down towards the
garrison, and not a soul crosses the clearing around it that some
of their piercing eyes will not discover, when sartain bullets will
follow."

"Cannot this said fort deliver a broadside, and clear everything within
the sweep of its hawse?"

"Nay, the forts this-a-way are not like forts in the settlements, and
two or three light cannon are all they have down at the mouth of the
river; and then, broadsides fired at a dozen outlying Mingoes, lying
behind logs and in a forest, would be powder spent in vain. We have but
one course, and that is a very nice one. We are judgmatically placed
here, both canoes being hid by the high bank and the bushes, from all
eyes, except those of any lurker directly opposite. Here, then, we may
stay without much present fear; but how to get the bloodthirsty devils
up the stream again? Ha! I have it, I have it! if it does no good, it
can do no harm. Do you see the wide-topped chestnut here, Jasper, at the
last turn in the river--on our own side of the stream, I mean?"

"That near the fallen pine?"

"The very same. Take the flint and tinderbox, creep along the bank, and
light a fire at that spot; maybe the smoke will draw them above us. In
the meanwhile, we will drop the canoes carefully down beyond the point
below, and find another shelter. Bushes are plenty, and covers are
easily to be had in this region, as witness the many ambushments."

"I will do it, Pathfinder," said Jasper, springing to the shore. "In ten
minutes the fire shall be lighted."

"And, Eau-douce, use plenty of damp wood this time," half whispered the
other, laughing heartily, in his own peculiar manner; "when smoke is
wanted, water helps to thicken it."

The young man was soon off, making his way rapidly towards the desired
point. A slight attempt of Mabel to object to the risk was disregarded,
and the party immediately prepared to change its position, as it could
be seen from the place where Jasper intended to light his fire. The
movement did not require haste, and it was made leisurely and with care.
The canoes were got clear of the bushes, then suffered to drop down with
the stream until they reached the spot where the chestnut, at the foot
of which Jasper was to light the fire, was almost shut out from view,
when they stopped, and every eye was turned in the direction of the
adventurer.

"There goes the smoke!" exclaimed the Pathfinder, as a current of air
whirled a little column of the vapor