The Pathfinder: Or the Inland Sea

ll be my fra

ord! that ar

breath the m

houghts my o

O

d them. It is still the practice of the country to call these spots wind-rows. By letting in the light of heaven upon the dark and damp recesses of the wood, they form a sort of oases in the solemn obscurity of the virgin forests of America. The particular wind-row of which we are writing lay on the brow of a gentle acclivity; and, though small, it had opened the way for an extensive view to those who might occupy its upper margin, a rare occurrence to the traveller in the woods. Philosophy has not yet determined the nature of the power that so often lays desolate spots of this description; some ascribing it to the whirlwinds which produce waterspouts on the ocean, while others again impute it to sudden and violent passages of streams of the electric fluid; but the effects in the woods are famili

the soil, being Indians of the well-known tribe of the Tuscaroras; while their companions were — a man, who bore about him the peculiarities of one who had passed his days on the ocean, and was, too, in a station little, if any, above that of a common mariner; and his female associate, who was a maiden of a class in no great degree superior to his own; though her youth, sweetness and countenance, and a modest, but

en known in the parlance of the country as the basswood, mingled their uppermost branches, forming one broad and seemingly interminable carpet of foliage which stretched away towards the setting sun, until it bounded the horizon, by blending with the clouds, as the waves and the sky meet at the base of the vault of heaven. Here and there, by some accident of the tempests, or by a caprice of nature, a trifling opening among these giant members of the forest permitted an inferior tree to struggle upward toward

he principle of grandeur. The beauty was to be traced in the delicate tints, relieved by

nion, whose arm she rather touched than leaned on, to steady her own lig

e’s personal attractions; “no one but a child would think of likening this handful of leaves to a look at the real Atla

it must be miles on miles, and yet we see nothing but

hrust into the bosom of a vest of red cloth, a fashion of the times — “more, Magnet! say, rather, what less? Where are your combing seas,

mn silence, your fragrant leaves, and yo

ou would know that green water is a sailor’s

thing. Hist! that sound is the

your gales, and hurricanes, and trades, and levanters, and such like incidents, in

signs around us plainly show; and beasts,

ies at Albany of the wild animals we should fall in with, and yet we have seen nothing to fr

beauty of the “boundless wood” than with her uncle’s arguments; “yonder i

h is worth a thousand trees. I must show it to Arrowhead, who may be running past a

since than to-day; and, while he had mingled sufficiently with the colonists to be familiar with their habits and even with their language, he had lost little, if any, of the wild grandeur and simple dignity of a chief. Between him and the old seaman the intercourse had been friendly, but distant; for the Indian had been too much accustomed to mingle with the officers of the different military posts he had frequented not to understand that his present companion was only

feet, a low exclamation, in the soft tones that form so singular a contrast to its harsher cries in the Indian warrior’s voice, was barely audible; otherwise, he was undisturbed. His countenance was calm, and his quick, dark, eagle eye moved over the leafy panorama, as if to take in at a glance every circumstan

is Indian companion by his conventional English name; “will it not be well to jo

ead answered in his unmov

erhaps some old mess-mates of

Oneida — no Mohaw

a-dogs can tell a lubber’s nest from a mate’s hammock; but I do not think the o

cheek and brightened the eye of the fair creature at his side; but she soon turned with a look of surprise to her rel

! Surely, uncle, he

ow what to believe. May I take the liberty of asking, Arrowhead, why

e pedagogue might point out an arithmetical demonstration to his

of it. To my eye, now, it is as light and fanciful a smoke as ever rose from a captain’

e head; “Tuscarora too cunning to make fire with water! Pale-

net; for the chief has sensible notions of things in his own way. How far, now, Arrowhead, do you make us, by your calcula

periority as he answered, “Ontario, like heaven;

itable, and the farthest inland. If this body of fresh water is so nigh, Arrowhead, and so large, one might think a

etching an arm before him w

Water ho!’ and you do not see it,” cried the niece, la

that I shouldn’t know my nati

ent, dear uncle; for you come from t

g mariner, but none to the old one. I should

with emphasis, again stretching

r of contempt, though he did not fail to follow the direction of the chief’s eye and arm, both of w

made up, and who thought no more need be said. “Ontario may be there, or, for that matter, it may be in my pocket. Well, I suppose there will be room en

ce. When they reached the ground, Arrowhead intimated his intention to go towards the fire, and ascertain who had lighted it; whi

