 15 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." Attributed to Cowper. The meeting with the Indian and his wife excited no surprise in the majority of those who witnessed the occurrence. But Mabel, and all who knew of the manner in which this chief had been separated from the party of Cap, simultaneously entertained suspicions which it was far easier to feel than to follow out by any plausible clue to certainty. Pathfinder, who alone could converse freely with the prisoners, for such they might now be considered, took Arrowhead aside and held a long conversation with him concerning the reasons of the latter for having deserted his charge and the manner in which he had been since employed. The Tuscarora met these inquiries, and he gave his answers with the soicism of an Indian. As respects to the separation, his excuses were very simply made, and they seemed to be sufficiently plausible. When he found that the party was discovered in its place of concealment, he naturally sought his own safety, which he secured by plunging into the woods. In a word, he had run away in order to save his life. This is well, returned Pathfinder, affecting to believe the other's apologies. My brother did very wisely, but his woman followed. Do not the palefaces women followed their husbands? Would not Pathfinder have looked back to see if one he loved was coming? This appeal was made to the guide, while he was in a most fortunate frame of mind to admit its force, for Mabel and her blandishments and constancy were becoming images familiar to his thoughts. The Tuscarora, though he could not trace the reason, saw that his excuse was admitted, and he stood with quiet dignity awaiting their next inquiry. This is reasonable and natural, returned Pathfinder. This is natural, and may be so. A woman would be likely to follow the man to whom she had plighted faith, and husband and wife are one flesh. Your words are honest, Tuscarora, changing the language to the dialect of the other. Your words are honest, and very pleasant, and just. But why has my brother been so long from the fort? His friends have thought of him often, but have never seen him. If the doe follows the buck, ought not the buck to follow the doe? Answered the Tuscarora, smiling, as he laid a finger significantly on the shoulder of his interrogator. Arrowhead's wife followed Arrowhead. It was right in Arrowhead to follow his wife. She lost her way, and they made her cook in a strange wigwam. I understand, you Tuscarora, the woman fell into the hands of the mingos and you kept upon their trail. Pathfinder can see a reason as easily as he can see the moss on the trees. It is so. But how long have you got the woman back, and in what manner has it been done? Two sons. The dew of June was not long in coming when her husband whispered to her the path. Well, all this seems natural, and according to matrimony. But Tuscarora, how did you get that canoe, and why are you paddling towards the St. Lawrence instead of the garrison? Arrowhead can tell his own from that of another. This canoe is mine. I found it on the shore near the fort. That seems reasonable too, for the canoe does not belong to the man, and an Indian would make few words about taking it. Still, it is extraordinary that we saw nothing of the fellow and his wife, for the canoe must have left the river before we did ourselves. This idea, which passed rapidly through the mind of the guide, was now put to the Indian in the shape of a question. Peter knows that a warrior can have shame. The father would have asked me for his daughter, and I could not give her to him. I sent the dew of June for the canoe, and no one spoke to the woman. A Tuscarora woman would not be free in speaking to strange men. All this too was plausible, and in conformity with Indian character and customs. As was usual, Arrowhead had received one half of his compensation previously to quitting the Mohawk, and his refraining to demand the residue was a proof of that conscientious consideration of mutual rights that quite as often distinguishes the morality of a savage as that of the Christian. To want as upright as Pathfinder, Arrowhead had conducted himself with delicacy and propriety, though it would have been more in accordance with his own frank nature to have met the father and abided by the simple truth. Still, accustomed to the ways of Indians, he saw nothing out of the ordinary track of things in the course the other had taken. "'This runs like water flowing down Hill, Arrowhead,' he answered, after a little reflection. "'And truth obliges me to own it. It was the gift of a red skin to act in this way, though I do not think it was the gift of a pale face. You would not look upon the grief of the girl's father?' Arrowhead made a quiet inclination of the body as if to assent. "'One thing more, my brother, will tell me,' continued Pathfinder, and there will be no cloud between his wigwam and the strong house of the Yengis. 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 Yengis. Why to own the truth, Arrowhead? We are out scouting like—that is, sailing. In other words, we are on the king's business, and we have a right to be here, though we may not have a right to say why we are here.' Arrowhead saw the big canoe, and he loves to look on the face of O'Doose. 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. O'Doose and Arrowhead were together on the last trail. "'This may all be true, Tuscarora, and you are welcome. You shall eat of our venison, and then we must separate. The setting sun is behind us, and both of us move quick. My brother will get too far from that which he seeks, unless he turns round.' Pathfinder now returned to the others, and repeated the result of his examination. He appeared himself to believe that the account of Arrowhead might be true, though he admitted that caution would be prudent with one he disliked. But his auditors, Jasper, accepted, 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 of arms, if there be any such officer on fresh water, and a court-martial ought to be ordered as soon as we reach Port. I think it wisest to detain the fellow,' the sergeant answered. But irons are unnecessary so long as he remains in the cutter. In the morning the matter shall be inquired into.' Arrowhead was now summoned and told the decision. The Indian listened gravely, and made no objections. On the contrary, he submitted with the calm and reserved dignity with which the American Aborigines are known to yield to fate, and he stood apart, an attentive but calm observer of what was passing. Jasper caused the cutter's sails to be filled, and the scud resumed her course. It was now getting near the hour to set the watch, and when it was usual to retire for the night. Most of the party went below, leaving no one on deck but Cap, the sergeant, Jasper, and two of the crew. Arrowhead and his wife also remained, the former standing aloof and proud reserve, and the latter exhibiting by her attitude and passiveness the meek humility that characterizes an Indian woman. You will find a place for your wife below, Arrowhead, where my daughter will attend to her once, said the sergeant kindly, who was himself on the point of quitting the deck. Yonder is a sail where you may sleep yourself. I thank my father, the Tuscaroras are not poor. The woman will look for my blankets in the canoe. As you wish, my friend, we think it necessary to detain you, but not necessary to confine or to maltreat you. Send your squaw into the canoe for the blankets, and you may follow her yourself and hand us up the paddles. As there may be some sleepy heads in the scud, Odus, added the sergeant in a lower tone, it may be well to secure the paddles. Yonder assented, an Arrowhead and his wife, with whom resistance appeared to be out of the question, silently complied with the directions. A few expressions of sharp rebuke passed from the Indian to his wife, while both were employed in the canoe, which the latter received with submissive quiet, immediately repairing an error she had made by laying aside the blanket she had taken, and searching for another that was more to her tyrant's mind. Come, bear a hand, Arrowhead, said the sergeant, who stood on the gunnel, 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 Revelly, early to bed, and early to rise. Arrowhead is coming, was the answer, as the Tuscarora stepped towards the head of his canoe. One blow of his keen knife severed the rope which held the boat, and then the cutter glanced ahead, leaving the light bubble of bark which instantly lost its way, almost stationary. So suddenly and dexterously was this maneuver performed that the canoe was on the lee-quarter of the scud before the sergeant was aware of the artifice, and quite in her wake Arrowhead had time to announce it to his companions. Hardly! shouted Jasper, letting fly the jib-sheet with his own hands, when the cutter came swiftly up to the breeze, with all her canvas flapping, or was running into the wind's eye, as Seaman termed, until the light-craft was a hundred feet to windward of her former position. Quick and dexterous as was this movement, and ready as had been the expedient, it was not quicker or more ready than that of the Tuscarora. With an intelligence that denoted some familiarity with vessels, he had seized his paddle and was already skimming the water, aided by the efforts of his wife. The direction he took was south-westerly, or on a line that led him equally towards the wind and the shore, while it also kept him so far aloof from the cutter as to avoid the danger of the latter falling on board of him when she filled on the other tack. Swiftly as the scud had shot into the wind, and far as she had forced ahead, Jasper knew it was necessary to cast her ere she had lost all her way, and it was not two minutes from the time the helm had been put down before the lively little craft was a back 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 nave is paddling dead to windward, and the scud can never overtake him. You have a canoe, exclaimed the sergeant, manifesting the eagerness of a boy to join in the pursuit. Let us launch it and give chase. It will be useless. If Pathfinder had been on deck there might have been a chance, but there is none now. To launch the canoe would have taken three or four minutes, and the time lost will be sufficient for the purposes of Arrowhead. Both Cap and the sergeant saw the truth of this, which would have been nearly self-evident even to one unaccustomed to vessels. The shore was distant less than half a mile, and the canoe was already glancing into its shadows at a rate to show that it