“And the dead, Baptiste?”
“They are buried, sir—under the snow.”
“Ah, then no time has been wasted,” said I. “If the worst comes we shall be ready—”
“There is nothing more to be done, Carew,” interrupted a voice at my elbow. “No step that prudence or forethought could dictate has been omitted.”
The speaker was Captain Rudstone, who had approached unperceived.
“Has your sleep refreshed you?” he added.
“Very much,” I replied. “I feel fit for another stretch of fighting. What is the situation now?”
“The calm before the storm, to my mind,” he declared. “Sentries are posted to command a view from every side of the fort. Both towers will be abandoned at the first alarm, and all the men will rush to the quarter whence it comes, those are the general orders. If the redskins prove too strong for us, we will retreat to the factor’s house.”
“Ay, and hold it,” said I. “The place is impregnable, Rudstone!”
“That remains to be seen,” he answered. “Go and get some supper, Carew, while you have the chance.”