from the land, allowing it to
rise spirally above the bed of the river. "A good flint, a small bit
of steel, and plenty of dry leaves makes a quick fire. I hope Eau-douce
will have the wit to bethink him of the damp wood now when it may serve
us all a good turn."

"Too much smoke--too much cunning," said Arrowhead sententiously.

"That is gospel truth, Tuscarora, if the Mingoes didn't know that they
are near soldiers; but soldiers commonly think more of their dinner at
a halt than of their wisdom and danger. No, no; let the boy pile on his
logs, and smoke them well too; it will all be laid to the stupidity of
some Scotch or Irish blunderer, who is thinking more of his oatmeal or
his potatoes than of Indian sarcumventions or Indian rifles."

"And yet I should think, from all we have heard in the towns, that the
soldiers on this frontier are used to the artifices of their enemies,"
said Mabel, "and become almost as wily as the red men themselves."

"Not they. Experience makes them but little wiser; and they wheel, and
platoon, and battalion it about, here in the forest, just as they did
in their parks at home, of which they are all so fond of talking. One
red-skin has more cunning in his natur' than a whole regiment from the
other side of the water; that is, what I call cunning of the woods. But
there is smoke enough, of all conscience, and we had better drop into
another cover. The lad has thrown the river on his fire, and there is
danger that the Mingoes will believe a whole regiment is out."

While speaking, the Pathfinder permitted his canoe to drift away from
the bush by which it had been retained, and in a couple of minutes the
bend in the river concealed the smoke and the tree. Fortunately a small
indentation in the shore presented itself, within a few yards of the
point they had just passed; and the two canoes glided into it, under the
impulsion of the paddles.

A better spot could not have been found for the purpose. The bushes
were thick, and overhung the water, forming a complete canopy of leaves.
There was a small gravelly strand at the bottom of the little bay, where
most of the party landed to be more at their ease, and the only position
from which they could possibly be seen was a point on the river directly
opposite. There was little danger, however, of discovery from that
quarter, as the thicket there was even denser than common, and the land
beyond it was so wet and marshy as to render it difficult