red-skin habits, quite as much as the Indian in getting white-skin ways. As for the real natur', it is my opinion that neither can actually get that of the other." "And yet we sailors, who run about the world so much, say there is but one nature, whether it be in the China-man or a Dutchman. For my own part, I am much of that way of thinking too; for I have generally found that all nations like gold and silver, and most men relish tobacco.' "Then you sea-faring men know little of the red-skins. Have you ever known any of your China-men who could sing their death-songs, with their flesh torn with splinters, and cut with knives, the fire raging around their naked bodies, and death staring them in the face? Until you can find me a China-man, or a Christian-man, that can do all this, you cannot find a man with a red-skin natur', let him look ever so valiant, or know how to read all the books that were ever printed." "It is the savages only that play each other such hellish tricks!" said Master Cap, glancing his eyes about him uneasily at the apparently endless arches of the forest. "No white man is ever condemned to undergo these trials." 66 Nay, therein you are again mistaken," returned the Pathfinder, coolly selecting a delicate morsel of the venison as his bonne bouche; "for though these torments belong only to the red-skin natur', in the way of bearing them like braves, white-skin natur', may be, and often has been, agonized by them." "Happily," said Cap, with an effort to clear his throat, "none of His Majesty's allies will be likely to attempt such damnable cruelties, on any of His Majesty's royal subjects. I have not served much in the royal navy, it is true; but I have served - and that is something; and, in the way of privateering and worrying the enemy in his ship and cargoes, I've done my full share. But I trust there are no French savages on this side the lake, and I think you said that Ontario is a broad sheet of water?" "Nay, it is broad in our eyes," returned Pathfinder, not caring to conceal the smile which lighted a face that had been burnt by exposure to a bright red, "though I mistrust that some may think it narrow; and narrow it is, if you wish it to keep off the foe. Ontario has two ends, and the enemy that is afraid to cross it, will be certain to come round it." "Ah! that comes of your d---d freshwater ponds!" growled Cap, hemming so loud as to cause him instantly to repent the indiscretion. "No man, now, ever heard of a pirate's, or a ship's getting round one end of the Atlantic!" 66 Mayhap the ocean has no ends?" "That it has n't; nor sides, nor bottom. The nation that is snugly moored on one of its coasts need fear nothing from the one anchored abeam, let it be ever so savage, unless it possesses the art of shipbuilding. No-no-the people who live on the shores of the Atlantic need fear but little for their skins or their scalps. A man may lie The Pathfinder. 2 down at night, in those regions, in the hope of finding the hair on his head in the morning, unless he wears a wig." "It is n't so here. I don't wish to flurry the young woman, and therefore I will be no way particular-though she seems pretty much listening to Eau-douce, as we call him- but without the edication I have received, I should think it, at this very moment, a risky journey to go over the very ground that lies between us and the garrison, in the present state of this frontier. There are about as many Iroquois on this side of Ontario, as there are on the other. It is for this very reason, friend Cap, that the serjeant has engaged us to come out and show you the path." "What!-- do the knaves dare to cruise so near the guns of one of His Majesty's works?" "Do not the ravens resort near the carcase of the deer, though the fowler is at hand? They come this-a-way, as it might be, naturally. There are more or less whites passing between the forts and the settlements, and they are sure to be on their trails. The Sarpent has come up one side of the river, and I have come up the other, in order to scout for the outlying rascals, while Jasper brought up the canoe, like a bold-hearted sailor, as he is. The serjeant told him, with tears in his eyes, all about his child, and how his heart yearned for her, and how gentle and obedient she was, until I think the lad would have dashed into a Mingo camp, single handed, rather than not a come. "We thank him we thank him; and shall think the better of him for his readiness though I suppose the boy has run no great risk, after all." "Only the risk of being shot from a cover, as he forced the canoe up a swift rift, or turned an elbow in the stream with his eyes fastened on the eddies. Of all the risky journeys, that on an ambushed river is the most risky, in my judgment, and that risk