er to succeed with a single oar, but
in this case it was necessary to handle two at the same time, and those
of great size. Sweeps, or large oars, however, are sooner rendered of
use by the raw hand than lighter implements, and this was the reason
that the Delaware had succeeded in moving the Ark as well as he did in a
first trial. That trial, notwithstanding, sufficed to produce distrust,
and he was fully aware of the critical situation in which Hist and
himself were now placed, should the Hurons take to the canoe that was
still lying beneath the trap, and come against them. At the moment he
thought of putting Hist into the canoe in his own possession, and of
taking to the eastern mountain in the hope of reaching the Delaware
villages by direct flight. But many considerations suggested themselves
to put a stop to this indiscreet step. It was almost certain that scouts
watched the lake on both sides, and no canoe could possibly approach
shore without being seen from the hills. Then a trail could not be
concealed from Indian eyes, and the strength of Hist was unequal to
a flight sufficiently sustained to outstrip the pursuit of trained
warriors. This was a part of America in which the Indians did not know
the use of horses, and everything would depend on the physical energies
of the fugitives. Last, but far from being least, were the thoughts
connected with the situation of Deerslayer, a friend who was not to be
deserted in his extremity.

Hist in some particulars reasoned, and even felt, differently though she
arrived at the same conclusions. Her own anger disturbed her less than
her concern for the two sisters, on whose behalf her womanly sympathies
were now strongly enlisted. The canoe of the girls, by the time the
struggle on the platform had ceased, was within three hundred yards of
the castle, and here Judith ceased paddling, the evidences of strife
first becoming apparent to the eyes. She and Hetty were standing erect,
anxiously endeavoring to ascertain what had occurred, but unable to
satisfy their doubts from the circumstance that the building, in a great
measure, concealed the scene of action.

The parties in the Ark, and in the canoe, were indebted to the ferocity
of Hurry's attack for their momentary security. In any ordinary case,
the girls would have been immediately captured, a measure easy of
execution now the savages had a canoe, were it not for the rude check
the audacity of the Hurons had received in