Indeed, Kendal had but just time, by a
sharp jerk of the helm, to avoid a sheet of
weak "cat-ice" that glittered diamond bright in
the rays of the dim wintry sun, and one plunge
into which would have been fatal.

Elk-that-runs showed wonderful knowledge of
the lake in that part, and, thanks to him, we
avoided more than one shoal and more than one
unsafe place, while the brave lad and his swift
boat both did their best.

But the wind was faint and unsteady, the
Stormswallow was heavily laden, and her
progress was sorely unlike the lightning rush
of the preceding voyage. We were chased
hotly. I cannot tell whether the enemy guessed
whence we came, but they spared no effort to
overtake us, and while nearly two hundred
joined the pursuit, about thirty of the fleetest
gained on us terribly fast. Of those, about
one-third were New Yorkers, the most being
Mohawks; but all bore rifles, and frequently
halted to fire. We were obliged to place the
women and children under cover by crowding
them into the cabin, and as to ourselves, we
crouched down as we listened, under cover of
the bulwarks.

"If the wind would but freshen!" said I.

Willy Kendal shook his head. Our pursuers
were gaining on us. They came on in straggling
disorder, white men and red men, pell-mell.
Most of the Indians wore snow-shoes, which
helped them well across the patches of loose
deep snow; but the New Yorkers, in their
"cramponned" shoes, made better way across
the polished ice.

"Hilloa! Britisher, give in! You'd best!"
bawled a threatening voice in our rear, half
drowned by the whoops of the Mohawks.

"Surrender there!" cried another panting
American. "We'll make short finish of the hull
lot of you, once ye pull trigger!"

For Elk-that-runs had thrust the short clouded
barrel of his rifle over the taffrail. I struck it
up.

"No need to throw away a shot," said I;
"besides, they are an overmatch. Ten to one.
We had best make terms."

"Terms, lieutenant?" said young Kendal,
bitterly; "the Yankees may promise, but the
Mohawks ain't easy to choke off. Fight or yield,
they won't spare us—and, may I never, but the
wind's down!"

Too true. A sullen flapping of our sails
announced that it was too true, and the
Stormswallow only glided along under the influence
of the momentum she had acquired. The
Indians set up a long exulting whoop, like
hounds when the chase is well-nigh over, and
came on.

"Let us die like men, anyway!" cried Willy
Kendal, catching up his gun: a motion which I
half mechanically imitated. But at this instant
Elk-that-runs let his own piece drop to the
deck, and uttered a strange chuckle as he
pointed with his tawny finger to the ice, and
bent his head to listen.

A groaning sound, like the complaint of a
tortured giant, came to our ears. Then the
ice heaved, and a sharp detonation, like the crack
of a hundred muskets, resounded. And then,
with a crack and a roar, a long fissure opened
through the gleaming sheet of dark blue, as if
it were cloven by some mighty stroke. Seam
after seam, chasm after chasm, burst through
the frozen surface, and then, with a dull bellowing
noise, louder than that of many heavy cannons,
a huge mass of ice broke up into glittering
fragments, that churned the water into foam, or
slowly revolved, rising like jagged walls into the
air.

Between us and the enemy extended this
impassable barrier, and we knew that we were
saved. We saw several of our pursuers, both
Indians and whites, toss up their arms with
a wild cry of despair, as the ice broke beneath
their feet, sucking them down into the depths
below, and settling above them as they sank.
The Stormswallow was still on a firm surface,
seventy yards from the edge of the shivered ice.
By dint of poling for an hour, we made some
progress, until a breeze sprung up which carried
us, before night, to Port Hope.

The cracking of the ice preserved Hamilton,
for it continued at intervals on the American
side of the Lake for two days, and Colonel
Carter was compelled by the clamours of his
men to give up his expedition and regain the
shore. The general in command was kind
enough to forward home a favourable account
of my conduct in volunteering to carry news
to Fort Hamilton, and six months afterwards
Captain Mills and his young friend Willy Kendal
had the pleasure of being present when Arthur
Haworth was married to Miss Jane Lee.

On Monday, the 15th of September, will be published,
            price 5s. 6d., bound in cloth,
              THE SEVENTH VOLUME
                            OF
               ALL THE YEAR ROUND.
     Containing from Numbers 151 to 176.
The preceding Volumes are always to be had,
            containing the following Novels:—
A TALE OF TWO CITIES, AND GREAT EXPECTATIONS.
By CHARLES DICKENS.
THE WOMAN IN WHITE. By WILKIE COLLINS.
A DAY'S RIDE, A LIFE'S ROMANCE. By CHARLES LEVER.
A STRANGE STORY. By SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTOX.
                       BESIDES,
THE HAUNTED HOUSE, A MESSAGE FROM THE
SEA AND TOM TIDDLER'S GROUND, being the extra,
Double Numbers for Christmas, and a great number of
articles of general interest.