has Jasper run." "And why the devil has the serjeant sent for me to travel a hundred and fifty miles in this outlandish manner! Give me an offing, and the enemy in sight, and I'll play with him in his own fashion, as long as he pleases, long bows, or close quarter's; but to be shot like a turtle asleep, is not to my humour. If it were not for little Magnet, there, I would tack ship this instant, make the best of my way back to York, and let Ontario take care of itself, salt water or fresh water." "That wouldn't mend the matter much, friend mariner, as the road to return is much longer, and almost as bad as the road to go on. Trust to us, and we will carry you through safe, or lose our scalps." Cap wore a tight solid cue, done up in eel-skin, while the top of his head was nearly bald; and he mechanically passed his hand over both, as if to make certain that each was in its right place. He was at the bottom, however, a brave man, and had often faced death with coolness, though never in the frightful forms in which it presented itself, under the brief, but graphic, picture of his companion. It was too late to retreat; and he determined to put the best face on the matter, though he could not avoid muttering inwardly a few curses on the indifference and indiscretion with which his brotherin-law, the serjeant, had led him into his present dilemma. "I make no doubt, Master Pathfinder," he answered, when these thoughts had found time to glance through his mind, "that we shall reach port in safety. What distance may we now be from the fort?" "Little more than fifteen miles; and swift miles too, as the river runs, if the Mingos let us go clear." "And I suppose the woods will stretch along, starboard and larboard, as heretofore?" "Anan?" "I mean that we shall have to pick our way through these damned trees!" "Nay, nay, you will go in the canoe, and the Oswego has been cleared of its flood-wood by the troops. It will be floating down stream, and that, too, with a swift current." "And what the devil is to prevent these minks, of which you speak, from shooting us as we double a head-land, or are busy in steering clear of the rocks?" "The Lord! He who has so often helped others, in greater difficulties. Many and many is the time that my head would have been stripped of hair, skin and all, hadn't the Lord fi't of my side. I never go into a skrimmage, friend mariner, without thinking of this great ally, who can do more in battle, than all the battalions of the 60th, were they brought into a single line." "Ay-ay-this may do well enough for a scouter; but we seamen like our offing, and to go into action with nothing in our minds, but the business before us-plain broadside and broadside work, and no trees or rocks, to thicken the water." "And no Lord, too, I dare to say, if the truth were known! Take my word for it, Master Cap, that no battle is the worse fou't for having the Lord on your side. Look at the head of the Big Sarpent, there; you can see the mark of a knife all along by his left ear; now, nothing but a bullet from this long rifle of mine, saved his scalp that day, for it had fairly started, and half a minute more would have left him without the war-lock. When the Mohican squeezes my hand, and intermates that I befriended him in that matter, I tell him, no; it was the Lord, who led me to the only spot where execution could be done, or his necessity be made known, on account of the smoke. Sartain when I got the right position, I finished the affair of my own accord, for a friend under the tomahawk is apt to make a man think quick, and act at once, as was my case, or the Sarpent's spirit would be hunting in the happy land of his people, at this very moment." "Come, come, Pathfinder, this palaver is worse than being skinned from stem to stern; we have but a few hours of sun, and had better be drifting down this said current of yours, while we may. Magnet, dear, are you not ready to get under way? Magnet started, blushed brightly, and made her preparations for an immediate departure. Not a syllable of the discourse just related had she heard, for Eau-douce, as young Jasper was oftener called than any thing else, had been filling her ears with a decription of the yet distant fort towards which she was journeying, with accounts of her father, whom she had not seen since a child, and with the manner of life of those who lived in the frontier garrisons, Unconsciously, she had become deeply interested, and her thoughts had been too intently directed to these interesting matters, to allow any of the less agreeable subjects discussed by those so near to reach her ears. The bustle of departure put an end to the conversation entirely, and the baggage of the scouts, or guides, being trifling, in a few minutes, the whole