should he not, he might hope to escape that derision which the young Indian so much dreads. Then there were the dangers of an ambush and a surprise, to which every warrior of the woods is keenly alive, to render his approach slow and cautious. In consequence of the delay that proceeded from these combined causes, the two parties had descended some fifty or sixty yards before the young savage was again near enough to the bushes of the Pathfinder to touch them with his hand.
Notwithstanding their critical situation, the whole party behind the cover had their eyes fastened on the working countenance of the young Iroquois, who was agitated by conflicting feelings. First came the eager hope of obtaining success, where some of the most experienced of his tribe had failed, and with it a degree of glory that had seldom fallen to the share of one of his years, or a brave on his first war path ; then followed doubts, as the drooping leaves seemed to rise again, and to revive in the currents of air ; and dis trust 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 conve nient 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 arm of Chingachgook was raised, and the tomahawk of the Delaware descended on the shaven head of his foe. The Iroquois raised his hands frantically, bounded backward, and fell into the water, at a spot where the current swept the body away, the struggling limbs still tossing and writhing in the agony of death. The Delaware made a vigorous but unsuccessful attempt to seize an arm, with the hope of securing the scalp ;
70 THE PATHFINDER.
but the blood-stained waters whirled down the current, car rying with them their quivering burthen.
All this passed in less than a minute ; and the events were so sudden and unexpected, that men less accustomed than the Pathfinder and his associates to forest warfare, would have been at a loss how to act.
" There is not a moment to lose," said Jasper, tearing aside the bushes, as he spoke earnestly, but in a suppressed voice. " Do as I do, Master Cap, if you would save your niece ; and you, Mabel, lie at your length in the canoe."
The words were scarcely uttered, when, seizing the bow of the light boat, he dragged it along the shore, wading 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 con ceal 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 wail ing 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 pro pelling 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 the gallant guide, as he swept the water with long, steady, vigorous strokes of the paddle — " keep well up the current, and pull for the alder bushes opposite. Presarve the Serjeant's daugh ter, before all things, and leave these Mingo knaves to the Sarpent and me."
Jasper flourished his paddle, as a signal of understand- ing, while shot succeeded shot in quick succession, all now being aimed at the solitary man in the nearest canoe.
"Ay, empty your rifles, like simpletons, as you are," said the Pathfinder, who had acquired a habit of speaking when alone, from passing so much of his time in the solitude of the forest ; " empty your rifles, with an unsteady aim, and give me time to put yard upon yard of river between us. I will not revile you, like a Delaware, or a Mohican, for my gifts are a white man's gifts, and not an Indian's ; and boast ing in battle is no part of a Christian warrior ; but I may say, here, all alone by myself, that you are little better than so many men from the town, shooting at robins in the orchards! That was well meant," throwing back his head, as a rifle- bullet cut a lock of hair from his temple — " but the lead that misses by an inch, is as useless as the lead that never quits the barrel. Bravely done, Jasper ! the 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 manfully ; for he was on his proper element, loved his niece sincerely, had a proper regard for his own person, and was not unused to fire, though his experience certainly lay in a very different species of warfare. A few strokes of the pad dles were given, and the canoe shot into the bushes, Mabel was hurried to land by Jasper, and, for the present, all three of the fugitives were safe.
Not so with the Pathfinder. His hardy self-devotion had brought him into a situation of unusual exposure, the hazards of which were much increased, by the fact that just as he
72 THE PATHFINDER.
drifted nearest to the enemy, the party on the shore rushed down the bank, and joined their friends who still stood in the water. The Oswego was about a cable's length in width at this point, and the canoe being in the centre, the object was only a hundred yards from the rifles, that were constantly discharged at it; or, at the usual target distance for that weapon.
In this extremity the steadiness and skill of the Pathfinder did him good service. He knew that his safety depended altogether on keeping in motion ; for a stationary object, at that distance, would have been hit nearly every shot. Nor was motion of itself sufficient; for, accustomed to kill the bounding deer, his enemies probably knew how to vary the line of aim so as to strike him, should he continue to move in any one direction. He was consequently compelled to change the course of the canoe, at one moment shooting down with the current, with the swiftness of an arrow, and at the next checking its progress in that direction, to glance athwart the stream. Luckily the Iroquois could not reload their pieces in the water, and the bushes that everywhere fringed the shore, rendered it difficult to keep the fugitive in view, when on the land. Aided by these circumstances, and having received the fire of all his foes, the Pathfinder was gaining fast in distance, both downwards and across the cur rent, 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 ten in number, and understanding all the advantages of their bloody occupation, they had posted themselves at a spot where the water dashed among rocks and over shallows, in a way to form a rapid, which, in the language of the country, is call ed a rift. The Pathfinder saw that if he entered this rift, he should be compelled to approach a point where the Iroquois had posted themselves, for the current was irresistible, and the rocks allowed no other safe passage, while death or cap- tivity would be 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 endeavour ing 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, fo? 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 ad vantage of a partial cover for his body. The western shore was only fifty feet distant, but the quiet, swift, dark current that glanced through the interval, sufficiently showed that here he would be compelled to swim.
A short cessation in the firing now took place on the part of the Indians, who gathered about the canoe, and, having found the paddles, were preparing to cross the river.
" Pathfinder," called a voice from among the bushes, at the point nearest to the person addressed, on the western shore.
" What would you have, 'Jasper ?"
VOL. I. 7
74 THE PATHFINDER.
" Be of good heart — friends are at hand, and not a single Mingo shall cross without suffering for his boldness. Had you not better leave the rifle on the rock, and swim to us before the rascals can get afloat ?"
" A true woodsman never quits his piece, while he has any powder in his horn, or a bullet in his pouch. I have not drawn a trigger this day, Eau-douce, and shouldn't relish the idea of parting with those 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 serjeanf s daughter down here in a range with their bullets, I hope, Jasper !"
" She is safe, for the present at least ; though all depends on our keeping the river between us and the enemy. They must know our weakness, now ; and should they cross, no doubt some of their party will be left on the other side."
" This canoeing touches your gifts rather than mine, boy, though I will handle a paddle with the best Mingo that ever struck a salmon. If they cross below the rift, why can't we cross in the still water above, and keep playing at dodge and turn with the wolves ?"
" Because, as I have said, they will leave a party on the other shore — and then, Pathfinder, would you expose Mabel to the rifles of the Iroquois ?"
" The 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 unreasonable 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 garri son, 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 PATHFINDER. 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 ?"
" Can an eagle fly, Jasper?" returned the other, laughing, in his usual manner, and looking back as he spoke. " But it would be unwise to expose yourself on the water, for them miscreants are beginning to bethink them again of powder and bullets."
" It can be done without any such chances. Master Cap has gone up to the canoe, and will cast the branch of a tree into the river to try the current, which sets from the point above in the direction of your rock. See, there it comes already ; if it float fairly, you must raise your arm, when the canoe will follow. At all events, if the boat should pass you, the eddy below will bring it up, and I can recover it."
While Jasper was still speaking, the floating branch came in sight, and quickening its progress with the increasing velocity of the current, it swept swiftly down towards the Pathfinder, who seized it as it was passing, and held it in the air, as a sign of success. Cap understood the signal, and presently the canoe was launched into the stream, with a caution and an intelligence that the habits of the mariner had fitted him to observe. It floated in the same direction as the branch, and in a minute was arrested by the Pathfinder.
" This has been done with a frontier man's judgment, Jasper," said the guide, laughing ; " but you have your gifts, which incline most to the water, as mine incline to the woods. Now, let them Mingo knaves cock their rifles and get rests, for this is the last chance they are likely to have at a man without a cover."
" Nay, shove the canoe towards the shore, quartering the current, and throw yourself into it as it goes off," said Jas per, 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 finder, 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 ambush- ment."
"And Mabel T
" 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 with the rifle, perhaps ; but you have a stout heart, and a steady hand, and them are things that count, in a fight."
" Mabel will find me between her and her enemies," said Jasper, calmly.
" Yes, yes, the 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 carioe, previously to entering it, so far up the stream, as to have got
THE PATHFINDER. 77
into the comparatively still water above the rift. It was ap parent, at a glance, that the savage who guided the boat was skilled in the art, for the long steady sweep of his paddle sent the light bark over the glassy surface of the tranquil river, as if it were a feather floating in air.
" Shall I fire ?" demanded Jasper, in a whisper, trembling with eagerness to engage.
" Not yet, boy ; not yet. There are but three of them, and if Master Cap, yonder, knows how to use the pop-guns 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 near er to our own cover !"
" What for, Eau-douce 1 — To place her pretty little head and leaping heart among flying bullets. No — no — she is better where she is, because she is safer."
" We are never certain — we thought ourselves safe, behind the bushes, and yet you saw that we were discovered."
" And the Mingo imp paid for his curiosity, as these knaves are about to do — "
The Pathfinder ceased speaking, for at that instant, the sharp report of a rifle was heard, when the Indian in the stern of the canoe leaped high into the air, and fell into the water holding the paddle in his hand. A small wreath of smoke floated out from among the bushes of the eastern, shore, and was soon absorbed by the atmosphere.
"That is the Sarpent hissing !" exclaimed the Pathfinder, exultingly. " A bolder or a truer heart never beat in the breast of a Delaware. I am sorry that he interfered, but he could not have known our condition — he could not have known our 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
about them, but could offer no resistance to the power of
7*
78 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 imprac* ticable. 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 neces sary to record these occurrences, the canoe was whirling and tossing in the rift, while both the savages had stretched themselves in its bottom, as the only means of preserving the equilibrium. This natural expedient soon failed them, for striking a rock, the light 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 ; but I never pull trigger on one of the miscreants, unless it be plain that his death will lead to some good end. The deer never leaped that fell by my hand wantonly. By living much alone with God in the wilderness, a man gets to feel the jus tice of such opinions. One life is sufficient for our present wants, and there may yet be occasion to use Killdeer in behalf of the Sarpent, who has done an untimorsome thing to let them rampant devils so plainly know that he is in their
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 pre parations 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 par- ties 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 war rior ; " 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 admirable preci sion, 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 the Horican, the Mohawk, the Ontario, and all the other bloody passes between the country of the Frenchers and our own ; and did the foolish knave believe that I would stand by and see my best friend cut off in an ambushment !"
" We have served the 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 cross ing 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.
" 'T is Indian deviltry, boy ; but Christian honesty shall sarcumvent their arts."
As the man slowly approached, the observers began to doubt the accuracy of their first impressions, and it was only when two-thirds of the stream was passed, that the truth was really known.
" The Big Sarpent, as I live !" exclaimed Pathfinder, look ing at his companion, and laughing until the tears came into
THE PATHFINDER. 81
his eyes, with pure delight at the success of the artifice. " He has tied bushes to his head, so as to hide it, put the horn on top, lashed the rifle to that bit of log he is pushing before him, and has come over to join his friends. 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 can see no feature that I remember."
" Feature ! Who looks for features in an Indian ? — No — no — boy ; 't is the paint that speaks, — and none but a Dela ware 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 in light merriment. But, hist ! It is too much like the people of the settlements to pour soft speeches into another's ear ; and the Sarpent has keen senses. He knows I love him, and that I speak well of him behind his back ; but a Delaware has modesty in his inmost natur', though he will brag like a sinner when tied to a stake."
The Serpent now reached the shore, directly in the front of his two comrades, with whose precise position he must have been acquainted, before leaving the eastern side of the river, and rising from the water he shook himself like a dog, and made the usual exclamation — "Hugh!"
82 THE PATHFINDER.
CHAPTER VI.
"These, as they change, Almighty Father, these Are but the varied God."
THOMSON.
As the chief landed he was met by the Pathfinder, who addressed him in the language of the warrior's people.
" Was it well done, Chingachgook," 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 ders 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, appa rently 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. Harkee, 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 strong er 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."
" 'Tis 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, Indians would not have been created, and I do suppose, could one dive to the bottom of things, it would be found that even the Mingo tribes were produced for some rational and proper purpose, though I confess it surpasses my means to say what it is."
" The Serpent greatly exposes himself to the enemy, in order to get his scalp ! This may lose us the day."
" Not in his mind, Jasper. That one scalp has more honour in it, according to the Sarpent's notions of warfare, than a field covered with slain, that kept the hair on their
84 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-pounder from among 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 hauling down an ensign."
" And these are Chingachgook's colours — he will keep them 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 np 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 ceeded by the quick reports of their rifles, and so eager did the enemy become, in the desire to drive the Delaware back from his victim, that a dozen rushed into the river, several of whom even advanced near a hundred feet into the foaming current, as if they actually meditated a serious sortie. But Chingachgook continued as unmoved, as he remained unhurt by the missiles, accomplishing his task with the dexterity of long habit. Flourishing his reeking trophy, he gave the war whoop in its most frightful intonations, and for a minute the arches of the silent woods, and the deep vista formed by the course of Che river, echoed with cries so terrific that Mabel bowed her head, in irrepressible fear, while her uncle for a single instant, actually meditated flight.
"This surpasses all I have heard from the wretches," Jasper exclaimed, stopping his ears, equally in horror and disgust.
" 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," re turned 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. 85
cat-bird in my ear now. All the screeching reptyles that could stand between the Falls and the garrison, would have no effect on my narves, at this time of day. I say it not in boasting, Jasper, for the man that lets in cowardice through the ears, must have but a weak heart, at the best ; sounds and outcries being more intended to alarm women and chil dren, 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 Path finder 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 pro mised 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 favour their escape would be as likely to conceal the movements of their wily enemies.
" The moment has come, men," Pathfinder commenced, " when our plans must be coolly laid, in order that we may act together, and with a right understanding of our errand and gifts. In an hour's time, these woods will be as dark as midnight, and if we are ever to gain the garrison, it must be
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done under favour of this advantage. What say you, Master Cap, for though none of the most experienced in combats and retreats in the woods, your years entitle you to speak first, in a matter like this, and in a council."
"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, but 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, " 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 allow."
" That is easily said, but not so easily done," returned the guide. " We shall be more exposed in the river than by following the woods, and then there is the Oswego rift below us, and I am far from sartain that Jasper himself can carry a boat safely through it, in the dark. What say you, lad, as to your own skill and judgment ?"
