XXIX THE CEDAR BARRIER
The corn, in its bark wrapping, was found untouched, hanging from thebirch where Blaise had left it. Not daring to kindle a fire for fear thesmoke might betray them, Hugh put the dry, hulled kernels in the kettlewith cold water to soften them. Then he spoke again of his plan to blockthe entrance to the pond.
"That cedar that leans far down over the water," he explained, "looks asif it was almost ready to fall of its own weight. If we could pull orpush it down, it would go clear across that narrow channel."
"But then we could not take our bateau through."
"Oh, we can easily chop out a section when we are ready to go."
"If anyone is near he will hear the sound of the axe."
"It is better to risk that, Blaise, than to leave the entrance open. Wewill go look at the tree and see what we can do."
The leaning, top-heavy cedar had tipped so far that several of its rootshad pulled loose from their anchorage, bringing with them a section ofthe shallow soil and exposing the rock below. On one side the roots stillheld, supplying enough nourishment to the limbs to keep part of themalive. Some of the thick sprays of foliage were brown and dead, but manywere still green and flourishing. The tree certainly looked as if theslightest additional strain would tip it the rest of the way. Beforetesting it, the boys noted where it would fall. It stood a few feet abovethe water and slanted out at an angle across the passageway.
"It will not catch in any tree when it goes down," Hugh observed. "Freshbreaks in other trees or bushes would betray how recently it had fallen.Of course the fact that it is partly green will prove it hasn't been downvery long."
"An uprooted tree lying in the water will stay green for many days,"Blaise replied.
"I think we had better try to push it over," Hugh decided. "To make a wayout to-night we shall not need to chop through the trunk. This end willbe high enough from the water so, by cutting off a few of the lowerlimbs, we can take the boat underneath."
"If the water is deep enough at this side," added Blaise.
First attempts to bring down the slanting tree failed, however. It wasnot so insecure as it appeared. The tough roots that still held werestronger anchors than the boys had suspected. Pushing and pulling withall their might had little effect.
"We must cut away some of the roots that are holding," Hugh said at last."Lend me your hatchet, Blaise. Ohrante has mine."
The roots were tough, but the little axe was sharp and Hugh's blowsvigorous. He cut every root he could reach, and the tree trembled, swayedand tipped, pulling up more rootlets and chunks of soil.
"It will come now. It needs just a little more weight. Here, Blaise."
Hugh returned the hatchet, jumped upon the leaning trunk and made his wayalong it. The tree swayed with the added weight. As he went farther upand out, the strain on the few roots was too great. With a rending soundthey tore up the shallow soil, and the cedar crashed down across thechannel.
Hugh had expected the tree to go suddenly, and he kept a firm hold, buthe was jarred and drenched in the splash. The trunk, where he wasclinging, did not go under water, and he scrambled quickly back to shore.All the roots were in the air now, and the tree slanted down from thebutt, instead of up. The crown rested in the shallow water and againstthe opposite shore. The entrance to the little pond was both well closedand effectually concealed.
Hugh uttered a little exclamation of satisfaction. "It must look from outthere," he said, nodding towards the water beyond, "like a perfectlynatural accident. This old cedar is the best of screens. I don't believeanyone coming around that little island and seeing this fallen tree wouldguess there was a lake or bay in here. Of course if he came so close hecould peep through the branches, he might be able to see water beyond,but he would never guess that a boat could go in. If anyone came up here,though, he would see the freshly upturned earth and the cut ends of thetree roots. But the bushes hide this spot from the water and there isnothing to bring anyone ashore here. We shall be better hidden than wecould have hoped."
"Yes, it was a good thought, my brother. We will go back now and bringthe bateau around to this side of the little lake. Then if anyone looksthrough the branches and sees the water beyond, he cannot see the bateauor us. If he tries to cut a way through, we shall hear him and be warned.The sun climbs high. We must make haste."
Without pausing to reply, Hugh led off at once, back to the beach andaround to the spot where the boat lay. Quickly and carefully, thebrothers erased all signs of their camp that might be seen from acrossthe pond. Hugh gathered up the remains of the fire and was about to throwthem into the water, when Blaise stopped him. The charred sticks mightfloat across, and betray that someone had camped there. So Hugh carriedthe blackened bits back into the woods, and then washed every trace ofashes from the pebbles and sand. The mast and sail, which had been lefton shore, were laid in the boat, and the lads paddled around to a spotless than a hundred feet from the end of the blockaded passageway. Withthe poplar rollers they had used before, they drew the bateau up onshore, where it could not be seen by anyone peeping through the barrier.
The sun would soon be directly overhead. Ohrante had had several hours tofind Hugh's trail. The boy did not believe that the Iroquois would lethim escape without some effort to trace and recapture him. Even now theChief of Minong or some of his followers might be near at hand. It wouldbe wise to lie low and keep very quiet, restricting conversation tonecessary whispers. After chewing, as well as he could, some of thepartly softened corn, Hugh stretched himself out on the narrow beach tolet the sun dry his clothes.
