eligion. Finding that he could not succeed by persuasion, the cunning
Mecumeh had recourse to stratagem. The husband was in the habit of
going down the river often, on fishing excursions, and, when he
returned, he would fire his signal gun--and his wife would hasten,
with her little son, to meet him on the shore, and to place the fond
kiss of welcome on his cheek.

On one occasion he had been gone longer than usual, by the space of
near a moon. Garanga was filled with apprehensions, natural enough
to one fondly loving, and at a time when imminent dangers and
hair-breadth escapes were of every-day occurrence--when it was known
that the people of her nation, displeased with her husband for drawing
her away from the faith of her fathers, were studying deep plans of
revenge. She had sat in the lofty tower which overlooked the greater
part of the surrounding country, and watched for the returning canoe
till the last beam of day had faded away from the waters, and that its
great star had ever been, could only be gathered from a bright beam
that lingered about the folds of the western clouds. The deepening
shadows of twilight played tricks with her imagination, and she
frequently saw things, which, to her, appeared the object her heart
sought, but which were mere creations of a fancy moving at the
suggestions of hope. Once she was startled by a water-fowl, which, as
it skimmed along the surface of the water, imaged to her fancy the
light canoe impelled by her husband's vigorous arm. Again she heard
the leap of the heavy Muskalongi, and the splashing waters sounded to
her like the first dash of the oar. That passed away, and
disappointment and tears followed. The little boy was beside her; he
bore the same name as his father, and inherited the warlike
disposition and love of daring which distinguished him among his
companions. Born and bred among men of war, he understood the use of
the bow and the musket; courage and hardihood seemed to be his
instinct, and danger his element, and battles, wounds, and the deeds
of the valiant, were household words with him. He laughed at his
mother's fears, but, in spite of the boy's ridicule, they
strengthened till apprehension seemed reality, and she shed tears of
sorrow for the fancied death of her beloved husband.

Suddenly the sound of the signal gun broke on the stillness of night.
Both mother and son sprang on their feet with a cry of joy, and were
pressing, hand in hand, towards the