, to speak my mind
freely. It's a mere wash of spray to shooting London Bridge, which is done every
day by hundreds of persons, and often by the most delicate ladies in the land.
The King's Majesty has shot the bridge, in his royal person.«
    »Well I want no delicate ladies or king's majesties, (God bless 'em), in the
canoe, in going over these falls, for a boat's breadth, either way, may make a
drowning matter of it. Eau douce, we shall have to carry the sarjeant's brother
over Niagara, yet, to show him what may be done on a frontier!«
    »The devil! Master Pathfinder, you must be joking, now! Surely it is not
possible for a bark canoe to go over that mighty cataract!«
    »You never were more mistaken, Master Cap, in your life. Nothing is easier,
and many is the canoe I have seen go over it, with my own eyes, and, if we both
live, I hope to satisfy you that the feat can be done. For my part, I think the
largest ship that ever sailed on the ocean might be carried over, could she once
get into the rapids.«
    Cap did not perceive the wink which Pathfinder exchanged with Eau douce, and
he remained silent some time; for, sooth to say, he had never suspected the
possibility of going down Niagara, feasible as the thing must appear to every
one, on a second thought, the real difficulty existing in going up it.
    By this time, the party had reached the place, where Jasper had left his own
canoe, concealed in the bushes, and they all re-embarked; Cap, Jasper and his
niece, in one boat, and Pathfinder, Arrowhead and the wife of the latter, in the
other. The Mohican had already passed down the banks of the river by land,
looking cautiously and with the skill of his people for the signs of an enemy.
    The cheek of Mabel did not recover all its bloom, until the canoe was again
in the current, down which it floated swiftly, occasionally impelled by the
paddle of Jasper. She witnessed the descent of the falls, with a degree of
terror that had rendered her mute, but her fright had not been so great as to
prevent admiration of the steadiness of the youth, who directed the movement,
from blending with the passing terror. In truth, one much less quick and
sensitive, might have had her feelings awakened by the cool