with great caution, for danger was in the air. Scouts were
sent in advance through the forests; others were thrown out
on the flanks and rear, hunting for game as they went; for
the store of pounded and parched maize which the warriors
had brought with them was to be kept for food when the
vicinity of the foe should render hunting impossible.

The scene that night, as described by Champlain was one to
be remembered. The canoes were drawn up closely, side by
side. Active life pervaded the chosen camp. Here some
gathered dry wood for their fires; there others stripped off
sheets of bark, to cover their forest wigwams; yonder the
sound of axes was followed by the roar of falling trees. The
savages had steel axes, obtained from the French, and, with
their aid, in two hours a strong defensive work, constructed
of the felled trunks, was built, a half-circle in form, with
the river at its two ends. This was the extent of their
precautions. The returning scouts reported that the forest
in advance was empty of foes. The tawny host cast themselves
in full security on the grassy soil, setting no guards, and
were soon lost in slumber, with that blind trust in fortune
which has ever been one of the weak features of Indian
warfare.

They had not failed, however, to consult their oracles,
those spirits which the medicine-man was looked upon as an
adept at invoking, and whose counsel was ever diligently
sought by the superstitious natives. The conjurer crept
within his skin-covered lodge, where, crouched upon the
earth, he filled the air with inarticulate invocations to