The Pathfinder: Or the Inland Sea

re and deat

busy ev

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ll the benefit expected from the artifice of the fire was necessarily lost. But that consideration became of little moment just then; for the party was menaced with an immediate discovery by those who had kept on a level with the river. All the facts presented themselves clearly, and as

on the young one. There must be no mistake, for two bullets in the same body would be sinful waste, with one like the Sergeant’s daughter in danger. I shall hold myself in resarve against accident, lest a fourth reptile appear, for one of your hands may prove unsteady. By no means fire until I give the word;

and the true shore, the two parties became visible to each other when opposite that precise point. Both stopped, and a conversation ensued, that may be said to have passed directly over the heads of those who were concealed. Indeed, nothing sheltered the travellers but the branches and leaves of plants, so pliant that they yielded to every current of air, and which a puff of wind a little stronger than common would have blown away. Fortunately the line of sight carried the eyes of the two parties of savages,

cover of the fugitives, that he might have been struck by the salmon-spear that lay in the bo

shore in their canoes,” answ

ifles of our warrior

Jasper, and he clinched his teeth in order

hose who were wading in the river. “We have been a whole moon on the war-path, and hav

abel; but Jasper’s frown became de

ough their war-paint like coals of living fire. After a pause of two or three minutes, these three began also to descend the stream, though it was step by step, as men move who look for an object that has been lost. In this manner they passed the artificial screen, and Pathfinder opened his mouth in that hearty but noiseless laugh tha

false alarm. Without recalling any of his companions, therefore, he turned on his own footsteps; and, while the others continued to descend the river, he cautiously approached the bushes, on which his looks were still fastened, as by a charm. Some of the leaves which were exposed to the sun had drooped a litt

d; and should he not, he might hope to escape that derision which the young Indian so much dreads. Then there were the dangers of an ambush and a surprise, to which every warrior of the woods is keenly alive, to render his approach slow and c

eep the eloquent features in play. So very slight, however, had been the alteration produced by the heat on the bushes of which the stems were in the water, that when the Iroquois actually laid his hand on the leaves, he fancied that he had been deceived. As no man ever distrusts strongly without using all convenient means of satisfying his doubts, however, the young warrior cautiously pushed aside the branches and advanced a step within the hiding-place, when the forms of the concealed party met his gaze, resembling so many breathless statues. The low exclamation, the slight

and unexpected, that men less accustomed than the Pathfinder and hi

he spoke earnestly, but in a suppressed voice. “Do as I do, Master Cap, if

boat and to follow Jasper. All this was the work of an instant; but when the Pathfinder reached the current that was sweeping round the turn, he felt a sudden change in the weight he was dragging, and, looking back, he found that both the Tuscarora and his wife had deserted him. The thought of treachery flashed upon his mind, but there was no time to pause, for the wailing shout that arose from the party below proclaimed that the body of the young Iroquois had floated as low as the spot reached by his friends. The report of a rifle followed; and then the guide saw that Jasper, having doubled the bend in the river, w

, vigorous strokes of the paddle; “keep well up the current, and pull for the alder bushes opposite. P

ng, while shot succeeded shot in quick succession, all

t revile you like a Delaware or a Mohican; for my gifts are a white man’s gifts, and not an Indian’s; and boasting in battle is no part 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 at robins in the orchards. T

t had been pointed out to them. The old mariner now played his part manfully; for he was on his proper element, loved his niece sincerely, had a proper regard for his own person, and was not unused to fire, though his experienc

ted nearest to the enemy the party on the shore rushed down the bank and joined their friends who still stood in the water. The Oswego was about a cable’s length in width at this p

d he continue to move in any one direction. He was consequently compelled to change the course of the canoe — at one moment shooting down with the current, with the swiftness of an arrow; and at the next checking its progress in that direction, to glance athwart the stream. Luckily the Iroquois could not reload their pieces in the water, and the bushes that everywhere fringed the shore r

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 western shore, the foe being all on the eastern side of the river; but the exploit surpassed human power, and to attempt to stem the stream would at once have so far diminished the motion of the canoe as to render aim certain. In this exigency the guide came to a decision with his usual cool promptitude, making h

onless; but the desire of revenge, and the cravings for the much-prized trophy, soon overcame this transient feeling, and aroused them from their stupor. Rifle flashed after rifle, and the bullets whistl

was glad to stop at a large stone, or a small rock, which rose so high above the river that its upper surface was dry. On this stone he placed his powder-horn, getting behind it himself, so as to have the advanta

rt of the Indians, who gathered about the canoe, and, ha

the bushes, at the point nearest to th

d you have

cross without suffering for his boldness. Had you not better leave the

the idea of parting with those reptiles without causing them to remember my name. A little water will not harm my legs; and I see that blackguard, Arrowhead, among the

