r," put in Cap. "Your true seaman
cannot well desert a messmate; and I am glad to find that motives so
correct exist among those fresh-water people."

"Tut! tut!" returned the impatient guide, forcing the canoe into the
stream as he spoke; "ye know nothing and ye fear nothing. If ye value
your lives, think of reaching the garrison, and leave the Delaware in
the hands of Providence. Ah's me! the deer that goes too often to the
lick meets the hunter at last!"

CHAPTER VII.

And is this--Yarrow?--this the stream
Of which my fancy cherish'd
So faithfully a waking dream?
An image that hath perish'd?
Oh that some minstrel's harp were near,
To utter notes of gladness,
And chase this silence from the air,
That fills my heart with sadness.
WORDSWORTH.

THE scene was not without its sublimity, and the ardent, generous-minded
Mabel felt her blood thrill in her veins and her cheeks flush, as
the canoe shot into the strength of the stream, to quit the spot. The
darkness of the night had lessened, by the dispersion of the clouds;
but the overhanging woods rendered the shore so obscure, that the boats
floated down the current in a belt of gloom that effectually secured
them from detection. Still, there was necessarily a strong feeling of
insecurity in all on board them; and even Jasper, who by this time began
to tremble, in behalf of the girl, at every unusual sound that arose
from the forest, kept casting uneasy glances around him as he drifted on
in company. The paddle was used lightly, and only with exceeding care;
for the slightest sound in the breathing stillness of that hour and
place might apprise the watchful ears of the Iroquois of their position.

All these accessories added to the impressive grandeur of her situation,
and contributed to render the moment much the most exciting which
had ever occurred in the brief existence of Mabel Dunham. Spirited,
accustomed to self-reliance, and sustained by the pride of considering
herself a soldier's daughter, she could hardly be said to be under the
influence of fear, yet her heart often beat quicker than common, her
fine blue eye lighted with an exhibition of a resolution that was wasted
in the darkness, and her quickened feelings came in aid of the real
sublimity that belonged to the scene and to the incidents of the night.

"Mabel!" said the suppressed voice of Jasper, as the two canoes floated
so near each o