The Pathfinder; Or, The Inland Sea Read online

  CHAPTER V

  Death is here and death is there, Death is busy everywhere. SHELLEY

  It was a breathless moment. The only clue the fugitives possessed to theintentions of their pursuers was in their gestures and the indicationswhich escaped them in the fury of disappointment. That a party hadreturned already, on their own footsteps, by land, was pretty certain;and all the benefit expected from the artifice of the fire wasnecessarily lost. But that consideration became of little moment justthen; for the party was menaced with an immediate discovery by those whohad kept on a level with the river. All the facts presented themselvesclearly, and as it might be by intuition, to the mind of Pathfinder, whoperceived the necessity of immediate decision and of being in readinessto act in concert. Without making any noise, therefore, he managedto get the two Indians and Jasper near him, when he opened hiscommunications in a whisper.

  "We must be ready, we must be ready," he said. "There are but three ofthe scalping devils, and we are five, four of whom may be set down asmanful warriors for such a skrimmage. Eau-douce, do you take the fellowthat is painted like death; Chingachgook, I give you the chief; andArrowhead must keep his eye on the young one. There must be no mistake,for two bullets in the same body would be sinful waste, with one likethe Sergeant's daughter in danger. I shall hold myself in resarveagainst accident, lest a fourth reptile appear, for one of your handsmay prove unsteady. By no means fire until I give the word; we must notlet the crack of the rifle be heard except in the last resort, sinceall the rest of the miscreants are still within hearing. Jasper, boy,in case of any movement behind us on the bank, I trust to you to run outthe canoe with the Sergeant's daughter, and to pull for the garrison, byGod's leave."

  The Pathfinder had no sooner given these directions than the nearapproach of their enemies rendered profound silence necessary. TheIroquois in the river were slowly descending the stream; keeping ofnecessity near the bushes which overhung the water, while the rustlingof leaves and the snapping of twigs soon gave fearful evidence thatanother party was moving along the bank, at an equally graduated pace;and directly abreast of them. In consequence of the distance betweenthe bushes planted by the fugitives and the true shore, the two partiesbecame visible to each other when opposite that precise point. Bothstopped, and a conversation ensued, that may be said to have passeddirectly over the heads of those who were concealed. Indeed, nothingsheltered the travellers but the branches and leaves of plants, sopliant that they yielded to every current of air, and which a puff ofwind a little stronger than common would have blown away. Fortunatelythe line of sight carried the eyes of the two parties of savages,whether they stood in the water or on the land, above the bushes, andthe leaves appeared blended in a way to excite no suspicion. Perhaps thevery boldness of the expedient alone prevented an immediate exposure.The conversation which took place was conducted earnestly, but inguarded tones, as if those who spoke wished to defeat the intentionsof any listeners. It was in a dialect that both the Indian warriorsbeneath, as well as the Pathfinder, understood. Even Jasper comprehendeda portion of what was said.

  "The trail is washed away by the water!" said one from below, who stoodso near the artificial cover of the fugitives, that he might have beenstruck by the salmon-spear that lay in the bottom of Jasper's canoe."Water has washed it so clear that a Yengeese hound could not follow."

  "The pale-faces have left the shore in their canoes," answered thespeaker on the bank.

  "It cannot be. The rifles of our warriors below are certain."

  The Pathfinder gave a significant glance at Jasper, and he clinched histeeth in order to suppress the sound of his own breathing.

  "Let my young men look as if their eyes were eagles'," said the eldestwarrior among those who were wading in the river. "We have been a wholemoon on the war-path, and have found but one scalp. There is a maidenamong them, and some of our braves want wives."

  Happily these words were lost on Mabel; but Jasper's frown becamedeeper, and his face fiercely flushed.

  The savages now ceased speaking, and the party which was concealed heardthe slow and guarded movements of those who were on the bank, as theypushed the bushes aside in their wary progress. It was soon evidentthat the latter had passed the cover; but the group in the waterstill remained, scanning the shore with eyes that glared through theirwar-paint like coals of living fire. After a pause of two or threeminutes, these three began also to descend the stream, though it wasstep by step, as men move who look for an object that has been lost. Inthis manner they passed the artificial screen, and Pathfinder openedhis mouth in that hearty but noiseless laugh that nature and habit hadcontributed to render a peculiarity of the man. His triumph, however,was premature; for the last of the retiring party, just at this momentcasting a look behind him, suddenly stopped; and his fixed attitude andsteady gaze at once betrayed the appalling fact that some neglected bushhad awakened his suspicions.

