eeling prompted the desire
in all to return; and after a few minutes' rest and refreshment, they
turned their little bark towards the lake; and it was well that they did
so: by the time they had reached the middle of the lake, the stillness
of the air was rapidly changing. The rose-tinted clouds that had lain so
long piled upon each other in mountainous ridges, began to move upwards,
at first slowly, then with rapidly accelerated motion. There was a
hollow moaning in the pine tops, and by fits a gusty breeze swept
the surface of the water, raising it into rough, short, white-crested
ridges.

These signs were pointed out by Indiana as the harbinger of a rising
hurricane; and now a swift spark of light like a falling star glanced on
the water, as if there to quench its fiery light. Again the Indian girl
raised her dark hand and pointed to the rolling storm-clouds, to the
crested, waters and the moving pine tops; then to the head of the
Beaver Island--it was the one nearest to them. With an arm of energy she
wielded the paddle, with an eye of fire she directed the course of their
little vessel, for well she knew their danger and the need for straining
every nerve to reach the nearest point of land. Low muttering peals of
thunder were now heard, the wind was rising with electric speed. Away
flew the light bark, with the swiftness of a bird, over the water; the
tempest was above, around and beneath. The hollow crash of the forest
trees as they bowed to the earth could be heard, sullenly sounding
from shore to shore. And now the Indian girl, flinging back her black
streaming hair from her brow, knelt at the head of the canoe, and with
renewed vigour plied the paddle. The waters, lashed into a state of
turbulence by the violence of the storm, lifted the canoe up and down,
but no word was spoken--they each felt the greatness of the peril, but
they also knew that they were in the hands of Him who can say to the
tempest-tossed waves, "Peace, be still," and they obey Him.

Every effort was made to gain the nearest island; to reach the mainland
was impossible, for the rain poured down a blinding deluge; it was with
difficulty the little craft was kept afloat, by baling out the water; to
do this, Louis was fain to use his cap, and Catharine assisted with the
old tin-pot which she had fortunately brought from the trapper's shanty.

The tempest was at its height when they reached the nearest point of
the Beaver, and joyful was the g