and, sure enough, a small object was discernible about a
hundred yards ahead of the cutter, and nearly on her lee bow. At the first
glance, he saw it was a bark canoe, for though the darkness prevented hues from
being distinguished, the eye that had got to be accustomed to the night, might
discern forms, at some little distance; and the eye, which, like Jasper's, had
long been familiar with things aquatic, could not be at a loss in discovering
the outlines necessary to come to the conclusion he did.
    »This may be an enemy,« the young man coolly remarked, »and it may be well
to overhaul him.«
    »He is paddling with all his might, lad,« observed the Pathfinder, »and
means to cross your bows and get to windward, when you might as well chase a
full-grown buck on snow shoes!«
    »Let her luff! -« cried Jasper, to the man at the helm - »Luff up, 'till she
shakes. - There, steady and hold all that.«
    The helmsman complied, and, as the Scud was now dashing the water aside,
merrily, a minute, or two, put the canoe so far to leeward as to render escape
impracticable. Jasper now sprang to the helm, himself, and by judicious and
careful handling, he got so near his chase that it was secured by a boat hook.
On receiving an order, the two persons who were in the canoe, left it, and no
sooner had they reached the deck of the cutter, than they were found to be
Arrowhead and his wife.
 

                                   Chapter XV

 »What pearl is it that rich men cannot buy,
 That learning is too proud to gather up;
 But which the poor and the despised of all
 Seek and obtain, and often find unsought?
 Tell me - and I will tell thee what is truth.«
                                                   Cowper, The Task, III.285-89.
 
The meeting with the Indian and his wife excited no surprise in the majority of
those who witnessed the occurrence, but Mabel, and all who knew of the manner in
which this chief had been separated from the party of Cap, simultaneously
entertained suspicions, which it was far easier to feel, than to follow out, by
any plausible clue, to certainty. Pathfinder, who, alone, could converse freely
with the prisoners, for such they might now be considered, took Arrowhead aside,
and held a long conversation with him, concerning the reasons of the latter for
having deserted his charge, and