  It was perhaps fortunate for the concealed that the warrior whomanifested these fearful signs of distrust was young, and had still areputation to acquire. He knew the importance of discretion and modestyin one of his years, and most of all did he dread the ridicule andcontempt that would certainly follow a false alarm. Without recallingany of his companions, therefore, he turned on his own footsteps;and, while the others continued to descend the river, he cautiouslyapproached the bushes, on which his looks were still fastened, as by acharm. Some of the leaves which were exposed to the sun had drooped alittle, and this slight departure from the usual natural laws had caughtthe quick eyes of the Indian; for so practised and acute do the sensesof the savage become, more especially when he is on the war-path, thattrifles apparently of the most insignificant sort often prove to beclues to lead him to his object.

  The trifling nature of the change which had aroused the suspicion ofthis youth was an additional motive for not acquainting his companionswith his discovery. Should he really detect anything, his glory wouldbe the greater for being unshared; and should he not, he might hope toescape that derision which the young Indian so much dreads. Then therewere the dangers of an ambush and a surprise, to which every warrior ofthe woods is keenly alive, to render his approach slow and cautious. Inconsequence of the delay that proceeded from these combined causes, thetwo parties had descended some fifty or sixty yards before the youngsavage was again near enough to the bushes of the Pathfinder to touchthem with his hand.

  Notwithstanding their critical situation, the whole party behind thecover had their eyes fastened on the working countenance of the youngIroquois, who was agitated by conflicting feelings. First came the eagerhope of obtaining success where some of the most experienced of histribe had failed, and with it a degree of glory that had seldom fallento the share of one of his years or a brave on his first war-path; thenfollowed doubts, as the drooping leaves seemed to rise again and torevive in the currents of air; and distrust of hidden danger lent itsexciting feeling to keep the eloquent features in play. So very slight,however, had been the alteration produced by the heat on the bushes ofwhich the stems were in the water, that when the Iroquois actually laidhis hand on the leaves, he fancied that he had been deceived. As no manever distrusts strongly without using all convenient means of satisfyinghis doubts, however, the young warrior cautiously pushed aside thebranches and advanced a step within the hiding-place, when the forms ofthe concealed party met his gaze, resembling so many breathless statues.The low exclamation, the slight start, and the glaring eye, were hardlyseen and heard, before the arm of Chingachgook was raised, and thetomahawk of the Delaware descended on the shaven head of his foe. TheIroquois raised his hands frantically, bounded backward, and fellinto the water, at a spot where the current swept the body away, thestruggling limbs still tossing and writhing in the agony of death. TheDelaware made a vigorous but unsuccessful attempt to seize an arm, withthe hope of securing the scalp; but the bloodstained waters whirled downthe current, carrying with them their quivering burden.

  All this passed in less than a
minute, and the events were so suddenand unexpected, that men less accustomed than the Pathfinder and hisassociates to forest warfare would have been at a loss how to act.

  "There is not a moment to lose," said Jasper, tearing aside the bushes,as he spoke earnestly, but in a suppressed voice. "Do as I do, MasterCap, if you would save your niece; and you, Mabel, lie at your length inthe canoe."

  The words were scarcely uttered when, seizing the bow of the light boathe dragged it along the shore, wading himself, while Cap aided behind,keeping so near the bank as to avoid being seen by the savages below,and striving to gain the turn in the river above him which wouldeffectually conceal the party from the enemy. The Pathfinder's canoe laynearest to the bank, and was necessarily the last to quit the shore.The Delaware leaped on the narrow strand and plunged into the forest,it being his assigned duty to watch the foe in that quarter, whileArrowhead motioned to his white companion to seize the bow of the boatand to follow Jasper. All this was the work of an instant; but when thePathfinder reached the current that was sweeping round the turn, he felta sudden change in the weight he was dragging, and, looking back, hefound that both the Tuscarora and his wife had deserted him. The thoughtof treachery flashed upon his mind, but there was no time to pause, forthe wailing shout that arose from the party below proclaimed that thebody of the young Iroquois had floated as low as the spot reached byhis friends. The report of a rifle followed; and then the guide saw thatJasper, having doubled the bend in the river, was crossing the stream,standing erect in the stern of the canoe, while Cap was seated forward,both propelling the light boat with vigorous strokes of the paddles. Aglance, a thought, and an expedient followed each other quickly in oneso trained in the vicissitudes of the frontier warfare. Springing intothe stern of his own canoe, he urged it by a vigorous shove into thecurrent, and commenced crossing the stream himself, at a point so muchlower than that of his companions as to offer his own person for atarget to the enemy, well knowing that their keen desire to secure ascalp would control all other feelings.

