The shores were
lined with warriors who would receive no explanation that Mackenzie
tried to give in sign language. The canoe began to leak so badly that
the boatmen had to spend half the time bailing out water; and the
_voyageurs_ dared not venture ashore for resin. Along the river cliff
was a little three-cornered hut of thatched clay. Here Mackenzie took
refuge, awaiting the return of the savage who had promised to act as
guide. The three walls protected the rear, but the front of the hut
was exposed to the warriors across the river; and the whites dared not
kindle a fire that might serve as a target. Two nights were passed in
this hazardous shelter, Mackay and Mackenzie alternately lying in their
cloaks on the wet rocks, keeping watch. At midnight of the third day's
siege, a rustling came from the woods to the rear and the boatmen's dog
set up a furious barking. The men were so frightened that they three
times loaded the canoe to desert their leader, but something in the
fearless confidence of the explorer deterred them. As daylight sifted
through the forest, Mackenzie descried a vague object creeping through
the underbrush. A less fearless man would have fired and lost all.
Mackenzie dashed out to find the cause of alarm an old blind man,
almost in convulsions from fear. He had been driven from this river
hut. Mackenzie quieted his terror with food. By signs the old man
explained that the Indians had suspected treachery when the whites
returned so soon; and by signs Mackenzie requested him to guide the
canoe back up the river to the carrying place; but the old creature
went off in such a palsy of fear that he had to be lifted bodily into
the canoe.
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