they would have cheerfully encountered even greater risks to secure their object. So all-important to the safety of Mabel, indeed, did Jasper deem the possession or the destruction of this canoe, that he had drawn his knife, and stood ready to rip up the bark, in order to render the boat temporarily unserviceable, should any thing occur to compel the Delaware and himself to abandon their prize. The young sailor caught a glimpse of the figure at that instant, and the startling truth also flashed on his mind. Understanding the necessity of trusting all to the Delaware chief, he kept back, while his friend moved cautiously in the direction in which the strange form had vanished. In another moment, it was seen again, evidently moving toward themselves. The waters made such an uproar, that little was to be apprehended from ordinary sounds, and the Indian, turning his head, hastily said: "Leave it to the cunning of the great Ser- train. Once, Chingachgook raised his tomahawk pent." "Hugh!" exclaimed the strange savage, adding, in the language of his people-" the canoe is found, but there were none to help me. Come, let us raise it from the rock." "Willingly," answered Chingachgook, who understood the dialect-"lead; we will follow." The stranger, unable to distinguish between voices and accents, amid the raging of the rapid, led the way in the necessary direction, and, the two others keeping close at his heels, all three speedily reached the canoe. The Iroquois laid hold of one end, Chingachgook placed himself in the centre, and Jasper went to the opposite extremity, as it was important that the stranger | should not detect the presence of a pale-face, a discovery that might be made, by the parts of the dress the young man still wore, as well as by the general appearance of his head. "Lift," said the Iroquois, in the sententious manner of his race; and by a trifling effort the canoe was raised from the rock, held a moment in the air to empty it, and then placed carefully on the water, in its proper position. All three held it firmly, lest it should escape from their hands, under the pressure of the violent current; while the Iroquois, who led of course, being at the upper end of the boat, took the direction of the eastern shore, or toward the spot where his friends waited his return. As the Delaware and Jasper well knew, there must be several more of the Iroquois on the rift, from the circumstance that their own appearance had occasioned no surprise in the individual they had met, both felt the necessity of extreme caution. Men less bold and determined would have thought that they were incurring too great a risk, by thus venturing into the midst of their enemies; but these hardy borderers were unacquainted with fear, were accustomed to hazard, and so well understood the necessity of at least preventing their foes from getting the boat, that In the mean time, the Iroquois, who led the way, proceeded slowly through the water in the direction of his own party, still grasping the canoe, and dragging his reluctant followers in his and was about to bury it in the brain of his confiding and unsuspicious neighbor, but the probability that the death-cry or the floating body might give the alarm, induced that wary chief to change his purpose. At the next moment he regretted this indecision, for the three who clung to the canoe suddenly found themselves in the centre of a party of no less than four others who were in quest of it. After the usual brief, characteristic exclamations of satisfaction, the savages eagerly laid hold of the canoe, for all seemed impressed with the necessity of securing this important boat, the one side in order to assail their foes, and the other to secure their retreat. The addition to the party, however, was so unlooked for, and so completely gave the enemy the superiority, that, for a few moments, the ingenuity and address of even the Delaware were at fault. The five Iroquois, who seemed perfectly to understand their errand, pressed forward toward their own shore, without pausing to converse; their object being in truth to obtain the paddles, which they had previously secured, and to embark three or four warriors, with all their rifles and powder-horns, the want of which had alone prevented their crossing the river by swimming as soon as it was dark. In this matter, the body of friends and foes united reached the margin of the eastern channel, where, as in the case of the western, the river was too deep to be waded. Here a short pause succeeded, it being necessary to determine the manner in which the canoe was to be carried across. One of the four who had just reached the boat, was a chief, and the habitual deference which the American Indian pays to merit, experience, and station, kept the others silent until this individual had spoken. The halt greatly added to the danger of discovering the presence