s time to
root up the tree that has been growing more than thirty years."

"I think little of this affair, sir; nothing at all to speak my mind
freely. It's a mere wash of spray to shooting London Bridge which is
done every day by hundreds of persons, and often by the most delicate
ladies in the land. The king's majesty has shot the bridge in his royal
person."

"Well, I want no delicate ladies or king's majesties (God bless 'em!) in
the canoe, in going over these falls; for a boat's breadth, either way,
may make a drowning matter of it. Eau-douce, we shall have to carry the
Sergeant's brother over Niagara yet, to show him what may be done in a
frontier."

"The devil! Master Pathfinder, you must be joking now! Surely it is not
possible for a bark canoe to go over that mighty cataract?"

"You never were more mistaken, Master Cap, in your life. Nothing is
easier and many is the canoe I have seen go over it with my own eyes;
and if we both live I hope to satisfy you that the feat can be done. For
my part, I think the largest ship that ever sailed on the ocean might be
carried over, could she once get into the rapids."

Cap did not perceive the wink which Pathfinder exchanged with Eau-douce,
and he remained silent for some time; for, sooth to say, he had never
suspected the possibility of going down Niagara, feasible as the thing
must appear to every one on a second thought, the real difficulty
existing in going up it.

By this time the party had reached the place where Jasper had left
his own canoe, concealed in the bushes, and they all re-embarked; Cap,
Jasper, and his niece in one boat and Pathfinder, Arrowhead, and the
wife of the latter in the other. The Mohican had already passed down the
banks of the river by land, looking cautiously and with the skill of his
people for the signs of an enemy.

The cheek of Mabel did not recover all its bloom until the canoe was
again in the current, down which it floated swiftly, occasionally
impelled by the paddle of Jasper. She witnessed the descent of the falls
with a degree of terror which had rendered her mute; but her fright
had not been so great as to prevent admiration of the steadiness of the
youth who directed the movement from blending with the passing terror.
In truth, one much less sensitive might have had her feelings awakened
by the cool and gallant air with which Eau-douce had accomplished this
clever exploit. He had stood firmly erect, notwithstanding the plu