would reach the land before its pursuers could probably get half the distance. The helm of the scud was reluctantly put up again, and the cutter wore short round on her heel, coming up to her course on the other tack as if acting on an instinct. All this was done by Jasper in profound silence, his assistance understanding what was necessary, and lending their aid into sort of mechanical imitation. While these maneuvers were in the course of execution, Cap took the sergeant by a button and led him towards the cabin door where he was out of earshot, and began to unlock his stores of thought. Harkey, Brother Dunham, said he with an omen in his 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, where we to overlook either, our scalps might be taken from our heads in the first nap. But I consider this escape of Arrowhead as a circumstance, 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 favor that he was first taken. Aye, aye, but two circumstances do not contradict each other like two negatives. If you will follow the advice of an old seamen, Sergeant, not a moment is to be lost in taking the steps necessary for the security of the vessel and all on board of her. The cutter is now slipping through the water at the rate of six knots, and as the distances are so short on this bit of a pond, we 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. Sergeant Dunham deliberated more than an hour on the propriety of this proposal, for those sufficiently prompt when his mind was really made up, he was habitually thoughtful and wary. The habit of superintending the personal police of the garrison had made him acquainted with character, and he had long been disposed to think well of Jasper. Still that subtle poison, suspicion, had entered his soul, and so much were the artifices and intrigues of the French dreaded, that especially warned as he had been by his commander, it is not to be wondered that the recollection of years of good conduct should vanish under the influence of a distrust so keen, and seemingly so plausible. In this embarrassment the sergeant consulted the quartermaster, whose opinion as his superior he felt bound to respect, though at the moment independent of his control. It is an unfortunate occurrence for one who is in a dilemma to ask advice of another who is desirous of standing well in his favour. The party consulted being almost certain to try to think in the manner which will be the most agreeable to the party consulting. In the present instance it was equally unfortunate, as respects a candid consideration of the subject, that Cap, instead of the sergeant himself, made the statement of the case, for the earnest old sailor was not backward in letting his listener perceive to which side he was desirous that the quartermaster should lean. Lieutenant Muir was much too politic to offend the uncle and father of the woman he hoped and expected to win, had he really thought the case submitted of doubt. But in the manner in which the facts were submitted to him he was seriously inclined to think that it would be well to put the control of the scud temporarily into the management of Cap as a precaution against treachery. This opinion then decided the sergeant, who forthwith set about the execution of the necessary measures. Without entering into any explanations Sergeant Dunham simply informed Jasper that he felt it to be his duty to deprive him temporarily of the command of the cutter and to confer it on his own brother-in-law. A natural and involuntary burst of surprise which escaped the young man was met by a quiet remark, reminding him that military service was often of a nature that required concealment, and a declaration that the present duty was of such a character that this particular arrangement had become indispensable. Although Jasper's astonishment remained undiminished, the sergeant cautiously abstaining from making any allusion to his suspicions, the young man was accustomed to obey with military submission and he quietly acquiesced, with his own mouth directing the little crew to receive their further orders from Cap until another change should be affected. When, however, he was told the case required that not only he himself, but his principal assistant, who on account of his long acquaintance with the lake, was usually termed the pilot, were to remain below, there was an alteration in his countenance in manner that denoted strong feeling, though it was so well mastered as to leave even the distrustful cap in doubt as to its meaning. As a matter of course, however, when distrust exists, it was not long before the worst construction was put upon it. As soon as Jasper and the pilot were below, the sentinel at the hatch received private orders to pay particular attention to both, to allow neither to come on deck again without giving instant notice to the person who might then be in charge of the cutter, and to insist on his return below as soon as possible. This precaution, however, was uncalled for. Jasper and his assistant both throwing themselves silently on their pallets, which neither quitted again that night. "'And now, Sergeant,' said Cap, as soon as he had found himself master of the deck, "'you will just have the goodness to give me the courses in distance that I may see the boat keeps ahead the right way.' "'I know nothing of either, Brother Cap. Return Dunham not a little embarrassed at the question. We must make the best of our way to the station among the Thousand Islands where we shall land, relieve the party that is already out, and get information for our future government. Now that's it, nearly word for word, as it stands in the written orders.' "'But you can muster a chart. Being in the way of bearings and distances, that I may see the road. I do not think Jasper ever had anything of the sort to go by.' "'No chart, Sergeant Dunham!' "'Not a scrap of a pen, even. Our sailors navigate this lake without any aid from maps.' "'The devil they do! They must be regular yahoos. And do you suppose, Sergeant Dunham, that I can find one island out of a Thousand without knowing its name or its position, without even a course or a distance?' As for the name, Brother Cap, you need not be particular, for not one of the whole Thousand has a name, and so a mistake can never be made on that score. As for the position, never having been there myself, I can tell you nothing about it. Nor do I think its position of any particular consequence provided we find the spot. That's one of the hands-on deck, can tell us the way. "'Hold on, Sergeant. Hold on a moment, if you please, Sergeant Dunham. If I am to command this craft, it must be done, if you please, without holding any councils of war with a cook and cabin boy. A shipmaster is a shipmaster, and he must have an opinion of his own, even if it be a wrong one. I suppose you know service well enough to understand that it is better in a commander to go wrong than to go nowhere. At all events, the Lord High Admiral couldn't command a yall with dignity if he consulted the coxswain every time he wished to go ashore. No, sir. If I sink, I sink. But damn me, I'll go down ship-shape him with dignity. But, Brother Cap, I have no wish to go down anywhere, unless it be to the station among the Thousand Islands whether we are bound. Well, well, Sergeant, rather than ask advice, that is direct, bare-faced advice of a four-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 rouse all there is out of these hands and make them think all the while that I am cramming them with my own experience. We are sometimes obliged to use the glass at sea when there is nothing in sight, or to heave the lead long before we strike soundings. When a youngster I sailed two voyages with a man who's 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. Return the Sergeant, but in the course of a few hours we shall be up with a headland where we must feel our way with more caution. Leave me to pump the man at the wheel, brother, and you shall see that I will make him suck in a very few minutes. Cap and the Sergeant now walked aft until they stood by the sailor who was at the helm, Cap maintaining an air of security and tranquillity, like one who was entirely confident of his own powers. There is a wholesome air, my lad, Cap observed in the manner that a superior on board a vessel sometimes condescends to use to a favored inferior. Of course you have it in this fashion off the land every night. At this season of the year, sir, the man returned, touching his hat out of respect to his new commander and Sergeant Dunham's connection. The same thing I take it among the Thousand Islands. The wind will stand, of course, though we shall then have land on every side of us. When we get further east, sir, the wind will probably shift, for there can then be no particular land breeze. Aye, aye, so much for your fresh water. It is always some trick that is opposed to nature. Now down among the West India Islands one is just as certain of having a land breeze as he is of having a sea breeze. In that respect there is no difference, though it's quite in rule it should be different up here on this bit of fresh water. Of course, my lad, you knew all about these said Thousand Islands. Lord, bless you, Master Cap. Nobody knows all about them or anything about them. They are a puzzle to the oldest sailor on the lake, and we don't pretend to know even their names. For that matter most of them have no more names than a child that dies before it is christened. Are you a Roman Catholic? demanded the sergeant sharply. No, sir, nor anything else. I'm a generalizer about religion, never troubling that which don't trouble me. A generalizer, that is, no doubt one of the new sex that afflict the country. Mothered Mr. Dunham, whose grandfather had been a New Jersey Quaker, his father a Presbyterian, and who had joined the Church of England himself after he entered the army. I take it, John, resumed Cap. Your name is Jack, I believe. No, sir, I am called Robert. I, 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? Yes, sir, I know no more about it than one of the Mohawks or a soldier of the Fifty-Fifth. Did you never anchor there? Never, sir. Master Odus always makes fast to the shore. But in running in for the town you kept the lead going out of question, and must have tallowed as usual. Tallow and town, too. Bless your heart, Master Cap. There is no more town than there is on your chin, and not half as much tallow. The sergeant smiled grimly, but his brother-in-law did not detect this proof of humor. No church-tower nor light no fort, huh? There is a garrison, as you call it here away, at