" I am of Master Cap's opinion about using the canoe. Mabel is too tender to walk through swamps, and among roots of trees, in such a night as this promises to be, and then 1 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
" Go on," said Jasper ; " Master Cap thinks he is on the ocean — water leaves no trail — "
" It leaves none, Eau-douce, hereaway, though I do not pretend to say what it may leave on the sea. Then a canoe is both swift and easy, when it floats with the current, and the tender limbs of the Serjeant's daughter will be favour- ed 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 garri son. 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," con tinued the guide, into whose character there entered no ingre dient 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, for 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 along the shore to the foot of the rapids, he 'got into the canoe, that remained in his possession, in order to carry it to the same place.
This was easily effected. The canoe was laid against the bank, and Mabel and her uncle entered it, taking their seats as usual ; while the Pathfinder, erect in the stern, held by a bush, in order to prevent the swift stream from sweeping them down its current. Several minutes of intense and breathless expectation followed, while they awaited the 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 in stant. 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, Jas per 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 be lieved themselves to be in the centre of the stream, the two shores were discernible merely by masses of obscurity denser than common, the outlines against the clouds being barely distinguishable by the ragged tops of the trees. Once or twice the wanderers altered their course, in consequence of unexpectedly stepping into deep water, for they knew that the boat had lodged on the shallowest part of the rift. In short, with this fact for their compass, Jasper and his companion wandered about in the water, for near a quarter of an hour, and at the end of that period, which began to appear inter minable to the young man, they found themselves apparently
THE PATHFINDER. 89
no nearer the object of their search than they had been at its commencement. Just as the Delaware was about to stop, in order to inform his associate that they would do well to return to the land, in order to take a fresh departure, he saw the form of a man, moving about in the water, almost within reach of his arm. Jasper was at his side, and he at once understood that the Iroquois were engaged on the same er rand as he was himself.
" Mingo !" he uttered in Jasper's ear — " the Serpent will show his brother how to be cunning."
The young sailor caught a glimpse of the figure at that instant, and the startling truth also flashed on his mind. Un derstanding the necessity of trusting all to the Delaware chief, he kept back, while his friend moved cautiously in the direc tion 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, turn ing his head, hastily said —
" Leave it to the cunning of the great Serpent."
" Hugh !" exclaimed the strange savage, adding, in the language of his people — " the canoe is found, but there were none to help me. Come ; let us raise it from the rock."
" Willingly ;" answered Chingachgook, who understood the dialect — " lead ; we will follow."
The stranger, unable to distinguish between voices and ac cents, amid the raging of the rapid, led the way in the ne cessary direction, and, the two others keeping close at . his heels, all three speedily reached the canoe. The Iroquois laid hold of one end, Chingachgook placed himself in the centre, and Jasper went to the opposite extremity, as it was important that the stranger should not detect the presence of a pale-face, a discovery that might be made, by the parts of the dress the young man still wore, as well as by the general appearance of his head.
" Lift," said the Iroquois, in the sententious manner of his race ; and by a trifling effort the canoe was raised from the rock, held a moment in the air to empty it, and then placed carefully on the water, in its proper position. All three held it firmly, lest it should escape from their hands, under the pressure of the violent current, while the Iroquois, who led 8*
90 THE PATHFINDER.
of course, being at the upper end of the boat, took the direc tion 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.
Jn the mean time, the Iroquois, who led the way, proceed ed slowly through the water, in the direction of his own par ty, still grasping the canoe, and dragging his reluctant fol lowers 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 found themselves in the centre of a party of no less than four others who were in quest of it.
After the usual brief, characteristic exclamations of satis faction, the savages eagerly laid hold of the canoe, for all seemed impressed with the necessity of securing this impor tant boat, the one side in order to assail their foes, and the other to secure their retreat. The addition to the party, how ever, 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 con-
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 swim ming, as soon as it was dark.
In this manner, 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 to merit, experience and station, kept the others silent, until this individual had spoken.
The halt greatly added to the danger of discovering the presence of Jasper, in particular, who however had the pre caution 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 observa tion. 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 Chingach- gook. 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 abstain ing from looking towards those behind him, he lessened the chances of discovery, and waited with the indomitable pa tience of an Indian for the instant when he should be re quired to act.
" Let all my young men, but two, one at each end of the canoe, cross and get their arms," said the Iroquois chief. — " Let the two push over the boat."
The Indians quietly obeyed, leaving Jasper at the stern, and the Iroquois who had found the canoe, at the bow of the light craft, Chingachgook burying himself so deep in the river, as to be passed by the others without detection. The splashing in the water, the tossing arms and the calls of one to another, soon announced that the four who had last joined the party, were already swimming. As soon as this fact was
92 THE PATHFINDER.
certain, the Delaware rose, resumed his former station, and began to think the moment for action was come.
One less habitually under self-restraint, than this warrior, would probably have now aimed his meditated blow ; but Chingachgook knew there were more Iroquois behind him on the rift, and he was a warrior much too trained and 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 strug gling 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 re sisted by the efforts of his companions.
That second nature, which grows up through habit, in stantly 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 of the darkness of that gloomy night, and floating in an element so dangerous to man, when engaged in deadly strife, they appeared to forget 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 vio lent reaction of the struggles of the two combatants. The first impulse of the youth was to swim to the aid of the Dela ware, 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 discover ing 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 ex planations 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 audi ble 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?"
" The Great Sarpent is in the hands of his own Deity, and will live or die, according to the intentions of Providence. We can do him no good, and may risk too much by remain ing 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 Path finder?" — demanded Cap. "It sounds more like the out cries 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 can 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 know- ing whether he be dead or living?"
"Jasper is right," said Mabel, who could speak, though her voice sounded huskily and smothered ; " I have no fears, uncle, and will stay here until we know what has become of our friend."
"This seems reasonable, Pathfinder," put in Cap. "Your true seaman cannot well desert a messmate ; and I am glad to find that motives so correct exist among those fresh-water people."
"Tut — tut — " returned the impatient guide, forcing the canoe into the stream as he spoke, " ye know nothing, and ye fear nothing. If ye value your lives, think of reaching the garrison, and leave the Delaware in the hands of Provi dence. 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.
THE scene was not without its sublimity, and the ardent, generous-minded Mabel felt her blood thrill in her veins, and her cheeks flush, as the canoe shot into the strength of the stream to quit the spot. The darkness of the night had lessen ed, by the dispersion of the clouds ; but the overhanging woods 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
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every unusual sound that arose from the forest, kept casting uneasy glances around him, as he drifted on, in company. The paddle was used lightly, and only with exceeding care, for the slightest sound in the breathing stillness of that hour and place, might apprise the watchful ears of the Iroquois of their position.
All these accessaries added to the impressive grandeur of her situation, and contributed to render the moment much the most exciting that had ever occurred in the brief exist ence of Mabel Dunham. Spirited, accustomed to self-reliance, and sustained by the pride of considering herself a soldier's daughter, she could hardly be said to be under the influence of fear, yet her heart often beat quicker than common, her fine blue eye lighted with an exhibition of a resolution that was wasted in the darkness, and her quickened feelings came in aid of the real sublimity that belonged to the scene, and to the incidents of the night.
" Mabel !" said the suppressed voice of Jasper, as the two canoes floated so near each other that the hand of the young man held them together, " you have no dread, you trust freely to our care, and willingness to protect you?"
" I am a soldier's daughter, as you know, Jasper Western, and ought to be ashamed to confess fear."
" Rely on me — on us all. Your uncle, Pathfinder, the Delaware, were the poor fellow here, I myself, will risk every thing rather than harm should reach you."
"I believe you, Jasper," returned the girl, her hand un consciously playing in the water. " I know that my uncle loves me, and will never think of himself until he has first thought of me ; and I believe you are all my father's friends, and would willingly assist his child. But I am not so feeble and weak-minded as you may think, for though only a girl from the towns, and like most of that class, a little disposed to see danger where there is none, I promise you, Jasper, no foolish fears of mine shall stand in the way of your doing your duty."
" The 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 father and I have scouted arid marched together on the flanks and rear of the enemy, in nights darker than this, and that too, when
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 the wound in his shoulder, and the honest fellow will tell you when you meet, the manner in which we contrived to cross the river 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 he tells me. 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? ^Ie knows what I am on a trail, or a scout, and he has seen me often, face to face, with the Frenchers. I have sometimes thought, lad, that we all ought to seek for wives; for the man that lives altogether in the woods, and in company with his enemies, or his prey, gets to lose some of the feeling of kind, in the end."
" 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."
" It is not easy, Mabel, to dwell always in the presence of God, and not feel the power of his goodness. I have attended ohurch-sarvice in the garrisons, and tried hard, as becomes a true soldier, to join in the prayers ; for though no enlisted sarvant of the king, I fight his battles and sarve his cause, —
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and so I have endeavoured to worship garrison-fashion, but never could raise within me the solemn feelings and true affection that I feel when alone with God in the forest. There I seem to stand face to face, with my Master ; all around me is fresh and beautiful, as it came from his hand ; and there is no nicety, or doctrine, to chill the feelings. No, no ; the woods are the true temple, after all, for there the thoughts are free to mount higher even than the clouds."
" You speak the truth, Master Pathfinder," said Cap, " and a truth that all who live much in solitude know. What, for instance, is the reason that 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 con science 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 question. I know no class of men who 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 me of my God, nor am I as apt to bethink on most of all his goodness, in trouble and tribulations, as on a calm, solemn, quiet day, in a forest, when his voice is heard in the creaking of a dead branch, or
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in the song of a bird, as much in my ears at least, as it is ever heard in uproar and gales. How is it with you, Eau- douce ; you face the tempests as well as Master Cap, and ought to know something of the feelings of storms ?"
" I fear that I am too young and too inexperienced, to be able to say much on such a subject," modestly answered Jasper.
"But you have your feelings !" said Mabel, quickly. " You cannot — no one can live among such scenes without feeling how much they ought to trust in God !"
" I shall not belie my training so much as to say I do not sometimes think of these things, but I fear it is not 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 ot several of the Indian dialects. " It is a name the Iroquois have given me to distinguish me from some of my compa nions who once sailed upon the sea, and are fond of filling the ears of the natives, with stories of their great salt-water lakes."
" And why shouldn't they ! I 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 — ay — Eau-deuce, that must mean the white brandy, which is no great matter after all, and may well enough 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-in- deuce, 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
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to your situation, and cannot be helped. I£ you will return with me, and make a v'y'ge or two, on the Atlantic, it will serve you a good turn the remainder of your days, and Mabel, there, and aii the other young women, near the coast, will think all the better of you, should you live to be as old as one of the trees in this forest."
" Nay, nay," interrupted the single-hearted and generous guide, " Jasper wants not for friends in this region, I can assure you ; and though seeing the world, according to his habits, may do him good, as well as another, we shall think none the worse of him if he never quits us. Eau -douce or Eau-de-vie, he is a brave, true-hearted youth, and I always sleep as 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 felt that there was a necessity for his saying some thing ; the pride of youth and manhood revolting at the idea of his being in a condition not to command the respect of his fellows, or the smiles of his equals of the other sex. Still he was unwilling to utter aught that might be considered harsh, to the uncle of Mabel ; and his self-command was, per- haps, 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 naviga tion. 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—"
100 THE PATHFINDER.
" I have heard of such things, but confess I never saw one."
" Oh ! deuce, with a vengeance. A trader, and no deep- sea ! Why, boy, you cannot pretend to be 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 Pathfinder, coming to the rescue ; " in which business, even you, Master Cap, must allow he has some handiness. In my judgment, every man is to be esteemed or condemned according to his gifts, and if Master Cap is useless in running the Oswego falls, I try to remember that he is useful when out of sight of land ; and if Jasper be useless when out of sight of land, I do not forget that he has a true eye and steady hand when running the falls."
" But Jasper is not useless — would not be useless, when out of sight of land," said Mabel, with a spirit and energy that caused her clear sweet voice to be startling, amid the solemn stillness of that extraordinary scene. " No one can be useless there, who can do so much here, is what I mean ; though I 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, Mas ter Cap. I have often followed their line of march by bones bleaching in the rain, and have found their trail by graves, years after they and their pride had vanished together. 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 the 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. No — no — bloodshed and warfare are not *ny 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 — 1 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 I 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 prefer a king's piece to a regular double-sighted, long-barreled rifle ! 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, but I make the very same remark. Now, the last time I came in, I found scarcely a man in all York, who would think of matters and things in general as I thought about them myself. Every man I met appeared to have bowsed all his idees up into the wind's eye, and when he did fall off a little from his one-sided notions, it was commonly 9*
102 THE PATHFINDER.
to ware short round on his heel, and to lay up as close as ever on the other 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.
" There is not so much difference between salt and fresh water, that we who pass our time on them cannot compre hend each other. It is no great merit, Mabel, to understand the 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 vari ations."
" Well," 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 be tween 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 God 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."
" 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 ship building, and now and then a house, I can see no great use 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
104 THE PATHFINDER.
forward with a velocity that was appalling to the unpractised eye. Jasper was of opinion that they might drift down with the current to the mouth of the river in two hours from the time they left the shore, and he and the Pathfinder had agreed on the expediency of suffering the canoes to float of 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 boundless forest, nature was speaking with her thousand tongues, in the eloquent language of night in a wilderness. The air sighed through ten thousand trees, the water rippled, and, at places, even roared along the shores ; and now and then was heard the creaking of a branch, or a trunk, as it rubbed against some object similar to itself, under the vibrations of a nicely balanced body. All living sounds had ceased. Once, it is true, the Pathfinder fancied he heard the howl of a distant wolf, of which a few prowled through these woods, but it was a transient and doubtful cry, that might possibly have been attributed to the imagination. When he desired his compa nions, 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 under stand 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
your 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, that it had been swallowed up in the gloom before Mabel allowed herself to believe the young man would really venture alone, on a service that struck her imagination as singularly dangerous. During this time, the party continued to float with the current, no one speaking, and it might almost be said, no one breathing, so strong was the general desire to catch the minutest sound that should come from the shore. But the same solemn, we might indeed say sublime, quiet, reigned as before ; the washing of the water, as it piled up against some slight obstruction, and the sighing of the trees, alone interrupting the slumbers of the forest. At the end of the period mentioned, the snapping of dried branches 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 recog nised 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
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 squaws! — Three of their scalps hang at my girdle. They do not know how to strike the Great Serpent of the Delawares. Their hearts have no blood, and their thoughts are on their return path, across the waters of the Great Lake."