,” returned old Cap; “but in an unknown region like this I think it unsafe to trust

gravely, though without taking offence

d, and no more. I will go with

, and her love, to proceed to the boat. But here Magnet raised a difficulty. Although spirited, and of unusual energy under circumstances of trial, she was but woman; and the idea of being entirely d

” she added, as the rich blood slowly returned to a cheek that had paled in s

cable’s length, and we shall ret

hile the Dew-of-June, as the wife of Arrowhead was called, passively went her way towards the ca

the margin of the woods. A few glances of the eye sufficed for Arrowhead; but old Cap deliberate

le,” said the uncle, as he trudged at the heels of the light-stepping Tuscarora. “America would never have been discover

his course, and gravely answered, “A pale-face eye. The Tuscarora see in his head

s be silent, perhaps he distrusts

perceive he has examined the priming of his rifle, and

ith a step as elastic as that of the Indian, keeping close in the rear of her companions. For the first half mile no other caution beyond

one walked, as it might be, through a vast natural vault, upheld by myriads of rustic columns. These columns or trees, however, often served to conceal the adventurer, the hunter, or the foe; and, as Arrowhead

ting, pointing through the vis

ere they are, sure enough, and eating their grub as q

ispered Mabel, “for there are two

rora, holding up two fingers

and a fine comely lad he is, with an air of respectability about him; one is a red-skin as plain as

ead, again raising two finger

r to fail. But it is now urgent to know whether

nd the tree, Magnet, lest the knaves take it into their heads to fire a bro

d was about to give the promised hail, when a rapid movement from the

d the Tuscarora; “good;

d the prospect of a deadly fray in that remote wilderness. “Let

an cool, and know; pale-face hurr

d as a lookout, while two lubbers, like you and me, lie-to

ch alone, would fire upon her; and my presence will be a pledge of peace. Let me go forward, as Arrowhead wish

who did not conceal his ap

ed Cap; “but, being in the woods, no o

ause to fear for me; and you

ne of the pis

olor heightened under her feelings. “Among Christian men, a woman’s best guard is her cl

in appeasing their hunger to avert their looks for an instant from the important business in which they were all engaged. When Mabel, however, had got within a hundred feet of the fire, she trod upon a dried stick, and the trifling noise produced by her light footstep caused the Mohican, as Arrowhead had pronounced the Indian to be, and his companion, whose character had been thought so equivocal

the habits of the two races, that it required a near look to be certain of the fact. He was of middle age; but there was an open honesty, a total ab

in all these parts, and perhaps one of my names may have reached your ears. By the Frenchers and the red-skins on the other side of the Big Lakes, I am called La Longue Carabine; by the Mohicans, a just-minded and upright tribe, what is le

thers might have heard of him, who had no reason to blush at the reports. The effect on Mabel was instantane

myself in finding my way where there is no path, than in finding it where there is. But the regular troops are by no means particular, and half

end my father promise

ghter, the great Prophet of the D

name is Cap, and a Tuscarora called Arrowhead. We did not hope

f the Tuscaroras, who have travelled too far from the graves of their fathers always to re

us, and a humble and

re that Providence bestows, while we follow the trail of life. I suppose worse guides might have been found

ps, fortunate we ha

We expected to meet you before you reached the Falls, where we have left our own canoe; while we thought it might do no harm to come

conference was amicable, drew nigh; and a few words sufficed to let them know as much as the girl herself had learned from t