 CHAPTER IV The Aswego, below the falls, is a more rapid, unequal stream than it is above them. There are places where the river flows in the quiet stillness of deep water, but many shoals and rapids occur, and at that distant day, when everything was in its natural state, some of the passes were not altogether without hazard. Very little exertion was required on the part of those who managed the canoes, except in those places where the swiftness of the current and the presence of the rocks required care. Then indeed not only vigilance, but great coolness, readiness, and strength of arm became necessary, in order to avoid the dangers. Of all this, the Mohican was aware, and he had judiciously selected a spot where the river flowed tranquilly to intercept the canoes, in order to make his communication without hazard to those he wished to speak. The Pathfinder had no sooner recognized the form of his red friend, than with a strong sweep of his paddle he threw the head of his own canoe towards the shore, motioning for Jasper to follow. In a minute both boats were silently drifting down the stream, within reach of the bushes that overhung the water, all observing a profound silence, some from alarm and others from habitual caution. As the travellers drew nearer the Indian he made a sign for them to stop, and then he and Pathfinder had a short but earnest conference. The chief is not apt to see enemies in a dead log. Observe the white man to his red associate. Why does he tell us to stop? Mingoes are in the woods. That we have believed these two days. Does the chief know it? The Mohican quietly held up the head of a pipe formed of stone. It lay on a fresh trail that led towards the garrison, for so it was the usage of that frontier to term a military work, whether it was occupied or not. That may be the bowl of a pipe belonging to a soldier. Many used the red-skinned 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 soapstone, and was carved with great care, and with a very respectable degree of skill. In its centre was a small Latin cross, made with an accuracy which permitted no doubt of its meaning. That does foretell devil-tree and wickedness, said the Pathfinder, who had all the provincial horror of the holy symbol in question which then pervaded the country, and which became so incorporated with its prejudices by confounding men with things as to have left its traces strong enough on the moral feeling of the community to be discovered even at the present hour. No Indian who had not been parvaded by the cunning priests of the Canada's would dream of carving a thing like that on his pipe. I'll warrant you, knave praise to the image every time he wishes to circumvent the innocent, and work his fearful wickedness. It looks fresh, too, chingach guk. The tobacco was burning when I found it. That is close work, chief. Where was the trail? The Mohican pointed to a spot night a hundred yards from that where they stood. The matter now began to look very serious, and the two principal guides conferred apart for several minutes. When both ascended the bank, approached the indicated spot and examined the trail with the utmost care. After this investigation had lasted a quarter of an hour, the white man returned alone, his red friend having disappeared in the forest. The ordinary expression of the countenance of the Pathfinder was that of simplicity, integrity, and sincerity, blended in an air of self-reliance which usually gave great confidence to those who found themselves under his care. But now a look of concern cast a shade over his honest face that struck the whole party. What cheer, Master Pathfinder, demanded cap, permitting a voice that was usually deep loud and confident to sink into the cautious tones that better suited the dangers of the wilderness. Has the enemy got between us and our port? Anan Have any of these painted scaramuches anchored off the harbour towards which we are running with the hope of cutting us off and entering? It may be all as you say, friend cap, but I am none the wiser for your words, and in ticklish times the planer 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 sartan bullets will follow. Can not this said fort deliver a broadside and clear everything within the sweep of its haws? Nay, the forts this away are not like forts in the settlements, and two or three like cannon are all they have down at the mouth of the river, and then broadsides fired at a dozen outlying mingos lying behind logs and in a forest would be powders spent in vain. We have but one course, and that is a very nice one. We are judgmentically placed here, both canoes being hid by the high bank and the bushes, from all eyes, except those of any lurker directly opposite. Here then we may stay without much present fear, but how to get the bloodthirsty devils up the stream again? Ha! I have it! I have it! If it does no good it can do no harm. Do you see the wide-top chestnut here, Jasper, at the last turn in the river, on our own side of the stream, I mean? That near the fallen pine? The very same. Take the flint and the 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 witnessed the many ambush months. I will do it, Pathfinder, said Jasper, springing to the shore. In ten minutes the fire shall be lighted. And O'doose, use plenty of damp wood this time. Hath whispered the other, laughing heartily in his own peculiar manner. When smoke is wanted, water helps to thicken it. The young man was soon off, taking his way rapidly towards the desired point. A slight attempt of mable to object to the risk was disregarded, and the party immediately prepared to change its position, as it could be seen from the place where Jasper intended to light his fire. The movement did not require haste, and it was made leisurely, and with care. The canoes were got clear of the bushes, then suffered to drop down with the stream until they touched the spot where the chestnut, at the foot of which Jasper was to light the fire, was almost shut out from view when they stopped, and every eye was turned in the direction of the adventurer. There goes the smoke, exclaimed the Pathfinder, as a current of air whirled a little column of the vapor from the land, allowing it to rise spirally above the bed of the river. A good flint, a small bit of steel, and plenty of dry leaves makes a quick fire. I hope O'doose will have the wit to be think 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 oatmeal or his potatoes than of Indian sar-conventions or Indian rifles. And yet I should think, from all we have heard in the towns, that the soldiers on this frontier are used to the artifices of their enemies, said Mabel, and become almost as wily as the red men themselves. Not they. Experience makes them but little wiser, and they wheel and platoon and battalion and about here in the forest just as they did in their parks at home, of which they are also fond of talking. One red-skinned has more cunning in his nature than a whole regimen from the other side of the water. That is what I call cutting 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 regimen 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 impulse of the paddles. A better spot could not have been found for the purpose. The bushes were thick and overhung the water, forming a complete canopy of leaves. There was a small gravelly strand at the bottom of the little bay where most of the party landed to be more at their ease, and the only position from which they could possibly be seen was a point on the river directly opposite. There was little danger, however, of discovery from that quarter, as the thicket there was even denser than common, and the land beyond it was so wet and marshy as to render it difficult to be trodden. This is a safe cover, said the pathfinder, after he had taken a scrutinizing survey of his position. But it may be necessary to make it safer. Master Cap, I ask nothing of you but silence, and a quieting of such gifts as you may have got at sea, while the Tuscarora and I make provision for the evil hour. The guide then went a short distance into the bushes, accompanied by the Indian, where the two cut off the larger stems of several alders and other bushes, using the utmost care not to make a noise. The ends of these little trees were forced into the mud, outside of the canoes, the depth of the water being very trifling, and in the course of ten minutes a very effectual screen was interposed between them and the principal point of danger. Much ingenuity and readiness were manifested in making this simple arrangement, in which the two workmen were essentially favored by the natural formation of the bank, the indentation in the shore, the shallowness of the water, and the manner in which the tangled bushes dipped into the stream. The pathfinder had the address to look for bushes which had curved stems, things easily found in such a place, and by cutting them some distance beneath the bend, and permitting the ladder 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 being climbed upwards towards the light. In short, none but an unusually distrustful eye would have been turned for an instant towards the