" Have you been among them, chief? — and what has be come 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. Path finder, I have counted the enemy, and have touched their rifles."
" Ah ! I thought he would be venturesome !" exclaimed the guide, in English. " The risky fellow has been in the midst of them, and has brought us back their whole history. Speak, Chingachgook, and I will make our friends as knowing as ourselves."
The Delaware now related in a low earnest manner, the substance of all his discoveries since he was last seen strug gling 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, and, in the main, even unsuspected. Once, indeed, he had been questioned, but answering that he Avas Arrowhead, no further inquiries were made. By the passing remarks, he soon ascertained that the party was out expressly to intercept Mabel and her uncle, concerning whose rank, however, they had evidently been deceived. He also ascertained enough to justify the suspicion that Arrowhead had betrayed them to their enemies, for some motive that it was not now easy to reach, as he had not yet received -the reward of his services.
THE PATHFINDER. 107
Pathfinder communicated no more of this intelligence 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 of 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 landing with Mabel, myself, that I may take her in, by some of the by-ways, and leave the canoes to their chances in the rapids."
" It will never succeed, Pathfinder," eagerly interrupted Jasper. " Mabel is not strong enough to tramp the woods in a night like this. Put her in my skiff, and I will lose my life, or carry her through the rift safely, dark as it is."
" No doubt you will, lad ; no one doubts your willingness to do anything to serve the 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 he values him ; but I confess I should not like to quit the canoe, with the certainty we have of there being enemies like those we have seen, in the forest. But my uncle can decide for me, in this matter."
" I have no liking for the woods," said Cap, " while one has a clear drift like this on the river. Besides, Master
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 American forest ? A catamount is a skeary 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 bashful. I have known seamen in the low latitudes, swim for hours at a time, among sharks fifteen or twenty feet long, and think no more of what they were doing, than a countryman thinks of whom he is amongst, when he 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 that my eye is surer than his own, on the water."
" That I will, cheerfully, boy. The water belongs to your gifts, arid no one will deny that you have improved them to the utmost. You are right enough in believing that the ser- jeant's daughter will be safer in your canoe than in this ; and, though I would gladly keep her near myself, I have her welfare too much at heart, not to give her honest advice. Bring your canoe close alongside, Jasper, and I will give you what you must consider as a precious treasure."
THE PATHFINDER. 109
" I 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, the 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 approach ed, all became impressed with the gravity of the moment. That their enemies would endeavour to reach this point be fore them, was almost certain ; and it seemed so little proba ble any one should attempt to pass it, in the profound obscu rity 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 ; for should either hit a rock, if not split asunder, it would almost certainly be upset, and then would come not only all the hazards of the river itself, but, for Mabel, the certainty of falling into the hands of her pur suers. The utmost circumspection consequently became ne cessary, 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 be came 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. He 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
VOL. I. 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 her 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 in opposition to the power and majesty of nature.
" That is the spot you have mentioned ?" she said to Jas per, 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 reliance on your skill, as well as on-your dispo sition 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 wa ters. 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 to lose command of his frail bark, during which brief space it fairly whirled entirely round ; but, by a desperate effort, he brought it again under control, recovered the lost channel, and was soon rewarded for all his anxiety by finding himself floating quietly in the deep water below the rapids ; secure from every danger, and without having taken in enough of the element to serve for a draught.
" All is over, Mabel," the young man cried, cheerfully.
THE PATHFINDER. Ill
" The danger is past, and you may now, indeed, hope to meet your father this very night."
" God be praised ! Jasper, we shall owe this great hap piness to you !"
" The Pathfinder may claim a full share in the merit ; — but what has become of the other canoe ?"
" I see something near us on the water: is it not the boat of our friends ?"
A few strokes of the paddle brought Jasper to the side of the object in question. It was the other canoe, empty and bottom upwards. No sooner did the young man ascertain this fact, than he began to search for the swimmers ; and, to his great joy, Cap was soon discovered drifting down with the current ; the old seaman preferring the chances of drown ing, 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 wash ing of waters. Jasper announced to his companions that they now heard the surf of the lake. Low, curved spits of land lay before them, into the bay formed by one of which the canoe glided, and then it shot up noiselessly upon a gra velly beach. The transition that followed was so hurried and great, that Mabel scarce knew what passed. In the course of a few minutes, however, sentinels had been passed, a gate was opened, and the agitated girl found herself in the arms of a parent who was almost a stranger to her.
112 THE PATHFINDER.
CHAPTER VIII.
" A land of love, and a land of light, Withouten sun, or moon, or night: Where the river swa'd a living stream, And the light a pure celestial beam : The land of vision, it would seem A still, an everlasting dream."
QUEEN'S WAKE.
THE rest that succeeds fatigue, and which attends a new ly awakened sense of security, is generally sweet and deep. Such was the fact with Mabel, who did not rise from her humble pallet, such a bed as a 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 as sembled 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 fresh 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 garrison ed 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 might 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'oeil of all that had been conceal ed 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 stock ade, 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, through her recollections, with its hidden, glassy lakes, its dark, roll ing streams, and its world of nature !
Turning from this view, our heroine felt her cheek fanned by a fresh and grateful breeze, such as she had not experi enced 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 occasion ally 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 boundless expanse. It was a scene, on one side, of apparently endless ibrests, while a waste of seemingly inter minable water spread itself on the other. Nature had ap peared to delight in producing grand effects, by setting two of her principal agents in bold relief to each other, neglect ing 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 tuught much more than was usual for young women in her own station in life, and, in one sense certainly, she did credit to her teaching. The widow of a field-officer, who formerly belonged to the same regiment as her father, had taken the child in charge at the death of its mother, and under the care of this lady, Mabel had acquired some tastes, and many ideas, which otherwise might always have remained strangers to her. Her situation in the family had been less that of a domestic than of a humble companion, and the results were quite apparent in her attire, her language, her sentiments, and even in her feelings, though neither, perhaps, rose to the level of those which would properly characterize a lady. She had lost the coarser and less vefined habits and manners of one in her original position, without having quite reached a point that disqualified her for the situation in life that the accidents of birth and fortune would probably compel her to fill. All else that was distinctive and peculiar in her, belonged to na tural 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 vulgar surprise. She felt its ordinary beauties, as most would havo 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, facing the air from the lake, and experiencing the genial influence of its freshness pervading both her body and her mind. " How very beau tiful ; and yet how singular !"
The words, and the train of her ideas, were interrupted by a touch of a finger on her shoulder, and turning, in the expectation of seeing her father, Mabel found Pathfinder at her side. He was leaning quietly on his long rifle, and laughing in his quiet manner, while, with an outstretched arm, he swept over the whole panorama of land and water.
" Here you have both our domains," 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. Well, Mabel, you are fit for either, for I do not see that fear of the Mingos, or night marches can destroy your pretty looks."
" It is a new character for the Pathfinder to appear in, to compliment a silly girl."
" Not silly, Mabel ; no, not in the least silly. The ser- jeant'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 in treacherous, flattering words. But, Pathfinder, I rejoice to see you among us again ; for, though Jasper did not seem to feel much uneasiness, I was afraid some accident might have happened to you and your friend, on that frightful rift."
" The lad kows us both, and was sartain that we should not drown, which is scarcely one of my gifts. It would have been hard swimming, of a sartainty, with a long-barrelled rifle in the hand ; and what between the game, and the 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 ex ceptions, and we landed with our arms in our hands. We had to take our time for it, on account of the Iroquois, I will own ; but, as soon as the skulking vagabonds saw the lights that the serjeant sent down to your canoe, we well under stood they would decamp, since a visit might have been ex pected 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 1"
" He is my own dear father, and received me as a soldier and a father should receive a child. Have you known him long, Pathfinder ?"
"That is as people count time. I was just twelve when the serjeant took me on my first scouting, and that is now more than twenty years ago. We had a tramping time of it, and as it was before your day, you would have had no father, had not the rifle been one of my natural gifts."
" Explain yourself."
" It is too simple for many words. We were ambushed, and the serjeant got a bad hurt, and would have lost his
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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 blessed day."
"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 your other good acts."
" Nay, I did not say that much, though I believe I did save his scalp. A man might live without a scalp, and so I cannot say I saved his life. Jasper may say that much con- sarning 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, look ing 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 Oswego threw its dark waters into the lake, between banks of some height ; that on its eastern side, being bolder and projecting fanner north than that on its western. The fort was on the latter, and immediately beneath it, were a few huts of logs, which, as they could not interfere with the defence of the place, had been erected along the strand for the purpose of receiving and containing such stores as were landed, or were intended to be embarked in the communications between the different ports on the shores of Ontario. There were two low, curved gravelly points, that had been formed with surprising regu larity 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. That on the western side was the most deeply indented, and as it also had the most water, it formed a sort of picturesque little port, for the post. It was along the narrow strand that lay between the low height of the fort and the water of this cove, that the rude buildings, just mentioned, had been erected.
Several skiffs, batteaux and canoes were hauled up on the
118 THE PATHFINDER.
shore, and in the cove itself lay the little craft, from which Jasper obtained his claim to be considered a sailor. She was cutter-rigged, might have been of forty tons burthen, was so neatly constructed and painted as to have something of the air of a vessel of war, though entirely without quarters, and rigged and sparred with so scrupulous a regard to proportions and beauty, as well as fitness and judgment, as to give her an appearance that even Mabel at once distinguished to be gallant and trim. Her mould was admirable, for a wright of great skill had sent her drafts from England at the express request of the officer who had caused her to be con structed ; 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 !"
" Of what use would valour be without the means of turn ing it to account ? Jasper is a brave boy, as all on this fron tier 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, with out 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 giv ing her men and arms, lest she should take him at his word, and get her wings clipped. I know little of these things, for my gifts are not at all in that way ; but I see the reason of the thing — I see its reason, though Jasper does not."
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"Ah! here is my uncle, none the worse for his swim, coming to look at this inland sea."
Sure enough, Cap, who had announced his approach by a couple of lusty hems, now made his appearance on the has- tion, where, alter 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 gradu ally 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 1 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 1 It is large, and fair to look at, and pleasant enough to drink, for those who can't get at the water of the springs."
" Do you call this large ?" asked Cap, again sweeping the air with the pipe. " I will just ask you what there is large about it? Didn't Jasper himself confess that it was only some twenty leagues from shore to shore?
" But uncle," interposed Mabel, " no land is to be seen, except here on our own coast. To me it looks exactly like the ocean."
"This bit of a pond look like the ocean ! Well, Magnet, that from a girl who has had real seamen in her family is downright nonsense. What is there about it, pray, that has even the outline of a sea on it?"
"Why, there is water — water — water — nothing but water, for miles on miles — far as the eye can see."
" And isn't there water — water — water — nothing but water
120 THE PATHFINDER.
for miles on miles, in your rivers, that you have been ca noeing 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 sol diers 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 1 Who the devil ever heard of the banks of the ocean, unless it might be the banks that are under water?"
" But, uncle, we cannot see across this lake, as we can see across a river."
" There you are out, Magnet. 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 be fore you, and, though it is not my gift to live on a lake, to my judgment there are few better than this."
" And, uncle, if we stood on the beach at Rockaway, what more should we see, than we now behold ? There is a shore on one side, or banks there, and trees, too, as well as those which are here."
" This is perverseness, Magnet, and young girls should steer clear of 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 to discover the triumph of a successful disputant.
"And then them trees bear no comparison to these trees. The coasts of the ocean have farms, and cities, and country- seats, and, in some parts of the world, castles and monaste ries, 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 ?"
" 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 thero are squirrels that can fly — "
"A squirrel fly ! — the devil, Master Pathfinder. Do you suppose that you have got a boy on his first v'y'ge, up here among you ?"
" I know nothing of your v'y'ges, Master Cap, though I suppose them to have been many ; but, as for what belongs to natur' in the woods, what I have seen I may tell, and not fear the face of man."
" And do you wish me to understand that you have seen a squirrel fly ?"
" If you wish to understand the power of God, Master Cap, you will do well to believe that, and many other things of a like natur', for you may be quite sartain it is true."
VOL. I. 11
122 THE PATHFINDER.
" And yet, Pathfinder," said Mabel, looking so pretty and sweet even while she played with the guide's infirmity, that he forgave her in his heart — " you, who speak so reverently of the power of the Deity, appear to doubt that a fish can fly?"
" I have not said it — I have not said it ; and, if Master Cap is ready to testify to the fact, unlikely as it seems, I am will ing to try to think it true. 1 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 ani mal 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 must be true," said the guide, quietly. " How long are their flights ?"
" Not quite as far as those of pigeons, perhaps, but far enough to make an offing. As for those squirrels of yours, we'll say no more about them, friend Pathfinder, as I sup pose 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, hurried ly — " and a very pretty vessel I think it is. Its name, too, is the Scud."
'* Ay, it will do well enough for a )ake, perhaps, but it's no great affair. The lad has got a standing bowsprit, and who ever saw a cutter with a standing bowsprit, before !"
" But may there not be some good reason for it, on a lake like this, uncle?"
THE PATHFINDER. 123
" Sure enough — I must remember this is not the ocean, though it does look so much like it."
" Ah ! uncle, then Ontario does look like the ocean, after all !"
" In your eyes, I mean, and those of Pathfinder ; not in the least in mine, Magnet. Now you might set me down, out yonder, in the middle of this bit of a pond, and that too in the darkest night that ever fell from the heavens, and in the smallest canoe, and I could tell you it was only a lake. For that matter, the Dorothy (the name of his vessel) would find it out as quick as 1 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 On tario 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 congrega tion in a hurry. And Jasper sails that boat 1 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 liber ties 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 PATHFINDER.
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 free from its influence. While the captains treated him kindly, and as an old comrade, the lieutenants seldom ventured to dissent from his military opinions ; and the ensigns, it was remarked, actually manifested a species of respect, that amounted to something very like deference. It is no won der then, that the announcement of Mabel put a sudden ter mination 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 familiarity of a friend.
" Good morrow, brother 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, notwith standing 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 forget fulness? — "
" Nay, nay, serjeant ; I forgot nothing, but it did not seem to me necessary to hide your intentions so very closely from your own flesh and blood."
