Chapter 20 - Page 2

that prevailed on the lake fifty miles above her. The glimpses of
natural scenery that offered were very soft and pleasing; and our
heroine, who had a quick eye for all that was lovely in nature,
was not slow in selecting the most striking bits of landscape. She
gazed through the different vistas formed by the openings between
the islands, and thought she had never looked on aught more lovely.

While thus occupied, Mabel was suddenly alarmed by fancying that
she caught a glimpse of a human form among the bushes that lined
the shore of the island which lay directly before her. The distance
across the water was not a hundred yards; and, though she might be
mistaken, and her fancy was wandering when the form passed before
her sight, still she did not think she could be deceived. Aware
that her sex would be no protection against a rifle bullet, should
an Iroquois get a view of her, the girl instinctively drew back,
taking care to conceal her person as much as possible by the leaves,
while she kept her own look riveted on the opposite shore, vainly
waiting for some time in the expectation of the stranger. She was
about to quit her post in the bushes and hasten to her uncle, in
order to acquaint him of her suspicions, when she saw the branch
of an alder thrust beyond the fringe of bushes on the other island,
and waved towards her significantly, and as she fancied in token
of amity. This was a breathless and a trying moment to one as
inexperienced in frontier warfare as our heroine and yet she felt
the great necessity that existed for preserving her recollection,
and of acting with steadiness and discretion.

It was one of the peculiarities of the exposure to which those who
dwelt on the frontiers of America were liable, to bring out the
moral qualities of the women to a degree which they must themselves,
under other circumstances, have believed they were incapable of
manifesting; and Mabel well knew that the borderers loved to dwell
in their legends on the presence of mind, fortitude, and spirit that
their wives and sisters had displayed under circumstances the most
trying. Her emulation had been awakened by what she had heard on
such subjects; and it at once struck her that now was the moment
for her to show that she was truly Sergeant Dunham's child. The
motion of the branch was such as she believed indicated amity; and,
after a moment's hesitation, she broke off a twig, fastened it to
a stick and, thrusting it through an opening, waved it in return,
imitating as closely as possible the manner of the other.

This dumb show lasted two or three minutes on both sides, when Mabel
perceived that the bushes opposite were cautiously pushed aside,
and a human face appeared at an opening. A glance