had no means of resisting. For himself he cared
far less than for his daughter, feeling some of that self-reliance which
seldom deserts a man of firmness who is in vigorous health, and who has
been accustomed to personal exertions in moments of jeopardy; but as
respects Mabel he saw no means of escape, and, with a father's fondness,
he at once determined that, if either was doomed to perish, he and his
daughter must perish together.

"Do you think this must come to pass?" he asked of Cap firmly, but with
strong feeling.

"Twenty minutes will carry us into the breakers; and look for yourself,
Sergeant: what chance will even the stoutest man among us have in that
caldron to leeward?"

The prospect was, indeed, little calculated to encourage hope. By this
time the _Scud_ was within a mile of the shore, on which the gale
was blowing at right angles, with a violence that forbade the idea of
showing any additional canvas with a view to claw off. The small portion
of the mainsail actually set, and which merely served to keep the head
of the _Scud_ so near the wind as to prevent the waves from breaking
over her, quivered under the gusts, as if at each moment the stout
threads which held the complicated fabric together were about to be torn
asunder. The drizzle had ceased; but the air, for a hundred feet above
the surface of the lake, was filled with dazzling spray, which had an
appearance not unlike that of a brilliant mist, while above all the sun
was shining gloriously in a cloudless sky. Jasper had noted the omen,
and had foretold that it announced a speedy termination to the gale,
though the next hour or two must decide their fate. Between the cutter
and the shore the view was still more wild and appalling. The breakers
extended nearly half a mile; while the water within their line was white
with foam, the air above them was so far filled with vapor and spray as
to render the land beyond hazy and indistinct. Still it could be
seen that the latter was high,--not a usual thing for the shores
of Ontario,--and that it was covered with the verdant mantle of the
interminable forest.

While the Sergeant and Cap were gazing at this scene in silence, Jasper
and his people were actively engaged on the forecastle. No sooner had
the young man received permission to resume his old employment, than,
appealing to some of the soldiers for aid, he mustered five or six
assistants, and set about in earnest the performance of a duty which