Louis flew along the narrow foot path, reached the shore,
and were in the arms of ---- Mecumeh and his fierce companions. Entreaties
and resistance were alike vain. Resistance was made, with a manly
spirit, by young Louis, who drew a knife from the girdle of one of the
indians, and attempted to plunge it into the bosom of Mecumeh, who was
roughly binding his wampum belt over Marguerite's mouth, to deaden the
sound of her screams. The uncle wrested the knife from him, and smiled
proudly on him as if he recognised in the brave boy, a scion from his
own stock.

"The indians had two canoes; Marguerite was conveyed to one, Louis to
the other--and both canoes were rowed into the Oswegatchie, and up the
stream as fast as it was possible to impel them against the current of
the river.

"Not a word nor cry escaped the boy: he seemed intent on some purpose,
and when the canoe approached near the shore, he took off a military cap
he wore, and threw it so skilfully that it lodged, where he meant it
should, on the branch of a tree which projected over the water. There
was a long white feather in the cap. The indians had observed the boy's
movement--they held up their oars for a moment, and seemed to consult
whether they should return and remove the cap; but after a moment,
they again dashed their oars in the water and proceeded forward. They
continued rowing for a few miles, and then landed; hid their canoes
behind some trees on the river's bank, and plunged into the woods with
their prisoners. It seems to have been their intention to have returned
to their canoes in the morning, and they had not proceeded far from the
shore, when they kindled a fire and prepared some food, and offered
a share of it to Marguerite and Louis. Poor Marguerite, as you may
suppose, had no mind to eat; but Louis, saith tradition, ate as heartily
as if he had been safe within the walls of the fort. After the supper,
the indians stretched themselves before the fire, but not till they had
taken the precaution to bind Marguerite to a tree, and to compel Louis
to lie down in the arms of his uncle Mecumeh. Neither of the prisoners,
as you may imagine, closed their eyes. Louis kept his fixed on his
mother. She sat upright beside an oak tree; the cord was fastened around
her waist, and bound around the tree, which had been blasted by lighting;
the moon poured its beams through the naked branches upon her face
convulsed with the agony of despair and fear. With o