with
greater ease and accuracy, until perfectly satisfied that the captain
must have ceased to breathe, nearly an hour.

This was a sad and fearful blow to the whole party. No one, at such a
moment, thought of inquiring into the manner in which their excellent
master had received his death-blow; but every thought was bent either
on the extent of the calamity, or on the means of getting back to the
Hut. Joyce was the soul of the party. His rugged face assumed a stern,
commanding expression; but every sign of weakness had disappeared. He
gave his orders promptly, and the men even started when he spoke, so
bent on obtaining obedience did he appear to be.

The rifles were converted into a bier, the body was placed upon it, and
the four men then raised the burthen, and began to retrace their
footsteps, in melancholy silence. Nick led the way, pointing out the
difficulties of the path, with a sedulousness of attention, and a
gentleness of manner, that none present had ever before witnessed in
the Tuscarora He even appeared to have become woman, to use one of his
own peculiar expressions.

No one speaking, and all the men working with good will, the retreat,
notwithstanding the burthen with which it was encumbered, was made with
a rapidity greatly exceeding the advance. Nick led the way with an
unerring eye, even selecting better ground than that which the white
men had been able to find on their march. He had often traversed all
the hills, in the character of a hunter, and to him the avenues of the
forest were as familiar as the streets of his native town become to the
burgher. He made no offer to become one of the bearers; this would have
been opposed to his habits; but, in all else, the Indian manifested
gentleness and solicitude. His apprehension seemed to be, and so he
expressed it, that the Mohawks might get the scalp of the dead man; a
disgrace that he seemed as solicitous to avoid as Joyce himself; the
serjeant, however, keeping in view the feelings of the survivors,
rather than any notions of military pride.

Notwithstanding the stern resolution that prevailed among the men, that
return march was long and weary. The distance, of itself, exceeded two
miles, and there were the inequalities and obstacles of a forest to
oppose them. Per severance and strength, however, overcame all
difficulties; and, at the end of two hours, the party approached the
point where it became necessary to enter the bed of the rivulet, or