The canoes were skirting the western bank, driven by the current, when one voyageur called to another:
"My scalp for the sight of an Indian!"
"Halt!" the forward paddler answered. "Look to thy scalp, lad, for here is the Indian!"
There was no feathered head in ambush, but they saw moccasin prints in the low moist margin and a path leading up to the prairie.
Marquette and Jolliet held the boats together while they consulted.
"Do you think it wise to pass by without searching what this may mean, Father?"
"No, I do not. We might thus leave enemies behind our backs to cut off our return. Some Indian village is near. It would be my counsel to approach and offer friendship."
"Shall we take the men?" debated Jolliet. "Two of them at least should stay to guard the canoes."
"Let them all stay to guard the canoes. If we go unarmed and unattended, we shall not raise suspicion in the savages' minds."
"But we may raise suspicion in our own minds."