inmates no other
chance of escape but by throwing themselves into the water--where the
Indians could either kill them by rifle-shots, or take them alive, as
they pleased.

Such had been the idea of the Indian messenger. By his order, the
Apaches had cut down a tree with its leaves on, and a thick mass of wet
grass interlaced in its branches formed a sort of foundation, on which
they placed the branches of a pine tree; and after setting fire to this
construction, they had sent it floating down the stream. As it
approached, the crackling of the wood could be heard; and out of the
black smoke which mixed with the fog arose a bright, clear flame.

Not far from the bank they could distinguish the form of an Indian.
Pepe could not resist a sudden temptation. "Yon demon," cried he,
"shall at least not live to exult over our death."

So saying, he fired and the plume of the Indian was seen to go down.

"Sad and tardy vengeance," remarked Bois-Rose; and as if, indeed, the
Apaches disdained the efforts of a vanquished foe, the shore preserved
its gloomy solitude, and not a single howl accompanied the last groans
of the warrior.

"Never mind," cried Pepe, stamping his foot in his impotent fury; "I
shall die more calmly, the greater number of those demons I have sent
before me." And he looked round for some other victim.

Meanwhile Bois-Rose was calmly reconnoitring the burning mass, which, if
it touched the island, would set fire to the dried trees which composed
it.

"Well," cried Pepe, whose rage blinded his judgment, "it is useless to
look at the fire; have you any method of making it deviate from its
course?"

"Perhaps," replied the Canadian. Pepe began to whistle with an affected
indifference.

"I see something that proves to me that the reasonings of the Indians
are not always infallible; and if it were not that we shall receive a
shower of balls, to force us to stay hidden while the islet takes fire,
I should care as little for that burning raft as for a fire-fly in the
air."

In constructing the floating fire, the Indians had calculated its
thickness, so that the wet grass might be dried by the fire and become
kindled about the time when it should touch the island. But the grass
had been soaked in the water, and this had retarded its combustion;
besides the large branches had not had time to inflame; it was only the
smaller boughs and the leaves that were burning. This had not escaped
the quick eye of