er of the canoe, would put you and the young woman into the
river, out of which it is more than probable the Sergeant's daughter
would never come alive."

"I will leave it to Mabel herself; I am certain that she will feel more
secure in the canoe."

"I have great confidence in you both," answered the girl; "and have no
doubts that either will do all he can to prove to my father how much he
values him; but I confess I should not like to quit the canoe, with the
certainty we have of there being enemies like those we have seen in the
forest. But my uncle can decide for me in this matter."

"I have no liking for the woods," said Cap, "while one has a clear drift
like this on the river. Besides, Master Pathfinder, to say nothing of
the savages, you overlook the sharks."

"Sharks! Who ever heard of sharks in the wilderness?"

"Ay! Sharks, or bears, or wolves--no matter what you call a thing, so it
has the mind and power to bite."

"Lord, lord, man! Do you dread any creatur' that is to be found in the
American forest? A catamount is a skeary animal, I will allow, but then
it is nothing in the hands of a practysed hunter. Talk of the Mingos and
their devilries if you will; but do not raise a false alarm about bears
and wolves."

"Ay, ay, Master Pathfinder, this is all well enough for you, who
probably know the name of every creature you would meet. Use is
everything, and it makes a man bold when he might otherwise be bashful.
I have known seamen in the low latitudes swim for hours at a time among
sharks fifteen or twenty feet long."

"This is extraordinary!" exclaimed Jasper, who had not yet acquired that
material part of his trade, the ability to spin a yarn. "I have always
heard that it was certain death to venture in the water among sharks."

"I forgot to say, that the lads always took capstan-bars, or gunners'
handspikes, or crows with them, to rap the beasts over the noses if they
got to be troublesome. No, no, I have no liking for bears and wolves,
though a whale, in my eye, is very much the same sort of fish as a red
herring after it is dried and salted. Mabel and I had better stick to
the canoe."

"Mabel would do well to change canoes," added Jasper. "This of mine is
empty, and even Pathfinder will allow that my eye is surer than his own
on the water."

"That I will, cheerfully, boy. The water belongs to your gifts, and no
one will deny that you have improved them to the utmost. You are right
enough in bel