第11章

"That it hasn't; nor sides, nor bottom.The nation which 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 ship building.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 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 isn't so here.I don't wish to flurry the young woman, and therefore I will be in no way particular, though she seems pretty much listening to Eau-douce, as we call him; but without the edication I have received, Ishould think it at this very moment, a risky journey to go over the very ground that lies between us and the gar-rison, 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 Sergeant 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 carcass 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 Sergeant 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, 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 Sergeant sent for me to travel a hundred and fifty miles in this outlandish man-ner? 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 quarters; but to be shot like a turtle asleep is not to my humor.If it were not for little Mag-net 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 safely, or lose our scalps."Cap wore a tight solid queue, done up in eelskin, 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 com-panion.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 indiscretion with which his brother-in-law, the Sergeant, 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 dis-tance 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 cur-rent."