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,
was crossing the stream, standing erect in the stern of the canoe,
while Cap was seated forward, both propelling the light boat
with vigorous strokes of the paddles. A glance, a thought, and
an expedient followed each other quickly in one so trained in the
vicissitudes of the frontier warfare. Springing into the stern of
his own canoe, he urged it by a vigorous shove into the current,
and commenced crossing the stream himself, at a point so much
lower than that of his companions as to offer his own person for a
target to the enemy, well knowing that their keen desire to secure
a scalp would control all other feelings.

"Keep well up the current, Jasper," shouted the gallant guide,
as he swept the water with long, steady, vigorous strokes of the
paddle; "keep well up the current, and pull for the alder bushes
opposite. Presarve the Sergeant's daughter before all things, and
leave these Mingo knaves to the Sarpent and me."

Jasper flourished his paddle as a signal of understanding, while
shot succeeded shot in quick succession, all now being aimed at
the solitary man in the nearest canoe.

"Ay, empty your rifles like simpletons as you are," said the
Pathfinder, who had acquired a habit of speaking when alone, from
passing so much of his time in the solitude of the forest; "empty