Waiting quietly for Ohrante to come and find him proved nerve wracking.After what seemed a long period of inaction, he raised himself on hiselbow and hitched nearer his younger brother. The latter was sittingclose to the bateau, his eyes closed, apparently asleep.
"Blaise, I'm going up through the woods to find some spot where I can seeout. Then if anyone comes near our barrier I shall know it."
The half-breed boy had opened his eyes at the first word. "We must takegreat care," he replied in the softest of whispers. "The cracking of atwig, the moving of a bush may betray us. Yet I am ready to take the riskif you are."
"We'll both go then, and we'll not take more risk than we can help."
Blaise nodded and rose. Slipping into the woods just beyond where theboat lay, he threaded his way among trees and bushes. Hugh followed quiteas cautiously. It was but a short distance, and after a few steps Blaisedropped to his hands and knees. Hugh followed his example, and remainedmotionless while the other crept ahead and disappeared behind a clump ofbalsams.
The older boy waited several minutes, then ventured forward. Beyond thebalsams he paused, but could catch no glimpse of Blaise among the densegrowth. The sunlight between the trees ahead showed him that he must beclose to the margin of the woods. Lying almost flat, he wriggled alonguntil he could see a patch of water. For a moment he lay still, lookingand listening. Then he crept forward again and took his station behind athick mass of cedar needles. In its youth this cedar had been bent almostdouble by some weight, a fallen tree probably, and had grown in thatmisshapen form, branching and leafing out in dense sprays clear to theground. Peeping around the green screen, Hugh found he was but a few feetfrom the edge of the water. The sheltered bay was without a ripple, thesun hot, the woods still, the silence unbroken by even the twitter of abird or the hum of an insect.
The boy was about to raise himself for a better view, when, from thewater, a sound came to his ears. The very slightest of sounds it was, buthe lowered his head instantly. He wriggled a little farther back behindthe cedar masses and lay motionless. The sound came again, the slightestsuggestion of rippling water. But the bay was smooth and still. What heheard was the dipping of a paddle blade, the ripple of water against theside of a boat.
For a few moments Hugh dared not try to look. Then curiosity got thebetter of fear. Raising his head ever so little, he f
ound a peep-holebetween the cedar sprays and put his eye to it. He could see a bit of theround, wooded islet, a section of the shore opposite and, on the waterbetween, a birch canoe. It held three men. The bow-man was the tall youngIroquois who had first taken Hugh prisoner. The man in the middle wore ared band about his long black hair. As the canoe came nearer, Hugh couldsee that the steersman was the squat Ojibwa from whose custody he hadescaped. Ohrante had not killed the guard then, but no doubt some heavypunishment hung over Monga's head if he did not find Hugh and bring himback. He was desperate enough to dare return to the dreaded Bay ofManitos.
The canoe came slowly, the man in the bow watching the water. It wasshallow between the round islet and the blocked entrance to the littlepond. Would the fallen cedar deceive the Indians or not? Hugh held hisbreath.
The bow-man straightened a little, glanced towards the cedar, then lookedback at the water again. Red Band's eyes were on his paddle. Monga's headturned from side to side, as he scanned the shore and the woods for anysign that the fugitive had been there. His glance swept the barrier. Hetwisted his paddle. The canoe swerved nearer to the blocked passage.
The man in the bow uttered a sharp hiss of warning. For an instant Hughfeared that the fellow had caught sight of him through the leafy screen.But the warning was of shallows ahead. The steersman dipped his paddleand swerved the canoe again, this time away from the fallen cedar. He didnot cast another glance in that direction, as the canoe came on past thebarrier. The "tide," as Hugh had called it, was out. The water was at itslowest point of fluctuation. No one could suspect a navigable channelwhere the uprooted tree lay.
It was plain that the Indians intended to round the little islet. To doso they must pass close to the shore where Hugh was. He lowered his headcautiously and lay prone and motionless. He could hear the gentle rippleof the water as the canoe slipped through it. Then a harsh voice spoke.So close it seemed that the lad almost jumped, and a shudder of fearpassed through him. In an instant he realized that the voice was Monga'sand that it came from the water, not from the land. The tall fellowanswered briefly, and Monga grunted an abrupt rejoinder. What they saidHugh could not guess, for they spoke in Ojibwa.
The slight sounds of dipping paddles and rippling water grew fainter andfainter, then ceased. Hugh drew a long breath, raised his head a littleand looked through the peep-hole. The canoe was no longer in sight. Itcould not be far away, though, so he lay still. He was just wonderingwhether it would be safe now to try for another and wider view of the bayand strait, and had raised his head to reconnoiter, when he caught sightof a crouching figure slipping swiftly between the trees towards him. Foran instant his heart seemed to stop beating, then he saw that it wasBlaise approaching.
The younger brother dropped down beside the elder. "They are gone," hewhispered. "Let us go back."