The sun had actually set; no intelligence had been received from the boats, and Mabel ascended to the roof to take a last look, hoping that the party would arrive in the darkness; which would at least prevent the Indians from rendering their ambuscade so fatal as it might otherwise prove, and which possibly might enable her to give some more intelligible signal, by means of fire, than it would otherwise be in her power to do.  Her eye had turned carefully round the whole horizon, and she was just on the point of drawing in her person, when an object that struck her as new caught her attention.  The islands lay grouped so closely, that six or eight different channels or passages between them were in view; and in one of the most covered, concealed in a great measure by the bushes of the shore, lay what a second look assured her was a bark canoe.  It contained a human being beyond a question.  Confident that if an enemy her signal could do no harm, and; if a friend, that it might do good, the eager girl waved a little flag towards the stranger, which she had prepared for her father, taking care that it should not be seen from the island.

Mabel had repeated her signal eight or ten times in vain, and she began to despair of its being noticed, when a sign was given in return by the wave of a paddle, and the man so far discovered himself as to let her see it was Chingachgook.  Here, then, at last, was a friend; one, too, who was able, and she doubted not would be willing to aid her.  From that instant her courage and her spirits revived.  The Mohican had seen her; must have recognized her, as he knew that she was of the party; and no doubt, as soon as it was sufficiently dark, he would take the steps necessary to release her.  That he was aware of the presence of the enemy was apparent by the great caution he observed, and she had every reliance on his prudence and address.  The principal difficulty now existed with June; for Mabel had seen too much of her fidelity to her own people, relieved as it was by sympathy for herself, to believe she would consent to a hostile Indian’s entering the blockhouse, or indeed to her leaving it, with a view to defeat Arrowhead’s plans.  The half-hour which succeeded the discovery of the presence of the Great Serpent was the most painful of Mabel Dunham’s life.  She saw the means of effecting all she wished, as it might be within reach of her hand, and yet it eluded her grasp.  She knew June’s decision and coolness, notwithstanding all her gentleness and womanly feeling; and at last she came reluctantly to the conclusion that there was no other way of attaining her end than by deceiving her tried companion and protector.  It was revolting to one so sincere and natural, so pure of heart, and so much disposed to ingenuousness as Mabel Dunham, to practise deception on a friend like June; but her own father’s life was at stake, her companion would receive no positive injury, and she had feelings and interests directly touching herself which would have removed greater scruples.