All this time the Scud was in motion.  As soon as he had reached the end of the island, Jasper sent his prizes adrift; and they went down before the wind until they stranded on a point half a mile to leeward.  He then wore, and came stemming the current again, through the other passage.  Those on the summit of the block could now perceive that something was in agitation on the deck of the Scud; and, to their great delight, just as the cutter came abreast of the principal cove, on the spot where most of the enemy lay, the howitzer which composed her sole armament was unmasked, and a shower of case-shot was sent hissing into the bushes.  A bevy of quail would not have risen quicker than this unexpected discharge of iron hail put up the Iroquois; when a second savage fell by a messenger sent from Killdeer, and another went limping away by a visit from the rifle of Chingachgook.  New covers were immediately found, however; and each party seemed to prepare for the renewal of the strife in another form.  But the appearance of June, bearing a white flag, and accompanied by the French officer and Muir, stayed the hands of all, and was the forerunner of another parley.  The negotiation that followed was held beneath the blockhouse; and so near it as at once to put those who were uncovered completely at the mercy of Pathfinder’s unerring aim.  Jasper anchored directly abeam; and the howitzer, too, was kept trained upon the negotiators:  so that the besieged and their friends, with the exception of the man who held the match, had no hesitation about exposing their persons.  Chingachgook alone lay in ambush; more, however, from habit than distrust.

“You’ve triumphed, Pathfinder,” called out the Quartermaster, “and Captain Sanglier has come himself to offer terms.  You’ll no’ be denying a brave enemy honorable retreat, when he has fought ye fairly, and done all the credit he could to king and country.  Ye are too loyal a subject yourself to visit loyalty and fidelity with a heavy judgment.  I am authorized to offer, on the part of the enemy, an evacuation of the island, a mutual exchange of prisoners, and a restoration of scalps.  In the absence of baggage and artillery, little more can be done.”

As the conversation was necessarily carried on in a high key, both on account of the wind and of the distance, all that was said was heard equally by those in the block and those in the cutter.

“What do you say to that, Jasper?” called out Pathfinder.  “You hear the proposal.  Shall we let the vagabonds go?  Or shall we mark them, as they mark their sheep in the settlements, that we may know them again?”

“What has befallen Mabel Dunham?” demanded the young man, with a frown on his handsome face, that was visible even to those on the block.  “If a hair of her head has been touched, it will go hard with the whole Iroquois tribe.”

“Nay, nay, she is safe below, nursing a dying parent, as becomes her sex.  We owe no grudge on account of the Sergeant’s hurt, which comes of lawful warfare; and as for Mabel —­ "