of Jasper, in particular, who, however, had the precaution to throw the cap he wore into the bottom of the canoe. Be slow in finding that something unusual retarded their advance, and looking back he first learned that he was resisted by the efforts of his companions. That second nature, which grows up through ing without his jacket and shirt, the outline of his figure, in the obscurity, would now be less likely to attract observation. His position, too, at the stern of the canoe, a little favored his concealment, the Iroquois naturally keeping their looks directed the other way. Not so with Chin-habit, instantly told the young Iroquois that he gachgook. This warrior was literally in the midst of his most deadly foes, and he could scarcely stir without touching one of them. Yet he was apparently unmoved, though he kept all his senses on the alert, in readiness to escape, or to strike a blow at the proper moment. By care-floating in an element so dangerous to man, when fully abstaining from looking toward those behind him, he lessened the chances of discovery, and waited with the indomitable patience of an Indian for the instant when he should be required to act. "Let all my young men, but two, one at each end of the canoe, cross and get their arms," said the Iroquois chief. "Let the two push over the boat." was alone with enemies. Dashing the water aside, he sprang at the throat of Chingachgook, and the two Indians, relinquishing their hold of the canoe, seized each other like tigers. In the midst of the darkness of that gloomy night, and engaged in deadly strife, they appeared to forget every thing but their fell animosity, and their mutual desire to conquer. Jasper had now complete command of the canoe, which flew off like a feather impelled by the breath, under the violent reaction of the struggles of the two combatants. The first impulse of the youth was to swim to the aid of the Delaware, but the importance of securing the boat presented The Indians quietly obeyed, leaving Jasper at itself with tenfold force, while he listened to the the stern, and the Iroquois who had found the heavy breathings of the warriors as they throtcance at the bow of the light craft, Chingach-tled each other, and he proceeded as fast as posgook burying himself so deep in the river, as to be passed by the others without detection. The splashing in the water, the tossing arms, and the calls of one to another, soon announced that the four who had last joined the party were already swimming. As soon as this fact was certain, the Delaware rose, resumed his former station, and began to think the moment for action was come. One less habitually under self-restraint than this warrior would probably have now aimed his meditated blow; but Chingachgook knew there were more Iroquois behind him on the rift, and he was a warrior much too trained and experienced to risk any thing unnecessarily. He suffered the Indian at the bow of the canoe to push off into the deep water, and then all three were swimming in the direction of the eastern shore. Instead, however, of helping the canoe across the swift current, no sooner did the Delaware and Jasper find themselves within the influence of its greatest force, than both began to swim in a way to check their further progress across the stream. Nor was this done suddenly, or in the incautious manner in which a civilized man would have been apt to attempt the artifice, but warily and so gradually that the Iroquois at the bow fancied at first he was merely struggling against the strength of the current. Of course, while acted on by these opposing efforts, the canoe drifted down-stream, and in about a minute it was floating in still deeper water at the foot of the rift. Here, however, the Iroquois was not sible toward the western shore. This he soon reached, and, after a short search, he succeeded in discovering the remainder of the party, and in procuring his clothes. A few words sufficed to explain the situation in which he had left the Delaware, and the manner in which the canoe had been obtained. When those who had been left behind had heard the explanations of Jasper, a profound stillness reigned among them, each listening intently in the vain hope of catching some clew to the result of the fearful struggle that had just taken place, if it were not still going on in the water. Nothing was audible beyond the steady roar of the gushing river; it being a part of the policy of their enemies on the opposite shore to observe the most death-like stillness. "Take this paddle, Jasper," said Pathfinder, calmly, though the listeners thought his voice sounded more melancholy than usual, "and follow with your own canoe. It is unsafe for us to remain here longer." "But the Serpent?" "The Great Sarpent is in the hands of his own Deity, and will live or die according to the intentions of Providence. We can do him