spotting quest of a hiding place. This is the best cover I have ever yet got into, said the pathfinder, with his quiet laugh, after having been on the outside to reconnoitre. The leaves of our new trees fairly touched those of the bushes over our heads. Yes! Yonder comes o' deuce, wading like a sensible boy, as he is, to leave his trail in the water, and we shall soon see whether our cover is good for anything or not. Jasper had indeed returned from his duty above, and missing the canoes, he had once inferred that they had dropped round the next bend in the river in order to get out of sight of the fire. His habits of caution immediately suggested the expediency of stepping into the water, in order that there might exist no visible communication between the marks left on the shore by the party and the place where he believed them to have taken refuge below. Should the Canadian Indians return on their own trail and discover that made by the pathfinder and the serpent in their ascent from and descent to the river, the clue to their movements would cease at the shore, water leaving no prints of footsteps. The young man had therefore waited knee-deep as far as the point, and was now seen making his way slowly down the margin of the stream, searching curiously for the spot in which the canoes were hid. It was in the power of those behind the bushes, by placing their eyes near the leaves, to find many places to look through while one at a little distance lost this advantage. To those who watched his motions from behind their cover, and they were all in the canoes, it was evident that Jasper was totally at a loss to imagine where the pathfinder had secreted himself. When fairly round the curvature in the shore, and out of sight of the fire he had lighted above, the young man stopped and began examining the bank deliberately and with great care. Occasionally he advanced eight or ten paces and then hauled it again to renew the search. The water being much shallower than common, he stepped aside in order to walk with greater ease to himself, and came so near the artificial plantation that he might have touched it with his hand. Still he detected nothing, and was actually passing the spot when Pathfinder made an opening beneath the branches, and called to him in a low voice to enter. "'This is pretty well,' said the Pathfinder, laughing, though pale-face eyes and red-skin eyes are as different as human spyglasses. I would wager with the sergeant's daughter here a horn of powder against a wampum belt for her girdle, that her father's regiment should march by this embankment of ours and never find out the fraud. But if the mingos actually get down into the bed of the river where Jasper passed, I should tremble for the plantation. It will do for their eyes, even across the stream, however, and will not be without its use.' "'Don't you think, Master Pathfinder, that it would be wisest, after all,' said Cap, to get under way at once and carry sail hard downstream, as soon as we are satisfied that these rascals are fairly astern of us? We seem and call a sternchase a longchase. I wouldn't move from this spot until we hear from the serpent with the sergeant's pretty daughter here in our company, for all the powder in the magazine of the fort below. Sarting captivity or sartan death would follow. If a tender fawn such as the maiden we have in charge could thread the forest like old deer, it might indeed do to quit the canoes, for by making a circuit we could reach the garrison before morning.' "'Then let it be done,' said Mabel, springing to her feet under the sudden impulse of awakened energy. I am young, active, used to exercise, and could easily outwalk my dear uncle. Let no one think me a hindrance. I cannot bear that all your life should be exposed on my account.' "'No, no, pretty one. We think you anything but a hindrance or anything that is unbecoming, one would willingly run twice this risk to do you and the honest sergeant a service. Do I not speak your mind, Odus?' "'To do her a service,' said Jasper, with emphasis, nothing shall tempt me to desert Mabel Dunham until she is safe in her father's arms.' "'Well said, lad, bravely and honestly said, too. And I join in it hard in hand. No, no. You are not the first of your sex I have led through the wilderness, and never but once did any harm befall any of them. That was a sad day, certainly, but its life may never come again.' Mabel looked from one of her protectors to the other, and her fine eyes swam in tears. Frankly placing a hand in that of each, she answered them, though at first her voice was choked. "'I have no right to expose you on my account. My dear father will thank you. I thank you. God will reward you. But let there be no unnecessary risk. I can walk far, and have often gone miles on some girlish fancy. Why not now exert myself for my life, nay, for your precious lives?' "'She is a true dove, Jasper,' said the pathfinder, neither relinquishing the hand he held until the girl herself, in native modesty, saw fit to withdraw it, and wonderfully winning. We get to be rough, and sometimes even hard-hearted in the woods, Mabel, but the sight of one like you brings us back again to our young feelings, and does us good for the remainder of our days. I daresay Jasper here will tell you the same. For like me and 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'd need not mention the woods and lakes to challenge your equals, but I would go into settlements and towns. We had better leave the canoes, Mabel hurriedly rejoined, for I feel it is no longer safe to be here. You can never do it, you can never do it. It would be a march of more than twenty miles, and that, too, of trapping 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 straight, looked up for council, 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 a subdued mildness that marks the degraded condition of a savage's wife. Pathfinder and cap occupied one canoe, chatting of their different adventures by sea and land, while Jasper and Mabel sat in the other, making greater progress in intimacy in a single hour than might have been affected under other circumstances in a twelve-month. Notwithstanding their situation as regards the enemy, the time flew by swiftly, and the young people in particular were astonished when cap informed them how long they had been thus occupied. If one could smoke, Master Pathfinder, observed the old sailor, this berth would be snug enough, for to give the devil his due, you have got the canoes handsomely landlocked, and into moorings that would defy a monsoon. The only hardship is the denial of the pipe. The scent of the tobacco would betray us, and where is the use of taking all these precautions against the mingo's eyes, if we are to tell him where the cover is to be found through the nose? No, no. Deny your appetites, and learn one virtue from a red skin, who will pass a week without eating even, to get a single scalp. Did you hear something, Jasper? The serpent is coming. Then let us see if Mohican eyes are better than them of a lad who follows the water. The Mohican head 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 upstream, than he moved close under the bank, and, using the utmost caution, sought a position where he could look back, with this person sufficiently concealed by the bushes, to prevent its being seen by any in that quarter. The serpent sees the knaves, whispered Pathfinder, as I'm a Christian white man. They have bid at the bait, and have ambushed the smoke. Here a hardy but silent laugh interrupted his words, and nudging cap with his elbow, they all continued to watch the movements of Chingetchuk in profound stillness. The Mohican remained stationary as the rock on which he stood, full ten minutes, and then it was apparent that something of interest had occurred within his view, for he drew back with a hurried manner, looked anxiously and keenly along the margin of the stream, and moved quickly down it, taking care to lose his trail in the shallow water. He was evidently in a hurry, and concerned, now looking behind him, and then casting eager glances towards every spot on the shore where he thought a canoe might be concealed. Call him in, whispered Jasper, scarcely able to restrain his impatience. Call him in, or he'll be too late. See he's actually passing us. No, not so, not so lad. Nothing presses depend on it. Returned his companion, or the serpent would begin to creep. The Lord help us and teach us wisdom. I do believe even Chincachkuk, whose sight is as faithful as the hound sent, overlooks us, and will not find out the ambushment we have made. This exultation was untimely, for the words were no sooner spoken than the Indian, who had actually got several feet lower down the stream than the artificial cover. Suddenly stopped, fastened a keen riveted glance among the transplanted bushes, made a few hasty steps backward, and bending his body and carefully separating the branches, he appeared among them. The accursed mingos, said Pathfinder as soon as his friend was near enough to be addressed with prudence. Iroquois returned the sententious Indian. No matter, no matter, Iroquois, devil, mingo, manguis, or