" AH 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 relief party, shortly, for a post on the lake, though I do not say it is for the Thousand Islands, and I may have to go with it ; in, which case, I intend to take Mabel to make my broth for me, and I hope, brother, you will not despise a soldier's fare, for a month or so."
" That will depend on the manner of marching. I have no love for woods and swamps."
" We shall sail in the Scud ; and, indeed, the whole 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, not withstanding, though I shall look on the whole affair as so much time thrown away ; for I consider it an imposition to call sailing about this pond, going to sea."
" Jasper is every way able to manage the Scud, brother Cap, and in that light I cannot say that we have need of your services, though we shall be glad of your company. You cannot return to the 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 the 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 sol 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 inmity 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 lose his scalp, may boast of his campaign in his letters to his mother, when he gets in. I thought I would play idler once in my life."
" And no one has a better right, if long and faithful ser vice entitles a man to a furlough," returned the serjeant, kindly. " Mabel will think none the worse of you, for pre ferring her company to the trail of the savages ; and, T dare say, will be happy to give you a part of her breakfast, if you are inclined to eat. You must not think, girl, however, that the Pathfinder is in the habit of letting prowlers around the fort beat a retreat, without hearing the crack of his rifle."
" If I thought she did, 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 en liven 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. 12?
I will not take advantage of your ignorance neither, girl, and therefore shall say I do not think the Mingos would have hurt a hair of your head, had they succeeded by their deviltries and contrivances, in getting you into their hands. My scalp, and Jasper's, and Master Cap's, there, and the Sarpent's, too, would sartainly have been smoked ; but as for the 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 tor ment 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 mis fortune 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 linea ment 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 PATHFINDER.
CHAPTER IX.
u 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 LIKE 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 envieo1. At the period of our tale, and, indeed, for half a century later, the whole of that vast region which has been called the west, or the new countries, since the war of the revolution, lay a comparatively unpeo pled desert, teeming with all the living productions of nature, that properly belonged to the climate, man and the domestic animals excepted. The few Indians that roamed its forests then, could produce no visible effects on the abundance of the game ; and the scattered garrisons, or occasional hunters, that here and there were to be met with on that vast surface, had no other influence than the bee on the buckwheat field, or the humming-bird on the flower.
The marvels that have descended to our own times, in the way of tradition, concerning the quantities of beasts, birds and fishes, that were then to be met with, on the shores of the great lakes in particular, are known to be sustained by the experience of living men ; else might we hesitate about relating them ; but having been eye-witnesses of some of these prodigies, our office shall be discharged with the confidence that certainty can impart. Oswego was particularly well placed to keep the larder of an epicure amply supplied. Fish of various sorts abounded in its river, and the sportsman had only to cast his line to haul in a bass or some other member of the finny tribe, which then peopled the waters, as the air above the swamps of this fruitful latitude are known to be filled with insects. Among others, was the salmon of the
THE PATHFINDER. 129
lakes, a variety of that well-known species, that is scarce!} 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 in dent the shores of the lake. Deer, bears, rabbits, and squir rels, with divers other quadrupeds, among which was some times 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 habitu ally feasted on game that would have formed the boast of a Parisian table ; and it was no more than a healthful com mentary 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 estima tion of the common soldier, and, at any time, he would cheerfully desert his venison, and ducks, and pigeons, and salmon, to banquet on the sweets of pickled pork, stringy turnips and half-cooked cabbage.
The table of Serjeant Dunham, as a matter of course, par took 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 among two or three hundred of the fellows, that we have in this gar rison, there are not half a dozen who will not swear that 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 re pines, 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 some times 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 wo man's duties. Your sister thought differently, 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 sol dier's wife," returned Cap, gravely. " Our family has done its share, in that way, already, and it's high time that the sea was again remembered."
" I do not think of finding a husband for the girl in the 55th, or any other regiment, I can promise you, brother ; though I do think it getting to be time that the child were respectably married."
« Father !"
" '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 vir gin's good-will, must not go shouting out his thoughts behind her. So, if you please, we will talk of something else."
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" 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?"
" 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-hog !"
" 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 girl, 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 seemed to regret his own boldness.
" Well, well, we must remember that women are not men, my friend," resumed the serjeant, " 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,
132 THE 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 ther-in-law, with a smile as bland as comported with his saturnine features ; " for I was many years one of the gar rison in a sea-port. You and I have conversed on the sub ject before, and I'm afraid we 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 difference — not more than you '11 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," ob served 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-
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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, who did not quite so well understand the manoeuvre 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 be comes 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 before did I meet with one, in whom I thought Providence had so well balanced the different gifts."
"And the good opinion, I can tell you, Pathfinder, is mutual. She told me last night all about your coolness, and spirit, and kindness, — particularly the last; for kindness counts for more than half with females, my friend, — and the first inspection seems to give satisfaction on both sides. Brush up the uniform, and pay a little more attention to the outside, Pathfinder, and you will have the girl, heart and hand."
" Nay, nay, 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 ;
VOL. f 12
134 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 ?"
" There was not much opportunity, serjeant, and then I found myself so much beneath her in ideas, that I was afraid to speak of much beyond what belonged to my own gifts."
" Therein, you are partly right, and partly wrong, my friend. Women love trifling discourse, though they like to have most of it to themselves. Now, you know, I 'm a man that do not loosen my tongue at every giddy thought, and yet there were days when I could see that Mabel's mother thought none the worse of me, because I descended a little from my manhood. It is true, I was twenty-two years younger then, than I am to-day ; and, moreover, instead of being the oldest serjeant in the regiment, I was the youngest. Dignity is commanding and useful, and there is no getting on without it, as respects the men ; but if you would be thoroughly esteemed by a woman, it is necessary to conde scend 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 arid 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 I not understand you to say that you were pleased ? — And is Mabel a young woman to disappoint expectation?"
" Ah ! serjeant, it is not Mabel that I distrust ; but myself.
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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 likely 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 coun tenance. I dare say you have been under fire, some thirty or forty times, counting all the skirmishes and ambushes that you've seen."
" All of that, serjeant, all of that ; but what will it avail, in gaining the good-will of a tender-hearted young female ?"
"Jt 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 un used 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 ones I was bound to protect and defend. The case is now
136 THE PATHFINDER.
different. Mabel and I are so nearly alike, that I feel weighed down with a load that is hard to bear, at finding us so unlike. I do wish, serjeant, that I was ten years younger, more comely to look at, and better suited to please a handsome young wo man'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. Do you think the girl will consent to quit all her beloved settlement usages, and her visitings, and church-goings, to dwell with a plain guide and hunter, up hereaway, in the woods? Will she not, in the end, crave her old ways, and a better man ?"
" A better man, Pathfinder, would be hard to find," returned the father. " As for town usages, they are soon forgotten in the freedom of the forest, and Mabel has just spirit enough to dwell on a frontier. I 've not planned this marriage, my friend, without thinking it over, as a general does his cam paign. At first, I thought of bringing you into the regiment, that you might succeed me when 1 retire, which must be sooner or later; but on reflection, Pathfinder, I think you are scarcely fitted for the office. Still, if not a soldier, in all the meanings of the word, you are a soldier in its best meaning, and I know that you have the good will of every officer in the corps. As long as I live, Mabel can dwell with me, and you will always have a home, when you return from your scoutings and marches."
"This is very pleasant to think of, 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
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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 of them ; and there will be more of you, thirty years hence, than of all of them put together. A good conscience will keep one like you a mere boy, all his life."
" Jasper has as clear a conscience as any youth, I know, 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 years—— before Mabel was born."
" True enough — before Mabel was born, we were well-tried friends, and the hussy would never dream of refusing to marry a man who was her father's friend before she was born !"
" We don't know, 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 thought fully. "I Ve tried to do right, and that ought to make friends, though it sometimes fails."
" And you may be said to keep the best company, for even old Duncan of Lundie is glad to see you, and you pass hours in his society. Of all the guides, he confides most in you."
" Ay, even greater than he is, have marched by my side for days, and have conversed with me as if I were their brother ; but, serjeant, I have never been puffed up by their 12*
138 THE PATHFINDER.
company, for I know that the woods often bring men to a level, who would not be so in the settlements."
" And you are known to be the greatest rifle-shot that ever pulled trigger in all this region."
" If Mabel could fancy a man for that, I might have no great reason to despair ; and yet, 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 lair, serjeant 1 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. Al though, necessarily, much weaned from the caresses and blandishments that had rendered his child so dear to him, during the first year or two of his widowerhood, he had still a strong, but somewhat latent, love for her. Accus tomed 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 be lieve that his daughter would marry the man he might select, while he was far from being disposed to do violence to her wishes. The fact was, few knew the Pathfinder, intimately,
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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 war rantable enterprises, or what the opinion of the day consider ed as such, and never engaged in anything to call a blush to his cheek, or censure on his acts ; it was not possible to live much with this being, who, in his peculiar way, was a sort of type of what Adam might have been supposed to be before the fall, though certainly not without sin, and not feel 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 re prove their vices, with a fearlessness that proved how essen tially 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 extraor dinary 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 ganization of Pathfinder, was his beautiful and unerring sense of justice. This noble trait, and without it no man can be truly great, with it, no man other than respectable, probably had its unseen influence on all who associated with him ; for the common and unprincipled brawler of the camp had been known to return from an expedition made in his company, rebuked by his sentiments, softened by' his language, and improved by his example. As might have been expected, with so elevated a quality, his fidelity was like the immove-
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able rock. Treachery in him was classed among the things that are impossible, and as he seldom retired before his ene mies, so was he never known, under any circumstances that admitted of an alternative, to abandon a friend. The affini ties 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 closest to those whose characters would best reward his friendship. In short, it was said of the Pathfinder, by one accustomed to study his fel lows, that he was a fair example of what a just-minded and pure man might be, while untempted by unruly or ambitious desires, and left to follow the bias of his feelings, amid the solitary grandeur and ennobling influences of a sublime nature ; neither led aside by the inducements which influence all to do evil amid the incentives of civilization ; nor forgetful of the Almighty Being, whose spirit pervades the wilderness as well as the towns.
Such was the man whom Serjeant Dunham had selected as the husband of Mabel. In making this choice, he had not been as much governed by a clear and judicious view of the merits of the individual, perhaps, as by his own likings; still, no one knew the Pathfinder as intimately as himself, without always conceding to the honest guide a high place in his es teem, on account of these very virtues. That his daughter could find any serious objections to the match, the old soldier did not apprehend ; while, on the other hand, he saw many advantages to himself, in dim perspective, 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 mis givings proceeding from his humble distrust of himself.
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CHAPTER X.
" Think not I love him, though I ask for him ; 'T is but a peevish boy : — yet he talks well — But what care I for words?"
A WEEK passed in the usual routine of a garrison. Mabel was becoming used to a situation that, at first, she had found not only novel, but a little irksome; and the officers and men, in their turn, gradually familiarized to the presence of a young and blooming girl, whose attire and carriage had that air of modest gentility about them, which she had obtained in the family of her patroness, annoyed her less by their ill-con cealed admiration, while they gratified her by the respect which, she was lain 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 circumstancrs 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 oc cupied 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 num ber of those whom she was compelled to know, and made the duty of decision comparatively easy. Still she soon dis covered that there were a few, even among those that could aspire to a seat at the commandant's table, who were dis posed 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 middle- aged soldier, who had more than once tried the blessings of matrimony already, but was now a widower, was evidently dis posed to increase his intimacy with the serjeant, though their
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duties often brought them together ; and the youngsters among his messmates did not fail to note that this man of method, who was a Scotsman of the name of Muir, was much more frequent in his visits to the quarters of his subordinate than had formerly been his wont. A laugh, or a joke, in 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 ante-chamber. In point of fact, there was very little difference in the quality of the accommodations allowed to the officers and those allowed to the men, the former being merely granted the most room ; and Mabel and her father were lodged nearly, if not quite as well, as 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 some thing, even between a major and his orderly, a Scot a.nd 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 neces sary to maintain in his manner ; " a very fine day, sir, it has been, and we may look for more of them, at this season."
" I hope so, with all my heart. The crops look well as it is, man, and you'll be finding that the 55th make almost as good farmers as soldiers. I never saw better potatoes in
THE PATHFINDER. 143
Scotland, than we are likely to have in that new patch of ours."
" They promise a good yield, Major Duncan, and, in that light, a more comfortable winter than the last."
" Life is progressive, 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 should 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 a man happy."
" I have been married, Major Duncan ; but it is now a long time since I have had no drawback on the love I bear his majesty and my duty."
" What, man, not even the love you bear that active, little, round-limbed, rosy-cheeked daughter, that I have seen in the fort, these last few days ! Out upon you, serjeant ! old fellow as i am, I could almost love that little lassie, my self, and send the lieutenant-colonelcy to the devil."
" We all know where Major Duncan's heart is, and that is in Scotland, where a beautiful lady is ready and willing to make him happy, as soon as his own sense of duty shall permit."
" Ay, hope is ever a far-off thing, serjeant," returned the superior, a shade of melancholy passing over his hard Scot tish 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-venisoned, and over- pigeoned, of late ?"
" Not for some weeks, Major Duncan, for neither deer nor birds are so plenty at this season as they have been. They begin to throw their remarks about concerning the salmon,
144 THE PATHFINDER.
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! 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 sertously for their natural food, I would humbly recom mend 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 '11 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 quarter master, is disposed to make your daughter his wife, and he has just got me to open the matter to you, being fearful of compromitting his own dignity — and I may as well add, that half the youngsters in the fort toast her, and talk of her from morning till night."
" She is much honoured, sir," returned the father, stiffly, " but I trust the gentlemen will find something more worthy of them, to talk about, ere long. I hope to see her the wife of an honest man before many weeks, sir."
" Yes, Davy is an honest man, and that is more than can be said for all in the Quarter-Master's department, 1 'm think ing, serjeant," returned Lundie, with a slight smile. " Well, then, may I tell the Cupid-stricken youth, that the matter is as good as settled ?"
"I thank your honour, but Mabel is betrothed to another."
THE PATHFINDER. 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 intend 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, ex actly 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 Al- bin itself. Is she of your way of thinking, in this matter ? — though, I suppose she must be, as you say she is betrothed."
" We have not yet conversed on the subject, your 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 some thing about a woman's mind, being, as you know, a bachelor myself."