least. Ask Sergeant Dunham, sir, if you wish to know that. All the garrison is on board the scud. What in running in, Bob? Which of the channels do you think the best? The one you went last, or I, 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. Odus sent us below, soldiers and all, with the exception of the pilot. No, no more of the road than if we had never been over it. This he is always done in going in and coming out, and for the life of me I could tell you nothing of the channel, or the course, after we are once fairly up with the islands. No one knows anything of either but Jasper and the pilot. Here is a circumstance for you, Sergeant," said Cap, leading his brother-in-law a little aside. There is no one on board to pump, for they all suck from ignorance at the first stroke of the break. How the devil am I to find the way to this station for which we are bound? Sure enough, Brother Cap, your question is more easily put than answered. Is there no such thing as figuring it out by navigation? I thought you salt-water mariners were able to do as small a thing as that. I have often read of their discovering islands, surely. What you have, brother, that you have, and this discovery would be the greatest of them all, for it would not only be discovering one island, but one island out of a thousand. Still the sailors of the lake have a method of finding the places they wish to go to. If I have understood you, Sergeant, this station or block-house is particularly private. It is indeed, the utmost care having been taken to prevent a knowledge of its position from reaching the enemy. And you expect me, a stranger on your lake, to find this place without chart, course, distance, latitude, longitude, or soundings? I dam me or tallow. Allow me to ask if you think a mariner runs by his nose like one of Pathfinder's hounds. Well, brother, you may yet learn something by questioning the young man at the helm. I can hardly think that he is as ignorant as he pretends to be. Huh! This looks like another circumstance. For that matter, the case is getting to be so full of circumstances that one hardly knows how to foot up the evidence. But we will soon see how much the lad knows. Cap and the sergeant now return 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. Hello, what, sir? Why, the latitude or longitude, one or both, I'm not particular which, as I merely inquire in order to see how they bring up young men on this bit of fresh water. I'm not particular about either myself, sir, and so I do not happen to know what you mean. Not what I mean. You know what latitude is. Not I, sir, return the man hesitating, though I believe it is French for the upper lakes. Whistle-cap, drawing out his breath like the broken stop of an organ, latitude French for the upper lakes, harky young man, do you know what longitude means? I believe I do, sir. That is, five feet six, the regulation height for soldiers and the king's service. There is the longitude found out for you, sergeant, in the rattling of a brace-block. You have some notion about a degree and minutes and seconds, I hope? Yes, sir. Degree means my betters, and minutes and seconds are for the short or long log-lines. We all know these things as well as the salt-water people. Damn me, brother Dunham, if I think even faith can get along in this lake much as they say it can do with mountains, well, my lad, you understand the azimuth and measuring distances and how to box the compass. As for the first, sir, I can't say I do. The distances we all know, as we measured them from point to point. And as for boxing the compass, I will turn my back to no admiral and his majesty's fleet. North, north, and by east, north, north-east, north-east, and by north, north-east, north-east, and by east, east, north-east, east, and by north-east, that will do. That will do. You'll bring about a shift of wind if you go on this manner. I see very plain any sergeant, walking away again and dropping his voice. With nothing to hope for from that chap, I'll stand on two hours longer on this tack, when we'll heave to and get the soundings, after which we will be governed by circumstances. To this the sergeant made no objections, and as the wind grew lighter, as usual with the advance of night, and there were no immediate obstacles to the navigation, he made a bed of a sail on deck, and was soon lost in the sound sleep of a soldier. Cap continued to walk the deck, for he was one whose iron frame set fatigue at defiance, and not once that night did he close his eyes. It was broad daylight when sergeant Dunham awoke, and the exclamation of surprise that escaped him, as he rose to his feet and began to look about him, was stronger than it was usual for one so drilled to suffer to be heard. He found the weather entirely changed, the view bounded by driving mist that limited the visible horizon to a circle of about a mile in diameter, the lake raging, and covered with foam, and the scud lying too. A brief conversation with his brother-in-law led him into the secrets of all these sudden changes. According to the account of Master Cap, the wind did died away to a calm about midnight, and just as he was thinking of heaving too, the sound, for islands ahead were beginning to be seen. At one a.m. it began to blow from the northeast, accompanied by a drizzle, and he stood off to the northward and westward, knowing that the coast of New York lay in the opposite direction. At half-past one he stowed the flying jib, reefed the mainsail, and took the bonnet off the jib. At two he was compelled to get a second reef aft, and by half-past two he had put a balance-reef in the sail and was lying too. "'I can't say but the boat behaves well, Sergeant,' the old sailor added. "'But it blows forty-two pounders. I had no idea there were any such currents of air up here on this bit of fresh water, though I care not the knotting of a yarn for it, as your lake has now somewhat of a natural look, and if this damned water had a savor of salt about it one might be comfortable.' "'How long have you been heading in this direction, Brother York?' inquired the prudent soldier. And at what rate may we be going through the water?' "'Why, two or three hours may happen, and she went like a horse for the first pair of them. Oh, we've a fine-offing now. For to own the truth, little relishing the neighborhood of them said islands, though they are to winward, I took the helm myself and run her off free for some league or two. We are well to leeward of them, I'll engage. I say to leeward, for though one might wish to be well to winward of one island, or even half a dozen, when it comes to a thousand, the better way is to give it up at once and to slide down under their lee as fast as possible. No, no, there they are, up yonder in the dingle, and there they may stay for anything Charles Cap cares.' As the North shorelies only some five or six leagues from us, here, and I know there is a large bay in that quarter, might it not be well to consult some of the crew concerning our opposition, if indeed we do not call up Jasper O'Doose and tell him to carry us back to Oswego? For it is quite impossible we should ever reach the station with this wind directly in our teeth.' There are several serious professional reasons, Sergeant, against all your propositions. In the first place, an admission of ignorance on the part of a commander would destroy discipline. No matter, brother, I understand your shake of the head, but nothing capsizes discipline so much as to confess ignorance. I once knew a master of a vessel who went a week on a wrong course, rather than allow he had made a mistake, and it was surprising how much he rose in the opinions of his people, just because they could not understand him. That may do on salt water, brother Cap, but it will hardly do on fresh. Rather than wreck my command on the Canada shore, I shall feel it a duty to take Jasper out of arrest. And make a haven in Frontenac. No, Sergeant, the scud is in good hands, and will now learn something of seamanship. We have a fine-offing, and no one but a madman would think of going upon a coast in a gale like this. I shall wear every watch, and then we shall be safe against all dangers but those of the drift, which in a light low craft like this, without top hamper, will be next to nothing. Leave it all to me, Sergeant, and I pledge you the character of Charles Cap that all will go well. Sergeant Dunham was feigned to yield. He had great confidence in his connection's professional skill, and hoped that he would take such care of the cutter as would amply justify his opinion of him. On the other hand, as distrust like care grows by what it feeds on, he entertains so much apprehension of treachery that he was quite willing any one but Jasper should just then have the control of the fate of the whole party. Truth, moreover, compels us to admit another motive. The particular duty on which he was now sent of night should have been confided to a commissioned officer, and Major Duncan had excited a good deal of discontent among the subalterns of the garrison, but having confided it to one of the Sergeant's humble station. To return without having even reached the point of destination, therefore, the latter felt it would be a failure from which he was not likely soon to recover, and to measure what it wants be the means of placing a superior in his shoes. CHAPTER XVI. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper. CHAPTER XVI. The glorious mirror where the Almighty's form glasses itself in tempest in all time, calmer convulsed in breeze or gale or storm, icing the pole, or in the torrid climb, dark heaving, boundless, endless, and sublime. The image of eternity, the throne of the invisible, even from out thy slime the monsters of the deep are made. Each zone obeys thee, thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone. TRIBUTED TO BYRON. As the day advanced, that portion of the inmates of the vessel which had the liberty of doing so appeared on deck. As yet the sea was not very high, from which it was inferred that the cutter was still under the lee of the islands, but it was apparent to all who understood the lake that they were about to experience one of the heavy autumnal gales of that region. Land was nowhere visible, and the horizon on every side exhibited that gloomy void which lends to all views on vast bodies of water the sublimity of mystery. The swells, or as landsmen termed them, the waves, were short and curling, breaking of necessity sooner than the longer seas of the ocean, while the element itself, instead of presenting that beautiful hue which rivals the deep tint of the southern sky, looked green and angry, though wanting in the luster that is derived from the rays of the sun. The soldiers were soon satisfied with the prospect, and one by one they disappeared, until none were left on deck but the crew, the sergeant, Cap, Pathfinder, the quartermaster, and Mabel. There was a shade on the brow of the last who had been made acquainted with the real state of things, and who had fruitlessly ventured in appeal in favour of Jasper's restoration to the command. A night's rest and a night's reflection appeared also to have confirmed the Pathfinder, in his opinion of the young man's innocence, and he too had made a warm appeal on behalf of his friend, though with the same want of success. Several hours passed away, the wind gradually getting heavier and the sea rising, until the motion of the cutter compelled Mabel and the quartermaster to retreat also. Cap wore several times, and it was now evident that the scud was drifting unto the broader and deeper parts of the lake, the seas raging down upon her in a way that none but a vessel of superior mould and build could have long ridden and withstood. All this, however, gave Cap no uneasiness, but like the hunter that pricks his ears at the sound of the horn, or the war-horse that paws and snorts with pleasure at the roll of the drum, the whole scene awakened all that was man within him, and instead of the captious, supercilious and dogmatic critic quarreling with trifles and exaggerating immaterial things, he began to exhibit the qualities of the hardy and experienced seamen which he truly was. The hands soon imbibed a respect for his skill, and though they wandered at the disappearance of their old commander and the pilot, for which no reason had been publicly given, they soon yielded an implicit and cheerful obedience to the new one. This bit of fresh water, after all, brother Dunham, has some spirit, I find? cried Cap about noon, rubbing his hands in pure satisfaction at fighting himself once more, wrestling with the elements. The wind seems to be an honest old-fashioned gale, and the seas have a fanciful resemblance to those on the Gulf Stream. I like this, Sergeant, I like this, and shall get to respect your lake if it holds out twenty-four hours longer in the fashion in which it has begun. Land-ho! shouted the man who was stationed on the forecastle. Cap hurried forward, and there, sure enough, the land was visible through the drizzle at the distance of about half a mile, the cutter heading directly towards it. The first impulse of the old seamen was to give an order to STAND BY to wear offshore, but the cool-headed soldier restrained him. By going a little nearer, said the Sergeant, some of us may recognize the place. Most of us know the American shore in this part of the lake, and it will be something gained to learn our position. Very true, very true! If indeed there is any chance of that we will hold on. What is this off here, a little on our weather-bowl? It looks like a low headland. The garrison by Jove! exclaimed the other, whose trained eye sooner recognized the military outlines than the less instructed senses of his connection. The Sergeant was not mistaken. There was the fort, sure enough, though it looked dim and indistinct through the fine rain, as if it were seen in the dusk of evening or the haze of morning. The low, sodded and verdant ramparts, the somber palisades, now darker than ever with water, the roof of a house or two, the tall solitary flag-staff, with its howards blown steadily out into a curve that appeared traced in immovable lines in the air, were all soon to be seen, though no sign of animated life could be discovered. In the sentinel was housed, and at first it was believed that no eye would detect the presence of their own vessel. But the unceasing vigilance of a border garrison did not slumber. One of the look-outs probably made the interesting discovery. A man or two were seen on some elevated stands, and then the entire ramparts next the lake were dotted with human beings. The whole scene was one in which sublimity was singularly relieved by the picturesque. The raging of the tempest had a character of duration that rendered it easy to imagine it might be a permanent feature of the spot. The roar of the wind was without intermission, and the raging water answered to its dull but grand strains with hissing spray, a menacing wash, and sullen surges. The drizzle made a medium for the eye which closely resembled that of a thin mist, softening and rendering mysterious the images it revealed, while the genial feeling that is apt to accompany a gale of wind on water contributed to aid the milder influences of the moment. The dark, interminable force hove up out of the obscurity, grand, somber, and impressive, while the solitary, peculiar and picturesque limpses of life that were caught in and about the fort formed a refuge for the eye to retreat to when oppressed with the more imposing objects of nature. They see us, said the sergeant, and they think we have returned on account of the gale, and have fallen to leeward of the port. Yes, there is Major Duncan himself on the northeastern bastion. I know him by his height, and by the officers around him. Sergeant, it would be worth standing a little jeering if we could fetch into the river and come safely to an anchor. In that case, too, we might land this master O'Doose and purify the boat. It would indeed, but as poor a sailor as I am I well know it cannot be done. Nothing that sails the lake can turn to windward against this gale, and there is no anchorage outside in weather like this. I know it. I see it, sergeant, and pleasant as is that sight to you landsmen, we must leave it. For myself I am never so happy in heavy weather as when I am certain the land is behind me. The scud had now forged so near in that it became indispensable to lay her head offshore again, and the necessary orders were given. The storm stasel was set forward, the gaff lowered, the helm put up, and the light craft that seemed to sport with the elements like a duck, fell off a little, drew ahead swiftly, obeyed her rudder, and was soon flying away on the top of the surges, dead before the gale. While making this rapid flight, though the land still remained in view on her larbord beam, the fort and the groups of anxious spectators on its rampart were swallowed up in the midst. Then followed the evolutions necessary to bring the head of the cutter up to the wind when she again began to wallow her weary way towards the North Shore. Hours now passed before any further change was made. The wind increasing in force, until even the dogmatical cap fairly admitted it was blowing a thorough gale of wind. About sunset the scud wore again to keep her off the North Shore during the hours of darkness. At midnight her temporary master, who, by questioning the crew in an indirect manner, had obtained some general knowledge of the size and shape of the lake, believed himself to be about midway between the two shores. The height and length of the seas aided this impression, and it must be added the cap by this time began to feel a respect for fresh water, which twenty-four hours earlier he would have derided as impossible. Just as the night turned, the fury of the wind became so great that he found it impossible to bear up against it, the water falling on the deck of the little craft in such masses as to cause it to shake to the center, and though a vessel of singularly lively qualities to threaten to bury it beneath its weight. The people of the scud averred that never before had they been out in such a tempest, which was true, for possessing a perfect knowledge of all the rivers and headlands and havens, Jasper would have carried the cutter in shore long ere this, and placed her in safety in some secure anchorage. But cap still disdained to consult the young master, who continued below, determining to act like a mariner of the broad ocean. It was one in the morning when the storm-stassel was again got on the scud, the head of the mainsail lowered, and the cutter put before the wind. Although the canvas now exposed was merely a rag in surface, the little craft nobly justified the use of the name she bore. For eight hours did she scud in truth, and it was almost with the velocity of the gulls that wheeled wildly over her in the tempest, apparently afraid to alight in the boiling cauldron of the lake. The dawn of day brought little change, for no other horizon became visible than the little circle of drizzling sky and water already described, in which it seemed as if the elements were rioting in a sort of chaotic confusion. During this time the crew and passengers of the cutter were of necessity passive. The water in the pilot remained below, but the motion of the vessel having become easier, nearly all the rest were on deck. The morning meal had been taken in silence, and I met I, as if their owners asked each other, in dumb show, what was to be the end of this strife in the elements. Cap however was perfectly composed, and his face brightened, his step grew firmer, and his whole air more assured, as the storm increased, making larger demands on his professional skill and personal spirit. He stood on the forecastle, his arms crossed, balancing his body with a seamen's instinct, while his eyes watched the caps of the seas, as they broke and glanced past the reeling cutter, itself in such swift motion as if they were the scud flying a thwart the sky. At this sublime instant one of the hands gave the unexpected cry of, A SALE! There was so much of the wild and solitary character of the wilderness about Ontario, that one scarcely expected to meet with a vessel on its waters. The scud herself, to those who were in her, resembled a man threading the forest alone, and the meeting was like that of two solitary hunters beneath the broad canopy of leaves that then covered so many millions of acres on the continent of America. The peculiar state of the weather served to increase the romantic, almost supernatural appearance of the passage. Cap alone regarded it with practice eyes, and even he felt his iron nerves thrill under the sensations that were awakened by the wild features of the scene. The strange vessel was about two cables linked the head of the scud, standing by the wind to thwart her bows, and steering a course to render it probable that the latter would pass within a few yards of her. She was a full-rigged ship, and seen through the misty medium of the tempest, the most experienced eye could detect no imperfection in her gear or construction. The only canvas she had set was a