The Pathfinder: Or the Inland Sea

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were not altogether without hazard. Very little exertion was required on the part of those who managed the canoes, except in those places where the swiftness of the current and the presence of the rocks required care; then, indeed, not only vigilance, but great coolness, readiness

Jasper to follow. In a minute both boats were silently drifting down the stream, within reach of the bushes that overhung the water, all observing a profound silence; some from

dead log,” observed the white man to his r

are in t

d these two days: doe

eld up the head of a

son,"— for so it was the usage of that frontier to

ipe belonging to a soldier.

ain holding the thing he had fo

nd with a very respectable degree of skill; in its centre was a small La

confounding men with things, as to have left its traces strong enough on the moral feeling of the community to be discovered even at the present hour; “no Indian who had not been parvarted by the cunning priests of the Ca

as burning whe

ork, chief. Wher

spot not a hundred yards

th ascended the bank, approached the indicated spot, and examined the trail with the utmost care. After this investi

rity, blended in an air of self-reliance which usually gave great confidence to those who found themselve

ally deep, loud, and confident to sink into the cautious tones that better sui

na

ed off the harbor towards which we are running

and anchors; but there is a direful Mingo trail within a hundred yards of this very spot, and as fresh as venison without salt. If one of the fiery devils has passed, so have a dozen; and,

broadside, and clear everything

nt in vain. We have but one course, and that is a very nice one. We are judgmatically placed here, both canoes being hid by the high bank and the bushes, from all eyes, except those of any lurker directly opposite. Here, then, we may stay without much pres

r the fal

will draw them above us. In the meanwhile, we will drop the canoes carefully down beyond the point below, and find

per, springing to the shore. “In ten

whispered the other, laughing heartily, in his own peculia

seen from the place where Jasper intended to light his fire. The movement did not require haste, and it was made leisurely and with care. The canoes were got clear of the bushes, then suffered to drop down with the

llowing it to rise spirally above the bed of the river. “A good flint, a small bit of steel, and plenty of dry leaves makes

much cunning,” said Ar

at a halt than of their wisdom and danger. No, no; let the boy pile on his logs, and smoke them well too; it will all be laid to the stupid

e soldiers on this frontier are used to the artifices of their enemie

l so fond of talking. One red-skin has more cunning in his natur’ than a whole regiment from the other side of the water; that is, what I call cunning of the woods. But there is smoke e

of minutes the bend in the river concealed the smoke and the tree. Fortunately a small indentation in the shore presented itse

f the little bay, where most of the party landed to be more at their ease, and the only position from which they could possibly be seen was a point on the river directly opposite. There was

“but it may be necessary to make it safer. Master Cap, I ask nothing of you but silence, and a quieting

Much ingenuity and readiness were manifested in making this simple arrangement, in which the two workmen were essentially favored by the natural formation of the bank, the indentation in the shore, the shallowness of the water, and the manner in which the tangled bushes dipped into the stream. The Pathfinder had the address to look for bushes which had curved stems, things easily found in such a place; and by cutting them some distance ben

nnoitre; “the leaves of our new trees fairly touch those of the bushes over our heads. Hist! — yonder comes Eau-douce, wading, li

ght exist no visible communication between the marks left on the shore by the party and the place where he believed them to have taken refuge below. Should the Canadian Indians return on their own trail, and discover that made by the Pathfinder and the Serpent in their ascent from and descent to th

the Pathfinder had secreted himself. When fairly round the curvature in the shore, and out of sight of the fire he had lighted above, the young man stopped and began examining the bank deliberately and with great care. Occasionally he advanced eight or ten paces, and then halted again, to renew the search. The water being much s

a horn of powder against a wampum-belt for her girdle, that her father’s rijiment should march by this embankment of ours and never find out the fraud! But if the Mingoes actually ge

o get under way at once, and carry sail hard down stream, as soon as we are satisfied

the magazine of the fort below. Sartain captivity or sartain death would follow. If a tender fa’n, such as the maiden we have in charge, could

energy. “I am young, active, used to exercise, and could easily out-walk my dear uncle. Let no

that is unbecoming, and would willingly run twice this risk to do you a

sis. “Nothing shall tempt me to desert Mabel

u are not the first of your sex I have led through the wilderness, and never but once did any

first her voice was choked, “I have no right to expose you on my account. My dear father will thank you, I thank you, God will reward you; but let there be

and sometimes even hard-hearted, in the woods, Mabel; but the sight of one like you brings us back again to our young feelings, and does us good for the remainder of our days. I daresay Jasper here will

