Crowsfeather, in particular, troubled him; and
he foresaw that his fate would be terrible, did the savages once get
an inkling of the deception he was practising. As he stood there,
bending over the little pools of whiskey, he glanced his eyes toward
the gloom which pervaded the northern side of the hill, and
calculated the chances of escape by trusting to his speed. All of
the Pottawattamies were on the opposite side, and there was a
thicket favorably placed for a cover, so near that the rifle would
scarce have time to perform its fatal office, ere he might hope to
bury himself within its leaves. So tempting did the occasion appear,
that, for a single instant, le Bourdon forgot his caution, and his
mummeries, and had actually advanced a step or two in the direction
toward which he contemplated flight, when, on glancing an uneasy
look behind him, he perceived Crowsfeather and his two intimate
counsellors stealthily preparing their rifles, as if they distrusted
his intentions. This at once induced a change of plan, and brought
the bee-hunter back to a sense of his critical position, and of the
indispensable necessity of caution to a man in his situation.
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