You burrowed on that occasion, Quartermaster, as handily as a fox; and how the d---l you knew so well where to find the spot is a matter of wonder to me.A regular skulk on board ship does not trail aft more readily when the jib is to be stowed, than you went into that same hole.""And did ye no' follow? There are moments in a man's life when reason ascends to instinct -- ""And men descend into holes," interrupted Cap, laugh-ing in his boisterous way, while Pathfinder chimed in, in his peculiar manner.Even Jasper, though still filled with concern for Mabel, was obliged to smile."They say the d---l wouldn't make a sailor if he didn't look aloft; and now it seems he'll not make a soldier if he doesn't look below!"This burst of merriment, though it was anything but agreeable to Muir, contributed largely towards keeping the peace.Cap fancied he had said a thing much better than common; and that disposed him to yield his own opinion on the main point, so long as he got the good opin-ion of his companions on his novel claim to be a wit.
After a short discussion, all the savages on the island were collected in a body, without arms, at the distance of a hun-dred yards from the block, and under the gun of the _Scud_;while Pathfinder descended to the door of the blockhouse and settled the terms on which the island was to be finally evacuated by the enemy.Considering all the circum-stances, the conditions were not very discreditable to either party.The Indians were compelled to give up all their arms, even to their knives and tomahawks, as a measure of precaution, their force being still quadruple that of their foes.The French officer, Monsieur Sanglier, as he was usually styled, and chose to call himself, remonstrated against this act as one likely to reflect more discredit on his command than any other part of the affair; but Path-finder, who had witnessed one or two Indian massacres, and knew how valueless pledges became when put in op-position to interest where a savage was concerned, was ob-durate.The second stipulation was of nearly the same importance.It compelled Captain Sanglier to give up all his prisoners, who had been kept well guarded in the very hole or cave in which Cap and Muir had taken refuge.
When these men were produced, four of them were found to be unhurt; they had fallen merely to save their lives, a common artifice in that species of warfare; and of the re-mainder, two were so slightly injured as not to be unfit for service.As they brought their muskets with them, this addition to his force immediately put Pathfinder at his ease; for, having collected all the arms of the enemy in the blockhouse, he directed these men to take possession of the building, stationing a regular sentinel at the door.The remainder of the soldiers were dead, the badly wounded having been instantly despatched in order to obtain the much-coveted scalps.
As soon as Jasper was made acquainted with the terms, and the preliminaries had been so far observed as to ren-der it safe for him to be absent, he got the _Scud_ under weigh; and, running down to the point where the boats had stranded, he took them in tow again, and, making a few stretches, brought them into the leeward passage.
Here all the savages instantly embarked, when Jasper took the boats in tow a third time, and, running off before the wind, he soon set them adrift full a mile to leeward of the island.The Indians were furnished with but a single oar in each boat to steer with, the young sailor well knowing that by keeping before the wind they would land on the shores of Canada in the course of the morning.
Captain Sanglier, Arrowhead, and June alone remained, when this disposition had been made of the rest of the party: the former having certain papers to draw up and sign with Lieutenant Muir, who in his eyes possessed the virtues which are attached to a commission; and the lat-ter preferring, for reasons of his own, not to depart in com-pany with his late friends, the Iroquis.Canoes were de-tained for the departure of these three, when the proper moment should arrive.
In the meantime, or while the _Scud_ was running down with the boats in tow, Pathfinder and Cap, aided by proper assistants, busied themselves with preparing a breakfast;most of the party not having eaten for four-and-twenty hours.The brief space that passed in this manner before the _Scud_ came-to again was little interrupted by discourse, though Pathfinder found leisure to pay a visit to the Ser-geant, to say a few friendly words to Mabel, and to give such directions as he thought might smooth the passage of the dying man.As for Mabel herself, he insisted on her taking some light refreshment; and, there no longer ex-isting any motive for keeping it there, he had the guard removed from the block, in order that the daughter might have no impediment to her attentions to her father.These little arrangements completed, our hero returned to the fire, around which he found all the remainder of the party assembled, including Jasper.
