CHAPTER X. “There was a roaring in the wind all night; As the light returned, Pathfinder and Cap ascended again to the roof, with a view to reconnoitre the state of things once more, on the island. This part of the block-house had a low battlement around it, which afforded a considerable protection to those who stood in its centre; the intention having been to enable marksmen to lie behind it, and to fire over its top. By making proper use, therefore, of these slight defencesslight, as to height, though abundantly ample as far as they went-the two look-outs commanded a pretty good view of the island, its covers excepted; and of most of the channels that led to the spot. The gale was still blowing very fresh at south; and there were places in the river where its surface looked green and angry, though the wind had hardly sweep enough to raise the water into foam. The shape of the little island was generally oval, and its greatest length was from east to west. By keeping in the channels that washed it, in consequence of their several courses, and of the direction of the gale, it would have been possible for a vessel to range past the island, on either of its principal sides, and always to keep the wind very nearly abeam. These were the facts first noticed by Cap, and explained to his companion; for the hopes of both now rested on the chances of relief sent from Oswego. At this instant, while they stood gazing anxiously about them, Cap cried out in his lusty, hearty, manner— 66 Sail, ho!" Pathfinder turned quickly in the direction of his companion's face, and there, sure enough, was just visible the object of the old sailor's exclamation. The elevation enabled the two to overlook the low land of several of the adjacent islands; and the canvass of a vessel was seen through the bushes that fringed the shore of one that lay to the southward and westward. The stranger was under what seamen call low sail; but so great was the power of the wind, that her white outlines were seen flying past the openings of the verdure, with the velocity of a fast-travelling horse; resembling a cloud driving in the heavens. "That cannot be Jasper!" said Pathfinder, in disappointment; for he did not recognise the cutter of his friend, in the swift-passing object. "No-no-the lad is behind the hour; and that is some craft that the Frenchers have sent to aid their friends, the accursed Mingos." "This time you are out in your reckoning, friend Pathfinder, if you never were before," returned Cap, in a manner that had lost none of its dogmatism by the critical circumstances in which they were placed. "Fresh-water or salt, that is the head of the Scud's mainsail, for it is cut with a smaller goar than common; and then you can see that the gaff has been fished-quite neatly done, I admit, but fished." "I can see none of this, I confess," answered Pathfinder, to whom even the terms of his companion were Greek. "No!-Well, I own that surprises me; for I thought your eyes could see any thing! Now, to me, nothing is plainer than that goar and that fish; and I must say, my honest friend, that, in your place, I should apprehend that my sight was beginning to fail.” "If Jasper is truly coming, I shall apprehend but little. We can make good the block against the whole Mingo nation, for the next eight or ten hours; and, with Eau-douce to cover the retreat, I shall despair of nothing. God send that the lad may not run alongside of the bank, and fall into an ambúshment, as befel the sarjeant !" "Ay; there's the danger. There ought to have been signals concerted, and an anchorage-ground buoyed out, and even a quarantine station, or a Lazaretto, would have been useful could we have made these Minks-ho respect the laws. If the lad fetches up, as you say, anywhere in the neighbourhood of this island, we may look upon the cutter as lost. And, after all, Master Pathfinder, ought we not to set down this same Jasper as a secret ally of the French, rather than as a friend of our own?-I know the serjeant views the matter in that light, and I must say this whole affair looks like treason!" "We shall soon know, we shall soon know, Master Cap; for there indeed comes the cutter, clear of the other island, and five minutes must settle the matter. It would be no more than fair, however, if we could give the boy some sign in the way of warning. It is not right that he should fall into the trap, without a notice that it has been laid." Anxiety and suspense, notwithstanding, prevented either from attempting to make any signal. It was not easy, truly, to see how it could be done; for the Scud came foaming through the channel, on the weather side of the island, at a rate that scarce admitted of the necessary time. Nor was any one visible on her deck to make signs to; even her helm seemed deserted, though her course was as steady as her progress was rapid. Cap stood in silent admiration of a spectacle so unusual. But, as the Scud drew nearer, his practised eye detected the helm in play, by means of tiller-ropes, though the person who steered was concealed. As the cutter had weatherboards of some little height, the mystery was explained; no doubt remaining that her people lay behind the latter, in order to be protected from the rifles of the enemy. As this fact showed that no force, beyond that of the small crew, could be on board, Pathfinder received his companion's explanation with an ominous shake of the head. "This proves that the Sarpent has not reached Oswego," he said, "and that we are