e river between us and the enemy. They must know our weakness now; and, sho

with the best Mingo that ever struck a salmon. If they cross below the rift, why can’t

on the other shore; and then, Pathfinder, would

s no gift to authorize her in offering her sweet face and tender body to a Mingo rifle. What can be done, the

it can be effected; but are we s

n such a strait. There is not a boat between the falls and the garrison, except these two canoes, to my sartain knowledge; and I think it will go beyond red-skin gi

aded; nor are you on the land, aided by a good cover, where you can work to the advantage

looking back as he spoke. “But it would be unwise to expose yourself on the wate

he current, which sets from the point above in the direction of your rock. See, there it comes already; if it float fairly, you must rais

thfinder, who seized it as it was passing, and held it in the air as a sign of success. Cap understood the signal, and presently the canoe was launched into the stream, with a ca

gifts, which incline most to the water, as mine incline to the woods. Now let them Mingo knaves cock th

urrent, and throw yourself into it as it goes off,” said

e the example,” returned the Pathfinder proudly. “I am not a red-skin born, a

Mab

d; and, as you say, foolish risks only become boys. Th

doubt, if you giv

zed it as it came to land. To secure the canoe, and to take proper positions in the cover, occupied th

lldeer! You are handier with the oar and the paddle and the sail than with the rifle, perha

ween her and her enemie

u think of one so feeble at a moment when there is need of all your manhood. See, Jasper! Three of the knaves are actually gettin

ir enemies began to think that the latter had taken to flight. Such a course was that which most white men would have followed; but Mabel was under the care o

In this manner they left the shore, having had the precaution to haul the canoe, previously to entering it, so far up the stream as to have got into the comparatively still water above the rift. It was apparent at

sper in a whisper, tremblin

r Cap yonder knows how to use the popguns he carries in his belt,

Mab

pening judgmatically hid by the brambles. If what you tell me of the manner in which you c

wish we had brought her

ead and leaping heart among flying bullets? No, no

rselves safe behind the bushes, and

or his curiosity, as thes

e stern of the canoe leaped high into the air, and fell into the water, holding the paddle in his hand. A small

A bolder or a truer heart never beat in the breast of a Delaware. I a

impracticable. But not a foe moved, except to conceal his person behind some cover; and every eye was riveted on the two remaining adventurers. In less time than has been necessary to record these occurrences, the canoe was whirling and tossing in the rift, while both the savages had stretched themselves in its bottom, as the only means of preserving the equilibrium. This natural expedient soon failed them; for, striking a rock, the light draft rolled over, and the

osed most of their persons while wading in the shallowest part of th

hat the bullet sped from his rifle as he spoke, but uselessly, as it would seem,

iscreants unless it be plain that his death will lead to some good end. The deer never leaped that fell by my hand wantonly. By living much alone with God in the wilderness a man gets to feel the justice of such opinions. One life is sufficient for our present wants; and there may yet be occasion to use Killdeer in

engaged in some further preparations of his own, he had evidently obtained a position where he got a sight of the Delaware. This circumstance was apparent by the arrangements the Iroquois was making to fire, for Chingachgook himself was not visible from the western side of the river. The rift was at a bend in the Oswego, and the sweep of the eastern shore formed a curve so wide that C

n instant from the young warrior; “and yet he must be strangely off his guard to allow

dian the Delaware shot! It has drifted on a rock, and t

he life that was breathed into its nostrils is departed. That Iroquois will never harm any one

t had got its level. The Iroquois on the opposite shore was in the act of aiming when the fatal messenger from Killdeer arrived. His rifle was d

chgook and I have consorted together since we were boys, and have fi’t in company on the Horican, the Mohawk, the Ontario, and all the other bloody passes

e rascals are troubled, Pathfinder, and are falling back into th

hat Killdeer can do, and has done, and that, too, when the bullets were flying about our heads like

which, however, it was gradually setting by the force of the current. A second look satisfied both the observers that it was a man, and an Indian, tho

m as he swims, and his head resemb

but Christian honesty sha

accuracy of their first impressions, and it was only when two-t

fice. “He has tied bushes to his head, so as to hide it, put the horn on top, lashed the rifle to that bit of log he is pushing before him, and has come over to join his

ter all, Pathfinder; I can se

lecloths to fluttering in the wind, with all the stains of fish-bones and venison steaks upon them. 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 from among the leaves,"— here

inted with the chief

women of his tribe are the most seemly in light merriment. But hist! It is too much like the people of the settlements to pour soft speeches into another’s ear; and the Sarpent has k

position he must have been acquainted before leaving the eastern side of the river, and rising fr