"
Has-se was silent for some minutes, and then he said,
"I would have no secrets from thee, my brother, and would gladly tell
thee that thou askest; but I may not now, though at another time my
tongue may be loosed. For the present I am bound not to reveal that
which must needs be known were the manner of my escape described to
thee."
Rene felt somewhat hurt at this answer, which seemed to imply a want of
confidence in him; but he knew his friend's character too well to press
the subject further, and so, smothering his curiosity, he turned the
conversation to other things.
After they had travelled for several miles down the river, Has-se
turned the bow of the canoe into a sluggish bayou, that wound, with
innumerable turnings, amid vast limitless expanses of salt-marsh. This
stream led into others that formed such a maze that it seemed to Rene
impossible that they should ever discover a way out of it.
As Has-se kept the canoe to its course, never for an instant hesitating
as to which way he should turn, they startled from their resting-places
myriads of water-fowl and strange birds, that flew away with harsh
notes of alarm. These were answered from the distant forest by the
melancholy howlings of wolves and the cries of other night-prowling
wild beasts, that sounded very fearful to Rene's unaccustomed ears.
At length their craft was run ashore at the foot of a small shell mound
that formed quite an elevation amid the wide levels of the marshes, and
Has-se said they would rest there until sunrise.
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