points, in order to intercept them.  Some followed in canoes, but, being less bold in their navigation than the bee-hunter, they did not make the straits until some time after the fugitives had passed.  Peter, himself, had joined Bear’s Meat and some twenty warriors who had crossed the Peninsula, procured canoes at the head of Saginaw Bay, and had come out at Point au Barques, the very spot our party was now approaching, three days before its arrival.

Tired with waiting, and uncertain whether his enemies had not got the start of him, Bear’s Meat had gone into the river below, intending to keep his watch there, leaving Peter at the Point, with three young men and one canoe, to have a lookout.  These young men the great chief had found an excuse for sending to the head of the Bay, in quest of another canoe, which left him, of course, quite alone on the Point.  Scarce had the young man got out of sight, ere Pigeonswing joined his confederate, for it seems that this faithful friend had kept on the skirts of the enemy the whole time, travelling hundreds of miles, and enduring hunger and fatigue, besides risking his life at nearly every step, in order to be of use to those whom he considered himself pledged to serve.

Of course, Peter and Pigeonswing understood each other.  One hour after they joined company, the canoes of the fugitives came in sight, and were immediately recognized by their sails.  They were met, as has been mentioned, and the explanations that we have given were made before the party landed at the Point.

It was something to know where the risk was to be apprehended; but le Bourdon foresaw great danger.  He had brought his canoes, already, quite five hundred miles, along a hazardous coast—­though a little craft, like one of those he navigated, ran less risk, perhaps, than a larger vessel, since a shelter might, at any time, be found within a reasonable distance for it.  From Pointe au Barques to the outlet of the lake was less than a hundred miles more.  This outlet was a river, as it is called—­a strait, in fact—­which communicates with the small shallow lake of St. Clair, by a passage of some thirty miles in length.  Then the lake St. Clair was to be crossed about an equal distance, when the canoes would come out in what is called the Detroit River, a strait again, as its name indicates.  Some six or eight miles down this passage, and on its western side, stands the city of Detroit, then a village of no great extent, with a fort better situated to repel an attack of the savages, than to withstand a siege of white men.  This place was now in the possession of the British, and, according to le Bourdon’s notion, it was scarcely less dangerous to him than the hostility of Bear’s Meat and his companions.

Delay, however, was quite as dangerous as anything else.  After cooking and eating, therefore, the canoes continued their course, Peter and Pigeonswing accompanying them, though they abandoned their own craft.  Peter went with the bee-hunter and Margery, while the Chippewa took a seat and a paddle in the canoe of Gershom.  This change was made in order to put a double power in each canoe, since it was possible that downright speed might become the only means of safety.