furies, all are pretty much the same. I call all rascals mingos. Come hither, chief, and let us converse rationally. When their private communication was over, Pathfinder rejoined the rest, and made them acquainted with all that 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 Chincachkuk, who ran the greatest risk of detection, to find a cover where he could secrete himself until the party might pass. It was perhaps fortunate for him that the savages were so intent on this recent discovery that they did not bestow the ordinary attention on the signs of the forest. At all events they passed him swiftly, fifteen in number, treading lightly in each other's footsteps, and he was enabled again to get into their rear. After proceeding to the place where the footsteps of Pathfinder and the Mohican had joined the principal trail, the Iroquois had struck off to the river, which they reached just as Jasper had disappeared behind the bend below. The smoke being now in plain view, the savages plunged into the woods, and endeavored to approach the fire unseen. Chincachkuk profited by this occasion to descend to the water, and to gain the bend in the river also, which he thought had been affected undiscovered. Here he paused, as has been stated, until he saw his enemies at the fire, where their stay, however, was very short. Of the motives of the Iroquois, the Mohican could judge only by their acts. He thought they had detected the artifice of the fire, and were aware that it had been kindled with a view to mislead them. For after a hasty examination of the spot, they had separated, some plunging again into the woods, while six or eight had followed the footsteps of Jasper along the shore, and come down the stream towards the place where the canoes had landed. What course they might take on reaching that spot was only to be conjectured, for the serpent had felt the emergency to be too pressing to delay looking for his friends any longer. From some indications that were to be gathered from their gestures, however, he thought it probable that their enemies might follow down in the margin of the stream, but could not be certain. As the pathfinder related these facts to his companions, the professional feelings of the two other white men came uppermost, and both naturally reverted to their habits in quest of the means of escape. Let us run out the canoes at once, said Jasper eagerly. The current is strong, and by using the paddles vigorously we shall soon be beyond the reach of these scoundrels. And this poor flower that first blossomed in the clearings, shall it wither in the forest, objected his friend with a poetry which he unconsciously imbibed by his long association with the Delaware's. We must all die first, answered the youth, a generous color mounting to his temples. Maple and Arahead's wife may lie down in the canoes while we do our duty like men on our feet. Aye, you are active at the paddle and the oar, O'doose. 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 grisk, 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-finer leaning on his rifle, the butt of which rested on the gravely beach, while both his hands clasped the barrel at the height of his own shoulders. As Jasper threw out this severe and unmerited imputation, the deep red of his comrade's face maintained its hue unchanged, though the young man perceived that the fingers grasped the iron of the gun with the tenacity of a vice. Here all betrayal of emotion ceased. You are young and hot-headed, returned a path-finder, with a dignity that impressed his listeners with a keen sense of his moral superiority. But my life has been passed among dangers of this sort, and my experiencing gifts are not to be mastered by the impatience of a boy. As for courage, Jasper, I will not send back an angry and unmeaning word to meet an angry and an unmeaning word, for I know that you are true in your station and according to your knowledge. But take the advice of one who faced the mingos when you were a child, and know that their cunning is easier circumvented by prudence than outwitted by foolishness. I ask your pardon, path-finder, said the repentant Jasper, eagerly grasping the hand that the other permitted him to seize. I ask your pardon humbly and sincerely, which was a foolish as well as wicked thing to hint of a man whose heart, in a good cause, is known to be as firm as the rocks on the lakeshore. For the first time the color deepened on the cheek of the path-finder, and the solemn dignity which he had assumed, under a purely natural impulse, disappeared in the expression of the earnest simplicity inherent in all his feelings. He met the grasp of his young friend with a squeeze as cordial as if no cord had jarred between them, and a slight sternness that had gathered about his eye disappeared in a look of natural kindness. "'Tis well, Jasper,' he answered, laughing. I bear no ill will, nor shall any one on my behalf. My nature 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 serpent here, though he is a Delaware. The color will have its way.' A touch on his shoulder caused the speaker to cease. People was standing erect in the canoe, her light but swelling form bent forward in an attitude of graceful earnestness, her finger on her lips, her head averted, her spirited eyes riveted on an opening in the bushes, and one arm extended with a fishing-rod, the end of which had touched the path-finder. The latter bowed his head to a level with a look-out near which he had intentionally kept himself, and then whispered to Jasper, "'The accursed mingos! Stand to your arms, my men, but lay quiet as the corpses of dead trees!' Jasper advanced rapidly but noiselessly to the canoe, and with a gentle violence induced Mabel to place herself in such an attitude as concealed her entire body, though it would have probably exceeded his means to induce the girl so far to lower her head that she could not keep her gaze fastened on their enemies. He then took his own post near her with his rifle cocked and poised, in readiness to fire. Arrowhead and Chingachkoog 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. 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 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 5 Death is here, and death is there. Death is busy everywhere, attributed to Shelling. It was a breathless moment. The only clue the fugitives possessed to the intentions of their pursuers was in their gestures and the indications which escaped them and 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 a little moment just then, for the party was menaced with an immediate discovery by those who had kept on a level with the river. All the facts presented themselves clearly, and as it might be by intuition to the mind of Pathfinder, who perceived the necessity of immediate decision and of being in readiness to act in concert. Without making any noise, therefore, he managed to get the two Indians and Jasper near him when he opened his communications in a whisper. We must be ready. We must be ready. He said, There are but three of the scalping devils, and we are four, four of whom may be set down as men for warriors for such a scrimmage. Oh, Deuce, do you take the fellow that is painted like death? Shinkachuk, I give you the chief. An arrowhead must keep his eye on the young one. There must be no mistake, for two bullets in the same body would be a sinful waste with one like the sergeant's daughter in danger. I shall hold myself in reserve against accident, lest a fourth reptile appear. For one of your hands may prove unsteady. By no means fire, until I give the word, we must not let the crack of the rifle be heard, except in the last resort, since all the rest of the miscreants are still within hearing. Jasper, boy, in case of any movement behind us on the bank, I trust to you to run out the canoe with the sergeant's daughter and to pull for the garrison by God's leave. The Pathfinder had no sooner given these directions than the near approach of their enemies' rendered profound silence necessary. The Iroquois in the river were slowly descending the stream, keeping of necessity near the bushes which overhung the water, while the rustling of leaves and the snapping of twigs soon gave fearful evidence that another party was moving along the bank at an equally graduated pace and directly abreast of them. In consequence of the distance between the bushes planted by the fugitives and the true shore, the two parties became visible to each other when opposite that precise point. Both stopped, and a conversation ensued that may be said to have passed directly over the heads of those who were concealed. Indeed, nothing sheltered the travelers but the branches and leaves of plants so pliant that they yielded to every current of air, and which a puff of wind a little stronger than common would have blown away. Fortunately the line of sight carried the eyes of the two parties of savages, whether they stood in the water or on the land, above the bushes, and the leaves appeared blended in a way to excite no suspicion. Perhaps the very boldness of the expedient alone prevented an immediate exposure. The