“But what of them?” persisted Bob; “surely we need not fear their setting fire to our cabin just now; and even Pat, who hates those men so much, could not well accuse them of having turned this water loose.”
“That is all very true, Bob; but one of the settlers has just mentioned the fact that he felt almost positive he ran across two men, dressed like trappers, who were hurrying away from the settlement. He called out to them, thinking that they might be friends, but they paid no heed to his hail. And, as he got to thinking the matter over, all at once it struck him who they must have been.”
“When was it that he saw them?” demanded Bob, immediately concerned.
“It may have been an hour or so ago; about the time the water was rising around our cabin, and, unable to bear the sight, we came here,” Sandy replied. “They are all wondering what could have brought those men here at such a time; and every one seems to think that it must have been the hope of laying their hands on some valuables, while the settlers were given up to excitement.”
“That looks like it, Sandy,” the other replied, quickly. “All have piled up whatever they possess in a heap, not caring where it lies so long as the waters cannot carry it off. But people are there on the watch all the time, and children snuggled down in the midst of the bedclothes; so it doesn’t seem as if those men could find much worth carrying off.”
“Well, Pat is as angry as a bull at sight of a red kerchief,” Sandy continued. “You know how he hates and despises everything that is French. He vows that, if he can only get one glimpse of either Jacques or Henri, his rifle will speak; and it seldom does that without something dropping.”
“Were they leaving the settlement at the time this man saw them?” asked Bob.
“That was what he thought,” his brother replied. “When he called out, they seemed to hasten their footsteps, as though fearful that he might try to detain them. He says he stood and wondered who they could be, and why they refused to answer his hail. It was only when too late that the truth flashed into his mind.”
“Well, if they are gone, let us hope it is for good,” remarked Bob.
“But why should they be around here at all, when they know the hostility of the English settlers toward the French?” asked Sandy. “It is always war between them, and especially in the wilderness where the trap lines run. Each claims all the country between here and the Mississippi; together with all the fur-bearing animals that can be found there. And that dispute will never be settled without a bloody war.”