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Our comrades came running up as I flung myself into the struggle, and we quickly secured the toen. I believe Obed would have killed him. "Don't be a fool!" said I; "cannot you see that we now have a hostage for Margit?" I ought at the same time to have begged his pardon for my suspicions. As the reader already knows, Obed had a far keener ear than I, and it had warned him of the canoe's approach.
With a second furious cry he stooped, caught up the helpless toen, and held him high in air. The canoe lurched heavily, and the next instant I was in the water. I never saw Obed again: and the toen must have gone down like a stone. For me, I struck out for the far shore, but the current swept me down on the sandy spit where we had nearly come to shipwreck, the day before.
As this would barely hold a dozen passengers, we begged for another, that we might all cross together. The toen complied, and sent a second, but much smaller boat. In these we allowed ourselves to be distributed Obed and I with ten others in the larger, and Margit with five seamen in the smaller. The boats pushed out into the stream, the larger leading.
She came down the bank, and Yootramaki signed to Obed to address her; which he did. "Margit," said he, pointing to the toen, "I believe that in this scoundrel here God has provided a way out of all our troubles. We caught him last night, and have brought him along as ransom for you. But stand close to the water and be ready to jump for the boat if they mean treachery.
We turned our faces aside; for his wishes were madness, yet we were asking him to sacrifice what was dearest to him in the world. In his distraction then he tore off most of his clothes, and piling them in a heap besought the toen to take them for the ransom; and we too stripped and stood all but naked, adding our prayers to his.
Almost as I started, a flash and a report of a musket right ahead changed the current of my fears. By the light of the young moon I saw two figures struggling and rolling together on the river's brink. They were Obed and our peculiar enemy, the toen. The body of a dead Indian lad was stretched some ten paces off beside a small canoe which lay moored by the bank.
It turned out afterwards that the toen had planned this little reconnoitring expedition on his own account, and on the chance perhaps of filching a musket or two. We quickly laid our plans; and at daybreak flung my gentleman, bound hand and foot, into his own canoe, which Obed and I paddled into mid-stream, while our party stood on the bank and watched.
"Die mehrsten zieh'n einst wieder Zuruck in Siegerreih'n; Dann toen Jubellieder Dess' wird'ne Freude sein!" "Wie gluh'n davon die Herzen So froh und stark und weich. Wer fallt, der kann's verschmerzen, Der hat das Himmelreich!" It was the first song of liberty published in 1813: Mount! mount! for sacred freedom fight! The battle soon must be.
This, of course, we refused: but offered him the whole collection of beads and trinkets that we had brought with us in the hope of trafficking for food. After some haggling to which the handsome chief, Yootramaki, listened with seeming disdain the toen undertook to let us have the boats; and presently one appeared, paddled by three naked savages.
They had already caught sight of us: so we judged it better to advance, after looking to our arms. It now appeared that the previous silence of these people had been deliberate: for the toen at once began to talk in a language fairly intelligible to Obed. He proposed to supply us with boats to cross the river, if we would give up our muskets in payment.
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