At that we bent double and retreated
as noiselessly as possible. Once out of sight in the woods, we hurried off
in single file till we thought we had put a safe distance behind us; but
when we stopped to rest we were terrified by a noise in the direction from
which we had come, and we hastened to conceal ourselves under the leaves
and bushes.
The noise slowly drew nearer, as if men were walking about and beating the
undergrowth as they approached. Blodgett stared from his covert with beady
eyes; Neddie gripped my wrist; the cook rubbed his thumb along the blade of
the cleaver, and Roger fingered the useless pistol. Still the noises
approached. At the sight of something that moved I felt my heart leap and
stand still, then Blodgett laughed softly; a pair of great birds which flew
away as soon as they saw us stirring, had occasioned our fears.
Having really seen a man in the glade by the stream, we were resolved to
incur no foolish risks; so we cautiously returned to the hill, whence we
could watch the beach and the broad marsh and catch between the mountains a
glimpse of a bay to the northeast where we now saw at a great distance some
men fishing from canoes. While the rest of us prepared another hiding-place
among the bushes, Roger and Blodgett sallied forth once more to reconnoitre
in a new direction.
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