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," she said, speaking now with a firmness that denoted confidence not only in herself, but in her companion-" you do not deserve this cruel suspicion which rests upon you

"I do not, Mabel," answered Jasper, looking into her full blue eyes, with an openness and simplicity that might have shaken strong 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 scarce think of it."

Jasper !"

"I do not wish to alarm you, Mabel, but if your uncle could be persuaded to change his notions about handling the Scud-and yet, he is so much older, and more experienced than I am, that he ought, perhaps, to place more reliance on his own judgment than on mine."

"Do you think the cutter in any danger?" demanded Mabel, quick as thought.

"I fear so- -at least she would have been thought in great danger, by us of the lake; perhaps an old seaman of the ocean may have means of his own to take care of her."

Jasper, all agree in giving you credit for skill in-managing the Scud! You know the lake, you know the cutteryou must be the best judge of our real situation !"

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," returned the young man, with

a strength of expression and an earnestness of look, that uttered infinitely more than the words themselves.

Mabel's heart beat quick, and a gleam of grateful 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 that was naturally upper

most.

"My uncle's obstinacy must not be permitted to occasion this disaster. Go once more on deck, Jasper, and ask my father to come into the cabin."

While the young man was complying with this request, Mabel sat listening to the howling of the storm, and the 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, bethought her of any danger, and had passed her time, since the commencement of the gale, in such womanly employments, as her situation allowed; but now alarm was seriously awakened, she did not fail to perceive, that never before had she been on the water in such a tempest. The minute or two that elapsed ere the serjeant came appeared an hour, and she scarcely breathed when she saw him and Jasper descending the ladder in company. Quick as language could express her meaning, she acquainted her father with Jasper's opinion of their situation, and entreated him, if he loved her, or had any regard for his own life, or for those of his men, to interfere with her uncle, and to induce him to yield the control of the cutter, again, to its proper commander.

66

Jasper is true, father," she added earnestly, "and if false, he could have no motive in wrecking us in this distant part of the lake, at the risk of all our lives, his own included. I will pledge my own life for his truth."

Ay, this is well enough for a young woman who is frightened," answered the more phlegmatic parent; "but it might not be so prudent, or excusable in one in command of an expedition. Jasper may think the chance of drowning in getting ashore, fully repaid by the chance of escaping as soon ns he reaches the land."

Serjeant 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 Cap a 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 colours. Charles Cap will not be likely to quit the helm because the ship is in danger. Besides, Jasper Eau-douce, he says, your proposal, in itself, has a 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, 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. Here maiden modesty induced her to remain, though an absorbed witness of what was passing.

The pilot soon appeared, and there was no mistaking the look of concern that he cast around at the scene, as soon as he was in the open air. Some rumours of the situation of the Scud had found their way below, it is true; but, in this instance, rumour had lessened, instead of magnifying the danger. He was allowed a few minutes to look about him, and then the question was put as to the course that he thought it prudent to follow.

I see no means of saving the cutter but to 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 break

ers."

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 effecting their escape. He consequently treated the opinion of the latter with the indifference he had manifested towards that of the former.

"I tell you, brother Dunham," he said, in answer to the remonstrances of the serjeant against his turning a deaf ear to this double representation, "that no seaman would give such an opinion honestly. To anchor on a lee shore, in a gale of wind, would be an act of madness that I could never excuse to the underwriters, under any circumstances, as long as a rag can be set-but to anchor close to breakers would be insanity."

"His majesty underwrites the Scud, brother, and I am responsible for the lives of my command. These men are better acquainted with Lake Ontario than we can possibly be, and I do think their telling the same tale entitles them to some credit."

"Uncle!" said Mabel, earnestly,—but a gesture from Jasper induced the girl to restrain her feelings.

"We are drifting down upon the breakers so rapidly," said the young man," that little need be said on the subject. Half an hour must settle the matter, one way or the other; but I warn Master Cap that the surest-footed man among us will not be able to keep his feet an instant on the deck of this low craft, should she fairly get within them. Indeed, I make little doubt that we shall fill and founder before the second line of rollers is passed!"

"And how would anchoring help the matter?" demanded Cap, furiously, as if he felt that Jasper was responsible for the effects of the gale, as well as for the opinion he had just given.

"It would at least do no harm," Eau-douce mildly replied. "By bringing the cutter head to sea we should lessen her drift; and even if we dragged through the breakers, it would be with the least possible danger. I hope, Master Cap, you

will allow the pilot and myself to prepare for anchoring, since the precaution may do good, and can do no harm.”

"Overhaul your ranges if you will, and get your anchors clear, with all my heart. We are now in a situation that cannot be much affected by anything of that sort. Serjeant, a word with you, aft here, if you please."

Cap led his brother-in-law out of ear-shot; and then, with more of human feeling in his voice and manner than he was apt to exhibit, he opened his heart on the subject of their real

situation.

"This is a melancholy affair for poor Mabel," he said, blowing his nose, and speaking with a slight tremour—“ You and I, serjeant, are old fellows, and used to being near death, if not to actually dying. Our trades fit us for such scenes; but poor Mabel, she is an affectionate and kind-hearted girl, and I had hoped to see her comfortably settled and a mother, before my time came. Well, well; we must take the bad with the good, in every v'y'ge, and the only serious objection that an old sea-faring man can with propriety make to such an event, is that it should happen on this bit of dwater."

-d fresh

Serjeant Dunham was a brave man, and had shown his spirit in scenes that looked much more appalling than this. But, on all such occasions, he had been able to act his part 'against his foes, while here he was pressed upon by an enemy whom he had no means of resisting. For himself, he cared far less, than for his daughter; feeling some of that self-reliance which seldom deserts a man of firmness, who is in vigorous health, and who has been accustomed to personal exertions, in moments of jeopardy. But, as respects Mabel, he saw no means of escape, and with a father's fondness he at once determined that, if either was doomed to perish, he and his daughter must perish together.

"Do you think this must come to pass ?" he asked of Cap, firmly, but with strong feeling.

"Twenty minutes will carry us into the breakers, and, look for yourself, serjeant, what chance will even the stoutes. man among us have in that caldron to leeward !"

The prospect was, indeed, little calculated to encourage hope. By this time the Scud was within a mile of the shore, on which the gale was blowing at right angles, with a vio