ptain de Haldimar had now attained its acme of
interest; for on his own exertions alone depended every thing that
remained to be accomplished. With wonderful presence of mind he
surveyed all the difficulties of his course, while he availed himself
at the same moment of whatever advantages were within his grasp. On the
approach of Wacousta, the young Indians, to whose custody he had been
committed, had returned to their post; but no sooner had that warrior,
obeying the call of Ponteac, again departed, than they once more flew
to the extreme skirt of the forest, after first satisfying themselves
the ligatures which confined their prisoner were secure. Either with a
view of avoiding unnecessary encumbrance in their course, or through
hurry and inadvertence, they had left their blankets near the foot of
the tree. The first thought of the officer was to seize one of these;
for, in order to gain the point whence his final effort to join the
detachment must be made, it was necessary he should pass through the
body of scattered Indians who stood immediately in his way; and the
disguise of the blanket could alone afford him a reasonable chance of
moving unnoticed among them. Secretly congratulating himself on the
insulting mockery that had inducted his upper form in the disguising
warpaint of his enemies, he now drew the protecting blanket close up to
his eyes; and then, with every nerve braced up, every faculty of mind
and body called into action, commenced his dangerous enterprise.

He had not, however, taken more than two or three steps in advance,
when, to his great discomfiture and alarm, he beheld the formidable
Wacousta approaching from a distance, evidently in search of his
prisoner. With the quickness of thought he determined on his course. To
appear to avoid him would be to excite the suspicion of the fierce
warrior; and, desperate as the alternative was, he resolved to move
undeviatingly forward. At each step that drew him nearer to his enemy,
the beating of his heart became more violent; and had it not been for
the thick coat of paint in which he was invested, the involuntary
contraction of the muscles of his face must inevitably have betrayed
him. Nay, even as it was, had the keen eye of the warrior fallen on
him, such was the agitation of the officer, he felt he must have been
discovered. Happily, however, Wacousta, who evidently took him for some
inferior warrior hastening to the point where his fellows were alread