conversation which took place was conducted earnestly but in guarded tones, as if those who spoke wished to defeat the intentions of any listeners. It was in a dialect that both the Indian warriors beneath, as well as the Pathfinder, understood. Even Jasper comprehended a portion of what was said. The trail is washed away by the water, said one from below, who stood so near the artificial cover of the fugitives that he might have been struck by the salmon spear that lay in the bottom of Jasper's canoe. Water has washed it so clear that a Yankee scound could not follow. The pale faces have left ashore in their canoes, answered the speaker on the back. It cannot be. The rifles of our warriors below are certain. The Pathfinder gave a significant glance at Jasper, and he clinched his teeth in order to suppress the sound of his own breathing. What my young men look as if their eyes were eagles, said the eldest warrior among those who were raiding in the river. We have been a whole moon on the warpath, and have found but one scalp. There is a maiden among them, and some of our braves want wives. Happily these words were lost on Mabel, but Jasper's frown became deeper, and his face fiercely flushed. The savages now ceased speaking, and the party which was concealed heard the slow and guarded movements of those who were on the bank, as they pushed the bushes aside in their wary progress. It was soon evident that the latter had passed the cover, but the group in the water still remained, scanning the shore with eyes that glared through their war-paint, like coals of living fire. After a pause of two or three minutes these three began also to descend the stream, though it was step by step, as men move who look for an object that has been lost. In this manner they passed the artificial screen, and Pathfinder opened his mouth in that hearty but noiseless laugh that nature and habit had contributed to render a peculiarity of the man. His triumph, however, was premature. For the last of the retiring party, just at this moment casting a look behind him, suddenly stopped, and his fixed attitude and steady gaze at once betrayed the appalling fact that some neglected bush had awakened his suspicions. It was perhaps fortunate for the concealed that the warrior who manifested these fearful signs of distrust was young, and had still a reputation to acquire. He knew the importance of discretion and modesty in one of his years, and most of all did he dread the ridicule and contempt that would certainly follow a false alarm. Without recalling any of his companions, therefore, he turned on his own footsteps, and while the others continued to descend the river, he cautiously approached the bushes, on which his looks were still fastened as by a charm. Some of the leaves which were exposed to the sun had drooped a little, and this slight departure from the usual natural laws had caught the quick eyes of the Indian, for so practised and acute do the senses of the savage become, more especially when he is on the warpath, that trifles apparently of the most insignificant sort often proved to be clues to lead him to his object. The trifling nature of the change which had aroused the suspicion of this youth was an additional motive for not acquainting his companions with his discovery. Should he really detect anything, his glory would be the greater for being unshared, and should he not, he might hope to escape that derision which the young Indian so much dreads. Then there were the dangers of an ambush and a surprise to which every warrior of the woods is keenly alive, to render his approach slow and cautious. In consequence of the delay that preceded 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 path finder 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. Just came the eager hope of obtaining success where some of the most experienced of his tribe had failed, and with it a degree of glory that had seldom fallen to the share of one of his years or a brave on his first war-path. Then followed doubts as the drooping leaves seemed to rise again and to revive in the currents of air, and distrust of hidden danger led its exciting feeling to keep the eloquent features in play. Though very slight, however, had been the alteration produced by the heat on the bushes, of which the stems were in the water, that when the Iroquois actually laid his hand on the leaves, he fancied that he had been deceived. As no man ever distressed strongly without using all convenient means of satisfying his doubts, however, the young warrior cautiously pushed aside the branches and advanced a step within the hiding-place. Then the forms of the concealed party met his gaze, resembling so many breathless statues. The low exclamation, the slight start, and the glaring eye were hardly seen and heard before the arm of Chingachuk 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, with a struggling limb still tossing and writhing in the agony of death. The Delaware made a vigorous but unsuccessful attempt to seize an arm with the hope of securing the scalp, but the blood-stained waters whirled down the current, carrying with them their quivering burden. All this passed in less than a minute, and the events were so sudden and unexpected that men less accustomed than the pathfinder in his associates to forest warfare would have been at a lost how to act. There is not a moment to lose, said Jasper, tearing aside the bushes as he spoke earnestly, but in a suppressed voice. Do as I do, Master Cap, if you would save your niece and you, Mabel, lie at your length in the canoe. The words were scarcely uttered when, seizing the bow of the light boat he dragged it along the shore, wading himself while Cap aided behind, keeping so near the bank as to avoid being seen by the savages below, and striving to gain the turn in the river above him which would effectually conceal the party from the enemy. The pathfinder's canoe lay nearest to the bank and was necessarily the last to quit the shore. The Delaware leaped on the narrow strand and plunged into the forest, it being his assigned duty to watch the foe in that quarter, while Arrowhead motioned to his white companion to seize the bow of the boat and to follow Jasper. All this was the work of an instant, but when the pathfinder reached the current that was sweeping round the turn, he felt a sudden change in the weight he was dragging in, looking back. He found that both the Tuscarora and his wife had deserted him. The thought of treachery flashed upon his mind, but there was no time to pause, for the wailing shout that arose from the party below proclaimed that the body of the young Iroquois had floated as low as the spot reached by his friends. The report of a rifle followed, and then the guide saw that Jasper, having doubled the bend in the river, was crossing the stream, standing erect in the stern of the canoe, while Cap was seated forward, both propelling the light boat with vigorous strokes of the paddles. A glance, a thought, and an expedient followed each other quickly in one so trained in the vicissitudes of the frontier warfare. Springing into the stern of his own canoe, he urged it by a vigorous shove into the current, and commenced crossing the stream himself at a point so much lower than that of his companions as to offer his own person for a target to the enemy, well knowing that their keen desire to secure a scalp would control all other feelings. Keep well up the current, Jasper! shouted the gallant guide as he swept the paddle with long, steady vigorous strokes of the paddle. Keep well up the current, and pull for the alderbushes opposite. Preserve the sergeant's daughter before all things, and leave these mingo-naves to the serpent and me. Jasper flourished his paddle as a signal of understanding, while shot succeeded shot in quick succession, all now being aimed at the solitary man in the nearest canoe. I, empty your rifles like simpletons as you are, said the pathfinder who had acquired a habit of speaking when alone, from passing so much of his time in the solitude of the forest, empty your rifles with an unsteady aim, and give me time to put yard upon yard of river between us. I will not revile you like a Delaware or a Mohican, for my gifts are a white man's gifts, and not an Indian's, and boasting in battle is no part of a Christian warrior, but I may say here all alone by myself that you are little better than so many men from the town shooting at robins and the orchards. That was well meant, throwing back his head as a rifle-bullet cut a lock of hair from his temple, but the lead that misses by an inch is as useless as the lead that never quits the barrel. Bravely done, Jasper, the sergeant's sweet child must be saved, even if we go in without our own scalps. By this time the pathfinder was in the center 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, or 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. While few strokes of the paddles were given and the canoes 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 hearty self-devotion had brought him into a situation of unusual exposure, the hazards of which were much increased