there when most of his people had got safe away? He only grunted the
usual 'ugh'; but when most of the prisoners had fallen asleep, tired
out with their long and weary work, he said to me quietly, 'When the
sun sets, the pale face can escape and go back to Quebec.' Not a word
more could I get out of him till night had come on. Then he touched my
arm and pointed to the window frame, close to which we lay. The window
itself had been blown out, indeed the place was riddled with shot
holes, and the roof had been half blown off, so that what little light
the moon did give shone right down upon us. Wondering what was to come
next I watched him attentively, and saw him stealthily tie the end of a
long wampum belt to the stump of one of the iron window stanchions.
'Slip down and drop; it is but a couple of lengths more to the ground,'
said he. Without a word I crept to the window, and in another minute
had slid down. The drop, however, was longer than I had counted on,
and I fell rather heavily. 'Who goes there?' shouted a sentry on the
wall, a little way off. Of course I lay as still as death, and
fortunately the shadow of a buttress fell exactly across the spot where
I had fallen. The sentry challenged again and fired, but as he did so
the Indian dropped lightly down at my side, seized me by the arm and
hurried me away. I suppose there was an alarm, but if they did miss me
from amongst the prisoners, they probably did not think it worth while
to give chase. Accustomed as we were to the ins and outs of the place,
my friend and I managed easily to evade the sentries, and in a quarter
of an hour more we were clear of them, and in the open country beyond
the town. We did not slacken our pace, however, and in a couple of
hours we reached an Indian encampment, where I recognised many of the
red skins I had seen during the siege. At daybreak we moved off, and I
returned with the tribe to the neighbourhood of Quebec. At parting the
chief presented me with a new wampum belt, which he drew from beneath
his vest, saying, 'Keep this in token that White Eagle has discharged
his trust.'"

"What!" cried Boulanger, in great excitement. "Is that the belt which
you now have on?"

"Yes," said Isidore, untying and showing it to him; "and I shall
certainly keep it in recollection of my most extraordinary escape."

The forester gave one look at it, and uttered the word, "Amoahmeh!"

"Who--what?" said Isidore. "By the by, I have