not to expect succour from the garrison. I hope Lundie has not taken it into his head to displace the lad, for Jasper Western would be a host of himself, in such a strait. We three, Master Cap, ought to make a manful warfare-you, as a seaman, to keep up the intercourse with the cutter; Jasper, as a laker, who knows all that is necessary to be done on the water; and I, with gifts that are as good as any among the Mingos, let me be what I may in other particulars. I say, we ought to make a manful fight in Mabel's behalf." "That we ought-and that we will," answered Cap, \ heartily, for he began to have more confidence in the security of his scalp, now that he saw the sun again; "I set down the arrival of the Scud as one circumstance, and the chances of Eau-douce's honesty as another. This Jasper is a young man of prudence, you find, for he keeps a good offVOL. II. 15 ing, and seems determined to know how matters stand on the island, before he ventures to bring up." "I have it—I have it,"-exclaimed Pathfinder with exultation," there lies the canoe of the Sarpent, on the cutter's deck, and the chief has got on board, and no doubt has given a true account of our condition; for, unlike a Mingo, a Delaware is sartain to get a story right, or to hold his tongue." Pathfinder's disposition to think well of the Delawares, and to think ill of the Mingos, must, by this time, be very apparent to the reader. Of the veracity of the former he entertained the highest respect, while of the latter he thought, as the more observant and intelligent classes of this country are getting pretty generally to think of certain scribblers among ourselves, who are known to have been so long in the habits of mendacity, that it is thought they can no longer tell the truth, even when they seriously make the effort. "That canoe may not belong to the cutter," said the captious seaman-"Oh! Deuce had one on board, when we sailed." Very true, friend Cap; but, if you know your sails and masts, by your goars and fishes, I know my canoes and my paths, by frontier knowledge. If you can see new cloth in a sail, I can see new bark in a canoe. That is the boat of the Sarpent, and the noble fellow has struck off for the garrison, as soon as he found the block besieged, has fallen in with the Scud, and, after telling his story, has brought the cutter down here to see what can be done. The Lord grant that Jasper Western be still on board her!" "Yes-yes-it might not be amiss; for, traitor or loyal, the lad has a handy way with him, in a gale, it must be owned." "And in coming over water-falls!" said Pathfinder, nudging the ribs of his companion with an elbow, and laughing in his silent but hearty manner. "We will give the boy his due, though he scalps us all with his own hand!" The Scud was now so near, that Cap made no reply. The scene, just at that instant, was so peculiar that it merits a particular description; which may also aid the reader in forming a more accurate nature of the picture we wish to draw. The gale was still blowing violently: many of the smaller trees bowed their tops, as if ready to descend to the earth while the rushing of the wind through the branches of the groves, resembled the roar of distant chariots. The air was filled with leaves, which, at that late season, were readily driven from their stems, and flew from island to island, like flights of birds. With this exception, the spot seemed silent as the grave. That the savages still remained, was to be inferred from the fact that their canoes, together with the boats of the 55th, lay in a group, in the little cove, that had been selected as a harbour. Otherwise, not a sign of their presence was to be detected. Though taken entirely. by surprise by the cutter, the sudden return of which was altogether unlooked for, so uniform and inbred were their habits of caution while on the war-path, that, the instant an alarm was given, every man had taken to his cover, with the instinct and cunning of a fox seeking his hole. The same stillness reigned in the block-house, for though Pathfinder and Cap could command a view of the channel, they took the precaution necessary to lie concealed. The unusual absence of any thing like animal life on board the Scud, too, was still more remarkable. As the Indians witnessed her apparently undirected movements, a feeling of awe gained a footing among them, and some of the boldest of their party began to distrust the issue of an expedition that had commenced so prosperously. Even Arrowhead, accustomed as he was to intercourse with the whites on both sides of the lakes, fancied there was something ominous in the appearance of this unmanned vessel, and he would gladly, at that moment, have been landed again on the main. In the mean time, the progress of the cutter was steady and rapid. She held her way mid-channel, now inclining to the gusts, and now rising again, like the philosopher that bends to the calamities of life to resume his erect attitude as they pass away, but always piling the water beneath her bows, in foam. Although she was under so very short canvass, her velocity was great, and there could not have elapsed ten minutes between the time when her sails were first seen glancing past the trees and bushes in the distance, and the moment when she was abreast of the block-house. Cap and Pathfinder leaned forward, as the cutter came beneath their eyrie, eager to get a better view of her deck, when to the delight of both, Jasper Eau-douce sprang upon his feet, and |