“Yes; I’ve turned up again,” said the hunter, as he returned the greeting. “I suppose, like others, you reckoned I had taken my last leap?”
“I did indeed,” answered Howe. “You are almost like one come back to us from the dead. Let me introduce you to my friends, and then tell us how it happens that you are now standing before us alive, and, what is still more wonderful, sound of limb, if I mistake not!” and he looked at his friend critically from head to foot.
Roger threw his head back and laughed. “Yes, there are no broken bones,” he answered.
“Madame,” said Howe, turning to Madame Schuyler, “allow me to present you to a man I am proud to call my friend, ‘Roger the Ranger.’”
“The name is enough,” said the Colonel, coming up. “The whole country is alive with the story of your exploits; but your last beats them all. Do your Rangers know of your escape, sir?”
“Yes; I joined a party of my men as soon as possible, but purposely kept quiet for some time,” answered Roger. “Though not wounded, I was frightfully bruised; sliding down that rock was no small matter. I was more dead than alive when I got to the bottom, and had two or three ugly cuts. I believe I must have lain unconscious for several hours. When I gathered myself together I could hardly drag my limbs. I had to remain hidden in the forest for upwards of a week, living on juniper berries and anything I could pick up; fortunately the less a man gets to eat in a case like mine the better. I knew of a stream, and was able to get fresh water; so by degrees the fever went down, and I crawled to Fort Edward. I gave them a startler there; they thought it was my ghost.”
“Do you know what has become of Philips?” asked Lord Howe.
“Murdered,” answered Roger shortly. “Pringle and Roche are prisoners of the French, but they are well treated, and will in all probability be exchanged before long. Where’s William Parkmann? Gone home?”
“No fear of that,” answered Howe; “he is my faithful esquire, and will not leave me. He has just gone down the town, but he will be back before long. He has been in terrible trouble about you. Of course at the Marshes they know you are safe? You’ve taken care of that?”
“Yes; as soon as I was able I sent a party of men to let them know,” answered Roger; “but it was a good two months after the mishap. However, fortunately, news travels slowly out there, and it was some weeks before they knew anything especial had happened; and as they are pretty well accustomed to my hair-breadth escapes, they were not over-ready to believe the rumour of my death. However, the assurance that I was alive and well was none the less welcome.”