occupied the friends but a moment, when they shook hands cordially,
like those who had met after a long separation.

"Now, Jasper, we shall see if a Mingo of them all dares cross the
Oswego in the teeth of Killdeer! You are handier with the oar and
the paddle and the sail than with the rifle, perhaps; but you have
a stout heart and a steady hand, and them are things that count in
a fight."

"Mabel will find me between her and her enemies," said Jasper
calmly.

"Yes, yes, the Sergeant's daughter must be protected. I like you,
boy, on your own account; but I like you all the better that you
think of one so feeble at a moment when there is need of all your
manhood. See, Jasper! Three of the knaves are actually getting
into the canoe! They must believe we have fled, or they would not
surely venture so much, directly in the very face of Killdeer."

Sure enough the Iroquois did appear bent on venturing across
the stream; for, as the Pathfinder and his friends now kept their
persons strictly concealed, their 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 of those who
were much too well skilled in forest warfare to neglect to defend
the only pass that, in truth, now offered even a probable chance
for protection.

As the Pathfinder had said, three warriors were in the canoe, two
holding their rifles at a poise, as they knelt in readiness to aim