"I like to see this," continued Pathfinder; "the salutes of two
red-skins in the woods, Master Cap, are like the hailing of friendly
vessels on the ocean. But speaking of water, it reminds me of my
young friend, Jasper Western here, who can claim to know something
of these matters, seeing that he has passed his days on Ontario."

"I am glad to see you, friend," said Cap, giving the young fresh-water
sailor a cordial grip; "though you must have something still to
learn, considering the school to which you have been sent. This
is my niece Mabel; I call her Magnet, for a reason she never dreams
of, though you may possibly have education enough to guess at it,
having some pretentions to understand the compass, I suppose."

"The reason is easily comprehended," said the young man, involuntarily
fastening his keen dark eye, at the same time, on the suffused face
of the girl; "and I feel sure that the sailor who steers by your
Magnet will never make a bad landfall."

"Ha! you do make use of some of the terms, I find, and that with
propriety; though, on the whole, I fear you have seen more green
than blue water."

"It is not surprising that we should get some of the phrases which
belong to the land; for we are seldom out of sight of it twenty-four
hours at a time."

"More's the pity, boy, more's the pity! A very little land ought
to go a great way with a seafaring man. Now, if the truth were
known, Master Western, I suppose there is more or less land all
round your lake."