with the necessity of securing this important boat, the one side in
order to assail their foes, and the other to secure their retreat.
The addition to the party, however, was so unlooked-for, and so
completely gave the enemy the superiority, that for a few moments
the ingenuity and address of even the Delaware were at fault. The
five Iroquois, who seemed perfectly to understand their errand,
pressed forward towards their own shore, without pausing to converse;
their object being in truth to obtain the paddles, which they had
previously secured, and to embark three or four warriors, with all
their rifles and powder-horns, the want of which had alone prevented
their crossing the river by swimming as soon as it was dark.

In this manner, the body of friends and foes united reached the
margin of the eastern channel, where, as in the case of the western,
the river was too deep to be waded. Here a short pause succeeded,
it being necessary to determine the manner in which the canoe was
to be carried across. One of the four who had just reached the
boat was a chief; and the habitual deference which the American
Indian pays to merit, experience, and station kept the others
silent until this individual had spoken.

The halt greatly added to the danger of discovering the presence
of Jasper, in particular, who, however, had the precaution to throw
the cap he wore into the bottom of the canoe. Being without his
jacket and shirt, the outline of his figure, in the obscurity, would
now be less likely to attract observation. His position, too, at
the stern of the canoe a little favored his concealment, the Iroquois
naturally keeping their looks directed the other way. Not so with
Chingachgook. This warrior was literally in the midst of his most
deadly foes, and he could scarcely move without touching one of