  "Keep well up the current, Jasper," shouted the gallant guide, as heswept the water with long, steady, vigorous strokes of the paddle; "keepwell up the current, and pull for the alder bushes opposite. Presarvethe Sergeant's daughter before all things, and leave these Mingo knavesto the Sarpent and me."

  Jasper flourished his paddle as a signal of understanding, while shotsucceeded shot in quick succession, all now being aimed at the solitaryman in the nearest canoe.

  "Ay, empty your rifles like simpletons as you are," said the Pathfinder,who had acquired a habit of speaking when alone, from passing so muchof his time in the solitude of the forest; "empty your rifles with anunsteady aim, and give me time to put yard upon yard of river betweenus. I will not revile you like a Delaware or a Mohican; for my gifts area white man's gifts, and not an Indian's; and boasting in battle is nopart of a Christian warrior; but I may say here, all alone by myself,that you are little better than so many men from the town shooting atrobins in the orchards. That was well meant," throwing back his head,as a rifle bullet cut a lock of hair from his temple; "but the lead thatmisses by an inch is as useless as the lead that never quits the barrel.Bravely done, Jasper! the Sergeant's sweet child must be saved, even ifwe go in without our own scalps."

  By this time the Pathfinder was in the centre of the river, and almostabreast of his enemies, while the other canoe, impelled by the vigorousarms of Cap and Jasper, had nearly gained the opposite shore at theprecise spot that had been pointed out to them. The old mariner nowplayed his part manfully; for he was on his proper element, loved hisniece sincerely, had a proper regard for his own person, and was notunused to fire, though his experience certainly lay in a very differentspecies of warfare. A few strokes of the paddles were given, and thecanoe shot into the bushes, Mabel was hurried to land by Jasper, and forthe present all three of the fugitives were safe.

  Not so with the Pathfinder: his hardy self-devotion had brought himinto a situation of unusual exposure, the hazards of which were muchincreased by the fact that, just as he drifted nearest to the enemy theparty on the shore rushed down the bank and joined their friends whostill stood in the water. The Oswego was about a cable's length in widthat this point, and, the canoe being in the centre, the object was only ahundred yards from the rifles that were constantly discharged at it; or,at the usual target distance for that weapon.

  In this extremity the steadiness and skill of the Pathfinder did himgood service. He knew that his safety depended altogether on keeping inmotion for a stationary object at that distance, would have been hitnearly every shot. Nor was motion of itself sufficient; for, accustomedto kill the bounding deer, his enemies probably knew how to vary theline of aim so as to strike him, should he continue to move in any onedirection. He was consequently compelled to change the course of thecanoe,--at one moment shooting down with the current, with the swiftnessof an arrow; and at the next checking its progress in that direction, toglance athwart the stream. Luckily the Iroquois could not reload theirpieces in the water, and the bushes that everywhere fringed the shorerendered it difficult to keep the fugitive in view when on the land.Aided by these circumstances, and having received the fire of all hisfoes, the Pathfinder was gaining fast in distance, both downwards andacross the current, when a new danger suddenly, if not unexpectedly,presented itself, by the appearance of the party that had been left inambush below with a view to watch the river.