by the fact that, just as he drifted nearest to the enemy, the party on the shore rushed down the bank and joined their friends who still stood in the water. The Oswego was about a cable's length in width at this point, and the canoe being in the center, the object was only a hundred yards from the rifles that were constantly discharged to add 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 him 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 a current, with the swiftness of an arrow, and at the next checking its progress in that direction to glance a thwart 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 of his foes, the pathfinder was gaining fast in distance, both downwards and across the current, when a new danger suddenly, if not unexpectedly, presented itself, by the appearance of the party that had been left in ambush below with a view to watch the river. These were the savages alluded to in the short dialogue already related. They were no less than ten in number, and understanding all the advantages of their bloody occupation, they had posted themselves at a spot where the water dashed among rocks and over shallows, in a way to form a rapid which, in the language of the country, is called a rift. The pathfinder saw that if he entered this rift he should be compelled to approach a point where the Iroquois had posted themselves, for the current was irresistible, and the rocks allowed no other safe passage, while death or captivity would be the probable result of the attempt. All his efforts, therefore, were turned toward reaching the western shore, the foe being all on the eastern side of the river, but the exploits surpassed human power, and to attempt to stem the stream what at once have so far diminished the motion of the canoe as to render aim certain. In this exigency that Guy came to a decision with his usual cool promptitude, making his preparations accordingly. Instead of endeavoring to gain the channel, he steered towards the shallowest part of the stream, on reaching which he seized his rifle and pack, leaped into the water, and began to wade from rock to rock, taking the direction of the western shore. The canoe whirled about in the furious current, now rolling over some slippery stone, now filling and then emptying itself until it lodged on the shore, within a few yards of the spot where the Iroquois had posted themselves. In the meanwhile the pathfinder was far from being out of danger. For the first minute, admiration of his promptitude and daring, which are so high virtues in the mind of an Indian, kept his enemies motionless. But the desire of revenge and the cravings for the much prized trophy soon overcame this transient feeling and aroused them from their stupor. Rifle flashed after rifle, and the bullets whistled around the head of the fugitive, amid the roar of the waters. Until he proceeded like one who bore a charmed life, for while his rude frontier garments were more than once cut, his skin was not raised. As the pathfinder, in several instances, was compelled to wade in water which rose nearly to his arms, while he kept his rifle and ammunition elevated above the raging current, the toil soon fatigued him, and he was glad to stop at a large stone, or a small rock, which rose so high above the river that its upper surface was dry. On this stone he placed his powder horn, getting behind it himself, so as to have the advantage of a partial cover for his body. The western shore was only fifty feet distant, but the quiet, swift, dark current that glanced through the interval sufficiently showed him that 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 for preparing to cross the river. Pathfinder! called a voice from among the bushes, at the point nearest to the person addressed on the western shore. What would you have, Jasper? Be of good heart, friends are at hand, and not a single mingo shall cross without suffering for his boldness. Had you not better leave the rifle on the rock and swim to us before the rascals can get afloat? A true woodsman never quits his peace when he has any powder in his horn or a bullet in his pouch. I have not drawn a trigger this day, O deuce, and shouldn't relish the idea of parting with those reptiles without causing them to remember my name. A little water will not harm my legs, and I see that blaggard arrowhead among the scamps and wish to send in the wages he has so faithfully earned. You have not brought the sergeant's daughter down here in a range with her 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 Urquois? The sergeant's daughter must be saved, return the guide with calm energy. You're 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 for 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 affected, but are we strong enough for such a purpose? The Lord is with us, boy, the Lord is with us, and it is unreasonable to suppose that one like the sergeant's daughter will be altogether abandoned by Providence in such a straight. There is not a boat between the falls and the garrison, except these two canoes, to my certain knowledge, and I think it will go beyond red-skinned gifts to cross in the face of two rifles like these of yours and mine. I will not vaunt, Jasper, but it is well known on all this frontier that Kildir 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? Return 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 miscrints are beginning to rethink 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. In 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 inclined to the woods. Now let them mingle naves, 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, quuttering the current, and throw yourself into it as it goes off, said Jasper eagerly. There is little use in running any risk. I loved to stand up face to face with my enemies like a man, while they set me the example. Returned the pathfinder proudly. I am not a red-skinned borne, and it is more a white man's gifts to fight openly than to lie in ambushment. Am I able? True boy, true, the sergeant's daughter must be saved, and as you say, foolish risk 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. After 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 mingle of them all dares cross the Oswego in the teeth of Kildere. You are handier with the ore and the paddle and the sail than with the rifle, perhaps, but you have a stout heart and a steady hand, and them are things that count in a fight. Mabel will find me between her and her enemies, said Jasper calmly. Yes, yes, the sergeant's daughter must be protected. I like you, boy, on your own account, but I like you all the better that you think of one so feeble at a moment when there is a need of all your manhood. See, Jasper, three of the naves 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 Kildere. Sure enough the Eroquoid 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 too much well skilled in forest warfare to neglect to defend the only past 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 others standing erect in the stern to wield the paddle. In this manner they left the shore, having had the precaution to haul the canoe, previously to entering it, so far up the stream as to have got into the comparatively still water above the rift. It was a parrot 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 Capyonder 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 sergeant's daughter. She is safe in the hollow stump, you say, with the opening judgmentically hid by the brambles. If what you tell me of the manner in which you conceal the trail be true, the sweet one might lie there a month and laugh at the mingos. We are never certain. I wish we had brought her nearer to our own cover. What for, Odus, to place her pretty little head in 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 serpent hissing, exclaimed the pathfinder exultingly. A boulder or a truer heart never beat in the breast of a Delaware. I am sorry that he interfered, but he could not have known our condition. The canoe had no sooner lost its guide than it flooded with a stream, and was soon sucked into the rapids of the rift. Perfectly helpless the two remaining savages gazed wildly about them, but could offer no resistance to the power of the element. It was perhaps fortunate for Chingachuk that the attention of most of the Iroquois were intently given to the situation of those in the boat. Perhaps what his escape had been to the last degree difficult, if not totally impracticable. But not a foe moved, except to conceal his person behind some cover, and every eye was riveted on the two remaining adventurers. In less time than it has been necessary to record these occurrences, the canoe was whirling and tossing in the rift, while both the savages had stretched themselves in its bottom as the only means of preserving the equilibrium. This natural expedience soon failed them, for striking a rock the light draught 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 feigned to make the best of their way to the friendly shore, swimming and waiting, as circumstances required. The canoe itself lodged on a rock in the center 