“Is this all!” said Cap, contemptuously—“by the preparations and equipments, I had thought there was a forced trade in the wind, and that an honest penny might be turned, by taking an adventure. I suppose there are no shares in your fresh water prize money?”
“Anan?”
“I take it for granted the King gets all, in these so’gering parties and ambushments, as you call them?”
“I know nothing about that, Master Cap. I take my share of the lead and powder, if any falls into our hands, and say nothing to the King about it. If any one fares better, it is not I—though it is time I did begin to think of a house, and furniture, and a home.”
Although the Pathfinder did not dare to look at Mabel, while he made this direct allusion to his change of life, he would have given the world to know whether she were listening, and what was the expression of her countenance. Mabel little suspected the nature of the allusion, however, and her countenance was perfectly unembarrassed, as she turned her eyes towards the river, where the appearance of some movement on board the Scud, began to be visible.
“Jasper is bringing the cutter out,” observed the guide, whose look was drawn in the same direction, by the fall of some heavy article on the deck. “The lad sees the signs of wind no doubt and wishes to be ready for it.”
“Ay, now we shall have an opportunity of learning seamanship—” returned Cap, with a sneer. “There is a nicety in getting a craft under her canvass, that shows the thorough-bred mariner as much as any thing else. It’s like a so’ger buttoning his coat, and one can see whether he begins at the top, or the bottom.”
“I will not say that Jasper is equal to your seafarers below,” observed Pathfinder, across whose upright mind an unworthy feeling of envy, or of jealousy never passed, “but he is a bold boy, and manages his cutter as skilfully as any man can desire, on this lake at least. You did’n’t find him backward at the Oswego Falls, Master Cap, where fresh water contrives to tumble down hill, with little difficulty.”
Cap made no other answer than a dissatisfied ejaculation, and then a general silence followed, all on the bastion studying the movements of the cutter, with the interest that was natural to their own future connection with the vessel. It was still a dead calm, the surface of the lake literally glittering with the last rays of the sun. The Scud had been warped up to a kedge, that lay a hundred yards above the points of the outlet, where she had room to manœuvre in the river, which then formed the harbor of Oswego. But the total want of air prevented any such attempt, and it was soon evident that the light vessel was to be taken through the passage, under her sweeps. Not a sail was loosened, but as soon as the kedge was tripped, the heavy fall of the sweeps was heard, when the cutter, with her head up stream, began to sheer towards the centre of the current, on reaching which the efforts of the men ceased, and she drifted towards the outlet. In the narrow pass itself her movement was rapid, and in less than five minutes, the Scud was floating outside of the two low gravelly points that intercepted the waves of the lake. No anchor was let go, but the vessel continued to set off from the land, until her dark hull was seen resting on the glassy surface of the lake, fully a quarter of a mile beyond the low bluff, which formed the eastern extremity of what might be called the outer harbor, or roadstead. Here the influence of the river current ceased, and she became, virtually, stationary.
“She seems very beautiful to me, uncle,” said Mabel, whose gaze had not been averted from the cutter, for a single moment, while it had thus been changing its position; “I dare say you can find faults in her appearance, and in the way she is managed, but to my ignorance both are perfect!”
“Ay—ay—she drops down with the current well enough, girl, and so would a chip. But when you come to niceties, an old tar, like myself, has no need of spectacles to find fault.”
“Well, Master Cap,” put in the guide, who seldom heard any thing to Jasper’s prejudice, without manifesting a disposition to interfere, “I’ve heard old and experienced salt-water mariners confess, that the Scud is as pretty a craft as floats. I know nothing of such matters, myself, but one may have his own notions about a ship, even though they be wrong notions; and it would take more than one witness to persuade me Jasper does not keep his boat in good order.”
“I do not say that the cutter is downright lubberly, Master Pathfinder, but she has faults, and great faults.”
“And what are they, uncle; if he knew them, Jasper would be glad to mend them.”
“What are they?—Why fifty; ay, for that matter a hundred. Very material and manifest faults.”
