y heart throbbed with sudden pleasure. Whether, or not, he felt some
premonition of danger, he certainly spoke words of instruction to his
Indian paddlers, and so manipulated his craft as to keep not far
distant, although slightly farther from shore, than the canoe in which
I sat.

Cassion had already vanished in the fog, which swept thicker and
thicker along the surface of the water, the nearer boats becoming mere
indistinct shadows. Even within my own canoe the faces of those about
me appeared gray and blurred, as the damp vapor swept over us in dense
clouds. It was a ghastly scene, rendered more awesome by the glare of
lightning which seemed to split the vapor, and the sound of thunder
reverberating from the surface of the lake.

The water, a ghastly, greenish gray, heaved beneath, giving us little
difficulty, yet terrifying in its suggestion of sullen strength, and
the shore line was barely discernible to the left as we struggled
forward. What obstinacy compelled Cassion to keep us at the task I
know not--perchance a dislike to yield to De Artigny's advice--but the
sergeant swore to himself, and turned the prow of our canoe inward,
hugging the shore as closely as he dared, his anxious eyes searching
every rift in the mist.

Yet, dark and drear as the day was, we had no true warning of the
approaching storm, for the vapor clinging to the water concealed from
our sight the clouds above. When it came it burst upon us with mad
ferocity, the wind whirling to the north, and striking us with all the
force of three hundred miles of open sea. The mist was swept away with
that first fierce gust, and we were struggling for life in a wild
turmoil of waters. I had but a glimpse of it--a glimpse of wild,
raging sea; of black, scurrying clouds, so close above I could almost
reach out and touch them; of dimly revealed canoes flung about like
chips, driving before the blast.

Our own was hurled forward like an arrow, the Indian paddlers working
like mad to keep stern to the wind, their long hair whipping about.
The soldiers crouched in the bottom, clinging grimly to any support,
their white faces exhibiting the abasement of fear. The sergeant alone
spoke, yelling his orders, as he wielded steering paddle, his hat
blown from his head, his face ghastly with sudden terror. It was but
the glimpse of an instant; then a paddle broke, the canoe swung
sideways, balanced on the crest of a wave and went over.

I was conscious of cries,