I am not a man to put up with such
a wrong quietly, and I say, all the parties had best look to it!
Let's up kedge, old fellow, and move nearer to this p'int, and see
how matters are getting on.
Hutter had no objections to this movement, and the Ark was got
under way in the usual manner; care being taken to make no noise.
The wind was passing northward, and the sail soon swept the scow so
far up the lake as to render the dark outlines of the trees that
clothed the point dimly visible. Floating Tom steered, and he
sailed along as near the land as the depth of the water and the
overhanging branches would allow. It was impossible to distinguish
anything that stood within the shadows of the shore, but the forms
of the sail and of the hut were discerned by the young sentinel on
the beach, who has already been mentioned. In the moment of sudden
surprise, a deep Indian exclamation escaped him. In that spirit
of recklessness and ferocity that formed the essence of Hurry's
character, this man dropped his rifle and fired. The ball was
sped by accident, or by that overruling providence which decides
the fates of all, and the girl fell. Then followed the scene with
the torches, which has just been described.
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