h to think
of how little I had accomplished, and of the slender opportunity ahead.

But the next morning I saw a straw to grasp. Up to that time we had
been left to the guardianship of all the camp, but the second day I saw
that the huge brave to whom I was tied at night followed me
incessantly. I watched, and saw that my men had similar attendants.
This was a gain, as I said to Labarthe. I did not try to have
connected speech with the men, but by saying a word at a time as we
passed we could patch together a few sentences.

From that on I gave the day to winning my special jailer. He was an
intelligent Indian and inclined to be good-humored. I amused him, and
when I took a net and motioned that we go to the swamp to fish he
grunted and agreed.

The swamp lay on the north of the camp, and was, I was sure, part of
the great rice field on which the Malhominis had their village to the
west. The swamp was flooded so that it would bear a canoe, and it
teemed with fish. I took the net,--it was ingeniously woven of nettles
pounded to a fibre and then spun into cords,--and showed the Indian how
to swing it across an eddy and draw it under with a swift, circular
sweep that would entangle any fish. I had success, and the Indian
warmed to the sport and tried it himself. He could not do it; he could
not get the twist of the hand that was the whole secret, and I had to
show him again. He improved and grew ambitious. A few braves wandered
over to look at us, but my jailer was jealous of his new
accomplishment, and we took a canoe and paddled out of sight. We spent
most of the day in the swamp.

That evening I went boldly to Pierre and said a few swift words. I
told him to keep as near the swamp as possible, and to tell the other
men to do the same. In about two days, if my plans carried, we should
be able to accomplish something. In the meantime they must appear
contented, and try for the confidence of their guards.

Now my plan was simple. I had in my shirt the bottle of laudanum that
all traders carry, and it was my only weapon. Pierre had shown me a
small flask of rum which the Indians had not discovered, and which he
had had the unexpected self-control to leave untouched. I hoped that
when my Indian had learned the casting of his net his vanity could be
played on to invite the other Frenchmen and their guards to see his
prowess, and that we should then have opportunity to treat the Indians
to the laudanum-