hands frantically, bounded backward, and fell into the water, at
a spot where the current swept the body away, the struggling limbs
still tossing and writhing in the agony of death. The Delaware
made a vigorous but unsuccessful attempt to seize an arm, with the
hope of securing the scalp; but the bloodstained waters whirled
down the current, carrying with them their quivering burden.

All this passed in less than a minute, and the events were so sudden
and unexpected, that men less accustomed than the Pathfinder and
his associates to forest warfare would have been at a loss how to
act.

"There is not a moment to lose," said Jasper, tearing aside the
bushes, as he spoke earnestly, but in a suppressed voice. "Do as
I do, Master Cap, if you would save your niece; and you, Mabel,
lie at your length in the canoe."

The words were scarcely uttered when, seizing the bow of the light
boat he dragged it along the shore, wading himself, while Cap
aided behind, keeping so near the bank as to avoid being seen by
the savages below, and striving to gain the turn in the river above
him which would effectually conceal the party from the enemy. The
Pathfinder's canoe lay nearest to the bank, and was necessarily the
last to quit the shore. The Delaware leaped on the narrow strand
and plunged into the forest, it being his assigned duty to watch
the foe in that quarter, while Arrowhead motioned to his white
companion to seize the bow of the 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