them to destruction, when the master-hand of their pilot would
bring the bows of the canoe to stem the rapid. A long, a vigorous, and,
as it appeared to the females, a desperate effort, closed the struggle.
Just as Alice veiled her eyes in horror, under the impression that they
were about to be swept within the vortex at the foot of the cataract,
the canoe floated, stationary, at the side of a flat rock, that lay on a
level with the water.

"Where are we? and what is next to be done?" demanded Heyward,
perceiving that the exertions of the scout had ceased.

"You are at the foot of Glenn's," returned the other, speaking aloud,
without fear of consequences, within the roar of the cataract; "and the
next thing is to make a steady landing, lest the canoe upset, and you
should go down again the hard road we have travelled, faster than you
came up; 'tis a hard rift to stem, when the river is a little swelled;
and five is an unnatural number to keep dry, in the hurry-skurry, with a
little birchen bark and gum. There, go you all on the rock, and I will
bring up the Mohicans with the venison. A man had better sleep without
his scalp, than famish in the midst of plenty."

His passengers gladly complied with these directions. As the last foot
touched the rock, the canoe whirled from its station, when the tall form
of the scout was seen, for an instant, gliding above the waters, before
it disappeared in the impenetrable darkness that rested on the bed of
the river. Left by their guide, the travellers remained a few minutes in
helpless ignorance, afraid even to move along the broken rocks, lest a
false step should precipitate them down some one of the many deep and
roaring caverns, into which the water seemed to tumble, on every side of
them. Their suspense, however, was soon relieved; for aided by the skill
of the natives, the canoe shot back into the eddy, and floated again at
the side of the low rock before they thought the scout had even time to
rejoin his companions.

"We are now fortified, garrisoned, and provisioned," cried Heyward,
cheerfully, "and may set Montcalm and his allies at defiance. How, now,
my vigilant sentinel, can you see anything of those you call the
Iroquois, on the mainland?"

"I call them Iroquois, because to me every native, who speaks a foreign
tongue, is accounted an enemy, though he may pretend to serve the king!
If Webb wants faith and honesty in an Indian, let him bring out the
tribes of the Del