e way along the shore
until we reached the log hut. Its door stood open; the canoe was
gone.

CHAPTER XXXII

WE MEET SURPRISE

Not until we had felt carefully from wall to wall did we admit our
disappointment. There were no overshadowing trees here, and what small
glimmer of light came from the dull skies found reflection on river
and rocks, so that we could perceive each other, and gain dim view of
our surroundings.

Of the canoe there was absolutely no trace, and, if arms had been
hidden there also, they had likewise disappeared. The very fact that
the door stood wide open, its wooden lock broken, told the story
clearly. I remained silent, staring about through the semi-darkness of
the interior, rendered speechless by a feeling of utter helplessness.
De Artigny, after an utterance of disappointment, felt his way along
the walls; as he came back to the open door our eyes met, and he must
have read despair in mine, for he smiled encouragingly.

"Swept bare, little girl," he said. "Not so much as an ounce of powder
left. The savages got here before us, it seems. Never mind; we shall
have to travel a ways on woodcraft, and it will not be the first
wilderness journey I have made without arms. Did De Tonty mention to
you where he believed the Illini were in hiding?"

"No, Monsieur--are they Indians?"

"Yes; the river tribes, the most loyal of all to La Salle. It was one
of their villages we saw on the bank of the stream as we approached
the fort from the west, I told Boisrondet that it stood there
deserted, but not destroyed, and it was our judgment the inhabitants
were hiding among the river bluffs. Without canoes they could not
travel far, and are probably concealed out yonder. If we can find them
our greatest peril is past."

"They are friendly?"

"Ay, and have never shed white blood. I know them well, and with
leadership they would be a match even for the Iroquois. De Tonty led
them once against these same warriors, and they fought like fiends.
Come, we will follow the stream, and see if we cannot find trace of
their covert."

It was but a cluster of rocks where the hut stood, and a few yards
below we found the forest creeping down to the very bank of the river.
The sky had lightened above us, the obscuring clouds opening to let
the silver gleam of stars through, and we paused a moment gazing back,
and upward at the vast rock on which perched the beleaguered fort. We
could dimly perceive the vague