it was not before their report had been made, that the
Indians were immerging once more into the heart of the
forest, the troops were withdrawn from their formidable
defences, and the gate of the fort again firmly secured.




CHAPTER VII.

While the reader is left to pause over the rapid succession
of incidents resulting from the mysterious entrance of
the warrior of the Fleur de lis into the English fort,
be it our task to explain the circumstances connected
with the singular disappearance of Captain de Haldimar,
and the melancholy murder of his unfortunate servant.

It will be recollected that the ill-fated Halloway, in
the course of his defence before the court-martial,
distinctly stated the voice of the individual who had
approached his post, calling on the name of Captain de
Haldimar, on the night of the alarm, to have been that
of a female, and that the language in which they
subsequently conversed was that of the Ottawa Indians.
This was strictly the fact; and the only error into which
the unfortunate soldier had fallen, had reference merely
to the character and motives of the party. He had naturally
imagined, as he had stated, it was some young female of
the village, whom attachment for his officer had driven
to the desperate determination of seeking an interview;