" Why, your honour, when I speak of the Pathfinder to the 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
VOL. I. 13
146 THE PATHFINDER.
with her, which says as much as if she half considered him, already, as a husband."
" Hum — and these signs you think, Dunham, are faithful tokens of your daughter's feelings?"
" I do, your 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."
" 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 towards 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
free 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, hand ling 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 daughter — Mabel, I think, you call her — will Mabel be as willing to accept one, who, after all, is a mere hanger-on of the army, as to take one from the service itself? There is no hope of promo tion 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 quar ter — 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 1"
" 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 PATHFINDER.
" So Jasper thinks, Major Duncan, and I know no one more to be depended on, in such an affair, than young Jasper Western."
" Young Jasper Eau-douce !" said Lundie, a slight smile gathering around his usually stern mouth. " Will that lad be of your party, 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-in- law 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 Waterloo much to do duty on it."
" Quite right, serjeant, and I leave all this to your own discretion. Eau-douce must retain his command, on second thoughts. You intend that Pathfinder shall also be of the party ?"
" If your 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 de stroyed 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 unne cessarily. 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 a silver-mounted powder-horn, a leathern flask ditto," read-
THE PATHFINDER. 149
ing from a piece of paper, " as I see by the professional jar gon 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 to come forward. Latterly, I have observed that he takes no share in these sports, probably from a conviction of his own unequalled skill."
" That's it, Major Duncan ; the honest fellow knows there is not a man on the frontier who can equal him, and he does not wish to spoil the pleasure of others. I think we may trust to his delicacy in anything, sir. Perhaps it may be as well to let him have his own way." »
" In this instance we must, 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 disagree able, 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 the seat which was proffered to him. " To say the truth to you, Major Duncan, this girl is making as much havoc in the garrison, as the French did before Ty ; I never witnessed so general a rout, in so short a time !"
" Surely, Davy, you don't mean to persuade me that your young and unsophisticated heart, is in such a flame, after one week's ignition ! Why, man, this is worse than the affair in Scotland, where it was said the heat within was so intense that it just burnt a hole through your own precious body, and left a place for all the lassies to peer in at, to see what the combustible material was worth." 13*
150 THE PATHFINDER.
"Ye '11 have your own way, Major Duncan, and your father and mother would have theirs before ye, even if the enemy were in the cainp. 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 lad, you've been married four times already.''
" Only three, major, as I hope to get another wife ! I've not yet had my number ; no — no — only three."
"I'm thinking, Davy, you don't include the first affair, I mentioned ; that, in which there was no parson."
"And why should I, major? The courts decided that it was no marriage, and what more could a man want ! The woman took advantage of a slight amorous propensity, that may be a weakness in my disposition, perhaps, and inveigled me into a contract 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 un fortunate 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."
"But as she did not, you married twice after her death — and are desirous of doing so a third time."
" The truth can never justly be 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 ful, I confess. I was looking back to my boyish days, when I, the laird's son, and you the parson's, roamed about our native hills, happy and careless boys, taking little heed to the future ; and then have followed some thoughts, that may be
THE PATHFINDER. 151
a little painful, concerning that future, as it has turned out to be."
" Surely, Lundie, ye do not complain of yrour 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, Lundie ; three only that were legal, even under our own liberal and sanctified laws."
"Well, then, let it be three. Ye know, Davy," said Major Duncan, insensibly dropping into the pronunciation and dialect of his youth, as is much the practice with 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 ye, but thrice, Lundie. Ye '11 weaken auld friend ship, if ye call it four."
" 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 dis appointment seems the lot of man ! — Ah! this is a vain world of ours, Lundie, it must be owned ; and in nothing vainer than in matrimony."
"And yet you are ready to put your neck into the noose for the fifth time?"
152 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 gar dener, 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 conse quences. Every man has his besetting sin, and matrimony, 1 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. 153
"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. " T do not recollect any plau sible suitor, that is likely to stand in my way."
" No, you are the only plausible suitor on the frontier, Davy. The happy man is Pathfinder."
" Pathfinder, Major Duncan ?"
" No more, nor any less, David Muir. Pathfinder is the man ; but it may relieve your jealousy a little, to know that, in my judgment at least, it is a match of the father's, rather than of the daughter's seeking."
" I thought as much !" exclaimed the quarter-master, drawing a long breath, like one who felt relieved ; " it 's quite impossible, that with my experience in human na ture—"
" 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, stop ping 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 V
" 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 '11 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 Path finder !"
"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
154 THE PATHFINDER.
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 counted so much, can do nought for ye. Let us take a glass the'gither, Davy, for auld acquaintance sake ; and then ye '11 be doing well to remember the party that marches the morrow, and to forget Mabel Dunham as fast as ever you can."
" Ah ! major, I have always found it easier to forget a wife, than to forget a sweetheart ! When a couple are fairly married, all is settled but the death, as one may say, which must finally part us all ; and it seems to me awfu' irreverent to disturb the departed ; whereas, there is so much anxiety, and hope, and felicity, in expectation like, with the lassie, that it keeps thought alive."
" That is just my idea of your situation, Davy, for I never supposed you expected any more felicity with either of your wives. Now, I 've heard of fellows who were so stupid as to look forward to happiness with their wives, even beyond the grave. I drink to your success, or to your speedy re covery 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
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unattainable. I 'm infinitely obliged to you, Major Duncan, for this and all your other acts of friendship ; and if you could but add another, I should think you had not altogether forgotten the play-fellow of your boyhood."
" Well, Davy, if the request be reasonable, and such as a superior ought to grant, out with it, man."
" If ye could only contrive a little service for me, down among the Thousand Isles, for a fortnight, or so, I think this matter might be settled to the satisfaction of all parties. Just remember, Lundie, the lassie is the only marriageable white female on this frontier !"
" There is always duty for one in your line, at a post, however small ; but this below can be done by the 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, " and you shall have my answer in the morning. Here will be a fine occasion, man, the morrow, to show yourself off before the lady ; you are expert with the rifle, and prizes are to be won. Make up your mind to display your skill, and who knows what may yet happen before the Scud sails."
" I 'm thinking most of the young men will try their hands in this sport, major ?"
" That will they, and some of the old ones, too, if you appear. To keep you in countenance, I Ml 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 some times 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. And what of the storming parties ?"
" They may do for younger men, Lundie," returned the quarter-master, rising and winking, a liberty that he often
156 THE PATHFINDER.
took with his commanding officer, on the score of a long inti 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 hu mours, 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 na ture, 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, tOr 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, offeree 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 com 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 over look, 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 as
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healthy, as those of most of the countries which are loudest in 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 coun try as far as the great lakes, where the inland sailor some times feels that genial influence which characterizes the winds of the ocean ; invigorating his frame, cheering his spirits, and arousing his moral force. Such a day was that on which the garrison of Oswego assembled, to witness what its com mander had jocularly called a " passage of arms." Lundie was a scholar, in military matters at least, and it was one of his sources of honest pride to direct the reading and thoughts of the young men under his orders, to the more intellectual parts of their profession. For one in his situation, his library was both good and extensive, and its books were freely lent to all who desired to use them. Among other whims that had found their way into the garrison, through these means, was a relish for the sort of amusement in which it was now about to indulge ; and around which, some chronicles of the days of chivalry had induced them to throw a parade and romance, that were not unsuited to the characters and habits of soldiers, or to the insulated arid wild post, occupied by this particular garrison. While so earnestly bent on pleasure, however, they on whom that duty devolved did not neglect the safety of the garrison. One standing on the ramparts of the fort, and gazing on the waste of glittering water that bounded the view all along the northern horizon, and on the slumbering and seemingly boundless forest, that filled the other half of the panorama, would have fancied the spot the very abode of peacefulness and security ; but Duncan of Lundie too well knew that the woods might at any moment give up their 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
VOL. f 14
158 THE PATHFINDER.
and vigilant officers, men who cared little for the sports of the day, to scour the forest ; and one entire company held the fort, under arms, with orders to maintain a vigilance as strict as if an enemy of superior force was known to be near. With these precautions the remainder of the officers and men abandoned themselves, without apprehension, to the business of the morning.
The spot selected for the sports, was a sort of esplanade, a little west of the fort, and on the immediate bank of the lake. It had been cleared of its trees and stumps, that it might answer the purpose of a parade-ground, as it possessed the advantages of having its rear protected by the water, and one of its flanks by the works. Men drilling on it, could be attacked, consequently, on two sides only, and as the cleared space beyond it, in the direction of the west and south, was large, any assailants would be compelled to quit the cover of the woods, before they could make an approach sufficiently near to render them dangerous.
Although the regular arms of the regiment were muskets, some fifty rifles were produced on the present occasion. Every officer had one, as a part of his private provision for amusement ; many belonged to the scouts and friendly Indians, of whom more or less were always hanging about the fort ; and there was a public provision of them, for the use of those who followed the game with the express object of obtaining supplies. Among those who carried the weapon, were some five or six, who had 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 be lieved 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 yet appeared.
THE PATHFINDER. 159
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 Pollock, 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 ad miration.
Some little preparation had been made for the proper re ception of the females, who were placed on a low staging of planks, 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 be longed to the non-commissioned officers of the regiment, oc cupied the second. The wives and daughters of the privates were huddled together in the rear, some standing, and some sitting, as they could find room. Mabel, who had already been admitted to the society of the officers' wives, on the foot-
160 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 different circles that surrounded the centre of the target, without touching it.
According to the rules of the day, none could proceed to the second trial who had failed in the first, and the adjutant of the place, who acted as master of the ceremonies, or 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, and 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 which 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 tained was bending eagerly forward, as if to note the result, dropped the barrel of his rifle, with but little apparent care, into the palm of his left hand, raised the muzzle for a single instant, with exceeding steadiness, and fired. The bullet passed directly through the centre of the bull's-eye, much the best shot of the morning, since the others had merely touched the paint.
" Well performed, Master Jasper," said Muir, as soon as the result was declared ; " and a shot that might have done credit to an older head and a more experienced eye. I 'm thinking, notwithstanding, there was some of a youngster's luck in it, for ye were no partic'lar in the aim ye took. Ye may be quick, Eau-douce, in the movement, but 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 compa nions, was fastened on him in curiosity. As the others left him room, out of respect to his rank, no one stood near the competitor but his commanding officer, to whom he now said, in his familiar manner —
" Ye see, Lundie, that something is to be gained by 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 PATHFINDER.
" Very true, Davy ; but ye keep us all waiting while ye make your preparations ; and here is Pathfinder drawing near to catch a lesson from your greater experience."
" Well, Pathfinder, and so you have come to get an idea too, concerning the philosophy of shooting ! I do not wish to hide my light under a bushel, and ye'r welcome to all ye' 11 learn. Do ye no mean to try a shot, yerseP, man V
" Why should I, 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 de partment, are seldom compilable, Lundie ; but I 'm ready — stand a little aside, Pathfinder, and give the ladies an op portunity."
Lieutenant Muir now took his attitude, with a good deal of studied elegance, raised his rifle slowly, lowered it, raised it again, repeated the manreuvres, 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 ibr his quickness and accuracy of sight, was so profound and general, that the instant he made this declaration, the spectators began to dis trust 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 re 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-Master, advancing towards the staging occupied by the females. " Major Dun can derides the idea of mathematics entering into target shoot ing ; 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 — "it seems that philosophy has little in common with love."
" You wouldn't say that, madam, if your heart had expe rienced 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 1"
"Your quick mind has conceived the idea at a glance. The happiest marriages are those in which youth, and beauty, and confidence on one side, rely on the sagacity, moderation and prudence of years — middle age, I mean, madam, for I '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 daugh ter, now, to approve of such sentiments, 1 'm certain, — her
164 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 interlo cutor 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."
'* 1 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 sports with Killdeer, which is a piece, to say nothing of long habit, that is altogether out of proportion, for a trial of skill against government rifles."
" Killdeer is taking its rest, 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 Ser jeant Dunham has been persuading me that 1 shall not do proper honour to his handsome daughter, who came in under 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 sta tion. 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 riot what is usually termed a handsome man, though his appearance excited so much con fidence, 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-cord was scarcely more rigid than his arms and legs, or, at need, more pliable ; but the outlines of his person were rather too angular for the proportion that the eye most approves. Still, his motions being natural, were graceful, and being calm and regulated, they gave him an air of dignity that associated well with the idea, that was so prevalent, of his services and pecu liar merits. His honest, open features were burnt to a bright red, that comported well with the notion of exposure arid hard-
THE PATHFINDER. 165
ships, while his sinewy hands denoted force, and a species of use that was removed from the stiffening and deforming ef fects 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 asser tion.
" 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'll 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 King George's commission. Chingach'gook is outlying, or he might force me into some of the niceties of the art ; but as for you, Quar ter-Master, if the nail don't stop you, the potatoe will."
"You 're over-boastful this morning, Pathfinder ; but you '11
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, man. I Ve no lived so very long, neither."
" I Jll 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 ap pear 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-com missioned 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 found it exceedingly tempting, to be kept so prominently before her imagination, and to be able to address her freely.
" You shall have it your own way, Pathfinder," he an swered as soon as his doubts had settled down into determina tion — " Let the Serjeant's daughter — his charming daughter, Tshould have termed her — be the umpire then; and to her
THE PATHFINDER. 167
we will both dedicate 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 per mitted 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, after going through his usual attitudes, so far succeeded as to carry away a small portion of the head of the nail, planting his bullet by the side of its point. This was not considered an extraordinary shot, though it brought the adventurer within the category.
" You 've saved your bacon, Quarter-Master, as they say in the settlements of their creator'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 of his steadiness of hand, and sartainty of eye. You would have done better yourself, lieutenant, had you not been so much bent on soldierizing your figure. Shooting is a natural gift, and is to be exercised in a natural way."
" We shall see, Pathfinder; I call that a pretty attempt at a nail ; and I doubt if the 55th has another hammer, as you call it, that can do just that same thing, over again."
" Jasper is not in the 55th, but there goes his rap !"
As the Pathfinder spoke, the bullet of Eau-douce hit the nail square, and drove it into the target, within an inch of the head.
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 Quarter- Master is respectable, but he will never get any farther; whereas you, Jasper, have the gift, and may one day defy any who pull trigger."