no good, and may risk too much by remaining here in idleness, like women talking over their distresses. This darkness is very precious-" A loud, long, piercing yell came from the shore, and cut short the words of the guide. "What is the meaning of that uproar, Master MABEL'S EXCITEMENT. Pathfinder?" demanded Cap. "It sounds more like the outcries of devils than any thing that can come from the throats of Christians and men." "Christians they are not, and do not pretend to be, and do not wish to be; and in calling them devils you have scarcely misnamed them. That yell is one of rejoicing, and it is as conquerors they have given it. The body of the Sarpent, no doubt, dead or alive, is in their power!" "And we!" exclaimed Jasper, who felt a pang of generous regret, as the idea that he might have averted the calamity presented itself to his mind, had he not deserted his comrade. 41 that the boats floated down the current in a belt of gloom that effectually secured them from detection. Still there was necessarily a strong feeling of insecurity in all on board them; and even Jasper, who by this time began to tremble in behalf of the girl, at every unusual sound that arose from the forest, kept casting uneasy glances around him, as he drifted on, in company. The paddle was used lightly, and only with exceeding care, for the slightest sound, in the breathing stillness of that hour and place, might apprise the watchful ears of the Iroquois of their position. All the accessories added to the impressive "We can do the chief no good, lad, and must grandeur of her situation, and contributed to renquit this spot as fast as possible." "Without one attempt to rescue him!-without even knowing whether he be dead or living?" "Jasper is right," said Mabel, who could speak, though her voice sounded huskily and smothered; "I have no fears, uncle, and will stay here until we know what has become of our friend." "This seems reasonable, Pathfinder," put in Cap. "Your true seaman cannot well desert a messmate; and I am glad to find that motives so correct exist among those fresh-water people." "Tut-tut!" returned the impatient guide, forcing the canoe into the stream as he spoke, 66 ye know nothing, and ye fear nothing. If ye value your lives, think of reaching the garrison, and leave the Delaware in the hands of Providence. Ah's me! The deer that goes too often to the lick meets the hunter at last!" CHAPTER VII. "And is this-Yarrow ?-this the stream Of which my fancy cherished So faithfuily a waking dream? An image that hath perished? Oh, that some minstrel's harp were near, To utter notes of gladness, And chase this silence from the air, That fills my heart with sadness!" WORDSWORTH. THE scene was not without sublimity; and the ardent, generous-minded Mabel felt her blood thrill in her veins, and her cheeks flush, as the canoe shot into the strength of the stream to quit the spot. The darkness of the night had lessened by the dispersion of the clouds; but the overhanging woods rendered the shores so obscure der the moment much the most exciting that had ever occurred in the brief existence of Mabel Dunham. Spirited, accustomed to self-reliance, and sustained by the pride of considering herself a soldier's daughter, she could hardly be said to be under the influence of fear; yet her heart often beat quicker than common, her fine blue eye lighted with an exhibition of a resolution that was wasted in the darkness, and her quickened feelings came in aid of the real sublimity that belonged to the scene, and to the incidents of the night. "Mabel!" said the suppressed voice of Jasper, as the two canoes floated so near each other that the hand of the young man held them together, “you have no dread, you trust freely to our care, and willingness to protect you?" "I am a soldier's daughter, as you know, Jasper Western, and ought to be ashamed to confess fear." "Rely on me-on us all. Your uncle, Pathfinder, the Delaware, were the poor fellow here, I myself, will risk every thing rather than harm should reach you." "I believe you, Jasper," returned the girl, her hand unconsciously playing in the water. "I know that my uncle loves me, and will never think of himself until he has first thought of me; and I believe you are all my father's friends, and would willingly assist his child. But I am not so feeble and weak-minded as you may think, for though only a girl from the towns, and, like most of that class, a little disposed to see danger where there is none, I promise you, Jasper, no foolish fears of mine shall stand in the way of your doing your duty." "The sergeant's daughter is right, and she is worthy of being honest Thomas Dunham's child," put in the Pathfinder. "Ah's me! pretty one, many is the time that your father and I have scouted and marched together on the flanks and rear of the enemy, in nights darker than this, and that, too, when