  These were the savages alluded to in the short dialogue already related.They were no less than ten in number; and, understanding all theadvantages of their bloody occupation, they had posted themselves at aspot where the water dashed among rocks and over shallows, in a way toform a rapid which, in the language of the country, is called a rift.The Pathfinder saw that, if he entered this rift, he should be compelledto approach a point where the Iroquois had posted themselves, for thecurrent was irresistible, and the rocks allowed no other safe passage,while death or captivity would be the probable result of the attempt.All his efforts, therefore, were turned toward reaching the westernshore, the foe being all on the eastern side of the river; but theexploit surpassed human power, and to attempt to stem the stream wouldat once have so far diminished the motion of the canoe as to render aimcertain. In this exigency the guide came to a decision with his usualcool promptitude, making his preparations accordingly. Instead ofendeavoring to gain the channel, he steered towards the shallowest partof the stream, on reaching which he seized his rifle and pack, leapedinto the water, and began to wade from rock to rock, taking thedirection of the western shore. The canoe whirled about in the furiouscurrent, now rolling over some slippery stone, now filling, and thenemptying itself, until it lodged on the shore, within a few yards of thespot where the Iroquois had posted themselves.

  In the meanwhile the Pathfinder was far from being out of danger; forthe first minute, admiration of his promptitude and daring, which are sohigh virtues in the mind of an Indian, kept his enemies motionless; butthe desire of revenge, and the cravings for the much-prized trophy, soonovercame this transient feeling, and aroused them from their stupor.Rifle flashed after rifle, and the bullets whistled around the head ofthe fugitive, amid the roar of the waters. Still he proceeded like onewho bore a charmed life; for, while his rude frontier garments were morethan once cut, his skin was not razed.

  As the Pathfinder, in several instances, was compelled to wade in waterwhich rose nearly to his arms, while he kept his rifle and ammunitionelevated above the raging current, the toil soon fatigued him, and hewas glad to stop at a large stone, or a small rock, which rose so highabove the river that its upper surface was dry. On this stone he placedhis powder-horn, getting behind it himself, so as to have the advantageof a partial cover for his body. The western shore was only fifty feetdistant, but the quiet, swift, dark current that glanced through theinterval sufficiently showed that here he would be compelled to swim.

  A short cessation in the firing now took place on the part of theIndians, who gathered about t
he canoe, and, having found the paddles,were preparing to cross the river.

  "Pathfinder," called a voice from among the bushes, at the point nearestto the person addressed, on the western shore.

  "What would you have, Jasper?"

  "Be of good heart--friends are at hand, and not a single Mingo shallcross without suffering for his boldness. Had you not better leave therifle on the rock, and swim to us before the rascals can get afloat?"

  "A true woodsman never quits his piece while he has any powder in hishorn or a bullet in his pouch. I have not drawn a trigger this day,Eau-douce, and shouldn't relish the idea of parting with those reptileswithout causing them to remember my name. A little water will not harmmy legs; and I see that blackguard, Arrowhead, among the scamps, andwish to send him the wages he has so faithfully earned. You have notbrought the Sergeant's daughter down here in a range with their bullets,I hope, Jasper?"

  "She is safe for the present at least; though all depends on our keepingthe river between us and the enemy. They must know our weakness now;and, should they cross, no doubt some of their party will be left on theother side."

  "This canoeing touches your gifts rather than mine, boy, though I willhandle a paddle with the best Mingo that ever struck a salmon. If theycross below the rift, why can't we cross in the still water above, andkeep playing at dodge and turn with the wolves?"

  "Because, as I have said, they will leave a party on the other shore;and then, Pathfinder, would you expose Mabel, to the rifles of theIroquois?"

  "The Sergeant's daughter must be saved," returned the guide, with calmenergy. "You are right, Jasper; she has no gift to authorize her inoffering her sweet face and tender body to a Mingo rifle. What canbe done, then? They must be kept from crossing for an hour or two, ifpossible, when we must do our best in the darkness."

  "I agree with you, Pathfinder, if it can be effected; but are we strongenough for such a purpose?"

  "The Lord is with us, boy, the Lord is with us; and it is unreasonableto suppose that one like the Sergeant's daughter will be altogetherabandoned by Providence in such a strait. There is not a boat betweenthe falls and the garrison, except these two canoes, to my sartainknowledge; and I think it will go beyond red-skin gifts to cross inthe face of two rifles like these of yourn and mine. I will not vaunt,Jasper; but it is well known on all this frontier that Killdeer seldomfails."

  "Your skill is admitted by all, far and near, Pathfinder; but a rifletakes time to be loaded; nor are you on the land, aided by a good cover,where you can work to the advantage you are used to. If you had ourcanoe, might you not pass to the shore with a dry rifle?"