close-reefed main topsoil, and two small storm stasels, one forward and the other aft. Still the power of the wind pressed so hard upon her as to bear her down nearly to her beam ends, whenever the hull was not righted by the buoyancy of some wave under her lee. Her spars were all in their places, and by her motion through the water which might have equaled four knots in the hour, it was apparent that she steered a little free. The fellow must know his position well, said Cap, as the cutter flew down towards the ship with a velocity almost equaling that of the gale. For he is standing boldly to the southward, where he expects to find anchorage or a haven. No man in his senses would run off free in that fashion that was not driven to scutting like ourselves, who did not perfectly understand where he was going. We have made an awful run, Captain. Returned the man to whom this remark had been addressed. That is the French king's ship, Lee-Mai-Colm, Le Mocom, and she is standing in for the Niagara, where her owner has a garrison and a port. We have made an awful run of it. I, bad luck to him, Frenchman-like he skulks and deport the moment he sees an English bottom. It might be well for us if we could follow him, return the man, shaking his head despondingly, for we are getting into the end of a bay up here at the head of the lake, and it is uncertain whether we ever get out of it again. Poo, man, poo! We have plenty a sea-room and a good English hull beneath us. We are no Johnny crap-odds to hide ourselves behind a point or a fort on account of a puff of wind. Mind your helm, sir! The order was given on account of the menacing appearance of the approaching passage. The scud was now heading directly for the forefoot of the Frenchman, and the distance between the two vessels having diminished to a hundred yards it was momentarily questionable if there was room to pass. Poo, sir! Poo! shouted Cap. Poo, your helm! Pass a stern! The crew of the Frenchman were seen assembling to windward, and a few muskets were pointed, as if to order the people of the scud to keep off. Justiculations were observed, but the sea was too wild and menacing to admit of the ordinary expedience of war. The water was dripping from the muzzles of two or three light guns on board the ship, but no one thought of loosening them for service in such a tempest. Her black sides, as they emerged from a wave, glistened and seemed defrawn. But the wind howled through her rigging, whistling the thousand notes of a ship, and the hails and cries that escape a Frenchman with so much readiness were inaudible. Let him hallow himself, horse! growled Cap. This is no weather to whisper secrets in! Ports, sir! Ports! The man at the helm obeyed, and the next send of the sea drove the scud down upon the quarter of the ship, so near her that the old mariner himself recoiled a step, in a vague expectation that, at the next surge ahead, she would drive bows foremost directly into the planks of the other vessel. But this was not to be, rising from the crouching posture she had taken, like a panther about to leap. The cutter dashed onward, and at the next instant she was glancing past the stern of her enemy, just clearing the end of her spanker-boom with her own lower yard. The young Frenchman, who commanded Le Mocombe, leaped on the taff rail, and with that high-toned courtesy which relieves even the worst acts of his countrymen, he raised his cap and smiled a salutation as the scud shot past. There were bonomie and good taste in this act of courtesy, when circumstances allowed of no other communications, but they were lost on cap, who, with an instinct quite as true to his race, shook his fist menacingly, and muttered to himself, Aye, aye, it's damn lucky for you I have no armament on board here, or I'd send you in to get new cabin windows fitted. Sergeant, he's a humbug. Ch was civil, brother cap. Returned the other, lowering his hand from the military salute which his pride as a soldier had induced him to return. Ch was civil, and that's as much as you can expect from a Frenchman. What he really meant by it no one can say. He is not heading up to this sea without an object, neither. Well, let him run in, if he can get there. She will keep the lake like hearty English mariners. This sounded gloriously, but cap-eyed with envy the glittering black mass of the Moncombe's hull, her waving topsoil, and the misty tracery of her spars, as she grew less and less distinct, and finally disappeared in the drizzle, in a form as shadowy as that of some unreal image. Gladly would he have followed in her wake had he dared, for to own the truth, the prospect of another stormy night in the midst of the wild waters that were raging around him brought little consolation. Still he had too much professional pride to betray his uneasiness, and those under his care relied on his knowledge and resources, with the implicit and blind confidence that the ignorant are apt to feel. A few hours succeeded, and darkness came again to increase the perils of the scud. A lull in the gale, however, had induced cap to come by the wind once more, and throughout the night the cutter was lying to, as before, head-reaching as a matter of course, and occasionally wearing to keep off the land. It is unnecessary to dwell on the incidents of this night, which resembled those of any other gale of wind. There were the pitching of the vessel, the hissing of the waters, the dashing of spray, the shocks that menaced annihilation to the little craft as she plunged into the seas, the undying howl of the wind, and the fearful drift. The last was the most serious danger, for, though exceedingly weatherly under her canvas, and totally without top-hamper, the scud was so light that the combing of the swells would seem at times to wash her down to leeward when the velocity is great as that of the surges themselves. During this night cap slept soundly, and for several hours. The day was just dawning when he felt himself shaken by the shoulder, and arousing himself, he found the pathfinder standing at his side. During the gale the guide had appeared little on deck, for his natural modesty told him that Seaman alone should interfere with the management of the vessel, and he was willing to show the same reliance on those who had charge of the scud, as he expected those who followed through the forest to manifest in his own skill. But he now thought himself justified in interfering, which he did in his own unsophisticated and peculiar manner. "'Sleep is sweet, Master Cap,' said he, as soon as the eyes of the latter were fairly open, and his consciousness had sufficiently returned. "'Sleep is sweet, as I know from experience, but life is sweeter still. Look about you, and say if this is exactly the moment for a commander to be off his feet.' "'How now? How now, Master Pathfinder?' growled Cap in the first moments of his awakened faculties. "'Are you two getting on the side of the Grumblers? When ashore I admired your sagacity in running through the worst shoals without a compass, and since we have been afloat, your meekness and submission have been as pleasant as your confidence on your own ground. I little expected such a summons from you.' As for my self, Master Cap, I feel I have my gifts, and I believe they'll interfere with those of no other man. But the case may be different with Mabel Dunham. She has her gifts too, it is true. But they are not rude like ours, but gentle and womanish as they ought to be. It's on her account that I speak, not on my own.' "'I, I, I begin to understand. The girl is a good girl, my worthy friend. But she is a soldier's daughter and a sailor's niece, and ought not to be too tame or too tender in a gale. Does she show any fear?' "'Not she, not she. Mabel is a woman, but she is reasonable and silent. Not a word have I heard from her concerning our doings. Though I do think, Master Cap, she would like it better if Jasper Odus were put into his proper place, and things were restored to their old situation-like. This is human nature.' "'I'll warrant it, girl-like and Dunham-like too. Anything is better than an old uncle, and everybody knows more than an old seamen. This is human nature, Master Pathfinder, and damn me if I'm the man to shear a fathom, starboard or port, for all the human nature that can be found in a minx of twenty, I or,' lowering his voice a little, for all that can be paraded in his Majesty's Fifty-Fifth Regiment of Foot. I've not been at sea forty years to come up on this bit of fresh water to be taught human nature. How this gale holds out! It blows as hard at this moment as if Boreus had just clapped his hand upon the bellows. And what is all this to leeward?' rubbing his eyes. "'Land! As sure as my name is Cap, and Highland, too!' The Pathfinder made no immediate answer. But shaking his head, he watched the expression of his companion's face with a look of strong anxiety in his own. "'Land! As certain as this is the scud,' repeated Cap, "'a lee shore, and that too within a league of us, with as pretty a line of breakers as one could find on the beach of all Long Island.' And is that encouraging, or is it disheartening?' said the Pathfinder. "'Haha! Encouraging! Disheartening! Why, neither! No, no, there is nothing encouraging about it. And as for disheartening, nothing ought to dishearten a seaman. You never get disheartened or afraid in the woods, my friend!' "'I'll not say that. I'll not say that. When the danger is great, it is my gift to see it and know it, and try to avoid it. Else would my scalp-long sense have been drying an amygdala iguan. On this lake, however, I can see no trail, and I feel it my duty to submit, though I think we ought to remember there is such a person as Mabel Dunham on board. But here comes her father, and he will naturally feel for his own child.' "'We are seriously situated, I believe, Brother Cap,' said the Sergeant, when he had reached the spot. By what I can gather from the two hands on the forecastle? They tell me the cutter cannot carry any more sail, and her drift is so great we shall go ashore in an hour or two. I hope their fears have deceived them!' Cap made no reply, but he gazed at the land with a rueful face, and then looked to windward with an expression of ferocity, as if he would gladly have quarreled with the weather. "'It may be well, Brother,' the Sergeant continued, "'descend for Jasper and consult him as to what is to be done. There are no French here to dread, and under all circumstances the boy will save us from drowning, if possible.' "'Aye, aye, to these cursed circumstances that have done all the mischief. But let the