ap contemptuously; "by the preparations and
equipments, I had thought there was a forced trade in the wind, and that
an honest penny might be turned by taking an adventure. I suppose there
are no shares in your fresh-water prize-money?"

"Anan?"

"I take it for granted the king gets all in these soldiering parties,
and ambushments, as you call them."

"I know nothing about that, Master Cap. I take my share of the lead and
powder if any falls into our hands, and say nothing to the king about
it. If any one fares better, it is not I; though it is time I did begin
to think of a house and furniture and a home."

Although the Pathfinder did not dare to look at Mabel while he made this
direct allusion to his change of life, he would have given the world
to know whether she was listening, and what was the expression of her
countenance. Mabel little suspected the nature of the allusion, however;
and her countenance was perfectly unembarrassed as she turned her eyes
towards the river, where the appearance of some movement on board the
_Scud_ began to be visible.

"Jasper is bringing the cutter out," observed the guide, whose look was
drawn in the same direction by the fall of some heavy article on the
deck. "The lad sees the signs of wind, no doubt, and wishes to be ready
for it."

"Ay, now we shall have an opportunity of learning seamanship," returned
Cap, with a sneer. "There is a nicety in getting a craft under her
canvas that shows the thoroughbred mariner as much as anything else.
It's like a soldier buttoning his coat, and one can see whether he
begins at the top or the bottom."

"I will not say that Jasper is equal to your seafarers below," observed
Pathfinder, across whose upright mind an unworthy feeling of envy or of
jealousy never passed; "but he is a bold boy, and manages his cutter as
skillfully as any man can desire, on this lake at least. You didn't
find him backwards at the Oswego Falls, Master Cap, where fresh water
contrives to tumble down hill with little difficulty."

Cap made no other answer than a dissatisfied ejaculation, and then a
general silence followed, all on the bastion studying the movements
of the cutter with the interest that was natural to their own future
connection with the vessel. It was still a dead calm, the surface of the
lake literally glittering with the last rays of the sun. The _Scud_ had
been warped up to a kedge that lay a hundred yards above the points
of the outlet, where