e him gifts in token of
appreciation. He took the oath of fealty and cast in his lot with the
English for good. It was characteristic of the enthusiast that he was,
when Radisson did not sign a strictly business contract with the
Hudson's Bay Company. "I accepted their commission with the greatest
pleasure in the world," he writes; ". . . without any precautions on my
part for my own interests . . . since they had confidence in me, I
wished to be generous towards them . . . in the hope they would render
me all the justice due from gentlemen of honor and probity."

But to the troubles of the future Radisson always paid small heed.
Glad to be off once more to the adventurous freedom of the wilds, he
set sail from England on May 17, 1684, in the _Happy Return_,
accompanied by two other vessels. No incident marked the voyage till
the ships had passed through the straits and were driven apart by the
ice-drift of the bay. About sixty miles out from Port Nelson, the
_Happy Return_ was held back by ice. Fearing trouble between young
Jean Groseillers' men and the English of the other ships, Radisson
embarked in a shallop with seven men in order to arrive at Hayes River
before the other boats came. Rowing with might and main for
forty-eight hours, they came to the site of the French fort.

The fort had been removed. Jean Groseillers had his own troubles
during Radisson's absence. A few days after Radisson's departure in
July, 1683, cannon announced the arrival of the annual English ships on
Nelson River. Jean at once sent out scouts, who found a tribe of
Indians on the way home from trading with the ships that had fired the
cannon. The scouts brought the Indians back to the French fort. Young
Groseillers admitted the savages only one at a time; but the cunning
braves pretended to run back for things they had forgotten in the
French house. Suspecting nothing, Jean had permitted his own men to
leave the fort. On different pretexts, a dozen warriors had surrounded
the young trader. Suddenly the mask was thrown off. Springing up,
treacherous as a tiger cat, the chief of the band struck at Groseillers
with a dagger. Jean parried the blow, grabbed the redskin by his
collar of bears' claws strung on thongs, threw the assassin to the
ground almost strangling him, and with one foot on the villain's throat
and the sword point at his chest, demanded of the Indians what they
meant. The savages would have fled, but French s