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Show 402 TilE LILY AND 1'HE TOTE~- discovered each other. The Indians bad the superiority as well in position as in numbers ; being on an elevation con~idcrnbly above that of the Frenchmen. '!'hey were a large, fine-limbed race of sa,·agcs, clad in skins, and anncd with bows nnd stoncbntchct. s. They bad }lrobably never beheld the white m:m before, d knew nothing of his fcnrful weapons. They were :~stoundcd :n the explosion of the nrqucbusc, and when their chief tumbled f~m the cliff on w!Jich he stood, stricken by an invisible bolt, they fled in terror, leaving the field to the 'Frenchmen. Dut, three of the latter were slnin in the conflict, and three others wound~d. The path was free for their progress, but they went forward With diminished numbers, and sinking hearts. 'l'he surYiYors were now but ten, and these were hurt and suffering from sore, if not fatt~l, injuries. '!'he cold incrc:l8cd. The savages seemed to have housed themselves from the fury of the winds, that rushed and howled along the bleak terraces to which the Frenchmen bad arisen. '!'hey buried themselves in n. valley that offered them partial protection, built their fires, raised a miscra.ble hovel of poles and bul'hcs for their covering, and sent out their huntcra. Tw_o parties, one of two, the other of three men, went forth in pursmt of a bear wJ1osc tracks they had detected ; lca,•ing fh·c to keep ~he camp, three of whom were wounded men. Of these two part.Jcs, one returned at night, bringing home a turkey. They had f;uled to disco,·er the hiding-place of tho bear. 'fho other did notreappear all night. 'frumpcts wero sounded and guns fired fr~m the camp to guide their footsteps, but without suece8S ; nnd With the dawn Alphonse D'Erlnch set forth with his brother and another, one Philip le Dornc, to seek the fugitives. 'fheir trac~ were found Rnd followed for a. weary distance ; lost nnd agam found. Pursued over ridge nod valley, in a zigzag and ill-directed A.LPHONSE D1ERLACH. 403 progress, showing thn.t the lost party bad been distracted by their apprehensions. This pursuit led the hunters greatly from the camp ; but D'Erlach had mt~dc his observations carefully at every step, and knew \;ell that he could regain the spot. He had provided llimself well with such food as they possessed, and his litlle p:wty wa.s well nrmed. He refused to discontinue the search, pnrticuln.rly as they still recovered the tracks of the missing men. For two days they searched without ceasing, camping by night, and crouching in the shelter of some friendly rock that kept off the wind, and building themselves fires which guarded their slumbers from the assaults of wolf and panther; the howls of the one, and the screams of the other, sounding ever and anon within their cars, from the bald rocks which overhung tho camp. On the morning of tho third dl\y the fugitives were found, close together, and stHf\lned in death. They had evidently perished from the cold. Very sadly did the D'Erlnchs return with their one compt~nion to the camp where they ht~d left their comrades. But their gloom and grief were not to suffer diminution. Whatwt~s their horror to find the spot wholly deserted. The ashes were cold where they hnd made their fires : tho probability wns that the place had been fully a d:~.y nnd night abandoned. No traces of the Frenchmen \vero left--not n clue afforded to their brctllren of what h:td L'lken place. Alphonse D'Erln.ch, however, discovered the track of llll Indian moccasin in the ashes, but he carefully obliterated it before it was beheld by his companions. It wn.a apparent to him that his people had suffered themselves to be surprised ; but whether they had been butchered or led into captivity was beyond his conjecture. His hope that they still lived was based upon the absence of all proofs of struggle Ol' of sa.crificc. |