party was ready to proceed. As they were about to quit the spot, however, to the surprise of even his fellowguides, Pathfinder, collected a quantity of branches, and threw them upon the embers of the fire, taking care even to see that some of the wood was damp, in order to raise as dark and dense a smoke as possible. "When you can hide your trail, Jasper," he said, "a smoke at leaving an encampment may do good, instead of harm. If there are a dozen Mingos within ten miles of us, some on 'em are on the heights, or in the trees, looking out for smokes; let them see this, and much good may it do them. They are welcome to our leavings." "But may they not strike, and follow on our trail?" asked the youth, whose interest in the hazard of his situation had much increased, since the meeting with Magnet. "Whe shall leave a broad path to the river." "The broader the better; when there, it will surpass Mingo_cunning, even, to say which way the canoe has gone; up stream or down. Water is the only thing in natur' that will thoroughly wash out a trail, and even water will not always do it, when the scent is strong. Do you not see, Eau-douce, that if any Mingos have seen our path below the falls, they will strike off towards this smoke, and that they will naturally conclude that they who began by going up stream, will end by going up stream. If they know any thing they now know a party is out from the fort, and it will exceed even Mingo wit, to fancy that we have come up here, just for the pleasure of going back again, and that, too, the same day, and at the risk of our scalps." Certainly," added Jasper, who was talking apart with the Pathfinder, as they moved towards the wind-row, "they cannot know any thing about the serjeant's daughter, for the greatest secrecy has been observed, on her account.' "And they will learn nothing, here." returned Pathfinder, causing his companion to see that he trod with the utmost care, on the impression left on the leaves, by the little foot of Mabel, "unless this old salt-water fish has been taking his niece about in the wind-row, like a fa'n playing by the side of the old doe." "Buck, you mean, Pathfinder." "Isn't he a queerity?—Now, I can consort with such a sailor as yourself, Eau douce, and find nothing very contrary in our gifts, though yours belong to the lakes, and mine to the woods. Harkee, Jasper," continued the scout, laughing in his noiseless manner; "suppose we try the temper of his blade, and run him over the falls?” "And what would be done with the pretty niece, in the meanwhile?" 66 Nay-nay-no harm shall come to her; she must walk round the portage, at any rate; but you and I can try this Atlantic oceaner, and then all parties will become better acquainted. Whe shall find out whether his flint will strike fire; and he may come to know something of frontier tricks." Young Jasper smiled, for he was not averse to fun, and had been a little touched by Cap's superciliousness; but Mabel's fair face, light agile form, and winning smiles, stood like a shield between her uncle and the intended experiment. "Perhaps the serjeant's daughter will be frightened," he said. "Not she, if she has any of the serjeant's spirit in her. She doesn't Eau-douce, look like a skeary thing, at all. Leave it to me, then, and I will manage the affair alone." you "Not you, Pathfinder; would only drown both. If the canoe goes over, I must go in it." "Well, have it so, then; shall we smoke the pipe of agreement on the bargain?" Jasper laughed, nodded his head, by way of consent, and then the subject was dropped, as the party had reached the canoe, so often mentioned, and fewer words had determined much greater things between the parties. CHAPTER III. "Before these fields were shorn and tilled, The melody of waters filled The fresh and boundless wood; And torrents dashed, and rivulets played, And fountains spouted in the shade."-BRYANT. Ir is generally known, that the waters which flow into the southern side of Ontario, are, in general, narrow, sluggish, and deep. There are some exceptions to this rule, for many of the rivers have rapids, or, as they are termed in the language of the region, rifts, and some have falls. Among the latter was the particular stream on which our adventurers were now journeying. The Oswego is formed by the junction of the Oneida and the Onondaga, both of which flow from lakes; and it pursues its way, through a gentle undulating country, some eight or ten miles, until it reaches the margin of a sort of natural terrace, down which it tumbles some ten or fifteen feet, to another level, across which it glides, or glances, or pursues its course with the silent stealthy progress of deep water, until it throws its tribute into the broad receptacle of the Ontario. The canoe in |