In the mean while, le Bourdon continued his incantations aloud; walking toward his canoe, waving his hand, and uttering a great deal of gibberish as he slowly proceeded.  In passing the tree, our hero, though he did not turn his head, was sensible that he was followed by the chiefs, a movement against which he did not dare to remonstrate, though it sadly disappointed him.  Neither hastening nor retarding his steps, however, in consequence of this unpleasant circumstance, the young man continued on; once or twice sweeping the wand behind him, in order to ascertain if he could reach his followers.  But Crowsfeather and his companions stopped when they reached the swell of land which concealed the canoe, suffering the “medicine-man” to move on alone.  Of this fact le Bourdon became aware, by turning three times in a circle, and pointing upward at the heavens with his wand, as he did so.

It was a nervous moment when the bee-hunter reached the canoe.  He did not like to look behind him again, lest the chiefs should suspect his motive, and, in shoving off from the shore, he might do so within a few yards of the muzzle of a hostile rifle.  There was no time to lose, however, for any protracted delay on his part would certainly cause the savages to approach, through curiosity, if not through distrust of his motives.  He stepped into his light craft, therefore, without any delay, still flourishing his wand, and muttering his incantations.  The first thing was to walk to the stern of the canoe, that his weight might raise the bow from the shore, and also that he might have an excuse for turning round, and thus get another look at the Indians.  So critical was his situation, and so nervous did it make our young hero, that he took no heed of the state of matters in the canoe, until the last moment.  When he had turned, however, he ascertained that the two principal chiefs had drawn so near as to be within twenty yards of him, though neither held his rifle at “ready,” but each leaned on it in a careless manner, as if in no anticipation of any necessity to make a speedy use of the weapon.  This state of things could not last, and le Bourdon braced his nerves for the final trial.  On looking for his paddle, however, he found that of three which the canoe had contained when he left it, not even one was to be seen!  These wily savages had, out of all question, taken their opportunity to remove and secrete these simple, but almost indispensable, means of motion.

At the instant when first apprised of the loss just mentioned, the bee-hunter’s heart sunk within him, and he fell into the seat in the stern of the canoe, nearly with the weight of so much lead.  Then a species of desperation came over him, and putting an end of his cane wand upon the bottom, with a vigorous shove he forced the canoe swiftly astern and to windward.  Sudden as was this attempt, and rapid as was the movement, the jealous eyes and ready hands of the chiefs seemed to anticipate it.  Two shots were fired within a few seconds after the canoe had quitted the shore.  The reports of the rifles were a declaration of hostilities, and a general yell, accompanied by a common rush toward the river, announced that the whole band now understood that some deception had been practised at their expense.