fellow come. Let him come. A few well-managed questions will bring the truth out of him, I'll warrant you.' This acquiescence on the part of the dog-matical Cap was no sooner obtained than Jasper was sent for. The young man instantly made his appearance, his whole air, mountainous and mean, expressive of mortification, humility, and, as his observers fancied, rebuked deception. When he first stepped on deck, Jasper cast one hurried, anxious glance around, as if curious to know the situation of the cutter, and that glance sufficed it would seem to let him into the secret of all her perils. At first he looked to windward, as is usual with every seamen. Then he turned round the horizon, until his eye caught a view of the high lands to Leeward, when the whole truth burst upon him at once. "'I've sent for you, Master Jasper,' said Cap, folding his arms, and balancing his body with the dignity of the forecastle, in order to learn something about the Haven to Leeward. We take it for granted you did not bear malice so hard as to wish to drown us all, especially the women, and I suppose you will be man enough to help us run the cutter into some safe berth until this bit of a gale is done blowing. "'I would die myself rather than harm should come to Mabel Dunham,' the young man earnestly answered. "'I knew it! I knew it!' cried the Pathfinder, clapping his hand kindly on Jasper's shoulder. The lad is as true as the best compass that ever ran a boundary, or brought a man off from a blind trail. It is a mortal sin to believe otherwise.' "'Huff!' ejaculated Cap. "'Especially the women, as if they were in any particular danger. Never mind, young man, we shall understand each other by talking like two plain seamen. Do you know of any port under our Lee?' "'None. There is a large bay at this end of the lake, but it is unknown to us all, and not easy of entrance. "'And this coast to Leeward? It is nothing particular to recommend it, I suppose.' "'It is a wilderness until you reach the mouth of the Niagara in one direction, and Frontenac in the other. North and west, they tell me, there is nothing but forest and prairies for a thousand miles. "'Thank God! Then there can be no French. Are there many savages here away on the land?' "'The Indians are to be found in all directions, though they are nowhere very numerous. By accident we might find a party at any point on the shore, or we might pass months there without seeing one.' "'We must take our chance, then, as to the Blaggards. But to be frank with you, Master Western, if this little unpleasant matter about the French had not come to pass, what would you now do with the cutter?' "'I am a much younger sailor than yourself, Master Cap,' said Jasper modestly, and am hardly fitted to advise you.' "'I, I, we all know that. In a common case, perhaps not. But this is an uncommon case, and a circumstance, and on this bit of fresh water it has what might be called its peculiarities, and so everything considered you may be fitted to advise even your own father. At all events you can speak, and I can judge of your opinions agreeably to my own experience.' "'I think, sir, before two hours are over, the cutter will have to anchor.' "'Anker, not out here in the lake?' "'No, sir, but in yonder near the land.' "'You do not mean to say, Master Odus, you would anchor on a lee shore in a gale of wind?' "'If I would save my vessel, that is exactly what I would do, Master Cap.' "'Yoo-hoo!' "'This is fresh water, with a vengeance. Harky young man, I've been a seafaring animal, boy and man, forty-one years, and I never yet heard of such a thing. I'd throw my ground-tackle overboard before I would be guilty of so loverly a-lact.' "'That is what we do on this lake,' modestly replied Jasper. "'When we are hard-pressed, I dare say we might do better had we been better taught.' "'That you might indeed. No, no man induces me to commit such a sin against my own bringing up. I should never dare show my face inside a sandy hook again, had I committed so no nothing an exploit. Why, Pathfinder here has more seamanship in him than that comes to. You can go below again, Master Odus.' Jasper quietly bowed and withdrew. Still, as he passed down the ladder, the spectators observed that he cast a lingering, anxious look at the horizon to windward and the land to leeward, and then disappeared with concerns strongly expressed in every liniment of his face. CHAPTER XVII This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper Chapter XVII His still-refuted quirks he still repeats, new raised objections with new quibbles meets, till sinking in the quicksand he defends, he dies disputing, and the contest ends. As the soldier's wife was sick in her birth, Mabel Dunham was the only person in the outer cabin when Jasper returned to it, for, by an act of grace and the sergeant, he had been permitted to resume his proper place in this part of the vessel. We should be ascribing too much simplicity of character to our heroine if we said that she had felt no distrust of the young man in consequence of his arrest, but we should also be doing injustice to her warmth of feeling and generosity of disposition if we did not add that this distrust was insignificant and transient. As he now took his seat near her, his whole countenance clouded with the uneasiness he felt concerning the situation of the cutter. Everything like suspicion was banished from her mind, and she saw in him only an injured man. Did you let this affair weigh too heavily on your mind, Jasper? said she eagerly, or would that forgetfulness of self with which the youthful of her sex are wont to betray their feelings when a strong and generous interest has attained the ascendancy. No one who knows you can or does believe you guilty, Pathfinder says he will pledge his life for you. Then you, Mabel—return the youth, his eyes flashing fire—do not look upon me as the traitor your father seems to believe me to be. My dear father is a soldier, and is obliged to act as one. My father's daughter is not, and will think of you as she ought to think of a man who has done so much to serve her already. Mabel, I'm not used to talking with one like you, or saying all I think and feel with any. I never had a sister, and my mother died when I was a child, so that I know little what your sex most likes to hear. Mabel would have given the world to know what lay behind the teeming word at which Jasper hesitated, but the indefinable and controlling sense of womanly diffidence made her suppress her curiosity. She waited in silence for him to explain his own meaning. I wish to say, Mabel—the young man continued, after a pause which he found sufficiently embarrassing—that I am unused to the ways and opinions of one like you, and that you must imagine all I would add. Mabel had imagination enough to fancy anything, but there are ideas and feelings that her sex prefer to have expressed before they yield them all their own sympathies, and she had a vague consciousness that these of Jasper might properly be enumerated in the class. With a readiness that belonged to her sex, therefore, she preferred changing the discourse to permitting it to proceed any further, in a manner so awkward and so unsatisfactory. Tell me one thing, Jasper, and I shall be content. Said she, speaking now with a firmness which denoted confidence, not only in herself, but in her companion. You do not deserve this cruel suspicion which rests upon you? I do not, Mabel! answered Jasper, looking into her full blue eyes with an openness and simplicity that might have shaken stronger distrust. As I hope for mercy hereafter, I do not! I knew it. I could have sworn it! returned the girl warmly, and yet my father means well, but do not let this matter disturb you, Jasper. There is so much more to apprehend from another quarter just now that I scarcely think of it. Jasper! I do not wish to alarm you, Mabel, but if your uncle could be persuaded to change his notions about handling the scud, and yet he is so much more experienced than I am, that he ought perhaps to place more reliance on his own judgment than on mine. Do you think the cutter, in any danger, demanded Mabel quickest thought? I fear so! At least she would have been thought in great danger by us of the lake. Perhaps an old seaman of the ocean may have means of his own to take care of her. Jasper! All agree in giving you credit for skill in imagining the scud. You know the lake. You know the cutter. You must be the best judge of our real situation. My concern for you, Mabel, may make me more cowardly than common. But to be frank, I see but one method of keeping the cutter from being wrecked in the course of the next two or three hours, and that your uncle refuses to take. After all, this may be my ignorance, for, as he says, Ontario is merely fresh water. You cannot believe this will make any difference. Think of my dear father, Jasper. Think of yourself, of all the lives that depend on a timely word from you to save them. I think of you, Mabel, and that is more, much more, than all the rest put together. Return the young man with the strength of expression and an earnestness of look that uttered infinitely more than the words themselves. Mabel's heart beat quickly, and a gleam of grateful satisfaction shot across her blushing features. But the alarm was too vivid and too serious to admit of much relief from happier thoughts. She did not attempt to repress a look of gratitude, and then she returned to the feeling which was naturally uppermost. My uncle's obstinacy must not be permitted to occasion this disaster. Go once more on deck, Jasper, and ask my father to come into the cabin. While the young man was complying with this request, Mabel sat listening to the howling of the storm and the dashing of the water against the cutter, in a dread to which she had hitherto been a stranger. Constitutionally an excellent sailor, as the term is used among passengers, she had not hitherto be thought her of any danger, and it passed her time since the commencement of the gale in such womanly employments as her situation allowed. But now that alarm was seriously awakened. She did not fail to perceive that never before had she been on the water in such a tempest. The minute or two which elapsed before the sergeant came appeared an hour, and she scarcely breathed when she saw him and Jasper descending the ladder in company. Quick as language could express her meaning, she acquainted her father with Jasper's opinion of their situation, and entreated him if he loved her, or had any regard for his own life or for those of his men, to interfere with her uncle, and to induce him to