Towards this well-planned trap, that seemed to insure their
destruction, Réné and Has-se advanced, cautiously, to be sure, but
without a warning of what awaited them. At length they had approached
within a quarter of a mile of the ambush, and one would have said that
nothing could prevent their falling into it.

At this point Has-se whispered, "Keep wide open thy ears as well as thy
eyes, Ta-lah-lo-ko"; and Réné answered also in a whisper,

"They are already so wide open that not the faintest hum of a gnat
escapes them. What's that?"

The sudden snapping of a twig by some bird or small animal caused them
to start, and listen for a moment with uplifted paddles. The canoe
thus left to itself, unguided, drifted aside, and hung for an instant
upon the upraised end of a sunken log. Réné reached his hand down into
the water to push it clear of the obstruction, but suddenly withdrew it
with a suppressed cry of pain and fright. At the same moment a large
water-snake, of the kind known as a moccasin, glided away, and
disappeared beneath the slimy bank.




CHAPTER IX

A TRAP AVOIDED AND FRIENDS DISCOVERED

At Réné's cry, suppressed though it was Has-se turned quickly, and in
time to see the moccasin glide away through the water. He also noted