"
This was done; the enemy giving up the pursuit, as suddenly as
a ship that has lost an important spar, the instant the accident
occurred. Instead of following Judith's canoe, which was now lightly
skimming over the water towards the south, the Hurons turned their
bows towards the castle, where they soon arrived and landed. The
girls, fearful that some spare paddles might be found in or about
the buildings, continued on, nor did they stop until so distant
from their enemies as to give them every chance of escape, should
the chase be renewed. It would seem that the savages meditated
no such design, but at the end of an hour their canoe, filled with
men, was seen quitting the castle and steering towards the shore.
The girls were without food, and they now drew nearer to the
buildings and the Ark, having finally made up their minds from its
manoeuvres that the latter contained friends.
Notwithstanding the seeming desertion of the castle, Judith
approached it with extreme caution. The Ark was now quite a mile
to the northward, but sweeping up towards the buildings, and this,
too, with a regularity of motion that satisfied Judith a white
man was at the oars. When within a hundred yards of the building
the girls began to encircle it, in order to make sure that it was
empty.
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