THE PATHFINDER: OR, THE INLAND SEA. BY THE AUTHOR OF “THE PIONEERS," "LAST OF THE MOHICANS," "PRAIRIE," &c. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by J. FENIMORE COOPER, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Northern District of New York. STEREOTYPED BY J. FAGAN.........PHILADELPHIA. PRINTED BY T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS. THE PATHFINDER. CHAPTER I. "Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Calm or convulsed-in breeze, or gale, or storm, 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." 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 term 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 lustre 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 serjeant, Cap, Pathfinder, the QuarterMaster, and Mabel. There was a shade on the brow of the (3) |