we did not know but the next moment would lead us into a bloody ambushment. I was at his side when he got the wound in his shoulder, and the honest fellow will tell you, when you meet, the manner in which we contrived to cross the river that lay in our rear, in order to save his scalp." "He has told me," said Mabel, with more energy perhaps than her situation rendered prudent. "I have his letters, in which he has mentioned all that, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the service. God will remember it, Pathfinder; and there is no gratitude that you can ask of the daughter, which she will not cheerfully repay for her father's life." "Ay, that is the way with all your gentle and pure-hearted creatur's! I have seen some of you before, and have heard of others! The sergeant, himself, has talked to me of his own young days; and of your mother, and of the manner in which he courted her, and of all the crossings and disapp'intments, until he succeeded at last." "My mother did not live long to repay him for what he did to win her," said Mabel, with a trembling lip. "So he tells me. The honest sergeant has kept nothing back, for, being so many years my senior, he has looked on me, in our many scoutings together, as a sort of son." "Perhaps, Pathfinder," observed Jasper, with a huskiness in his voice that defeated the attempt at pleasantry, "he would be glad to have you for one, in reality." "And if he did, Eau-douce, where would be the sin of it? He knows what I am on a trail, or a scout, and he has seen me often face to face with the Frenchers. I have sometimes thought, lad, that we all ought to seek for wives; for the man that lives altogether in the woods, and in company with his inemies, or his prey, gets to lose some of the feelin' of kind, in the end." "From the specimen I have seen," observed Mabel, "I should say that they who live much in the forest forget to learn many of the deceits and vices of the towns." "It is not easy, Mabel, to dwell always in the presence of God, and not feel the power of his goodness. I have attended church-sarvice in the garrisons, and tried hard, as becomes a true soldier, to join in the prayers; for, though no enlisted sarvant of the king, I fight his battles and sarve his cause-and so I have ende'vored to worship garrison-fashion, but never could raise within me the solemn feelings and true affection that I feel when alone with God in the forest. There I seem to stand face to face with my Master; all around me is fresh and beautiful, as it came from his hand; and there is no nicety or doctrine to chill the feelin's. No, no; the woods are the true temple, a'ter all, for there the thoughts are free to mount higher even than the clouds." "You speak the truth, Master Pathfinder," said Cap, "and a truth that all who live much in solitude know. What, for instance, is the reason that seafaring men, in general, are so religious and conscientious in all they do, but the fact that they are so often alone with Providence, and have so little to do with the wickedness of the land! Many and many is the time that I have stood my watch, under the equator perhaps, or in the Southern Ocean, when the nights are lighted up with the fires of heaven; and that is the time, I can tell you, my hearties, to bring a man to his bearings, in the way of his sins. I have rattled down mine, again and again, under such circumstances, until the shrouds and lanyards of conscience have fairly creaked with the strain. I agree with you, Master Pathfinder, therefore, in saying if you want a truly religious man, go to sea, or go into the woods." “Uncle, I thought seamen had little credit, generally, for their respect for religion." "All dd slander, girl! Ask your seafaring man what his real, private opinion is of your landsmen, parsons and all, and you will hear the other side of the question. I know no class of men who have been so belied as seafaring men, in this particular; and it is all because they do not stay at home to defend themselves, and pay the clergy. They haven't as much doctrine, perhaps, as some ashore, but as for all the essentials of Christianity, the seaman beats the landsman, hand-over-hand." "I will not answer for all this, Master Cap," returned Pathfinder, "but I dare say some of it may be true. I want no thunder and lightning to remind me of my God, nor am I as apt to bethink me most of all his goodness, in trouble and tribulations, as on a calm, solemn, quiet day, in a forest, when his voice is heard in the creaking of a dead branch, or in the song of a bird, as much, in my ears at least, as it is ever heard in uproar and gales.-How is it with you, Eau-douce; you face the tempests as well as Master Cap, and ought to know something of the feelin's of storms? "I fear that I am too young and too inexperienced, to be able to say much on such a subject," modestly answered Jasper. "But you have your feelings?" said Mabel, quickly. "You cannot-no one can live among A DESULTORY CONVERSATION. 