ees on which they grew. He tried
to call to mind the position of the path along which Canondah had
conducted him; he investigated every thicket and opening in the bushes,
but all in vain; hours passed away, and he had not found it. When he
detected the trace of footsteps, they invariably proved to be his own.
At last fortune seemed to smile upon him; he discovered the place where
the canoe was concealed. He had still long to look, however, before he
could find the track leading through the forest; and when he did hit
upon it, it was so intricate, and led in such a zigzag line, now up the
slope and then down again, that darkness came on, and he had not yet
reached the swamp. Hungry and fatigued, he returned to the Sabine, and,
fully determined to try his luck again next morning, he trusted with
better success, he loaded the canoe upon his shoulders, launched it upon
the water, and rowed to the opposite bank, where he had left the
provisions with which Canondah had supplied him. Taking them with him,
he recrossed the river, and after a short but hearty meal, busied
himself in the preparation of a sleeping place. In that heavenly region,
nature has supplied the means for a simple, but delightful bed, in the
tillandsea or Spanish moss, whose long, delicate, horsehair-like
threads, compose the most luxurious couch. With this moss Hodges now
filled the canoe, and carried it to the hiding-place where he had found
it. This had been selected between two cedars, whose lower boughs served
as rollers, upon which he only had to raise the boat to be secure from
observation. His gun at his side, and wrapped in his blanket, he fell
asleep.

The fatigues of the day procured the young Englishman several hours of
profound and untroubled slumber, but at the end of that time he was
tormented by a strange dream. He thought he saw the corpses of Rosa and
Canondah lying pale and bleeding before him, whilst over them strode a
fantastical-looking monster, a knife in its claws, levelled at his
heart. He turned round, he fought and wrestled, and strove to seize his
gun. The desperate struggle awoke him.

That which had been a dream had now become reality. A grim savage really
stood over him, one foot upon the canoe, in his hand a tomahawk, which
he waved above his head with a scowl of triumph. One blow, and all would
be over. Quick as thought the young Englishman raised his rifle, and
pointed it at the breast of the Indian, who started on one sid