" Hoot — hoot !" exclaimed Muir, " do you call hitting the head of the nail respectable only, when it's the perfection of the art ! Any one, 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 introduced, expressly to mortify him ; for, a laird himself, Lundie did not relish the notion that one who might claim to be a gentleman, should bring discredit on his
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 es sayed 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, major7?" 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, before he spoke.
"You seem to take this matter to heart, Jasper?" the hunter remarked, keeping his eyes fastened on those of the youth.
" I must own, Pathfinder, that my feelings were never be fore so much bound up in success."
" And do you so much crave to outdo me, an old and tried friend ? — and that, as it might be, in my own way 1 Shoot ing is my gift, boy, and no common hand can equal mine !"
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170 THE PATHFINDER.
"I know it — I know it, Pathfinder — but — yet — "
" But what, Jasper, boy 1 — 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 calmly, like one whose manhood has overcome all other sensations —
" I would lose an arm, Pathfinder, to be able to make an offering of that calash to Mabel Dunham."
The hunter dropped his eyes to the ground, and as he walked slowly back towards the stand, he seemed to ponder deeply on what he had just heard.
" You never could succeed in the double trial, Jasper !" he suddenly remarked.
" Of that I am certain, and it troubles me."
" What a creature is mortal man ! He pines for things which are not of his gift, and treats the bounties of 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 I could not show my face in the garrison with less than that."
" I suppose I must submit to my fate," returned Jasper, flushing and losing his colour, as before ; — " but I will make the effort, if I die."
" 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.
" Here is a competitor worthy of you, Pathfinder," cried Major Duncan, with delight, as the former took his station, " and we may look to some fine shooting, in the double trial."
" What a thing is mortal man !" repeated the hunter, scarce seeming to notice 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 ture is a mortal man ! Never satisfied with his own gifts, but for ever craving that which Providence denies !"
As Pathfinder had not buried his bullet in the 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 cor diality, 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 en sign. I 'm thinking, Eau-douce, you 'd no be sorry to see its value in good siller of the king ?"
" Money cannot buy it, lieutenant," returned Jasper, whose eye lighted with all the fire of success and joy. "I would rather have won this calash, than have obtained fifty new suits of sails for the Scud !"
" Hoot — hoot — lad ; you are going mad like all the rest of them. I 'd even venture to offer half a guinea for the trifle, rather than it should lie kicking about in the cabin of your cutter, and, in the end, become an ornament for the head of a squaw."
Although Jasper did not know that the wary 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 bashfulness, in the natural and generous wish to relieve his embarrassment, though both reddened in a way to betray strong feeling.
" Unless you may think too indifferently of it, because it is offered by one who may have no right to believe his gift will be accepted."
" I do accept it, Jasper ; and it shall be a sign of the danger I have passed in your company, and of the gratitude I feel for your care of me — your care, and that of the Pathfinder."
" Never mind me, never mind me," exclaimed the latter ; " this is Jasper's luck and Jasper's gift : give him full credit for both. My turn may come another day ; mine and the 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 1 Or have you a wife, yourseP, 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 criticised, and the work examined, and divers opinions were privately ventured concerning the fitness of so handsome a thing's passing into the possession of a non-commissioned officer's child.
THE PATHFINDER. , % 173
tl 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 neces sity of selling your clothes, child ; but, at the same time, it is money thrown away to keep an article of dress you can never wear."
" I should be unwilling to part with the gift of a friend."
" But the young man himself, will think all the better of you, for your prudence, after the triumph of the day is 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 overlook their real advantages. Remember, however, if you do de termine to dispose of the thing, that it is bespoke, and that I will riot take it, if you ever even put it on your own head."
" Yes, ma'am," said Mabel, in the meekest voice imagin 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 remainder of the females soon followed their example. Mabel was returning along the low flat rocks that line the shore of the lake, dangling her pretty calash, from a prettier finger, when Pathfinder met her. He carried the rifle which he had used that day, but his manner had less of the frank ease of the hunter about it, than usual, while his eye seemed roving and uneasy. After a few unmeaning words concerning the noble sheet of water before them, he turned towards his companion with strong interest in his countenance, and said, — 15*
174 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 ani mation that she instantly regretted, for she saw by the pained look of the guide, that he was mortified equally by the re mark, 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 two — now look !"
The piece was presented quick as thought, as two of the birds came in a line, though distant from each other many yards — the report followed, and the bullet passed through the bodies of both 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 dis satisfaction 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's fault that he gained the prize !"
" Not it. He did his best, and he did well. For one that has water gifts, rather than land gifts, Jasper is uncommonly expert, and a better backer no one need wish, ashore or afloat. But it was my fault, Mabel, that he got the calash ; though it makes no difference — it makes no difference, for the thing has gone to the right person."
"I believe I understand you, Pathfinder," said Mabel, blushing in spite of herself, "and I look upon the calash as the joint gift of yourself and Jasper."
THE PATHFINDER. 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 po tatoes, as I sent my bullet through the gulls ; and he knows no other man on the frontier can do the same thing. But with the calash before his eyes, and the hope of giving it to you, the lad was inclined to think better of himself, just at that moment, perhaps, than he ought. No — no — there 's nothing mean or distrustful about Jasper Eau-douce, though it is a gift, natural to all young men, to wish to appear well in the eyes of handsome young women."
"I '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 nei ther 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 between us, and a sign that I can never forget you or your services."
Mabel then smiled an adieu, and bounding up the bank, she was soon lost to view behind the mound of the fort.
CHAPTER XII.
" Lo! dusky masses steal in dubious sight, Along the leagur'd wall, and bristling bank Of the arm'd river; while with straggling light, The stars peep through the vapour, dim and dank.'1
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 cairn 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
THE PATHFINDER. 177
might have wanted. For the first time, Mabel felt 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 should think but little of it at sea."
" And is not nature the same, on shore, or at sea ; on a lake like this, or on the ocean ? Does not the sun shine on all alike, dear uncle, and can we not feel gratitude for the blessings of Providence, as strongly on this remote frontier, as incur 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 1 — You 've relations in both callings, and ought to be able to answer."
" But, uncle, I mean human nature — " " So do I, girl ; the human nature of a seaman, and the human nature of one of these fellows of the 55th, not even excepting your own father. Here have they had a shooting- match — target-firing I should call it — this day, and what a different thing has it been from a target-firing afloat ! There we should have sprung our broadside, sported with round shot, at an object half a mile off, at the very nearest ; and the potatoes, if there happened to be any on board, as 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 parage nothing.' No real sea-farer disparages anything ; but d e, if I regard this here Ontario, as they call it, as more
178 THE PATHFINDER.
than so much water in a ship's scuttle-butt. Now, look you here, Mabel, if you wish to understand the difference between the ocean and a lake, I can make you comprehend it, with a single look : this is what one may call a calm, seeing that there is no wind ; though, to own the truth, I do not think the calms are as calm as them we get outside — "
" Uncle, there is not a breath of air ! I do not think it possible for the leaves to be more immovably still, than those of the entire forest are, at this very moment."
"Leaves ! what are leaves, child? there are no leaves at sea. If you wish to know whether it is a dead calm, or not, try a mould candle — your dips flaring too much — and then you may be certain whether there is, or is not, any wind. If you were in a latitude where the air was so still that you found a difficulty in stirring it to draw it in, in breathing, you might fancy it a calm. People are often on a short allowance of air, in the calm latitudes. Here, again, look at that water ! — It is like milk in a pan, with no more mo tion, 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 but little, for
THE PATHFINDER. 179
books 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."
" 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 of crowning a cable, now, or of a carrick bend, than you have of catting an anchor. No — no — Mabel ; we both owe some thing 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 brave men."
"Spoken like your mother's daughter, girl, and in a way to do credit to the Cap family. Now, I've hit upon a traverse that will just suit all parties, and as soon as we get back from this little expedition down the lake, among them there thou sand 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. Jas per would find his sea-legs in a fortnight, and a twelvemonth's v'y'ge would make him a man. Although Pathfinder might take more time, or never get to be rated able, yet one could make something of him, too, particularity 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 1 Let Jasper alone to push his way, and the lad may yet die the master of some square-rigged craft."
" And would he be any the happier for it, dear uncle ?
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 '11 be properly managed. Ah ! here is the Pathfinder himself, and I may just as well drop him a hint of my benevo lent intentions, as regards himself. Hope is a great ericour- 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 '11 answer for, Pathfinder, for you strike my fancy as being well disposed and upright. There is a method, how ever, 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
THE PATHFINDER. 181
beyond the sound of the war-whoop, and safe enough from any Indian bullet."
" And what should I do on the salt-water ? Hunt in your towns ! Follow the trails of people going and coming from market, and ambush dogs and poultry ! You are no friend to my happiness, Master Cap, if you would lead me out of the shade of the woods, to put me in the sun of the clearings !"
" I did not propose to leave you in the settlements, Path finder, 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 would wish to see no change in you, Pathfinder," Mabel answered with a cordial sincerity and frankness, that went directly to the hunter's heart ; " and much as my uncle 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 noblest hunt 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 1 — Do 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
VOL. I. 16
THE PATHFINDER.
none the less secure, Pathfinder, because you will be among our protectors."
" The serjeant would do that, Mabel, the Serjeant would do that, though you were not of his kin. No one will over look you. 1 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 close- mouthed as a freemason. Do you know, Mabel, what all this means?"
" Not in the least, uncle. I dare not ask my father any questions about his duty, for he thinks it is not a woman's business, and all I can say is that we are to sail as soon as the wind will permit, and that we are to be absent a month."
" Perhaps, Master Pathfinder can give me a useful hint ; for a v'y'ge without an object is never pleasant to an old sailor."
" There is no great secret, Saltwater, concerning our port and object, though it is forbidden to talk much about either in the garrison. I am no soldier, however, and can use my tongue as I please, though as little given as another to idle conversation, I hope; still, as we sail so soon, and you are both to be of the party, you may as well be told where you are to be carried. You know that there are such things as the Thousand Islands, I suppose, Master Cap ?"
" Ay, what are so called, hereaway, though I take it for granted that they are not real islands, such as we fall in with on the ocean ; and that the thousand means some such 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 thai
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 wil derness."
'* 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 / call an island."
" We '11 show you hundreds of them — not exactly a thou sand, 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 vp 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."
184 THE PATHFINDER.
" Ay — ay — but you speak of the water of a lake's coming down the side of a mountain ; it 's in the teeth of reason, if reason has any teeth."
" Well- — well — we will not dispute the point ; but what I 've seen, I 've seen : as for reason's having any teeth, I 'II 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 are sent up the river to Frontenac, to be for warded along the shores of this and the other lakes, in order to 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 ?"
"Anan?"
" I take it for granted the king gets all, in these soldiering parties, and ambushments, as you call them ?"
" I know nothing about that, Master Cap. I take my share of the lead and powder, if any falls into our hands, and say nothing to the king about it. If any one fares better, it is not I— though it is time I did begin to think of a house, and fur niture, and a home."
THE PATHFINDER. 185
Although the Pathfinder did not dare to look at Mabel, while he made this direct allusion to his change of life, he would have given the world to know whether she were listen ing, and what was the expression of her countenance. Mabel little suspected the nature of the allusion, however ; and her countenance was perfectly unembarrassed, as she turned her eyes towards the river, where the appearance of some move ment 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 thorough bred mariner as much as anything else. It 's like a soldier buttoning his coat, and one can see whether he begins at the top, or the bottom."
" I will not say that Jasper is equal to your sea-farers be low," 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 study ing the movements of the cutter, with the interest that was natural to their own future connection with the vessel. It was still a dead calm, the surface of the lake literally glitter ing with the last rays of the sun. The Scud had been warped up to a kedge, that lay a hundred yards above the points of the outlet, where she had room to manoeuvre in the river, which then formed the 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, and she drifted towards 16*
186 THE PATHFINDER.
the outlet. In the narrow pass itself her movement was ra pid, 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 called 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 perfect !"
" 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 dispo sition 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 per suade me, Jasper does not keep his boat in good order."
" I do not say that the cutter is downright lubberly, Mas ter 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 hun dred. Very material and manifest faults."
"Do name them, sir, and Pathfinder will mention them to his friend."
" Name them ? it is no easy matter to call off the stars, for the simple reason that they are so numerous. Name them, indeed ! — Why, my pretty niece, Miss Magnet, what do you think of that main-boom now ? To my ignorant eyes, it is topped, at least, a foot too high ; and then the
THE PATHFINDER. 187
pennant is foul ; and — and — ay, d e, if there isn't a top sail 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 Ml 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 he did not think it neces sary to push his criticisms any farther, just at that moment. His air and manner gradually became more supercilious and lofty, though he now wished to seem indifferent to any discus sions on points of which one of the parties was entirely igno rant. 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 parti cular 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-starboard 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 to embark in, and the boats will be ready for us, by the time we are ready for them."
On this intimation the whole party separated, each to find those trifles which had not been shipped already. A few taps of the drum gave the necessary signal to the soldiers, and in a minute all were in motion.
CHAPTER XIII.
" The goblin now the fool alarms, Hags meet to mumble o'er their charms, The night-mare rides the dreaming ass, And fairies trip it on the grass."
COTTON.
THE embarkation of so small a party was a matter of no great delay, or embarrassment. The whole force confided to the care of 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 to bring the batteaux into the river to receive their freights, but the beach outside being totally without surf, and the water as tranquil as that of a pond, every body embarked there. As Cap had said, there was no heaving and setting, no work ing of vast lungs, nor any respiration of an ocean ; for, on Ontario, unlike the Atlantic, gales were not agitating the ele ment 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 trans portation of officers and men, with their wives and families. First in rank, was what was called the after-cabin, a small apartment that contained four berths, and which enjoyed the advantage of possessing small windows, for the admission of air and light. This was uniformly devoted to females, 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 Ser jeant, 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 hatch, which had a deck for such a purpose ; while the crew were berthed, as usual, in the forecastle. Although the cutter did not measure quite fifty tons, the draft of officers and men was so light, that there was ample room for all on board, there being space enough to accommodate treble the number, if necessary.
As soon as Mabel had taken possession of her own really comfortable 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 duced 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 ac companies 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 Path finder was standing near her, leaning, as usual, on his Jong rifle, and she fancied that, through the growing darkness of the hour, she could trace even stronger lines of thought than usual, in his rugged countenance.
