Fate carried us to Monocasy Island, which is, as all know, about a mile below Wintermoot’s. The first intimation we had of having arrived at this place, which could hardly be called a refuge of safety, was when our feet struck the bottom, and then, because of the excitement and labor of the fight, and the exertion of swimming with such a burden as Master Bartlett made, we were so nearly exhausted that, after crawling up out of the water, neither Giles nor I could do other than lay flat upon the sands, panting as if from a long race, which indeed we had had. Even then we were uncertain as to our whereabouts, and questioned if, unwittingly, we had not gained the opposite bank of the river. It was enough for the time being, however, that we had escaped from the merciless savages; but, when a prayer of thanksgiving welled up in our hearts, it was hushed because of the sorrow which followed with the possibility that we might be the only ones who had escaped from Fort Jenkins. Master Bartlett was in no better bodily condition than either of us, and until the first gray light of morning appeared in the eastern sky, we lay there upon the bank of the island, with the waters of the river just touching our feet, silent and well-nigh heart-broken. “It is time we were getting under cover, lads,” Master Bartlett said, when it became possible to distinguish surrounding objects. “If we alone of all our company have come out from Fort Jenkins, then is it our duty to take good care of our lives, for they will be needed before John Butler has finished his bloody work in the valley.” “We shall live to say that we ran away!” Giles March cried, bitterly, and Master Bartlett turned upon him angrily. “It is only a boy who would reproach himself with what has been done. Of what avail if we had remained until death came? Who could have been benefited thereby? Think you that those at Forty Fort are not in need of such as us? Everything within our power was done last night, before we turned our backs upon the enemy, and now must we put forth every effort that we may be able to join them.” Well, Master Bartlett continued in that strain until he stung Giles and me into activity,--until he had literally made us ashamed because we reproached ourselves with flight. Then it was, and before the day had really come, that we learned where we were, after which arose the question of what should be done. Save for the knives in our belts, we were weaponless; of food we had not so much as would feed a sparrow, nor were we likely to find any on Monocasy Island. “If the people at Forty Fort are depending on us for help, then do they lean upon a broken reed,” Giles March said, bitterly, when we were hidden among the bushes where those who passed up or down the river might not see us.