We shall profit by this pause to
relate the manner in which the Indians had obtained possession of
the castle, and this the more willingly because it may be necessary
to explain to the reader why a conflict which had been so close
and fierce, should have also been so comparatively bloodless.
Rivenoak and his companion, particularly the latter who had appeared
to be a subordinate and occupied solely with his raft, had made
the closest observations in their visits to the castle. Even the
boy had brought away minute and valuable information. By these
means the Hurons obtained a general idea of the manner in which
the place was constructed and secured, as well as of details that
enabled them to act intelligently in the dark. Notwithstanding
the care that Hutter had taken to drop the Ark on the east side of
the building when he was in the act of transferring the furniture
from the former to the latter, he had been watched in a way to
render the precaution useless. Scouts were on the look-out on the
eastern as well as on the western shore of the lake, and the whole
proceeding had been noted. As soon as it was dark, rafts like that
already described approached from both shores to reconnoitre, and
the Ark had passed within fifty feet of one of them without its
being discovered; the men it held lying at their length on the
logs, so as to blend themselves and their slow moving machine with
the water.
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