" To you, Pathfinder, expeditions like this, can be no great novelty," 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, 191
" But we are neither an army, nor in the woods. There can be no danger of Mingos, in the Scud."
" Ask Jasper, how he got to be master 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 na- tur' ; and, even then, he must act up to his own knowledge, and that closely. Ask Jasper how he got command of this very cutter !"
" And how did he get the command ?" inquired Mabel, with an earnestness and interest that delighted her simple- minded 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 teen 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 ser- jeant, 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 affair, 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 near fallen into the hands of the French and the Mingos, when Jas per 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 fancy that nothing better could well offer than to listen to the praises of one who was a bad historian of his own exploits.
"Will the Scud remain with us, when we reach the island?**
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 Serpent — why is he not with us, to-night ?"
" Your question would have been more natural, had you said, why are you here, Pathfinder? — The Sarpent is in his place, while I am not in mine. He is out, with two or three more, scouting the lake shores, and will join us down among the islands, with the tidings he may gather. The serjeant is too good a soldier, to forget his rear, while he is facing the enemy in front ! It 's a thousand pities, Mabel, your father 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 sol dier'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 1 have always tried to remember what I owe to my dear father."
"Ay, your mother was so before you! — 'You will find Mabel, like her mother, no screamer, or a faint-hearted girl, to trouble a man in his need, but one who would encourage her mate, and help to keep his heart up, when sorest pressed by danger' — said the serjeant to me, before 1 ever laid eyes on that sweet countenance of yours, — he did !"
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 enemies in the field, — nay, concealment of even a thought, was so little in accordance with the Pathfinder's very nature, that he was not a little embarrassed by this simple question. 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 ofterier 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 you — yes I did — -just by talking about you so much."
" And now you have seen me," returned the smiling girl, whose unmoved and natural manner proved how little she was thinking of anything more than parental or fraternal regard, " you are beginning to see the folly of forming 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 for the best
VOL. I 17
194 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 women — young women in particular — as they seem to me to lessen the love of enterprise, and to turn the feelings away from their gifts and natural occupations."
" You, surely, do not mean, Pathfinder, that a friendship for a girl like me, would make you less bold, and more un willing 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 adven tures ,• 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 the lines !"
" Not they, Pathfinder ; they will try to make that which is already so excellent, perfect. You do not know us, if you think that either wishes to see you, in the least, changed. Remain, as at present, the same honest, upright, conscien tious, 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 hnr 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 PATHFINDER. 195
ited, without any of the emotion that invariably accompa nies the consciousness of an inclination which might lead to softer disclosures.
The Pathfinder was too unpractised, however, to enter into distinctions of this kind, and his humble nature was en couraged 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 corne to look at the proposed marriage with Mabel, as a thing I ought to wish, and forward."
" As for that, serjeant, time will show," returned Lundie,
196 THE PATHFINDER.
smiling ; though here, too, the obscurity concealed the nicer 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 Quarter- Master, will be of the party ; and I trust you will at least give him an equal chance in the trial for your daughter's smiles."
" If respect for his rank, sir, did not cause me to do this, your honour's wish would be sufficient."
" I thank you, serjeant. We have served much together, and ought to value each other in our several stations. Un derstand 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 ?"
" I'll answer for it, Major Duncan ; but if they were not, we cannot suffer with two such hunters as Pathfinder and the Serpent in company."
" That will never do, Dunham," interrupted Lundie, sharply; " and it comes of your American birth, and Ameri can 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 at 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."
THE 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 Washington, your honour — ?"
" Well ; and Colonel Washington may be a useful sub ject, 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 V
" 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 1"
(< 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 British sailor, notwithstanding !"
" I beg your pardon, sir ; Jasper Eau-douce was brought up under a real English seaman ; one that had sailed under the king's pennant, and may be called a thorough-bred : that is to say, a subject born in the colonies, but none the worse at his trade, I hope, Major Duncan, for that."
" Perhaps not, 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 loy ally, or better." 17*
198 THE PATHFINDER.
" Or more bravely, Major Duncan. I am sorry to see, sir, that you have doubts as to the fidelity of Jasper."
" It is the duty of the soldier, who is entrusted with the care of a distant and important post like this, Dunham, never to relax in his vigilance. We have two of the most artful enemies that the world has ever produced, in their several ways, to contend with — the Indians and the French ; and nothing should be overlooked that can lead to injury."
" I hope your 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 daughter ?"
" For the Pathfinder's honesty, I will answer with my life, sir" — returned the serjeant firmly, and not without a dignity of manner that struck his superior. " Such 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 the Iroquois, when they came in, merely to give Jasper credit with me. I am told
THE PATHFINDER. 199
that the gentry at Frontenac will care more for 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."
" I understand the hint, sir, but I do not give it credit. Jasper can hardly be true, and Pathfinder false ; and, as for the last, I would as soon distrust your 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 ho 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 al ready 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 em ployment ! 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- law of yours must be able to find the way back, after he has once travelled the road."
200 THE PATHFINDER.
" 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 his truth."
" I like your confidence ; it speaks well for the fellow — but that infernal letter ! — There is such an air of truth about it — nay, there is so much truth in it, touching other matters — "
" I think your 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 am bushes, 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 suc ceed 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 must be true."
" For him, sir, my own head shall answer, or even my rank in the regiment. I have seen him too often tried to doubt him."
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 daugh ter, 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 disobe dience is the next crime to mutiny."
" Have all the ammunition carefully examined and dried, as soon as you arrive ; the damp of the lake may affect it ; and now, once more, farewell, 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 lion ; — pshaw, of no lion, neither ; but of treacherous tigers : — in their very jaws, and beyond support. Have the flints count ed 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, while the other left the fort, de scended 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 dis-
202 THE PATHFINDER.
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 jected 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 the side of the Scud, he was in a proper humour to let no suspicious circumstance go unheeded, or any unusual move ment in the young sailor pass without its comment. As a matter of course, he viewed things in the light suited to his peculiar mood ; and his precautions, as well as his distrust, partook of the habits, opinions, and education of the man.
The Scud's kedge was lifted, as soon as the boat with the Serjeant, 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 depar ture lent a solemnity to their movements. Discipline also came in aid of these feelings. Most were silent, and those who did speak, spoke seldom and in low voices. In this manner, the cutter set slowly out into the lake, until she had
THE PATHFINDER. 203
got as far as the river-current would carry her, when she became stationary, waiting for the usual land-breeze. An interval of half an hour followed, during the whole of which time, the Scud lay as motionless as a log, floating on the water. While the little changes just mentioned were occur ring 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, since 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 old for Mabel, who was riot 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 talk about this very youngster. Major Duncan has received some information which has led him to suspect that Eau-douce is false, and in the pay of the enemy ; I wish to hear your opinion on the subject."
" Anan !"
" I say the major suspects Jasper of bein^ 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
204 THE PATHFINDER.
shall meet with enemies when we least suspect it, and by hig 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 be lieve in presentiments, my friend ?"
" In what, serjeant 1"
" 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 did the 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, serjeant, and let us question him in this matter; for to sleep with distrust of one's friend in the
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 com panion, 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 thing 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 Pathfinder, though we should think most of his proceedings irregular, down on the coast."
" Yes, yes — we know you will never agree with the lad about the manner the cutter ought to be managed ; but it is on another point we wish your opinion."
The Pathfinder then explained to Cap the nature of the suspicions which the 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 '11 not gainsay it — I '11 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 improvements. The Serjeant's observation shows that he
VOL. I,. 18
206 THE 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 some times to converse with a pilot, or a linguister, in that lan guage, 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 ; end 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 called it querling a rope, too, when I asked him what he was about ; but I am not certain that anything was meant by it ; though I dare say the French coil half their running rigging the wrong way, and may call it ' querling it down,' too, ibr that matter. Then Jasper, himself, belayed the end of the jib-halyards to
THE PATHFINDER. 207
a stretcher in the rigging, instead of bringing them into the mast, where they belong, at least among British sailors."
" 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 wed lock, 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 com-
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, seeing 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; cir cumstances 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 hal yards 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."
" I '11 not fail you, serjeant ; and in such an event you '11
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 circum stances in the colony."
" That will never do," rejoined the serjeant. " The re sponsibility 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," re turned Cap. — " One circumstance is worth fifty facts. That I know to be the law of the realm. Many a man has been hanged on circumstances."
The conversation now ceased, and after a short delay, the whole party returned to the deck, each individual disposed to view the conduct of the suspected Jasper, in the manner most suited to his own habits and character.
CHAPTER XIV.
" Even such a man, so faint, so spiritless, So dull, so dead in look, so woe-begone, Drew Priam's curtain in the dead of night, And would have told him, half his Troy was burned.
SHAKSPEARE.
ALL this time, matters were elsewhere passing in their usual train. Jasper, like the weather, and his vessel, seemed to be waiting for the land-breeze ; while the soldiers, accus tomed to early rising, had, to a man, sought their pallets in the main hold. None remained on deck but the people of the cutter, Mr. Muir, and the two females. The Quarter- Master was endeavouring to render himself agreeable to Ma bel, while our heroine herself, little affected by his assiduities, which she ascribed partly to the habitual gallantry of a sol- 18*
210 THE PATHFINDER.
dier, and partly, perhaps, to her own pretty face, was enjoy ing 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 well- known sounds were followed by a slight heel in the cutter, and by the bellying of all the sails.
" Here 's the wind, Anderson" — called out Jasper to the oldest of his sailors — " take the helm."
This brief order was obeyed ; the helm was put up, the cutter's bows fell off, and, in a few minutes, the water was heard murmuring under her head, as the Scud glanced through the lake at the rate of five miles in the hour. All this passed in profound silence, when Jasper again gave the order to " ease off the sheets a little, and keep her alone the land."
It was at this instant that the party from the after-cabin reappeared on the quarter-deck.
" You 've no inclination, Jasper, lad, to trust yourself too near our neighbours the French," observed Muir, who took that occasion to recommence the discourse. " Well, well, your prudence will never be questioned by me, for I like the Canadas as little as you can possibly like them yourself!"
THE PATHFINDER. 211
" I hug this shore, Mr. Muir, on account of the wind. The land-breeze is always freshest close in, provided you are not so near as to make a lee of the trees. We have Mexico Bay to cross, and that, on the present course, will give us quite offing enough."
"I'm right glad it's not the Bay of Mexico," put in Cap, " which is a part of the world I would rather not visit in one of your inland craft. Does your cutter bear a weather helrn, Master Eau-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, Master Cap, an opportunity may offer to show you the manner in which we do so, for there is easterly weather brewing, and the wind cannot chop, even on the ocean itself, more readily than it flies round on Lake Ontario."
" So much for knowing no better ! I have seen the wind, in the Atlantic, fly round like a coach- wheel, in a way to keep your sails shaking for an hour, and the ship would be come perfectly motionless from not knowing which way to turn."
" We have no such sudden changes here, certainly," Jas per mildly answered — " though we think ourselves liable to unexpected shifts of wind. I hope, however, to carry this land-breeze as far as the first islands ; after which, there will be less danger of our being seen and followed, by any of the look-out boats from Frontenac."
" Do you think the French keep spies out on the broad lake, Jasper ?" inquired the Pathfinder.
" We know they do ; one was off Oswego, during the night of Monday last. A bark canoe came close in with the eastern point, and landed an Indian and an officer. Had you been out-lying that night, as usual, we should have secured one, if not both of them."
It was too dark to betray the colour that deepened on the
212 THE
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 fa ther, and gazing at a countenance that, to him, was radiant with charms. Probity, in thought and deed, being the dis tinguishing 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," Ma bel innocently remarked ; " surely one who lives so much of his time in the forest, in front of the enemy, may be excused for giving a few hours of his time to an old friend, and his daughter*"
" Nay, nay, I 've done little else but idle since we reached the garrison," returned the other, sighing ; " and it is well that the lad should tell me of it : the idler needs a rebuke — yes, he needs a rebuke."
" Rebuke, Pathfinder ! I never 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 ! 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 what 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 near 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." ._f " 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 sailor as myself, but it is a long and a hopeless chase that has a bark canoe in it."
" You would have had only to press it hard, to drive it ashore."
" Ashore, Master Cap ! You do not understand our lake navigation at all, if you suppose it an easy matter to force a bark canoe ashore. As soon as they find themselves pressed, these bubbles paddle right into the wind's eye, and before you know it, you find yourself a mile or two, dead under their lee."
" You don't wish me to believe, Master Jasper, that any
214 THE PATHFINDER.
one is so 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 carioe, 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 con fidently 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 foot step of an Indian from the footstep of a white man, whether it be made by a boot, or a moccasin. It will need better evi dence than this, to persuade me into the belief that Jasper is false."
" You will allow, Pathfinder, that there are such things in the world as traitors," put in Cap, logically.
" I never knew an honest-minded Mingo ; one that you could put faith in, if he had a temptation to deceive you. Cheating seems to be their gift, and I sometimes think they ought to be pitied for it, rather than 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 my own human nature."
This was the opening of another long and desultory con versation, in which the probability of Jasper's guilt or inno cence 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 unjustly charged with treachery. In this there was nothing out of the common course of things, for there is no more certain way of arriving at any particular notion, than by undertaking to defend it; and among the most obstinate of our opinions, may be classed those which are derived from discussions in which we affect to search for truth, while in reality we are only fortifying prejudice. By this time, the 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 taflrail, Mabel 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 THE PATHFINDER.
wandering from the sails to the clouds, from the clouds to the dusky outline of the shore, from the shore to the lake, and from the lake back again to the sails. Our heroine, too, began to commune with her own thoughts. The excitement of the late journey, the incidents which marked the day of her 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 un derstand 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 either of her suitors ; and one of the last thoughts that could have voluntarily disturbed her confidence, would have been to suppose it possible either of her companions was a traitor to his king and country.
America, at the time of which we are writing, was re markable for its attachment to the German family, that then sat on the British throne ; for, as is the fact with all provinces, the virtues and qualities that are proclaimed near the centre of power, as incense and policy, get to be a part of political faith, with the credulous and ignorant, at a distance. This truth is just as apparent to-day, in connection with the pro digies of the republic, as it then was in connection with those distant rulers, whose merits it was always safe to applaud,
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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 en circling 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 proba bilities. 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
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218 THE 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 less, accompanies darkness. Jasper, however, appeared to regard it with complacency, as was apparent by what he said in a short dialogue that now occurred between him and Mabel.
