“But they never could surprise some thirty or forty men, without the alarm being given?”

“It depended what sort of men they were,” Nat said scornfully.  “They wouldn’t surprise men that knew their business; but those chaps would just jump out of their boats, as if they was landed on a quay at New York, and would scatter about among the bushes.  Why, Lord bless you, the Indians might ambush and tomahawk the lot, before they had time to think of opening their lips to give a shout.”

The second three boats had now disappeared among the trees, and Colonel Parker gave the word for the rest to advance in a body.

“Look to your firelocks, lads,” James said.  “Whatever happens, keep perfectly cool.  You at the oars, especially, sit still and be ready to obey orders.”

The boats were within fifty yards of the trees when, from beneath the drooping boughs, a volley of musketry was poured out, and, a moment later, a swarm of canoes darted out from beneath the branches, and the terrible Indian war whoop rang in the air.

Appalled by the suddenness of the attack, by the deadly fire, and the terrible yells, the greater portion of the men in the boats were seized with the wildest panic.  Many of them jumped into the water.  Others threw themselves down in the bottom of the boats.  Some tried to row, but were impeded by their comrades.

“Steady, men, steady!” James shouted, at the top of his voice.  “Get the boats’ heads round, and keep together.  We can beat off these canoes, easy enough, if you do but keep your heads.”

His orders were obeyed promptly and coolly by the men of his company.  The boats were turned with their heads to the lake, as the canoes came dashing up, and the men who were not employed in rowing fired so steadily and truly that the redskins in several of the leading canoes fell, upsetting their boats.

“Don’t hurry,” James shouted.  “There is no occasion for haste.  They can go faster than we can.  All we have got to do is to beat them off.  Lay in all the oars, except the two bow oars, in each boat.  All the rest of the men stand to their arms, and let the boats follow each other in file, the bow of one close to the stern of that ahead.”

The check, which the volley had given to the canoes, gave time to the men in several of the boats, close to those of the scouts, to turn.  They were rowing past James’s slowly-moving boats, when he shouted to them: 

“Steady, men, your only chance of escape is to show a front to them, as we are doing.  They can overtake you easily, and will row you down one after the other.  Fall in ahead of our line, and do as we are doing.  You need not be afraid.  We could beat them off, if they were ten times as many.”