pe to meet you until
we had nearly reached the shores of the lake."

"I wish a juster-minded Indian had been your guide," said Pathfinder;
"for I am no lover of the Tuscaroras, who have travelled too far from
the graves of their fathers always to remember the Great Spirit; and
Arrowhead is an ambitious chief. Is the Dew-of-June with him?"

"His wife accompanies us, and a humble and mild creature she is."

"Ay, and true-hearted; which is more than any who know him will say of
Arrowhead. Well, we must take the fare that Providence bestows, while we
follow the trail of life. I suppose worse guides might have been found
than the Tuscarora; though he has too much Mingo blood for one who
consorts altogether with the Delawares."

"It is, then, perhaps, fortunate we have met," said Mabel.

"It is not misfortunate, at any rate; for I promised the Sergeant I
would see his child safe to the garrison, though I died for it. We
expected to meet you before you reached the Falls, where we have left
our own canoe; while we thought it might do no harm to come up a few
miles, in order to be of service if wanted. It is lucky we did, for I
doubt if Arrowhead be the man to shoot the current."

"Here come my uncle and the Tuscarora, and our parties can now join."
As Mabel concluded, Cap and Arrowhead, who saw that the conference was
amicable, drew nigh; and a few words sufficed to let them know as much
as the girl herself had learned from the strangers. As soon as this was
done, the party proceeded towards the two who still remained near the
fire.

CHAPTER II.

Yea! long as Nature's humblest child
Hath kept her temple undefiled
By simple sacrifice,
Earth's fairest scenes are all his own,
He is a monarch and his throne
Is built amid the skies!
WILSON.

The Mohican continued to eat, though the second white man rose, and
courteously took off his cap to Mabel Dunham. He was young, healthful,
and manly in appearance; and he wore a dress which, while it was less
rigidly professional than that of the uncle, also denoted one accustomed
to the water. In that age, real seamen were a class entirely apart from
the rest of mankind, their ideas, ordinary language, and attire being as
strongly indicative of their calling as the opinions, speech, and dress
of a Turk denote a Mussulman. Although the Pathfinder was scarcely in
the prime of life, Mabel had met him with a steadiness that may have
been