yield the control of the cutter again to its proper commander. Jasper is true, father, added she earnestly, and if false he could have no motive in wrecking us in this distant part of the lake at the risk of all our lives, his own included. I will pledge my own life for his truth. I, this is well enough for a young woman who was frightened, assured the more phlegmatic parrot. But it might not be so excusable in wanting command of an expedition. Jasper may think the chance of drowning and getting ashore fully repaid by the chance of escaping as soon as he reaches the land. Sgt. Dunham, father! These exclamations were made simultaneously, but they were uttered in tones expressive of different feelings. In Jasper, surprise was the emotion uppermost, in Mabel reproach. The old soldier, however, was too much accustomed to deal frankly with subordinates to heed either, and after a moment's thought he continued as if neither had spoken. Nor is Brother Kappa man likely to submit to be taught his duty on board a vessel. But, father, when all our lives are in the utmost jeopardy! So much the worse! The fair weather-commander is no great matter. It is when things go wrong that the best officer shows himself in his true colors. Charles Kapp will not be likely to quick the helm because the ship is in danger. Besides, Jasper reduce, he says your proposal in itself has a suspicious air about it, and sounds more like treachery than reason. He may think so, but let him send for the pilot and hear his opinion. It is well known that I have not seen the man since yesterday evening. This does sound reasonably, and the experiment shall be tried. Follow me on deck, then, that all may be honest and above board. Jasper obeyed, and so keen was the interest of Mabel that she too ventured as far as the companion-way where her garments were sufficiently protected against the violence of the wind and her person from the spray. Jasper made him modesty induce her to remain, though an absorbed witness of what was passing. The pilot soon appeared, and there was no mistaking the look of concern that he cast around at the scene as soon as he was in the open air. Some rumors of the situation of the scud had found their way below, it is true, but in this instance rumor had lessened instead of magnifying the danger. He was allowed a few minutes to look about him, and then the question was put as to the course which he thought it prudent to follow. I see no means of saving the cutter but to anchor, he answered simply and without hesitation. What, out here in the lake? inquired Cap as he had previously done of Jasper. No, but closer in, just at the outer line of the breakers. The effect of this communication was to leave no doubt in the mind of Cap that there was a secret arrangement between her commander and the pilot to cast away the scud, most probably with the hope of affecting their escape. He consequently treated the opinion of the latter with the indifference he had manifested towards that of the former. I tell you, Brother Dunham, said he, in answer to the remonstrances of the sergeant against his turning a deaf ear to this double representation, that no seaman would give such an opinion honestly. To anchor on a lee shore in a gale of wind would be an act of madness that I could never excuse to the underwriters, under any circumstances, so long as a rag can be set, but to anchor close to breakers would be insanity. His majesty underwrites the scud, brother, and I am responsible for the lives of my command. These men are better acquainted with Lake Ontario than we can possibly be, and I do think they're telling the same tale entitles them to some credit. Honk-ho! said Mabel earnestly, but a gesture from Jasper induced the girl to restrain her feelings. We are drifting down upon the breakers so rapidly, said the young man, that little need be said on the subject. Half an hour must settle the matter one way or the other. But I warn Master Cap that the surest-footed man among us will not be able to keep his feet an instant on the deck of this low craft, should she fairly get within them. Indeed I make little doubt that we shall fill and found her before the second line of rollers is passed. And how would anchoring help the matter? Demanded Cap furiously, as if he felt that Jasper was responsible for the effects of the gale, as well as for the opinion he had just given. It would at least do no harm, Odus mildly replied, by bringing the cutter head to see we should lessen her drift, and even if we drag through the breakers it would be with the least possible danger. I hope, Master Cap, you will allow the pilot and myself to prepare for anchoring, since the precaution may do good and can do no harm. Overhaul your ranges, if you will, and get your anchors clear, with all my heart. We are now in a situation that cannot be much affected by anything of that sort. Sergeant, a word with you aft here, if you please. Cap led his brother-in-law out of earshot, and then, with more of human feeling in his voice and manner, that he was apt to exhibit, he opened his heart on the subject of their real situation. This is a melancholy affair for poor Mabel, said he, blowing his nose and speaking with a slight tremor. You and I, Sergeant, are old fellows and used to being near death, if not to actually dying. Our trades fit us for such scenes, but poor Mabel! She is an affectionate and kind-hearted girl, and I'd hope to see her comfortably settled, and a mother before my time came. Well, well, we must take the bad with the good in every voyage, and the only serious objection that an old seafaring man can with propriety make to such an event is, that it should happen on this bit of damned fresh water. Sergeant Dunham was a brave man, and had shown his spirit in scenes that looked much more appalling than this. But on all such occasions he had been able to act his part against his foes, while here he was pressed upon by an enemy whom he had no means of resisting. For himself he cared far less than for his daughter, filling some of that self-reliance which seldom deserts a man of firmness who is in vigorous health, and who has been accustomed to personal exertions in moments of jeopardy. But as respects Mabel he saw no means of escape, and, with a father's fondness, he had once determined that, if either was doomed to perish, he and his daughter must perish together. Do you think this must come to pass?" He asked of Cap firmly, but with strong feeling. "'Twenty minutes will carry us into the breakers, and look for yourself, Sergeant. What chance will even the stoutest man among us have in that cauldron to leeward?' The prospect was, indeed, little calculated to encourage hope. By this time the scud was within a mile of the shore, on which the gale was blowing at right angles, with a violence that forbade the idea of showing any additional canvas with a view to claw off. The small portion of the mainsail actually set, and which merely served to keep the head of the scud so near the wind as to prevent the waves from breaking over her, quivered under the gusts, as if at each moment the stout threads which held the complicated fabric together were about to be torn asunder. The drizzle had ceased, but the air, for a hundred feet above the surface of the lake, was filled with dazzling spray, which had an appearance not unlike that of a brilliant mist, while above all the sun was shining gloriously in a cloudless sky. Jasper had noted the omen, and had foretold that it announced a speedy termination to the gale, though the next hour or two must decide their fate. Between the cutter and the shore the view was still more wild and appalling. The breakers extended nearly half a mile, while the water within their line was white with foam. The air above them was so far filled with vapor and spray as to render the land beyond hazy and distinct. Still, it could be seen that the ladder was high, not a usual thing for the shores of Ontario, and that it was covered with a verdant mantle of the interminable forest. While the sergeant and cap were gazing at this scene in silence, Jasper and his people were actively engaged on the forecastle. No sooner had the young man received permission to resume his old employment than, appealing to some of the soldiers for aid, he mustered five or six assistants and set about in earnest the performance of a duty which had been too long delayed. On these narrow waters, anchors are never stowed, inboard, or cables that are intended for service unbent, and Jasper was saved much of the labour that would have been necessary in a vessel at sea. The two bowers were soon ready to be let go, ranges of the cables were overhauled, and then the party paused to look about them. No changes for the better had occurred, but the cutter was falling slowly in, and each instant rendered it more certain that she could not gain an inch to winward. One long earnest survey of the lake ended, Jasper gave new orders in a similar manner to prove how much he thought that the time pressed. Two cages were got on deck, and hauses were bent to them. The inner ends of the hauses were bent, in their turns, to the crowns of the anchors, and everything was got ready to throw them overboard at the proper moment. These preparations completed, Jasper's manner changed from the excitement of exertion to a look of calm but settled concern. He quitted the forecastle, where the seas were dashing inboard at every plunge of the vessel, the duty just mentioned having been executed with the bodies of the crew frequently buried in the water, and walked to a drier part of the deck, aft. Here he was met by the pathfinder, who was standing near Mabel in the quartermaster. Most of those on board, with the exception of the individuals who have already been particularly mentioned, were below, some seeking relief from physical suffering on their palates, and others totally befinking them of their sins. For the first time, most probably, since her keel had dipped into the limpid waters of Ontario, the voice of prayer was heard on board the scud. Jasper commenced his friend the guide. I have been of no use this morning for my gifts or of little account, as you know, in a vessel like this. But should it please God to let the sergeant's daughter reach the shore alive, my acquaintance with the forest may still carry her through in safety to the garrison. "'Tis a fearful distance thither, pathfinder!' Mabel rejoined, the party being so near together that all which was said by one was overheard by the others. I am afraid none of us could live to reach the fort. It would be a risky path, Mabel, and a crooked