soon as he found the block besieged, has fallen in with the
_Scud_, and, after telling his story, has brought the cutter down here
to see what can be done. The Lord grant that Jasper Western be still on
board her!"

"Yes, yes; it might not be amiss; for, traitor or loyal, the lad has a
handy way with him in a gale, it must be owned."

"And in coming over waterfalls!" said Pathfinder, nudging the ribs
of his companion with an elbow, and laughing in his silent but hearty
manner. "We will give the boy his due, though he scalps us all with his
own hand."

The _Scud_ was now so near, that Cap made no reply. The scene, just at
that instant, was so peculiar, that it merits a particular description,
which may also aid the reader in forming a more accurate nature of the
picture we wish to draw.

The gale was still blowing violently. Many of the smaller trees bowed
their tops, as if ready to descend to the earth, while the rushing
of the wind through the branches of the groves resembled the roar of
distant chariots.

The air was filled with leaves, which, at that late season, were readily
driven from their stems, and flew from island to island like flights of
birds. With this exception, the spot seemed silent as the grave. That
the savages still remained, was to be inferred from the fact that their
canoes, together with the boats of the 55th, lay in a group in the
little cove that had been selected as a harbor. Otherwise, not a sign of
their presence was to be detected. Though taken entirely by surprise by
the cutter, the sudden return of which was altogether unlooked-for, so
uniform and inbred were their habits of caution while on the war-path,
that the instant an alarm was given every man had taken to his cover
with the instinct and cunning of a fox seeking his hole. The same
stillness reigned in the blockhouse; for though Pathfinder and Cap could
command a view of the channel, they took the precaution necessary to lie
concealed. The unusual absence of anything like animal life on board
the _Scud_, too, was still more remarkable. As the Indians witnessed her
apparently undirected movements, a feeling of awe gained a footing among
them, and some of the boldest of their party began to distrust the issue
of an expedition that had commenced so prosperously. Even Arrowhead,
accustomed as he was to intercourse with the whites on both sides of
the lakes, fancied there was something ominous in the appearance of this
unmanned ves