es to be confirmed in an impression but indifferently
entertained. "See how close it approaches the boat! Mad that lazy
sailor but his wits about him, he might easily knock it on the head
with his oar. It is--it is a beaver, Madeline; I can distinguish its
head even with the naked eye."

"Heaven grant it may be a beaver," answered Miss de Haldimar, in a
voice so deep and full of meaning, that it made her cousin startle and
turn paler even than before. "Nay, Clara, dearest, command yourself,
nor give way to what may, after all, prove a groundless cause of alarm.
Yet, I know not how it is, my heart misgives me sadly; for I like not
the motions of this animal, which are strangely and unusually bold. But
this is not all: a beaver or a rat might ruffle the mere surface of the
water, yet this leaves behind it a deep and gurgling furrow, as if the
element had been ploughed to its very bottom. Observe how the lake is
agitated and discoloured wherever it has passed. Moreover, I dislike
this sudden bustle on board the schooner, knowing, as I do, there is
not an officer present to order the movements now visibly going
forward. The men are evidently getting up the anchor; and see how her
sails are loosened, apparently courting the breeze, as if she would fly
to avoid some threatened danger. Would to Heaven this council scene
were over; for I do, as much as yourself, dearest Clara, distrust these
cruel Indians!"

A significant gesture from her trembling cousin again drew her
attention from the vessel to the boat. The animal, which now exhibited
the delicate and glossy fur of the beaver, had gained the stern, and
remained stationary within a foot of her quarter. Presently the sailor
made a sluggish movement, turning himself heavily on his side, and with
his face towards his curious and daring visitant. In the act the
tarpaulin hat had fallen from his eyes, but still he awoke not.
Scarcely had he settled himself in his new position, when, to the
infinite horror of the excited cousins, a naked human hand was raised
from beneath the surface of the lake, and placed upon the gunwale of
the boat Then rose slowly, and still covered with its ingenious
disguise, first the neck, then the shoulders, and finally the form,
even to the midwaist, of a dark and swarthy Indian, who, stooping low
and cautiously over the sailor, now reposed the hand that had quitted
the gunwale upon his form, while the other was thrust searchingly into
the belt encir