"At this rate, Eau-douce," for so Mabel had already learned to style the young sailor, said our heroine, " we can not be long in reaching our place of destination."
"Has your father then told you what that is, Mabel?"
" He has told me nothing ; my father is too much of a soldier, and too little used to have a family around him, to talk of such matters. Is it forbidden to say whither we are bound?"
" It cannot be far, while we steer in this direction, for sixty or seventy miles will take us into the St. Lawrence, which the French might make too hot for us ; and no voyage on this lake can be very long."
" So says my uncle Cap ; but, to me, Jasper, Ontario and the ocean appear very much the same."
" You have then been on the ocean, while I, who pretend to be a sailor, have never yet seen salt-water! You must have a great contempt for such a mariner, as myself, in your heart, Mabel Dunham !"
" Then I have no such thing, in my heart, Jasper Eau- douce. What right have I, a girl without experience or knowledge, to despise any ; much less one like you, who are trusted by the major and who command a vessel like this ! I have never been on the ocean, though I have seen it ; and, I repeat, I see no difference between this lake and the Atlantic."
" Nor, in them that sail on both ? I was afraid, Mabel, your uncle 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, for I know my uncle, and he says as many things against those who live ashore, when at York, as he now says against those
THE PATHFINDER. 219
who sail on fresh-water. No — no ; neither my father, nor myself, think any thing of such opinions ! My uncle Cap, if he spoke openly, would be found to have even a worse no tion 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 sol dier 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 com panion ; and she laughed faintly, like one who felt that the subject, however embarrassing it might be, deserved to be treated fairly. Jasper, it^ would seem, viewed her position differently from herself.
" It is true, Mabel," 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 I am content to remain in the station in which I was born."
" But all do not remain in the stations in which they were born, Mabel, for some rise above them, and some fall below them. Many Serjeants have become officers — even gene rals ; 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 her professions of contentment, she felt that she had been too well educated to fill with perfect satisfaction. But this emo tion 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 interest in all things, I should think as necessary to happiness in man and wife, as between the other members of the same family. Most of all, ought neither the man nor the woman
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to have any unusual cause for unhappiness, the world fur nishing so many of itself."
" Am I to understand, then, Mabel, you would refuse to marr^ 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 lous ; no notion so cruel !"
" Would it, then, be cruel to wish you the wife of a Quar ter-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 fre quent 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 &I1 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 Quar ter-Master, though she had hardly supposed to the extent that Jasper believed : and she, too, had even gathered from
222 THE PATHFINDER.
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 ?"
" That is uncertain. Once afloat, we are at the mercy of the winds and waves. Pathfinder will tell you, that he who begins to chase the deer in the morning, cannot tell where he will sleep at night."
" But we are not chasing a deer ; nor is it morning : so Pathfinder's moral is thrown away."
" Although we are not chasing a deer, we are after that which may be as hard to catch. I can tell you no more than I have said already ; for it is our duty to be close- mouthed, whether anything depends on it or not. I am afraid, however, I shall not keep you long enough in the Scud, to show you what she can do at need."
" I think a woman unwise who ever marries a sailor," said Mabel, abruptly, and almost involuntarily.
" This is a strange opinion ; why do you hold it ?"
" Because a sailor's wife is certain to have a rival in his vessel. My uncle Cap, too, says that a sailor should never marry."
" He means salt-water sailors," returned Jasper, laughing, " If he thinks wives not good enough for those who sail on the ocean, he will fancy them just suited to those who sail
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 not 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 dash ing 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.
224 THE PATHFINDER.
CHAPTER XV.
" What pearl is it that rich men cannot buy, That learning is too proud to gather up; But which the poor and the despised of all Seek and obtain, and often find unsought ? Tell me— and I will tell thee what is truth."
COW PER.
THE meeting with the Indian and his wife, excited no sur prise in the majority of those who witnessed the occurrence, but Mabel, and all who knew of the manner in which this chief had been separated from the party of Cap, simulta neously entertained suspicions, which it was far easier to feel, than to follow out, by any plausible clue to certainty. Path finder, 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 an swers with the stoicism of an Indian. As respects the separation, his excuses were very simply made, and they seemed to be sufficiently plausible. When he found that the party was discovered in its place of concealment, he naturally sought his own, safety, which he secured by plunging into the woods, for he made no doubt that all who could not effect this much, would be 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 the other's apologies ; " my brother did very wisely ; but his woman followed ?"
" Do not the pale-faces' women follow their husbands ? Would not Pathfinder have looked back to see if one he loved was coming ?"
This appeal was made to the guide, while he was in a most fortunate frame of mind to admit its force; for Mabel, and her blandishments and constancy, were getting to be images familiar to his thoughts. The Tuscarora, though he
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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 natu ral, 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. " Arrow head's wife followed Arrowhead ; it was right in Arrowhead to follow his wife. She lost her way, and they made her cook in a strange wigwam."
" I understand you, Tuscarora. The woman fell into the hands of the Mingos, and you kept upon their trail."
" Pathfinder can see a reason, as easily as he can see the moss on the trees. It is so."
" And how long have you got the woman back, and in what manner has it been done 1"
" 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 ma trimony. But, Tuscarora, how did you get that canoe, and why are you paddling towards the St. Lawrence, instead of the garrison ?"
" Arrowhead can tell his own from that of another. This canoe is mine ; I found it on the shore, near the fort."
" That sounds reasonable, too, for the canoe does belong to the man, and an Indian would make few words about tak ing it. Still, it is extraordinary that we saw nothing of the fellow and his wife, for the canoe must have left the river be fore we did ourselves."
226 THE 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."
All 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 sav age, as that of a Christian. To one as upright as Pathfinder, Arrowhead had conducted himself with delicacy and propri ety, though it would have been more in accordance with his own frank nature, to have met the father, and abided by the simple truth. Still, accustomed to the ways of Indians, he saw nothing out of the ordinary track of things, in the course the other had taken.
" This runs like water flowing down hill, Arrowhead," he answered, after a little reflection, " and truth obliges me to own it. It was the gift of a red-skin to act in this way, though I do not think it was the gift of a pale-face. You would not look upon the grief of the girl's father ?"
Arrowhead made a quiet inclination of the body, as if to assent.
" One thing more my brother will tell me," continued 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 ?" asked the Tuscarora, calmly. " A Tuscarora may look in the same direction as a Yengeese."
" Why, to own the truth, Arrowhead, we are out scouting, like ; — that is sailing — in other words, we are on the king's
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business, and we have a right to be here, though we may not have a right to say why we are here."
" Arrowhead saw the big canoe, and he loves to look on the face of Eau-douce. He was going towards the sun at evening, in order to seek his wigwam ; but finding that the young sailor was going the other way, he turned that he might look in the same direction. Eau-douce and Arrowhead were together on the last trail."
" This may all be true, Tuscarora, and you are welcome. You shall eat of our venison, and then we must separate. The setting sun is behind us, and both of us move quick : my brother will get too far from that which he seeks, unless he turns round."
Pathfinder now returned to the others, and repeated the result of his examination. He appeared himself to believe that the account of Arrowhead might be true, though he 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 now summoned and told the decision. The Indian listened gravely, and made no objections. On the contrary, he submitted with the calm and reserved dignity with which the American Aborigines are known to yield to fate ; and he stood apart, an attentive but calm observer of what was passing. Jasper caused the cutter's sails to be fill ed, and the Scud resumed her course.
It was now getting near the hour to set the watch, an& when it was usual to retire for the night. Most of the party •went below, leaving no one on deck but Cap, the serjeant, Jasper, and two of the crew. Arrowhead and his wife also remained, the former standing aloof in proud reserve, anxl the
228 THE PATHFINDER.
latter exhibiting, by her attitude and passiveness, the meek humility that characterizes an Indian woman.
" You will find a place for your wife below, Arrowhead, where my daughter will attend to her wants," said the 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 de 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 com plied 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 answer, as the Tusca- rora stepped towards the head of his canoe.
One blow of his keen knife severed the rope which held the boat, and then the cutter glanced ahead, leaving the light bubble of bark, which instantly lost its way, almost station ary. So suddenly and dexterously was this manoeuvre 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 ves 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 of 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 !"
" 'T will be useless. If Pathfinder had been on deck, there might have been a chance ; but there is none now. To launch the canoe would have taken three or four minutes ; and the time lost would be sufficient for the purposes of Arrowhead."
Both Cap and the 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 could 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 put up again, and the cut ter wore short round on her heel, coming up to her course
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on the other tack, as if acting on an instinct. All this was done by Jasper in profound silence, his assistants understand ing what was necessary, and lending their aid in a sort of mechanical imitation. While these manoeuvres were in the course of execution, Cap took the 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.
" Harkee, 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 Arrowhead as a circum stance — and I might add his escape as another. This Jasper 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."
" 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, he was habitually thoughtful 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 well of Jasper. Still that subtle poison, suspicion, had entered his soul ; and so much were the artifices and intrigues of the French dreaded, that, especially warned as he had been by his commander, it is not to be wondered 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, at the moment, independent of his control. It is an unfortunate occurrence, for one who is in a dilemma, to ask advice of another who is desirous of standing well in his favour ; the party consulted being almost certain to try to think in the manner which will be the most agreeable to the party con sulting. 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 sub mitted 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 de prive him, temporarily, of the command of the cutter, and to confer it on his own brother-in-law. A natural and involun 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 decla ration that the present duty was of such a character, that this .particular arrangement had become indispensable. Al though 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 submission ; and he quietly acquiesced — with his own mouth directing the little crew to receive their further orders from Cap, until another change should be effected. When, however, he was told the case required that riot 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, how ever, 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 giv ing instant notice to the person who mifjht then be in charge of the cutter, and to insist on his return below, as soon as possible. This precaution, however, was uncalled for ; Jas per 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 Dun 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.' That 's it, nearly word for word, as it stands in the written orders."
" But you can muster a chart — something in the way of bearings and distances, that I may see the road ?"
" I do not think Jasper ever had anything of the sort to go by."
" No chart, 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 Yahoos. And do you suppose, Serjeant Dunham, that I can find one island out of a thousand, without knowing its name, or its position — without even a course, or a distance ?"
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 posi tion, 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."
" Hold on, serjeant — hold on, a moment, if you please, Serjeant Dunham. If I am to command this craft, it must be done, if you please, without holding any councils of war with the cook and cabin-boy. A ship-master is a ship-master, and he must have an opinion of his own, even if it be a wrong one. I suppose you know service well enough to 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 anywhere, unless it be to the station among the Thousand Islands, whi ther 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, I would go round to the whole thousand and examine them one by one, until we got the right haven. But, there is such a thing as coming at an opinion without manifesting ignorance, and I will manage to rowse all there is, out of these hands, and make them think, all the while, that I am cramming them with my own experience. We are sometimes obliged to use the glass at sea, when there is no thing 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*
234 THE PATHFINDER.
" 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 Ser jeant 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 is no difference, though it 's quite in rule it should be differ ent 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.
THE PATHFINDER. 235
" I take it, John," resumed Cap — " your name is Jack, I believe?"
" No, sir ; I am called Robert."
" Ay, Robert^ — it 's very much the same thing — Jack, or Bob — we use the two indifferently. I say, Bob, it 's good holding-ground, is it, down at this same station for which we are bound ?"
" Bless you, sir, I know no more about it than one of the Mohawks, or a soldier of the 55th."
" Did you never anchor there?"
" Never, sir. Master Eau-douce always makes fast to the shore."
" But in running in for the town, you kept the lead going, out of question, and must have tallowed as usual ?"
" Tallow ! and town, too ! Bless your heart, Master Cap, there is no more town than there is on your chin, and not half as much tallow."
The 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 think the best, the one you went last, or — or — or — ay, or the other?"
"I can't say, sir. I know nothing of either."
"You didn't go to sleep, fellow, at the wheel, did you?"
" Not at the wheel, sir, but down in the fore-peak, in my berth. Eau-douce sent us below, soldiers and all, with the exception of the pilot, and we know no more of the road than if we had never been over it. This he has always done, in going in and coming out ; and, for the life of me, I could tell you nothing of the channel, or of the course, after we are once fairly up with the islands. No one knows anything of either, but Jasper and the pilot."
" Here is a circumstance for you, 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 1 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 particularly private ?"
" It is indeed ; 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 question ing the young man at the helm ; I can hardly think that he is as ignorant as he pretends to be."
" Hum — this looks like another circumstance ! For that matter, the case is getting to be so full of circumstances, that one hardly knows how to foot up the evidence. But we will soon see how much the lad knows."
Cap and the 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."
'* J 'm not particular about either, myself, sir, and so I do not happen to know what you mean."
11 Not what I mean ! — You know what latitude is?"
THE PATHFINDER. 237
" 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 longitude means ?"
" I believe I do, sir — that is five feet six, the regulation height for soldiers in the king's service."
" There 's the longitude found out for you, 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 moun tains. 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-nothe- east, nothe-east and by nothe, nothe-east ; nothe-east and by east, east-nothe-east, east-and-by-nothe, east; — "
" That will do — that will do. You '11 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 '11 stand on two hours longer on this tack, when we '11 heave-to and get the soundings ; after which we will be governed by circum stances."
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 night 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 stay sail, 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 '11 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 sand, the better way is to give it up at once, and to slide down under their lee, as fast as possible. No — 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, serjeant, against all your propositions. In the first place, an admis sion of ignorance, on the part of a commander, would destroy discipline — No matter, brother, I understand your shake of the head, but nothing capsizes discipline so much, as to con fess ignorance. I once knew a master of a vessel who went a week on a wrong course, rather than allow he had made a mistake; and it was surprising how much he rose in the opinions of his people, just because they could not understand him."
" That may do on salt-water, brother Cap ; but it will hardly do on fresh. Rather than wreck my command on the Canada shore, I shall feel it a duty to take Jasper out of arrest."
" And make a haven in Frontenac ! No, serjeant, the Scud is in good hands, and will now learn something of seamanship. We have a fine offing, and no one but a mad man 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 con fidence 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 THE PATHFINDER.
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 re turn, without having even reached the point of destination, therefore, the latter felt would be a failure from which he was not likely soon to recover ; and the measure would, at once, be the means of placing a superior in his shoes.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.