“Do name them, sir, and Pathfinder will mention them to his friend.”
“Name them? it is no easy matter to call off the stars, for the simple reason that they are so numerous. Name them, indeed!—Why, my pretty niece, Miss Magnet, what do you think of that main boom now? To my ignorant eyes, it is topped at least a foot too high; and then the pennant is foul; and—and—ay, d____e, if there is’n’t a topsail gasket adrift—and, it would’n’t surprise me at all, if there should prove to be a round turn in that hawser, if the kedge were to be let go, this instant! Faults, indeed. No seaman could look at her a moment without seeing that she is as full of faults, as a servant that has asked for his discharge.”
“This may be very true, uncle, though I much question if Jasper knows of them. I do not think he would suffer these things, Pathfinder, if they were pointed out to him.”
“Let Jasper manage his own cutter, Mabel; let him manage his own cutter. His gifts lie that-a-way, and I’ll answer for it, no one can teach him how to keep the Scud out of the hands of the Frontenackers, or their devilish Mingo friends. Who cares for round turns in kedges, and for hawsers that are topped too high, Master Cap, so long as the craft sails well, and keeps clear of the Frenchers. I will trust Jasper, against all the sea-farers of the coast, up here on the lakes—but I do not say he has any gift for the ocean, for there he has never been tried.”
Cap smiled condescendingly, but he did not think it necessary to push his criticisms any farther just at that moment. His air and manner gradually became more supercilious and lofty, though he now wished to seem indifferent to any discussions on points of which one of the parties was entirely ignorant. By this time the cutter had begun to drift at the mercy of the currents of the lake, her head turning in all directions, though slowly and not in a way to attract particular attention. Just at this moment the jib was loosened and hoisted, and presently the canvass swelled towards the land, though no evidences of air were yet to be seen on the surface of the water. Slight, however, as was the impulsion, the light hull yielded, and, in another minute, the Scud was seen standing across the current of the river, with a movement so easy and moderate as to be scarcely perceptible. When out of the stream, she struck an eddy, and shot up towards the land, under the eminence where the fort stood, when Jasper dropped his kedge.
“Not lubberly done—” muttered Cap, in a sort of soliloquy—“not over-lubberly, though he should have put his helm a starboard instead of a port, for a vessel ought always to come to with her head off shore, whether she is a league from the land, or only a cable’s length, since it has a careful look; and looks are something in this world.”
“Jasper is a handy lad—” suddenly observed Serjeant Dunham, at his brother-in-law’s elbow, “and we place great reliance on his skill in our expeditions. But come, one and all, we have but half an hour more of day-light to embark in, and the boats will be ready for us, by the time we are ready for them.”
On this intimation the whole party separated, each to find those trifles which had not been shipped already. A few taps of the drum gave the necessary signal to the soldiers, and in a minute all were in motion.
Chapter XIII
“The goblin now the fool alarms,
Hags meet to mumble o’er their charms,
The night-mare rides the dreaming ass,
And fairies trip it on the grass.”
—Cotton, “Night Quatrains,�
�� XVII.65–68.
* * *
THE EMBARKATION of so small a party was a matter of no great delay, or embarrassment. The whole force confided to the care of Serjeant Dunham consisted of but ten privates and two non-commissioned officers, though it was now positively known that Mr. Muir was to accompany the expedition. The Quarter Master, however, went as a volunteer, while some duty connected with his own department, as had been arranged between him and his commander, was the avowed object. To these must be added the Pathfinder and Cap, with Jasper and his subordinates, one of whom was a boy. The males of the entire party consequently consisted of less than twenty men, and a lad of fourteen. Mabel, and the wife of a common soldier, were the only females.
Serjeant Dunham carried off his command in a large batteau, and then returned for his final orders, and to see that his brother-in-law and daughter were properly attended to. Having pointed out to Cap the boat that he and Mabel were to use, he ascended the hill to seek his last interview with Lundie. The Major was met on the bastion so often mentioned. Leaving him and the serjeant together, for a short time, we will return to the beach.
