The Pathfinder | Page 8

James Fenimore Cooper
he has too much Mingo blood
for one who consorts altogether with the Delawares."
"It is, then, perhaps, fortunate we have met," said Mabel.
"It is not misfortunate, at any rate; for I promised the Sergeant I would
see his child safe to the garrison, though I died for it. We expected to
meet you before you reached the Falls, where we have left our own
canoe; while we thought it might do no harm to come up a few miles,
in order to be of service if wanted. It is lucky we did, for I doubt if
Arrowhead be the man to shoot the current."
"Here come my uncle and the Tuscarora, and our parties can now join."
As Mabel concluded, Cap and Arrowhead, who saw that the conference

was amicable, drew nigh; and a few words sufficed to let them know as
much as the girl herself had learned from the strangers. As soon as this
was done, the party proceeded towards the two who still remained near
the fire.


CHAPTER II.
Yea! long as Nature's humblest child Hath kept her temple undefiled
By simple sacrifice, Earth's fairest scenes are all his own, He is a
monarch and his throne Is built amid the skies! WILSON.
The Mohican continued to eat, though the second white man rose, and
courteously took off his cap to Mabel Dunham. He was young,
healthful, and manly in appearance; and he wore a dress which, while it
was less rigidly professional than that of the uncle, also denoted one
accustomed to the water. In that age, real seamen were a class entirely
apart from the rest of mankind, their ideas, ordinary language, and
attire being as strongly indicative of their calling as the opinions,
speech, and dress of a Turk denote a Mussulman. Although the
Pathfinder was scarcely in the prime of life, Mabel had met him with a
steadiness that may have been the consequence of having braced her
nerves for the interview; but when her eyes encountered those of the
young man at the fire, they fell before the gaze of admiration with
which she saw, or fancied she saw, he greeted her. Each, in truth, felt
that interest in the other which similarity of age, condition, mutual
comeliness, and their novel situation would be likely to inspire in the
young and ingenuous.
"Here," said Pathfinder, with an honest smile bestowed on Mabel, "are
the friends your worthy father has sent to meet you. This is a great
Delaware; and one who has had honors as well as troubles in his day.
He has an Indian name fit for a chief, but, as the language is not always
easy for the inexperienced to pronounce we naturally turn it into
English, and call him the Big Sarpent. You are not to suppose, however,

that by this name we wish to say that he is treacherous, beyond what is
lawful in a red-skin; but that he is wise, and has the cunning which
becomes a warrior. Arrowhead, there, knows what I mean."
While the Pathfinder was delivering this address, the two Indians gazed
on each other steadily, and the Tuscarora advanced and spoke to the
other in an apparently friendly manner.
"I like to see this," continued Pathfinder; "the salutes of two red-skins
in the woods, Master Cap, are like the hailing of friendly vessels on the
ocean. But speaking of water, it reminds me of my young friend, Jasper
Western here, who can claim to know something of these matters,
seeing that he has passed his days on Ontario."
"I am glad to see you, friend," said Cap, giving the young fresh-water
sailor a cordial grip; "though you must have something still to learn,
considering the school to which you have been sent. This is my niece
Mabel; I call her Magnet, for a reason she never dreams of, though you
may possibly have education enough to guess at it, having some
pretentions to understand the compass, I suppose."
"The reason is easily comprehended," said the young man,
involuntarily fastening his keen dark eye, at the same time, on the
suffused face of the girl; "and I feel sure that the sailor who steers by
your Magnet will never make a bad landfall."
"Ha! you do make use of some of the terms, I find, and that with
propriety; though, on the whole, I fear you have seen more green than
blue water."
"It is not surprising that we should get some of the phrases which
belong to the land; for we are seldom out of sight of it twenty-four
hours at a time."
"More's the pity, boy, more's the pity! A very little land ought to go a
great way with a seafaring man. Now, if the truth were known, Master
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code

 / 226
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.