Notwithstanding this reserve on one side, and seeming indifference
on the other, when the party reached Prairie Round, every one of the
chiefs who had been present at the council of the previous night,
was there before it. The Indians were straggling about, but remained
sufficiently near the point where the bee-hunter and his followers
reached the prairie, to assemble around the group in a very few
minutes after it made its appearance.
All this struck le Bourdon as fearfully singular, since it proved
how many secret means of communication existed between the savages.
That the inmates of the habitations were closely observed, and all
their proceedings noted, he could not but suspect, even before
receiving this proof of Peter's power; but he was not aware until
now, how completely he and all with him were at the mercy of these
formidable foes. What hope could there be for escape, when hundreds
of eyes were thus watching their movements, and every thicket had
its vigilant and sagacious sentinel? Yet must flight be attempted,
in some way or other, or Margery and her sister would be hopelessly
lost--to say nothing of himself and the three other men.
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