ng
all this strange tribe but would have followed him anywhere. As it was,
he and De Troyes preferred to make the expedition with his handful of
men, and so parted with the Indians, after having made gifts to the
chief and his people. The most important of these presents was a musket,
handled by the chief at first as though it were some deadly engine. The
tribe had been greatly astonished at hearing a volley fired by the whole
band at once, and at seeing caribou shot before their eyes; but when
the chief himself, after divers attempts, shot a caribou, they stood in
proper awe. With mutual friendliness they parted. Two weeks later, after
great trials, the band emerged on the shores of Hudson's Bay, almost
without baggage, and starving.

CHAPTER XII

OUT OF THE NET

The last two hundred miles of their journey had been made under trying
conditions. Accidents had befallen the canoes which carried the food,
and the country through which they passed was almost devoid of game.
During the last three days they had little or nothing to eat. When,
therefore, at night they came suddenly upon the shores of Hudson's Bay,
and Fort Hayes lay silent before them, they were ready for desperate
enterprises. The high stockade walls with stout bastions and small
cannon looked formidable, yet there was no man of them but was better
pleased that the odds were against him than with him. Though it was late
spring, the night was cold, and all were wet, hungry, and chilled.

Iberville's first glance at the bay and the fort brought disappointment.
No vessel lay in the harbour, therefore it was probable Gering was not
there. But there were other forts, and this one must be taken meanwhile.
The plans were quickly made. Iberville advised a double attack: an
improvised battering-ram at the great gate, and a party to climb the
stockade wall at another quarter. This climbing-party he would himself
lead, accompanied by his brother Sainte-Helene, Perrot, and a handful of
agile woodsmen. He had his choice, and his men were soon gathered round
him. A tree was cut down in the woods some distance from the shore,
shortened, and brought down, ready for its duty of battering-ram.

The night was beautiful. There was a bright moon, and the sky by some
strange trick of atmosphere had taken on a green hue, against which
everything stood out with singular distinctness. The air was placid, and
through the stillness came the low humming wash of the water to t