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 waiting in the shallowest part of the rapids. The fellow upstream 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 into stain. The Pathfinder did not fire. No, no, O'duce, 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 Delaware's, who are their mortal and natural enemies, but I never pull trigger on one of the misgrants unless it be plain that his death will lead to some good end. The deer never leaped that fell by my hand wantonly. By living much alone with God in the wilderness a man gets to feel the justice of such opinions. One life is sufficient for our present wants, and there may yet be occasion to use Kildir on behalf of the serpent, who has done an untimbersome thing to let them rampant devils so plainly know that he is in their neighborhood. As I'm a wicked sinner there is one of them prowling along the bank this very moment, like one of the boys of the garrisons 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 the desire to distinguish himself, had stolen from his party towards the cover in which Chingachuk had concealed himself, and as the latter was deceived by the apparent apathy of his foes, as well as engaged in some further preparations of his own, he had evidently obtained a position where he got aside of the Delaware. This circumstance was apparent by the arrangements the Iroquois was making to fire, for Chingachuk 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 Chingachuk was quite near to his enemies in a straight direction, though separated by several hundred feet on the land, owing to which fact airlines brought both parties nearly equidistant from the Pathfinder and Jasper. The general width of the river being at little less than two hundred yards, such necessarily was about the distance between his two observers and the skulking Iroquois. The Sarpet must be thereabouts, observed Pathfinder who never turned his eye for an instant from the young warrior, and yet he must be strangely off his guard to allow a mingo devil to get his stand so near, with manifest signs of bloodshed in his heart. See, interrupted Jasper, there is the body of the Indian the Delaware shot. It is drifted on a rock, and the current has forced his head and face above the water. Quite likely, boy, quite likely, human nature is little better than a log of driftwood, when the life that has been breathed into its nostrils is departed. That Iroquois will never harm any one more, but yonder skulking savage is bent on taking the scalp of my best and most tried friend. The Pathfinder suddenly interrupted himself by raising his rifle, a weapon of unusual length, with admirable precision, and firing the instant it had got its level. The Iroquois on the opposite shore was in the act of aiming when the fatal messenger from Kildir 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 reptile brought it out himself, muttered Pathfinder sternly, as, dropping the butt of his rifle, he carefully commenced reloading it. Chingachkoek and I have consorted together since we were boys, and have fit in company on the Horecan, 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 shod is no great matter, Jasper, no great matter. Ask any of the sixtieth, and they can tell you what Kildir can do, and has done, and that, too, when the bullets were flying about our heads like hailstones. No, no, this is no great matter, and the unthoughtful vagabond drew it down on himself. Is that a dog or a deer swimming towards the shore? Pathfinder started, for sure enough an object was crossing the stream, above the rift, towards which, however, it was gradually setting by the force of the current. A second look satisfied both the observers that it was a man, and an Indian, though so concealed as at first to render it doubtful. Some stratagem was apprehended, and the closest attention was given to the movements of the stranger. He is pushing something before him as he swims, and his head resembles a drifting bush, said Jasper. To his Indian devilry boy, but Christian honesty shall circumvent their arts. As the man slowly approached, the observers began to doubt the accuracy of their first impressions, and was only when two-thirds of the stream were passed that the truth was really known. A big serpent, as I live, exclaimed Pathfinder, looking at his companion, and laughing until the tears came into his eyes with pure delight at the success of the artifice. He is 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. Ha! As 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 thoroughfell round and about tie. 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, it is the paint that speaks, and none but a Delaware would wear that paint, them are his colors. Jasper, just as your craft on the lake wears St. George's Cross, and the Frenchers set their tablecloths to fluttering in the wind with all the stains of fishbones and venison steaks upon them. Now, you see the eye, lad, and it is the eye of a chief. But, Odu's, fierce as it is in battle, and glassy as it looks from among the leaves—here the Pathfinder laid his fingers lightly but impressively on his companion's arm—I have seen it shed tears like rain. There is a soul and a heart under that red skin, rely on it. Although they are a soul and a heart with gifts different from our own. No one who is acquainted with the chief ever doubted that. I know it, returned the other proudly, for I have consorted with him in sorrow and in joy, and 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 it is too much like the people of the settlements to pour soft speeches into another's ear, and the serpent has keen senses. He knows I love him, and then I speak well of him behind his back, but a Delaware has modesty in his inmost nature, though he will brag like a sinner when tied to a stake. The serpent now reached the shore, directly in 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, CHAPTER VI. These as they change, Almighty Father, these are but the varied God. Attributed to Thompson. 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, Chincach-Gook, said he reproachfully, to ambush a dozen mingos alone? Kildere seldom fails me, it is true, but the Oswego makes a distant mark, and that miscreant showed little more than his head and shoulders above the bushes, and an unpractised 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 warpath, 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-skinned observed red-skinned nature, but prudence as much becomes a warrior as valor, and had not the Iroquois devils been looking after their friends who were in the water, a hot trail they would have made of yarn. What is the Delaware about to do? exclaimed Jasper, who observed at that moment that the chief had suddenly left the Pathfinder and advanced to the water's edge, apparently with an intention of again entering the river. He will not be so mad as to return to the other shore for any trifle he may have forgotten. Not he, not he, he is as prudent as he is brave, in the main, though so forgetful of himself in the late ambushment. Hark ye, Jasper, leading the other a little aside, just as they heard the Indians plunge into the water. Hark ye, lad, chingach guk 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 nature in use to govern his comrades. A king's soldier will swear, and he will drink, and it is of little use to try to prevent him. A gentleman likes his delicacies, and a lady her feathers, and it does not avail much to struggle against either. Whereas an Indian's nature and gifts are much stronger than these, and no doubt were bestowed by the Lord for wise ends, though neither you nor me can follow them in all their windings. What does this mean? See the Delaware is swimming towards the body that is lodged on the rock. Why does he risk this? For honour and glory and renown, as great gentlemen quit their quiet homes beyond seas, where, as they tell me, heart has nothing left to wish for, that is, such hearts as can be satisfied in a clearing, to come hither to live on game and fight the Frenchers. I understand you, your friend has gone to secure the scalp. 