ve saved the lives of Hurry and Hutter, but that event
occurred after the ambush was laid, and at a distance of several miles
from the encampment near the castle. Such were the means that had been
employed to produce the state of things we shall continue to describe.

Chapter XX

"Now all is done that man can do,
And all is done in vain!
My love! my native land, adieu
For I must cross the main, My dear,
For I must cross the main."

Robert Burns, "It was a' for our Rightfu' King," II. 7-12.

The last chapter we left the combatants breathing in their narrow lists.
Accustomed to the rude sports of wrestling and jumping, then so common
in America, more especially on the frontiers, Hurry possessed an
advantage, in addition to his prodigious strength, that had rendered the
struggle less unequal than it might otherwise appear to be. This alone
had enabled him to hold out so long, against so many enemies, for the
Indian is by no means remarkable for his skill, or force, in athletic
exercises. As yet, no one had been seriously hurt, though several of the
savages had received severe falls, and he, in particular, who had been
thrown bodily upon the platform, might be said to be temporarily hors
de combat. Some of the rest were limping, and March himself had not
entirely escaped from bruises, though want of breath was the principal
loss that both sides wished to repair.

Under circumstances like those in which the parties were placed, a
truce, let it come from what cause it might, could not well be of long
continuance. The arena was too confined, and the distrust of treachery
too great, to admit of this. Contrary to what might be expected in his
situation, Hurry was the first to recommence hostilities. Whether this
proceeded from policy, an idea that he might gain some advantage by
making a sudden and unexpected assault, or was the fruit of irritation
and his undying hatred of an Indian, it is impossible to say. His onset
was furious, however, and at first it carried all before it. He seized
the nearest Huron by the waist, raised him entirely from the platform,
and hurled him into the water, as if he had been a child. In half a
minute, two more were at his side, one of whom received a grave injury
by the friend who had just preceded him. But four enemies remained, and,
in a hand to hand conflict, in which no arms were used but those which
nature had furnished, Hurry believed himself fully able