he stern, and another at the bow, and thus kept the canoe alongside.

They now began to cast searching glances at us, and at every thing in
the yawl. I observed the Frenchman intently eyeing the handle of one of
the cutlasses, which protruded from beneath a fold of canvass. He
inquired eagerly whether we had any fire-arms, and seemed greatly
disappointed to find that we had not. He next asked for tobacco, with
no better success, which apparently surprised him very much, for he
shrugged his shoulders, and raised his thick eyebrows with a doubtful
and incredulous look. At this moment the gilt buttons upon Max's jacket
seemed to strike the fancy of one of our new friends, and excited his
cupidity to such a degree, that after fixing upon them a long and
admiring gaze, he suddenly reached over and made a snatch at them. He
got hold of one, and in trying to pull it off came very near jerking Max
overboard. Morton, who was sitting next to Max, interfered, and caught
the man by the arm, with a look and manner that made me fear he might do
something imprudent. The savage, who was an athletic fellow,
obstinately maintained his hold of Max's jacket, and casting a ferocious
glance at Morton, snatched up a short, thick paddle, and brandished it
over his head as if about to strike. Arthur appealed to the Frenchman
to interpose, but before he could do so, one of the natives, a handsome
boy, who was seated cross-legged upon a platform between the masts,
spoke to the man in a raised voice, and with an air of authority,
whereupon, to my surprise, he immediately dropped the paddle, and
sullenly desisted from his attempt. This lad, who seemed to be so
promptly obeyed, did not look to be more than thirteen or fourteen years
of age. His voice was soft and girlish; he had a remarkably open and
pleasing countenance, and surveyed us with an air of friendly interest,
very different from the sinister and greedy looks of several of the
others, including the Frenchman himself. In answer to the questions of
the latter, Arthur told him that we were Americans, and related very
briefly how we had come into our present situation. He then informed us
in turn, that he had been cast away, some six years before, in a French
barque engaged in the tortoise-shell traffic, upon an uninhabited
island, about forty miles from the one where he and those with him, now
lived. After remaining there for more than a year, he and his
companions, having reason