  "Can an eagle fly, Jasper?" returned the other, laughing in his usualmanner, and looking back as he spoke. "But it would be unwise to exposeyourself on the water; for them miscreants are beginning to bethink themagain of powder and bullets."

  "It can be done without any such chances. Master Cap has gone up tothe canoe, and will cast the branch of a tree into the river to try thecurrent, which sets from the point above in the direction of your rock.See, there it comes already; if it float fairly, you must raise yourarm, when the canoe will follow. At all events, if the boat should passyou, the eddy below will bring it up, and I can recover it."

  While Jasper was still speaking, the floating branch came in sight; and,quickening its progress with the increasing velocity of the current,it swept swiftly down towards the Pathfinder, who seized it as it waspassing, and held it in the air as a sign of success. Cap understoodthe signal, and presently the canoe was launched into the stream, witha caution and an intelligence that the habits of the mariner had fittedhim to observe. It floated in the same direction as the branch, and in aminute was arrested by the Pathfinder.

  "This has been done with a frontier man's judgment Jasper," said theguide, laughing; "but you have your gifts, which incline most to thewater, as mine incline to the woods. Now let them Mingo knaves cocktheir rifles and get rests, for this is the last chance they are likelyto have at a man without a cover."

  "Nay, shove the canoe towards the shore, quartering the current, andthrow yourself into it as it goes off," said Jasper eagerly. "There islittle use in running any risk."

  "I love to stand up face to face with my enemies like a man, whilethey set me the example," returned the Pathfinder proudly. "I am not ared-skin born, and it is more a white man's gifts to fight openly thanto lie in ambushment."

  "And Mabel?"

  "True, boy, true; the Sergeant's daughter must be saved; and, as yousay, foolish risks only become boys. Think you that you can catch thecanoe where you stand?"

  "There can be no doubt, if you give a vigorous push."

  Pathfinder made the necessary effort; the light bark shot across theintervening space, and Jasper seized it as it came to land. To securethe canoe, and to take proper positions in the cover, occupied thefriends but a moment, when they shook hands cordially, like those whohad met after a long separation.

  "Now, Jasper, we shall see if a Mingo of them all dares cross the Oswegoin the teeth of Killdeer! You are handier with the oar and the paddleand the sail than with the rifle, perhaps; but you have a stout heartand a steady hand, and them are things that count in a fight."

  "Mabel will find me between her and her enemies," said Jasper calmly.

  "Yes, yes, the Sergeant's daughter must be protected. I like you, boy,on your own account; but I like you all the better that you think ofone so feeble at a moment when there is need of all your manhood. See,Jasper! Three of the knaves are actually getting into the canoe! Theymust believe we have fled, or they would not surely venture so much,directly in the very face of Killdeer."

  Sure enough the Iroquois did appear bent on venturing across the stream;for, as the Pathfinder and his friends now kept their persons strictlyconcealed, their enemies began to think that the latter had taken toflight. Such a course was that which most white men would have followed;but Mabel was under the care of those who were much too well skilled inforest warfare to neglect to defend the only pass that, in truth, nowoffered even a probable chance for protection.

  As the Pathfinder had said, three warriors were in the canoe, twoholding their rifles at a poise, as they knelt in readiness to aim thedeadly weapons, and the other standing erect in the stern to wield thepaddle. In this manner they left the shore, having had the precautionto haul the canoe, previously to entering it, so far up the stream asto have got into the comparatively still water above the rift. It wasapparent at a glance that the savage who guided the boat was skilledin the art; for the long steady sweep of his paddle sent the light barkover the glassy surface of the tranquil river as if it were a featherfloating in air.

  "Shall I fire?" demanded Jasper in a whisper, trembling with eagernessto engage.

  "Not yet, boy, not yet. There are but three of them, and if Master Capyonder knows how to use the popguns he carries in his belt, we may evenlet them land, and then we shall recover the canoe."

  "But Mabel--?"

  "No fear for the Sergeant's daughter. She is safe in the hollow stump,you say, with the opening judgmatically hid by the brambles. If whatyou tell me of the manner in which you concealed the trail be true, thesweet one might lie there a month and laugh at the Mingos."

  "We are never certain. I wish we had brought her nearer to our owncover!"

  "What for, Eau-douce? To place her pretty little head and leaping heartamong flying bullets? No, no: she is better where she is, because she issafer."

