that he has a true eye and steady hand when running the falls."

"But Jasper is not useless -- would not be useless when out of
sight of land," said Mabel, with a spirit and energy that caused
her clear sweet voice to be startling amid the solemn stillness of
that extraordinary scene. "No one can be useless there who can do
so much here, is what I mean; though, I daresay, he is not as well
acquainted with ships as my uncle."

"Ay, bolster each other up in your ignorance," returned Cap with
a sneer. "We seamen are so much out-numbered when ashore that it
is seldom we get our dues; but when you want to be defended, or
trade is to be carried on, there is outcry enough for us."

"But, uncle, landsmen do not come to attack our coasts; so that
seamen only meet seamen."

"So much for ignorance! Where are all the enemies that have landed
in this country, French and English, let me inquire, niece?"

"Sure enough, where are they?" ejaculated Pathfinder. "None can
tell better than we who dwell in the woods, Master Cap. I have
often followed their line of march by bones bleaching in the rain,
and have found their trail by graves, years after they and their
pride had vanished together. Generals and privates, they lay
scattered throughout the land, so many proofs of what men are when
led on by their love of great names and the wish to be more than
their fellows."

"I must say, Master Pathfinder, that you sometimes utter opinions