It was nearly dark, when Mabel found herself in the boat that was to carry her off to the cutter. So very smooth was the surface of the lake, that it was not found necessary to bring the batteaux into the river to receive their freights, but the beach outside being totally without surf, and the water as tranquil as that of a pond, every body embarked there. As Cap had said, there was no heaving and setting, no working of vast lungs, nor any respiration of an ocean; for, on Ontario, unlike the Atlantic, gales were not agitating the element at one point, while calms prevailed at another. This the distances did not permit, and it is the usual remark of mariners, that the seas get up faster and go down sooner, on all the great lakes of the west, than on the different seas of their acquaintance. When the boat left the land, therefore, Mabel would not have known that she was afloat, on so broad a sheet of water, by any movement that is usual to such circumstances. The oars had barely time to give a dozen strokes, when the boat lay at the cutter’s side.
Jasper was in readiness to receive his passengers, and, as the deck of the Scud was but two or three feet above the water, no difficulty was experienced in getting on board her. As soon as this was effected, the young man pointed out to Mabel and her companion, the accommodations prepared for their reception, and they took possession of them. The little vessel contained four apartments below, all between decks having been expressly constructed with a view to the transportation of officers and men, with their wives and families. First in rank, was what was called the after cabin, a small apartment that contained four berths, and which enjoyed the advantage of possessing small windows, for the admission of air and light. This was uniformly devoted to females, whenever any were on board, and as Mabel and her companion were alone, they had ample space and accommodations. The main cabin was larger, and lighted from above. It was now appropriated to the uses of the Quarter Master, the Serjeant, Cap, and Jasper, the Pathfinder roaming through any part of the cutter he pleased; the female apartment excepted. The corporals and common soldiers occupied the space beneath the main hatch, which had a deck for such a purpose, while the crew were berthed, as usual, in the forecastle. Although the cutter did not measure quite fifty tons, the draft of officers and men was so light, that there was ample room for all on board, there being space enough to accommodate treble the number, if necessary.
As soon as Mabel had taken possession of her own really comfortable and pretty cabin, in doing which she could not abstain from indulging in the pleasant reflection that some of Jasper’s favor had been especially manifested in her behalf, she went on deck again. Here all was momentarily in motion; the men were roving to and fro, in quest of their knapsacks and other effects, but method and habit soon reduced things to order, when the stillness on board became even imposing, for it was connected with the idea of future adventure, and ominous preparation.
Darkness was now beginning to render objects on shore indistinct, the whole of the land forming one shapeless black outline, of even, forest, summits, that was to be distinguished from the impending heavens only by the greater light of the sky. The stars, however, soon began to appear in the latter, one after another, in their usual mild, placid lustre, bringing with them that sense of quiet which ordinarily accompanies night. There was something soothing, as well as exciting in such a scene, and Mabel, who was seated on the quarter-deck sensibly felt both influences. The Pathfinder was standing near her, leaning as usual on his long rifle, and she fancied that, through the growing darkness of the hour, she could trace even stronger lines of thought than usual, in his rugged countenance.
“To you, Pathfinder, expeditions like this, can be no great novelty,” she said, “though I am surprised to find how silent and thoughtful the men appear to be.”
“We l’arn this, by making war ag’in Injins. Your militia are great talkers, and little doers, in gin’ral, but the soger who has often met the Mingos, l’arns to know the valu of a prudent tongue. A silent army, in the woods, is doubly strong; and a noisy one, doubly weak. If tongues made soldiers, the women of a camp would generally carry the day.”
“But we are neither an army, nor in the woods. There can be no danger of Mingos, in the Scud.”
“Ask Jasper, how he got to be master of this cutter, and you will find yourself answered, as to that opinion! No one is safe from a Mingo, who does not understand his very natur’; and, even then, he must act up to his own knowledge, and that closely. Ask Jasper how he got command of this very cutter!”
