nnel by which she had first
approached, her helm was put down, and she tacked. The noise of the
mainsail flapping when it filled, loose-reefed as it was, sounded like
the report of a gun, and Cap trembled lest the seams should open.

"His Majesty gives good canvas, it must be owned," muttered the old
seaman; "and it must be owned, too, that boy handles his boat as if he
were thoroughly bred! D---me, Master Pathfinder, if I believe, after all
that has been reported in the matter, that this Mister Oh-deuce got his
trade on this bit of fresh water."

"He did; yes, he did. He never saw the ocean, and has come by his
calling altogether up here on Ontario. I have often thought he has a
nat'ral gift in the way of schooners and sloops, and have respected him
accordingly. As for treason and lying and black-hearted vices, friend
Cap, Jasper Western is as free as the most virtuousest of the Delaware
warriors; and if you crave to see a truly honest man, you must go among
that tribe to discover him."

"There he comes round!" exclaimed the delighted Cap, the _Scud_ at this
moment filling on her original tack; "and now we shall see what the boy
would be at; he cannot mean to keep running up and down these passages,
like a girl footing it through a country-dance."

The _Scud_ now kept so much away, that for a moment the two observers on
the blockhouse feared Jasper meant to come-to; and the savages, in
their lairs, gleamed out upon her with the sort of exultation that
the crouching tiger may be supposed to feel as he sees his unconscious
victim approach his bed. But Jasper had no such intention: familiar with
the shore, and acquainted with the depth of water on every part of the
island, he well knew that the _Scud_ might be run against the bank with
impunity, and he ventured fearlessly so near, that, as he passed through
the little cove, he swept the two boats of the soldiers from their
fastenings and forced them out into the channel, towing them with the
cutter. As all the canoes were fastened to the two Dunham boats, by this
bold and successful attempt the savages were at once deprived of the
means of quitting the island, unless by swimming, and they appeared to
be instantly aware of the very important fact. Rising in a body, they
filled the air with yells, and poured in a harmless fire. While up in
this unguarded manner, two rifles were discharged by their adversaries.
One came from the summit of the block, and an Iroquois fell d