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, Odus, but I've known white men of great name and character manifest as remarkable ideas 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 past days thinking of these matters, out in the silent woods, and have come to the opinion, boy, that, as providence rules all things, no gift is bestowed without some wise and reasonable end. The serpent greatly exposes himself to the enemy in order to get his scalp. This may lose us the day. Not in his mind, Jasper, that one scalp has more honour in it, according to the serpent's notions of warfare, than a field covered with slain that kept the hair on their heads. Now there was the fine young captain of the sixtieth that threw away his life in trying to bring off a three-pounder from among the Frenchers in the last scrimmage we had. He thought he was starving 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 Chingachgut'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, Ah, as me! No chute of the old Mohican stem remains. He has no children to delight with his trophies, no tribe to honour by his deeds. He is a lone man in this world, yet he stands true to his training and his gifts. There is something honest and respectable in these you must allow, Jasper. Here a great outcry from the Iroquois was succeeded by the quick reports of their rifles, and so eager did the enemy become, in the desire to drive the Delaware back from his victim, that a dozen rushed into the river, several of whom even advanced near a hundred feet into the foaming current, as if they actually meditated a serious sortie. But Chingachgut continued unmoved, as he remained unhurt by the rifles, accomplishing his task with the dexterity of long habit. Flourishing his wreaking trophy, he gave the war-woop in its most frightful intonations, and for a minute the arches of the silent woods and the deep fista formed by the course of the river echoed with cries so terrific that Mabel bowed her head in irrepressible fear, while her uncle for a single instant actually meditated flight. This surpasses all I have heard from the wretches. Jasper exclaimed, stopping his ears, equally in horror and disgust. "'Tis their music, boy, their drum and fife, their trumpets and clarions. No doubt they love those sounds, for they stir up in them fierce feelings, and a desire for blood,' returned the pathfinder, totally unmoved. I thought them rather frightful when a mere youngster, but they have become like the whistle of the whipper-will, or the song of the cat-bird in my ear now. All the screeching reptiles that could stand between the falls and the garrison would have no effect on my nerves at this time of day. I say it not in boasting, Jasper, for the man that lets incourtes through the ears must have but a weak heart at the best. Sounds and outcries being more intended to alarm women and children than such as scout the forest and face the foe. I hope the serpent is now satisfied, for here he comes with a scalp at his belt. Jasper turned away his head as the Delaware rose from the river, impure disgust at his late errand. But the pathfinder regarded his friend with the philosophical indifference of one who had made up his mind to be indifferent to things he deemed immaterial. As the Delaware passed deeper into the bushes, with a view to ring 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 a recent exploit seemed to cease. Jasper, resumed the guide, stepped down to the station of Master Cap and asked 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 foe were assembled near the shore, completely concealed from the view of their enemies, while they kept a vigilant watch over the proceedings of the latter, in order to consult on their own future movements. By this time the day had so far advanced as to leave but a few minutes between the passing light and an obscurity that promised to be even deeper than common. The sun had already set, and the twilight of a low latitude would soon pass into the darkness of deep night. Most of the hopes of the party rested on this favorable circumstance, though it was not without its dangers also, as the very obscurity which would 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 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 ears entitle you to speak first in a matter like this and in a council. Well, in my judgment all we have to do is to go on board the canoe when it gets to be so dark the enemy's lookouts can't see us, and run for the haven as wind and tide will allow. That is easily said, but not so easily done, return 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 Sarton 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 promise is to be, and then I always feel myself stouter of heart and truer of eye when afloat than when ashore. Stout of heart you always be, lad, and I think tolerably true of eye for one who has lived so much in broad sunshine and so little in the woods. Ah, as me, the Ontario has no trees, or it would be a plane 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. Anon! Go on, said Jasper. Master Cap thinks he's on the ocean. Water leaves no trail. It leaves none, Odu's, here away, though I do not pretend to say what it may leave on the sea. Then a canoe is both swift and easy when it floats with the current, and the tender limbs of the sergeant's daughter will be favored by its motion. But on the other hand, the river will have no cover but the clouds in the heavens. The rift is a ticklish thing for boats to venture into, even by daylight, and it is six fairly measured miles by water from this spot to the garrison. Then a trail on land is not easy to be found in the dark. I am troubled, Jasper, to say which way we ought to counsel and advise. If the serpent and myself could swim into the river and bring off the other canoe, the young sailor replied, it would seem to me that our safest course would be the water. If indeed, and yet it might easily be done, as soon as it is a little darker, well, I am not certain it will be the best, though were we only a party of men it would be like a hunt to the lusty and brave to play it hide and seek with yonder miscreants on the other shore, Jasper. Continued the guide into whose character there entered no ingredient which belonged to vain display or theatrical effect. Will you undertake to bring in the canoe? I will undertake anything that will serve and protect Mabel, Pathfinder. That is an upright feeling, and I suppose it is nature. The serpent, 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 expedience for passing so narrow a stream that the Pathfinder was getting impatient to quit the spot. While Jasper and his companion entered the river, armed with nothing but their knives and the Delaware's tomahawk, observing the greatest caution not to betray their movements, the guide brought Mabel from her place of concealment, and, bidding her in cap for seat 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 affected. The canoe was laid against the bank, and Mabel and her uncle entered it, taking their seats as usual, while the Pathfinder, erect in the stern, held by a bush in order to prevent the swift stream from sweeping them down its current. Several minutes of intense and breathless expectation followed, while they awaited the results of the bold attempt of their comrades. It will be understood that the two adventurers were compelled to swim across a deep and rapid channel before they could reach a part of the rift that admitted of waiting. This portion of the enterprise was soon affected, and Jasper and the serpent struck the bottom side by side at the same instant. Having secured firm footing, they took hold of each other's hands, and waited slowly and with extreme caution in the supposed direction of the canoe. But the darkness was already so deep that they soon ascertained they were to be but little aided by the sense of sight, and that their search must be conducted on that species of instinct which enables the woodsman to find his way when the sun is hid, no stars appear, and all would seem chaos to one less accustomed to the mazes of the forest. Under these circumstances Jasper submitted to be guided by the Delaware, whose habits best fitted him to take the lead. Still, it was no easy matter to wait amid the roaring element at that hour, and retain a clear recollection of the localities. By the time they believed themselves to be in the center of the mountain, 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, and the consequence of unexpectedly stepping into deep water, for they knew that the boat had lodged on the shallowest part of the rift. In short, with this fact for their compass, Jasper and his companion wandered about in the water for nearly a quarter of an hour, and at the end of that period, which began to appear interminable to the young man, they found themselves apparently no nearer the object of their search than they had been at its commencement. Just as the Delaware was about to stop, in order to inform his associate that they would do well to return to the land, in order to take a fresh departure, he saw the form of a man moving about in the water, almost within reach of his arm. Jasper was at his side, and he at once understood that the Iroquois were engaged on the same errand as he was himself. Mingo! He uttered in Jasper's ear, the serpent will show his brother how to be cunning. The young sailor caught a glimpse of the figure at that instant, and the startling truth also flashed on his mind, understanding the necessity of trusting all to the Delaware chief. He kept back, while his friend moved cautiously in the direction in which the strange form had vanished. In another moment it was seen again, evidently moving towards themselves. The waters made such an uproar that little was to be apprehended from ordinary sounds, and the Indian, turning his head hastily said, The stranger, unable to distinguish between voices and accents amid the raging of the rapids, led the way in the necessary direction, and he said to himself, What is this? