has become
of the other canoe?"

"I see something near us on the water; is it not the boat of our
friends?"

A few strokes of the paddle brought Jasper to the side of the object in
question: it was the other canoe, empty and bottom upwards. No sooner
did the young man ascertain this fact, than he began to search for the
swimmers, and, to his great joy, Cap was soon discovered drifting down
with the current; the old seaman preferring the chances of drowning to
those of landing among savages. He was hauled into the canoe, though not
without difficulty, and then the search ended; for Jasper was persuaded
that the Pathfinder would wade to the shore, the water being shallow, in
preference to abandoning his beloved rifle.

The remainder of the passage was short, though made amid darkness and
doubt. After a short pause, a dull roaring sound was heard, which
at times resembled the mutterings of distant thunder, and then
again brought with it the washing of waters. Jasper announced to his
companions that they now heard the surf of the lake. Low curved spits
of land lay before them, into the bay formed by one of which the canoe
glided, and then it shot up noiselessly upon a gravelly beach. The
transition that followed was so hurried and great, that Mabel scarcely
knew what passed. In the course of a few minutes, however, sentinels had
been passed, a gate was opened, and the agitated girl found herself in
the arms of a parent who was almost a stranger to her.

CHAPTER VIII.

A land of love, and a land of light,
Withouten sun, or moon, or night:
Where the river swa'd a living stream,
And the light a pure celestial beam:
The land of vision, it would seem
A still, an everlasting dream.
_Queen's Wake._

The rest that succeeds fatigue, and which attends a newly awakened sense
of security, is generally sweet and deep. Such was the fact with Mabel,
who did not rise from her humble pallet--such a bed as a sergeant's
daughter might claim in a remote frontier post--until long after the
garrison had obeyed the usual summons of the drums, and had assembled at
the morning parade. Sergeant Dunham, on whose shoulders fell the task
of attending to these ordinary and daily duties, had got through all his
morning avocations, and was beginning to think of his breakfast,
before his child left her room, and came into the fresh air, equally
bewildered, delighted, and grateful, at the novelty and secur