In another minute the boats were away.
“Now, friends, we shall start,” said Jasper, breaking the deep silence which followed the departure of the brigade.
“Good,” said Arrowhead.
“I’m ready,” said Heywood.
The canoe was soon in the water, and the men in their places; but they started that morning without a song. Arrowhead was never inclined to be noisy, Heywood was sleepy, and Jasper was rendered anxious by what he had heard of his friends at Fort Erie, so they paddled away in silence.
Chapter Nine.
The Fort, and an Unexpected Meeting.
We turn now to a very different scene. It is a small fort or trading-post on the banks of a stream which flows through the prairie. The fort is very much like the one which has been already described, but somewhat stronger; and there are four block-houses or bastions, one at each corner, from which the muzzles of a few heavy guns may be seen protruding.