43 such scenes without feeling how much they ought, daughter, here, doesn't believe it necessary for to trust in God!" the lad to go to sea in order to make a man of him, or one who is worthy to be respected and esteemed." "I shall not belie my training so much as to say I do not sometimes think of these things, but I fear it is not as often or as much as I ought." "Fresh water!" resumed Cap, pithily; "you are not to expect too much of the young man, Mabel. I think they call you, sometimes, by a name which would insinuate all this. Eau-de-vie, is it not?" "Eau-douce," quietly replied Jasper, who from sailing on the lake had acquired a knowledge of French, as well as of several of the Indian dialects. "It is a name the Iroquois have given me to distinguish me from some of my companions. who once sailed upon the sea, and are fond of filling the ears of the natives with stories of their great salt-water lakes." "And why shouldn't they? I dare say they do the savages no harm. They may not civilize them, but they will not make them greater barbarians than they are. Ay-ay-Oh! the deuce, that must mean the white brandy, which is no great matter after all, and may well enough be called the deuce, for deuced stuff it is!" "The signification of Eau-douce is sweetwater, or water that can be drunk, and it is the manner in which the French express fresh-water," rejoined Jasper, a little nettled at the distinction made, by Cap, although the latter was the uncle of Mabel. Mabel made no reply to this appeal, and she even looked toward the western shore, although the darkness rendered the natural movement unnecessary to conceal her face. But Jasper felt that there was a necessity for his saying something; the pride of youth and manhood revolting at the idea of his being in a condition not to command the respect of his fellows, or the smiles of his equals of the other sex. Still he was unwilling to utter aught that might be considered harsh, to the uncle of Mabel; and his self-command was, perhaps, more creditable than his modesty and spirit. "I pretend not to things I don't possess," he said, "and lay no claim to any knowledge of the ocean, or of navigation. We steer by the stars and the compass on these lakes, running from headland to headland, and, having little need of figures and calculations, make no use of them. But we have our claims, notwithstanding, as I have often heard from those who have passed years on the ocean. In the first place, we have always the land aboard, and much of the time on a lee shore, and that I have frequently heard makes hardy sailors. Our gales are sudden and severe, and we are compelled to run for our ports at all hours-" "You have your leads," interrupted Cap. "I have heard of such things, but confess I never saw one." "And how the devil do they make water out of Oh! the deuce, when it means brandy in Eaude-vie? This may be the French used hereaway, but it is not that they use in Burdux and other French ports; besides, among seamen Eau always means brandy, and Eau-de-vie, brandy of a high "Oh! the deuce, with a vengeance. A tradproof. I think nothing of your ignorance, younger, and no deep sea! Why, boy, you cannot preman, for it is natural to your situation, and can- tend to be any thing of a mariner. Who the not be helped. If you will return with me, and devil ever heard of a seaman without his deep make a v'y'ge or two on the Atlantic, it will serve sea?" you a good turn the remainder of your days, and Mabel, there, and all the other young women near the coast, will think all the better of you, should you live to be as old as one of the trees in this forest." “Nay, nay,” interrupted the single-hearted and generous guide, "Jasper wants not for fri'nds in this region, I can assure you; and though seeing the world, according to his habits, may do him good as well as another, we shall think none the worse of him if he never quits us. Eau-douce, or Eau-de-vie, he is a brave, true-hearted youth, and I always sleep as sound when he is on the watch as if I was up and stirring myself; ay, and for that matter, sounder too. The sergeant's "I do not pretend to any particular skill, Master Cap-" "Except in shooting falls, Jasper; except in shooting falls and rifts," said Pathfinder, coming to the rescue; "in which business even you, Master Cap, must allow he has some handiness. In my judgment, every man is to be esteemed or condemned according to his gifts; and if Master Cap is useless in running the Oswego falls, I try to remember that he is useful when out of sight of land; and if Jasper be useless when out of sight of land, I do not forget that he has a true eye and steady hand when running the falls.” "But Jasper is not useless-would not be useless when out of sight of land," said Mabel, with |