“This is a noble sight, Mr. Littlepage,” Guert remarked, after gazing at the measured but quick movement of the flotilla, for some time, in silence--“a truly noble sight, and it is a reproach to us three for having lost so much time in the woods, when we ought to have been _there_, ready to aid in driving the French from the province.” “We are not too late, my good friend, as the first blow yet remains to be struck.” “You say true, and I shall join that army, if I have to swim to reach the boats. It will be no difficult thing for us to swim from one of these islands to another, and the troops must pass through the midst of them, 'n order to get into the lower lake. Any reasonable man would stop to pick us up.” “No need,” said the Onondago, in his quiet way. “Eat breakfast; then go. Got canoe--that 'nough.” “A canoe! By St. Nicholas! Mr. Susquesus, I'll tell you what it is--you shall never want a friend as long as Guert Ten Eyek is living, and able to assist you. That idea of the canoe is a most thoughtful one, and shows that a reasoning man has had the care of us. We can now join the troops, with the rifles in our hand, as becomes gentlemen and volunteers.” By this time Jaap was up, and looking at the scene, with all his eyes. It is scarcely necessary to describe the effect on a negro. He laughed in fits, shook his head like the Chinese figure of a mandarin, rolled over on the rocks, arose, shook himself like a dog that quits the water, laughed again, and finally shouted. As we were all accustomed to these displays of negro sensibility, they only excited a smile among us, and not even that from Dirck. As for the Indian, he took no more notice of these natural, but undignified signs of pleasure, in Jaap, than if the latter had been a dog, or any other unintellectual animal. Perhaps no weakness would be so likely to excite his contempt, as to be a witness of so complete an absence of self-command, as the untutored negro manifested on this occasion. As soon as our first curiosity and interest were a little abated, we applied ourselves to the necessary duty of breaking our fasts. The meal was soon despatched; and, to say the truth, it was not of a quality to detain one long from anything of interest. The moment we had finished, the whole party left the cap of the mountain, following our guide as usual. The Onondago had purposely brought us to that look-out, a spot known to him, in order that we might get the view of its panorama. It was impossible to descend to the lake-shore at that spot, however, and we were obliged to make a detour of three or four miles, in order to reach a ravine, by means of which, and not without difficulty either, that important object was obtained. Here we found a bark canoe of a size sufficient to hold all five of us, and we embarked without a moment's delay.