  "We are never certain. We thought ourselves safe behind the bushes, andyet you saw that we were discovered."

  "And the Mingo imp paid for his curiosity, as these knaves are about todo."

  The Pathfinder ceased speaking; for at that instant the sharp report ofa rifle was heard, when the Indian in the stern of the canoe leaped highinto the air, and fell into the water, holding the paddle in his hand.A small wreath of smoke floated out from among the bushes of the easternshore, and was soon absorbed by the atmosphere.

  "That is the Sar
pent hissing!" exclaimed the Pathfinder exultingly. "Abolder or a truer heart never beat in the breast of a Delaware. I amsorry that he interfered; but he could not have known our condition."

  The canoe had no sooner lost its guide than it floated with the stream,and was soon sucked into the rapids of the rift. Perfectly helpless,the two remaining savages gazed wildly about them, but could offer noresistance to the power of the element. It was perhaps fortunate forChingachgook that the attention of most of the Iroquois was intentlygiven to the situation of those in the boat, else would his escape havebeen to the last degree difficult, if not totally impracticable. But nota foe moved, except to conceal his person behind some cover; and everyeye was riveted on the two remaining adventurers. In less time than hasbeen necessary to record these occurrences, the canoe was whirling andtossing in the rift, while both the savages had stretched themselvesin its bottom, as the only means of preserving the equilibrium. Thisnatural expedient soon failed them; for, striking a rock, the lightdraft rolled over, and the two warriors were thrown into the river. Thewater is seldom deep on a rift, except in particular places where itmay have worn channels; and there was little to be apprehended fromdrowning, though their arms were lost; and the two savages were fain tomake the best of their way to the friendly shore, swimming and wading ascircumstances required. The canoe itself lodged on a rock in the centreof the stream, where for the moment it became useless to both parties.

  "Now is our time, Pathfinder," cried Jasper, as the two Iroquois exposedmost of their persons while wading in the shallowest part of the rapids:"the fellow up stream is mine, and you can take the lower."

  So excited had the young man become by all the incidents of the stirringscene, that the bullet sped from his rifle as he spoke, but uselessly,as it would seem, for both the fugitives tossed their arms in disdain.The Pathfinder did not fire.

  "No, no, Eau-douce," he answered; "I do not seek blood without a cause;and my bullet is well leathered and carefully driven down, for the timeof need. I love no Mingo, as is just, seeing how much I have consortedwith the Delawares, who are their mortal and natural enemies; but Inever pull trigger on one of the miscreants unless it be plain that hisdeath will lead to some good end. The deer never leaped that fell bymy hand wantonly. By living much alone with God in the wilderness a mangets to feel the justice of such opinions. One life is sufficient forour present wants; and there may yet be occasion to use Killdeer inbehalf of the Sarpent, who has done an untimorsome thing to let themrampant devils so plainly know that he is in their neighborhood. As I'ma wicked sinner, there is one of them prowling along the bank this verymoment, like one of the boys of the garrison skulking behind a fallentree to get a shot at a squirrel!"

  As the Pathfinder pointed with his finger while speaking, the quick eyeof Jasper soon caught the object towards which it was directed. One ofthe young warriors of the enemy, burning with a desire to distinguishhimself, had stolen from his party towards the cover in whichChingachgook had concealed himself; and as the latter was deceived bythe apparent apathy of his foes, as well as engaged in some furtherpreparations of his own, he had evidently obtained a position wherehe got a sight of the Delaware. This circumstance was apparent by thearrangements the Iroquois was making to fire, for Chingachgook himselfwas not visible from the western side of the river. The rift was at abend in the Oswego, and the sweep of the eastern shore formed a curveso wide that Chingachgook was quite near to his enemies in a straightdirection, though separated by several hundred feet on the land, owingto which fact air lines brought both parties nearly equidistant fromthe Pathfinder and Jasper. The general width of the river being a littleless than two hundred yards, such necessarily was about the distancebetween his two observers and the skulking Iroquois.

  "The Sarpent must be thereabouts," observed Pathfinder, who never turnedhis eye for an instant from the young warrior; "and yet he must bestrangely off his guard to allow a Mingo devil to get his stand so near,with manifest signs of bloodshed in his heart."