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Lift!" said the Iroquois in the sententious manner of his race, and by a trifling effort the canoe was raised from the rock, held a moment in the air to empty it, and then placed carefully on the water in its proper position. All three held it firmly lest it should escape from their hands under the pressure of the violent current, while the Iroquois, who led, of course, being at the upper end of the boat, took the direction of the eastern shore, or towards the spot where his friends waited his return. As the Delaware and Jasper well knew there must be several more of the Iroquois on the rift, on the circumstance that their own appearance had occasioned no surprise in the individual they had met, both felt the necessity of extreme caution. Men less bold and determined would have thought 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, to Jasper deem the possession or the destruction of this canoe, that he had drawn his knife and stood ready to rip up the bark in order to render the boat temporarily unserviceable, should anything occur to compel the Delaware and himself to abandon their prize. In the meantime the Iroquois, who led the way, proceeded slowly through the water in the direction of his own party, still grasping the canoe and dragging his reluctant followers in his train. Once Chingachcook raised his tomahawk and was about to bury it in the brain of his confiding and unsuspicious neighbor, but the probability that the death cry or the floating body might give the alarm induced that worry chief to change his purpose. At the next moment he regretted this indecision for the three who clung to the canoe suddenly found themselves in the center of a party of no less than four others who were in quest of it. After the usual brief characteristic exclamations of satisfaction, the savages eagerly laid hold of the canoe for all seemed impressed with the necessity of securing this important boat, the one side in order to assail their foes and the other to secure their retreat. The addition to the party, however, was so unlooked for and so completely gave the enemy the superiority that for a few moments the ingenuity and address of even the Delaware were at fault. The five Iroquois who seemed perfectly to understand their errand pressed forward towards their own shore without pausing to converse, their object being in truth to obtain the paddles which they had previously secured, and to embark three or four warriors with all their rifles and powder horns, the want of which had alone prevented their crossing the river by swimming as soon as it was dark. In this manner the body of friends and foes, united, reached the margin of the eastern channel where, as in the case of the western, the river was too deep to be weighted. Here a short pause succeeded in 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 other silent until this individual had spoken. The halt greatly added to the danger of discovering the presence of Jasper, in particular who, however, had the precaution to throw the capi-war in the bottom of the canoe. Being without his jacket and shirt, the outline of his figure in the obscurity would now be less likely to attract observation. His position too at the stern of the canoe a little favored his concealment, the Iroquois naturally keeping their looks directed the other way. Not so with Chingachuk. This warrior was literally in the midst of his most deadly foes, and he could scarcely move without touching one of them. Yet he was apparently unmoved, though he kept all his senses on the alert, in readiness to escape, or to strike a blow at the proper moment. By carefully abstaining from looking towards those behind him, he lessened the chances of discovery, and waited with the indomitable patience of an Indian for the instant when he should be required to act. Let all my young men but two, one at each end of the canoe, cross and get their arms, said the Iroquois chief. Let the two push over the boat. The Indians quietly obeyed, leaving Jasper at the stern, and the Iroquois who had found the canoe at the bow of the light craft, Chingachuk burying himself so deep in the river as to be passed by the others without detection. The splashing in the water, the tossing arms and the calls of one to another soon announced that the four who had last joined the party were already swimming. As soon as this fact was certain, the Delaware Rose resumed his former station and began to think the moment for action was come. One less habitually under self-restraint than this warrior would probably have now aimed his meditated blow, but Chingachuk knew there were more Iroquois behind him on the rift, and he was a warrior much too trained and experienced to risk anything unnecessarily. He suffered the Indian at the bow of the canoe to push off into the deep water, and then all three were swimming in the direction of the eastern shore. Instead, however, of helping the canoe across the swift current, no sooner did the Delaware and Jasper find themselves within the influence of its greatest force than both began to swim in a way to check their farther progress across the stream. Nor was this done suddenly, or in the unconscious manner in which a civilized man would have been apt to attempt the artifice, but warily, and so gradually that the Iroquois at the bow fancied at first he was merely struggling against the strength of the current. Of course, while acted on by these opposing efforts, the canoe drifted downstream, and in about a minute it was floating in still deeper water at the foot of the rift. Here, however, the Iroquois was not slow in finding that something unusual retarded their advance, and looking back, he first learned that he was resisted by the efforts of his companions. That second nature which grows up through habit instantly told the young Iroquois that he was alone with enemies. Dashing the water aside, he sprang at the throat of Chingachuk, and the two Indians, relinquishing their hold of the canoe, seized each other like tigers. In the midst of the darkness of that gloomy night, and floating in an element so dangerous to man when engaged in deadly strife, they appeared to forget everything but their fell animosity and their mutual desire to conquer. Jasper had now complete command of the canoe, which flew off like a feather impelled by the breath, under the violent reaction of the struggles of the two combatants. The first impulse of the youth was to swim to the aid of the Delaware, but the importance of securing the boat presented itself with tenfold force, while he listened to the heavy breathings of the warriors as they throttled each other, and he proceeded as fast as possible towards the western shore. This he soon reached, and after a short search he succeeded in discovering the remainder of the party and in procuring his clothes. A few words suffice to explain the situation in which he had left the Delaware and the manner in which the canoe had been obtained. And those who had been left behind had heard the explanations of Jasper, a profound stillness reigned among them, each listening intently in the vain hope of catching some clue to the result of the fearful struggle that had just taken place, if it were not still going on in the water. Nothing was audible beyond the steady roar of the rushing river, it being a part of the policy of their enemies on the opposite shore, who observed 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 serpent is in the hands of his own deity, and will live or die, according to the intentions of Providence. We can do him no good, and may risk too much by remaining here in idleness, like women talking over their distresses. This darkness is very precious. A loud, long piercing yell came from the shore, and cut short the words of the guide. What is the meaning of that uproar, Master Pathfinder? Tommanted cap. It sounds more like the outcries of devils than anything that can come from the throats of Christians and men. Christians they are not, and do not pretend to be, and do not wish to be, and in calling them devils you have scarcely misnamed them. That yell is one of rejoicing, and it is as conquerors they have given it. The body of the serpent, no doubt, dead or alive, is in their power. And we, exclaimed Jasper, who felt a pang of generous regret, as the idea that he might have averted the calamity, presented itself to his mind, had he not deserted his comrade. We can do the chief no good, lad, and must quit this spot as fast as possible. Without one attempt to rescue him, without even knowing whether he be dead or living? Jasper is right, said Mabel, who could speak, though her voice sounded huskily and smothered. I have no fears, uncle, and will stay here until we know what has become of our friend. That seems reasonable, Pathfinder, put in cap. Your true semen cannot well desert a messmate, and I am glad to find that motives so correct exist among those freshwater people. Tut, tut! returned the impatient guide, forcing the canoe into the stream as he spoke. You know nothing, and you fear nothing. If you value your lives, think of reaching the garrison, and leave the Delaware in the hands of Providence. As, me, the deer that goes too often to the lick meets the hunter at last.