Rene de Veaux in turn followed them, and it was their canoe of which
the two boys caught a fleeting glimpse in the great swamp.

"Look!" exclaimed Has-se, whose keen eye was the first to detect the
vanishing canoe. "These are either my own people, whom we have thus
overtaken, or those whom we know to be in close pursuit of them. Here
is work for us, Ta-lah-lo-ko, or rather for me, for it is my duty to
discover the meaning of this pursuit, and warn my people if danger is
near them, while I am also bound to keep thee as far as possible from
all harm."

"Nonsense, Has-se! It is well for thee to keep me out of danger so
long as thou keepest from it thyself; but since I have thrown my
fortunes with thine, thy friends are my friends, thy enemies are my
enemies, and thy safety or danger is mine to share with thee. So say
no more of my safety, save as it concerns thine as well, but lead on as
thou thinkest best, and I will follow thee as truly as though I were
enlisted beneath thy banner. Not that I suppose you Indians have such
things as banners, or understand their significance; but thou might
well have them, and be none the worse for the having."

Although Has-se made no reply to this brave speech, he accepted it as
an evidence of true friendship, and gave Rene a grateful smile, which
the latter understood to mean "Very well, Ta-lah-lo-ko, I accept thy
offer of service as heartily as thou dost tender it."

Under ordinary circumstances, Has-se's Indian instinct would not have
permitted him to cross the open water of the bayou in broad daylight
when he suspected that an enemy might be lying in wait for him on its
farther side. On this occasion, however, it seemed so impossible that
the occupants of the canoe, of which he had caught but the merest
glimpse, should have looked back and detected them at the same instant,
that he decided to push on, and if possible discover more of it. So he
and Rene crossed the open water as quickly and with as little noise as
possible, and as they approached its opposite side, Has-se gazed keenly
into the dark lanes between the moss-hung cypresses. He neither saw
nor heard anything to cause him alarm, and congratulating themselves
that they had not been discovered, the boys pushed on over waters of
another extremely narrow stream.

This, to Rene's surprise, flowed, though with an almost imperceptible
current, in the direction they were taking, or exactly opposite to that
of the riv