  "See!" interrupted Jasper--"there is the body of the Indian the Delawareshot! It has drifted on a rock, and the current has forced the head andface above the water."

  "Quite likely, boy, quite likely. Human natur' is little better than alog of driftwood, when the life that was breathed into its nostrilsis departed. That Iroquois will never harm any one more; but yonderskulking savage is bent on taking the scalp of my best and most triedfriend."

  The Pathfinder suddenly interrupted himself by raising his rifle, aweapon of unusual length, with admirable precision, and firing theinstant it had got its level. The Iroquois on the opposite shore was inthe act of aiming when the fatal messenger from Killdeer arrived. Hisrifle was discharged, it is true, but it was with the muzzle in the air,while the man himself plunged into the bushes, quite evidently hurt, ifnot slain.

  "The skulking reptyle brought it on himself," muttered Pathfindersternly, as, dropping the butt of his rifle, he carefully commencedreloading it. "Chingachgook and I have consorted together since we wereboys, and have fi't in company on the Horican, the Mohawk, the Ontario,and all the other bloody passes between the country of the Frenchers andour own; and did the foolish knave believe that I would stand by and seemy best friend cut off in an ambushment?"

  "We have served the Sarpent as good a turn as he served us. Thoserascals are troubled, Pathfinder, and are falling back into theircovers, since they find we can reach them across the river."

  "The shot is no great matter, Jasper, no great matter. Ask any of the60th, and they can tell you what Killdeer can do, and has done, andthat, too, when the bullets were flying about our heads like hailstones.No, no! this is no great matter, and the unthoughtful vagabond drew itdown on himself."

  "Is that a dog, or a deer, swimming towards this shore?" Pathfinderstarted, for sure enough an object was crossing the stream, above therift, towards which, however, it was gradually setting by the force ofthe current. A second look satisfied both the observers that it wasa man, and an Indian, though so concealed as at first to render itdoubtful. Some stratagem was apprehended, and the closest attention wasgiven to the movements of the stranger.

  "He is pushing something before him as he swims, and his head resemblesa drifting bush," said Jasper.

  "'Tis Indian devilry, boy; but Christian honesty shall circumvent theirarts."

  As the man slowly approached, the observers began to doubt the accuracyof their first impressions, and it was only when two-thirds of thestream were passed that the truth was really known.

  "The Big Sarpent, as I live!" exclaimed Pathfinder, looking at hiscompanion, and laughing until the tears came into his eyes with puredelight at the success of the artifice. "He has tied bushes to his head,so as to hide it, put the horn on top, lashed the rifle to that bit oflog he is pushing before him, and has come over to join his friends.Ah's me! The times and times that he and I have cut such pranks, rightin the teeth of Mingos raging for our blood, in the great thoroughfareround and about Ty!"

  "It may not be the Serpent after all, Pathfinder; I can see no featurethat I remember."

  "Feature! Who looks for features in an Indian? No, no, boy; 'tis thepaint that speaks, and none but a Delaware would wear that paint:them are his colors, Jasper, just as your craft on the lake wears St.George's Cross, and the Frenchers set their tablecloths to flutteringin the wind, with all the stains of fish-bones and venison steaks uponthem. Now, you see the eye, lad, and it is the eye of a chief. But,Eau-douce, fierce as it is in battle, and glassy as it looks fromamong the leaves,"--here the Pathfinder laid his fingers lightly butimpressively on his companion's arm,--"I have seen it shed tears likerain. There is a soul and a heart under that red skin, rely on it;although they are a soul and a heart with gifts different from our own."

  "No one who is acquainted with the chief ever doubted that."

  "I _know_ it," returned the other proudly, "for I have consortedwith him in sorrow and in joy: in one I have found him a man, howeverstricken; in the other, a chief who knows that
the women of his tribeare the most seemly in light merriment. But hist! It is too much likethe people of the settlements to pour soft speeches into another's ear;and the Sarpent has keen senses. He knows I love him, and that I speakwell of him behind his back; but a Delaware has modesty in his inmostnatur', though he will brag like a sinner when tied to a stake."

  The Serpent now reached the shore, directly in the front of his twocomrades, with whose precise position he must have been acquaintedbefore leaving the eastern side of the river, and rising from the waterhe shook himself like a dog, and made the usual exclamation--"Hugh!"