one, though some of your sex have undergone even more than that in this awareness. But Jasper, either you or I, or both of us, must man this bark canoe. Mabel's only chance will lie in getting through the breakers in that. "'I would willingly man anything to save Mabel,' answered Jasper with a melancholy smile. But no human hand, pathfinder, could carry that canoe through yonder breakers in a gale like this. I have hopes from anchoring, after all, for once before have we saved the scud in an extremity nearly as great as this.' "'If we are to anchor, Jasper,' the sergeant inquired. "'Why not do it at once? Every foot we lose in drifting now would come and do the distance we shall probably drag when the anchors are let go.' Jasper drew nearer to the sergeant and took his hand, pressing it earnestly, and in a way to denote strong, almost uncontrollable feelings. "'Sergeant Dunham,' said he, solemnly, "'you are a good man, though you have treated me harshly in this business. You love your daughter?' "'That you cannot doubt, O deuce,' returned the sergeant, huskily. "'Will you give her? Give us all the only chance for life that is left?' "'What would you have me do, boy? What would you have me do? I have acted according to my judgment hitherto. What would you have me do?' "'Support me against Master Cap for five minutes, and all that man can do toward saving the scud shall be done.' The sergeant hesitated, for he was too much of a disciplinarian to fly in the face of regular orders. He disliked the appearance of vacillation, too, and then he had a profound respect for his kinsman's seamanship. While he was deliberating, Cap came from the post he had some time occupied, which was at the side of the man at the helm, and drew nigh the group. "'Master O deuce,' said he, as soon as near enough to be heard, "'I have come to inquire if you know any spot nearby where this cutter can be beached. The moment has arrived when we are driven to this hard alternative!' That instant of indecision on the part of Cap secured the triumph of Jasper. Looking at the sergeant, the young man received a nod that assured him of all he asked, and he lost not one of those moments that were getting to be so very precious. "'Shall I take the helm?' he inquired of Cap, and see if we can reach a creek that lies to Leeward?' "'Do so, and do so,' said the other, hemming to clear his throat, for he fell depressed by a responsibility that weighed all the heavier on his shoulders on account of his ignorance. "'Do so, O deuce, since to be frank with you I can see nothing better to be done. We must beach or swamp!' Jasper required no more. Springing aft, he soon had the tiller in his own hands. The pilot was prepared for what was to follow, and, at a sign from his young commander, the rag of sail that had so long been set was taken in. At that moment Jasper, watching his time, put the helm up. The head of a stay-sail was loosened forward, and the light that cut her, as if conscious she was now under the control of familiar hands, fell off, and was soon in the trough of the sea. This perilous instant was passed in safety, and at the next moment the little vessel appeared flying down towards the breakers at a rate that threatened instant destruction. The distances had become so short that five or six minutes sufficed for all that Jasper wished, and he put the helm down again when the boughs of the scud came up to the wind. The boat was standing the turbulence of the waters, as gracefully as the duck varies its line of direction on the glassy pond. A sign from Jasper set all in motion on the forecastle, and a keg was thrown from each bow. The fearful nature of the drift was now apparent even to Mabel's eyes, for the two hausers ran out like tow-lines. As soon as they straightened to a slight strain, both anchors were let go, and cable was given to each, nearly to the better ends. It was not a difficult task to snub so light a craft with ground tackle of a quality better than common, and in less than ten minutes from the moment when Jasper went to the helm, the scud was riding head to sea, with the two cables stretched ahead in lines that resembled bars of iron. This is not well done, Mr. Jasper, angrily exclaimed cap, as soon as he perceived the trick which had been played him. This is not well done, sir. I order you to cut and to beach the cutter without a moment's delay. No one, however, seemed disposed to comply with this order, for so long as Odus saw fit to command, his own people were disposed to obey. Finding that the men remained passive, Cap, who believed they were in the utmost peril, turned fiercely to Jasper and renewed his remonstrances. You did not head for your pretended creak, added he, after dealing in some objurgatory remarks that we do not deem it necessary to record. But steered for that bluff where every soul on board would have been drowned, had we gone ashore. And you wished to cut and put every soul ashore at that very spot. Jasper retorted, a little dryly. Throw a lead line overboard and ascertain the drift. That now roared to the people forward. Aside from Jasper sustaining this order, it was instantly obeyed. All on deck watched, with nearly breathless interest, the result of the experiment. The lead was no sooner on the bottom than the line tended forward, and in about two minutes it was seen that the cutter had drifted her length dead in towards the bluff. Jasper looked gravely, for he well knew nothing would hold the vessel did she get within the vortex of the breakers. The first line of which was appearing and disappearing about a cable's length, directly under her stern. Trader! exclaimed Cap, shaking a finger at the young commander, though passion choked the rest. You must answer for this with your life! He added after a short pause. If I were at the head of this expedition, Sergeant, I would hang him at the end of the main-boom lest he escape drowning. Moderate your feelings, brother. Be more moderate. I beseech you. Jasper appears to have done all for the best, and matters may not be so bad as you believe them. Why did he not run for the creek, he mentioned? Why has he brought us here, dead to windward of that bluff, and to a spot where even the breakers are only of half the ordinary width, as if in a hurry to drown all on board? I headed for the bluff for the precise reason that the breakers are so narrow at this spot. Mr. Jasper mildly, though his gorge had risen at the language the other held. Do you mean to tell an old seaman like me that this cutter could live in those breakers? I do not, sir. I think she would fill and swap if driven into the first line of them. I am certain she would never reach the shore on her bottom, if fairly entered. I hope to keep her clear of them all together. With a drift of her length in a minute, the backing of the answers does not yet fairly tell, nor do I even hope that they will entirely bring her up. On what, then, do you rely? To moor a craft head and stern by faith, hope, and charity? No, sir. I trust to the undertow. I headed for the bluff because I knew that it was stronger at that point than at any other, and because we could get nearer in with the land without entering the breakers. This was said with spirit, though without any particular show of resentment. Its effect on cap was marked, the feeling that was uppermost being evidently that of surprised. Undertow! He repeated. Who the devil ever heard of saving a vessel from going ashore by the undertow? This may never happen on the ocean, sir, Jasper answered modestly. But we have known it to happen here. The lad is right, brother. What in the sergeant? For though I do not well understand it, I have often heard the sailors of the lake speak of such a thing. We shall do well to trust to Jasper in this straight. Cap grumbled in swore, but as there was no remedy he was compelled to acquiesce. Jasper, being now called on to explain what he meant by the undertow, gave this account of the matter. The water that was driven up on the shore by the gale was necessarily compelled to find its level by returning to the lake by some secret channels. This could not be done on the surface where both wind and waves were constantly urging it towards the land, and it necessarily formed a sort of lower eddy, by means of which it flowed back again to its ancient and proper bed. This inferior current had received the name of the undertow, and as it would necessarily act on the bottom of a vessel which drew as much water as the scud, Jasper trusted to the aid of this reaction to keep his cables from parting. In short, the upper and lower currents would, in a manner, counteract each other. Simple and ingenious as was this theory, however, as yet there was little evidence of its being reduced to practice. The drift continued, though as the cages and hauses with which the anchors were backed took the strains it became sensibly less. At length the man at the lead announced the joyful intelligence that the anchors had ceased to drag, and that the vessel had brought up. At this precise moment the first line of breakers was about a hundred feet astern of the scud, even appearing to approach much nearer as the foam vanished and returned on the raging surges. Jasper sprang forward, and casting a glance over the boughs he smiled in triumph as he pointed exultingly to the cables. Instead of resembling bars of iron in rigidity as before, they were curving downwards, and to a seaman's senses it was evident that the cutter rose and fell on the seas as they came in with the ease of a ship and a tidesway, when the power of the wind is relieved by the counteracting pressure of the water. "'Tis the undertow!' he exclaimed with delight, fairly bounding along the deck to steady the helm in order that the cutter might ride still easier. Providence has placed us directly in its current, and there is no longer any danger.' "'Aye, aye. Providence is a good seaman,' growled Cap, and often helps lovers out of difficulty. Under-toe or upper-toe, the gale has abated, and fortunately for us all the anchors have met with good holding ground. Then this damned fresh water has an unnatural way with it.' Men are seldom inclined to quarrel with good fortune, but it is in distress that they grow clamorous and critical. Most on board were disposed to believe that they had been saved from shipwreck by the skill and knowledge of Jasper, without regarding the opinions of Cap, whose remarks were now little heated. There was half an hour of uncertainty and doubt it is true, during which period the lead was anxiously watched, and then a feeling of security came over all, and the weary slept