Had there been an opportunity for such a thing, the bee-hunter would
have made an effort to escape. But so sudden and unexpected was this
exposure, that he found himself almost within reach of a rifle,
before he was aware of his approaching the two warriors on the
shore, at all. His paddle was in the stern of the canoe, and had he
used the utmost activity, the boat would have grounded on the beach,
ere he could have obtained it. In this situation, therefore, he was
absolutely without any other means than his hands of stopping the
canoe, had there even been time.
Le Bourdon understood his real situation without stopping to
reflect; and, though his heart made one violent leap as soon as he
perceived he was out of cover, he immediately bethought him of the
course he ought to pursue. It would have been fatal to betray alarm,
or to attempt flight. As accident had thus brought him, as it might
be on a visit, to the spot, he at once determined to give his
arrival the character of a friendly call, and the better to support
the pretension, to blend with it, if possible, a little of the
oracular, or "medicine" manner, in order to impose on the
imaginations of the superstitious beings into whose power he had so
unwittingly fallen.
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