, an honest sincerity glowing in his face that spoke more eloquently than his tongue; “you need n

abel hurriedly rejoined; “for I fee

o, of tramping over brush and roots, and through swamps, in the dark; the trail of such a party would

rnly, and the woman answered with the subdued mildness that marks the degraded condition of a savage’s wife. Pathfinder and Cap occupied one canoe, chatting of their different adventures by sea and land; while Jasper and Mabel sat in the other, making greater progress in intimacy i

ug enough; for, to give the devil his due, you have got the canoes handsomely landlocked,

es, if we are to tell him where the cover is to be found through the nose? No, no; deny your appetites; and learn one

pent is

eyes are better than them of

, no sooner did he pass the bend, where he was concealed from any who might be higher up stream, than he moved close under the bank; and, using the utmos

inder. “As I’m a Christian white man, they hav

d full ten minutes; and then it was apparent that something of interest had occurred within his view, for he drew back with a hurried manner, looked anxiously and keenly along the margin of the stream, and moved quickly down it

o restrain his impatience — “call him in, or it

begin to creep. The Lord help us and teach us wisdom! I do believe even Chingachgook, whose sight is

r down the stream than the artificial cover, suddenly stopped; fastened a keen-riveted glance among the transplanted bush

er, as soon as his friend was near e

turned the sen

furies — all are pretty much the same. I call all rascals M

r, Pathfinder rejoined the rest, and mad

discovery, that they did not bestow the ordinary attention on the signs of the forest. At all events, they passed him swiftly, fifteen in number, treading lightly in each other’s footsteps; and he was enabled again to get into their rear. After proceeding to the place where the footsteps of Pathfinder and the Mohican had joined the principal trail, the Iroquois had struck off to the river, which they reached just as Jasp

ging again into the woods, while six or eight had followed the footsteps of Jasper along the shore, and come down the stream towards the place where the canoes had landed. What course they might take on reaching that spot was only to be conjectured; for the Serpent had fe

sional feelings of the two other white men came uppermost, and both

“the current is strong, and by using the paddles vigorou

it wither in the forest?” objected his friend, with a poetry which he

mounting to his temples; “Mabel and Arrowhead’s wife may lie d

will allow, but an accursed Mingo is more active at his mi

aged as we have been by a confi

eir business to o

ry his prudence so far a

ed the barrel at the height of his own shoulders. As Jasper threw out this severe and unmerited imputation, the deep red of his comrade’s face maintained it

ence and gifts are not to be mastered by the impatience of a boy. As for courage, Jasper, I will not send back an angry and unmeaning word to meet an angry and an unmeaning word; for I know that you are true in

rmitted him to seize; “I ask your pardon, humbly and sincerely. ’Twas a foolish, as well as wicked thin

e, disappeared in the expression of the earnest simplicity inherent in all his feelings. He met the grasp of his young friend with a squeeze as

natur’ is that of a white man, and that is to bear no malice. It might have been ticklish work to

earnestness, her finger on her lips, her head averted, her spirited eyes riveted on an opening in the bushes, and one arm extended with a fishing-rod, the end of

your arms, my men, but lay quie

s own post near her, with his rifle cocked and poised, in readiness to fire. Arrowhead and Chingachgook crawled to the cover, and lay in wait like snakes, with their arms prepared for service, while the wife of the former bowed her head between her knees, covered it with her calico robe, and remained passive and immovable. Cap loo

, and halted to examine the stream below. They were all naked to the waist, armed for an expedition against their foes, and in their warpaint. It was apparent that they were undecided as to the