“And how did he get the command?” inquired Mabel, with an earnestness and interest that delighted her simple-minded and true-hearted companion, who was never better pleased than when he had an opportunity of saying aught in favor of a friend. “It is honorable to him, that he has reached this station, while yet so young.”
“That is it—but he deserved it all, and more. A frigate would’n’t have been too much to pay for so much spirit and coolness, had there been such a thing on Ontario, as there is not, howsever, or likely to be.”
“But Jasper—you have not yet told me how he got the command of this schooner?”
“It is a long story, Mabel, and one your father, the sarjeant, can tell much better than I, for he was present, while I was off on a distant scoutin’. Jasper is not good at a story, I will own that; I’ve heard him questioned about this affair, and he never made a good tale of it, although every body knows it was a good thing. No—no—Jasper is not good at a story, as his best friends must own. The Scud had near fallen into the hands of the French and the Mingos, when Jasper saved her, in a way, that none but a quick-witted mind and a bold heart would have attempted. The Sarjeant will tell the tale better than I can, and I wish you to question him, some day, when nothing better offers. As for Jasper, himself, there will be no use in worrying the lad, since he will make a bungling matter of it, for he don’t know how to give a history, at all.”
Mabel determined to ask her father to repeat the incidents of the affair that very night, for it struck her young fancy that nothing better could well offer than to listen to the praises of one who was a bad historian of his own exploits.
“Will the Scud remain with us, when we reach the islands?” she asked, after a little hesitation about the propriety of the question, “or shall we be left to ourselves?”
“That’s as may be. Jasper does not often keep the cutter idle, when any thing is to be done, and we may expect activity on his part. My gifts, howsever, run so little towards the water, and vessels, gin’rally, unless it be among rapids and falls, and in canoes, that I pretend to know nothing about it. We shall have all right, under Jasper, I make no doubt, who can find a trail on Ontario as well as a Delaware, can find one, on the land.”
“And our own Delaware, Pathfinder—the Big Serpent—why is he not with us, to-night?”
“Your question would have been more nat’ral, had you said, ‘why are you here, Pathfinde
r?’—The Sarpent is in his place, while I am not in mine. He is out, with two or three more, scouting the lake shore, and will join us down among the islands, with the tidings he may gather. The sarjeant is too good a soldier, to forget his rear, while he is facing the inimy in front. It’s a thousand pities, Mabel, your father was’n’t born a gin’ral, as some of the English are who come among us, for I feel sartain he would’n’t leave a Frencher in the Canadas a week, could he have his own way with them.”
“Shall we have enemies to face in front?” asked Mabel, smiling, and for the first time, feeling a slight apprehension about the dangers of the expedition. “Are we likely to have an engagement?”
“If we have, Mabel, there will be men enough ready and willing to stand atween you and harm. But you are a soldier’s daughter, and we all know, have the spirit of one. Don’t let the fear of a battle, keep your pretty eyes from sleeping.”
“I do feel braver, out here in the woods, Pathfinder, than I ever felt before, amid the weaknesses of the towns, although I have always tried to remember what I owe to my dear father.”
“Ay, your mother was so before you!—‘You will find Mabel like her mother, no screamer, or a fainthearted girl, to trouble a man in his need, but one who would encourage her mate, and help to keep his heart up, when sorest pressed by danger’—said the sarjeant to me, before I ever laid eyes on that sweet countenance of yours, he did!”
“And why should my father have told you this, Pathfinder?” the girl demanded a little earnestly. “Perhaps he fancied you would think the better of me, if you did not believe me a silly coward, as so many of my sex love to make themselves appear.”
Deception, unless it were at the expense of his enemies in the field, nay, concealment of even a thought, was so little in accordance with the Pathfinder’s very nature, that he was not a little embarrassed by this simple question. To own the truth openly, he felt, by a sort of instinct for which it would have puzzled him to account, would not be proper, and to hide it agreed with neither his sense of right, nor his habits. In such a strait he involuntarily took refuge in a middle course, not revealing that which he fancied ought not to be told, nor yet absolutely concealing it.
The Leatherstocking Tales II Page 22
