234 ISAAC JOGUES. 



tide had left the boat high and dry. He shouted 

 to the vessel, but no one heard him. His despera- 

 tion gave him strength ; and, by working the boat 

 to and fro, he pushed it at length, little by little, 

 into the water, entered it, and rowed to the ves- 

 sel. The Dutch sailors received him kindly, and 

 hid him in the bottom of the hold, placmg a large 

 box over the hatchway. 



He remained two days, half stifled, in this foul 

 lurking-place, while the Indians, furious at his 

 escape, ransacked the settlement in vain to find 

 him. They came ofi" to the vessel, and so terrified 

 the officers, that Jogues was sent on shore at night, 

 and led to the fort. Here he was hidden in the 

 garret of a house occupied by a miserly old man, 

 to whose charge he was consigned. Food was 

 sent to him ; but, as his host appropriated the 

 larger part to himself, Jogues was nearly starved. 

 There was a compartment of his garret, separated 

 from the rest by a partition of boards. Here the 

 old Dutchman, who, like many others of the settlers, 

 carried on a trade with the Mohawks, kept a quan- 

 tity of goods for that purpose ; and hither he often 

 brought his customers. The boards of the parti- 

 tion had shrunk, leaving wide crevices ; and Jogues 

 could plainly see the Indians, as they passed be- 

 tween him and the light. They, on their part, 

 might as easily have seen him, if he had not, when 

 he heard them entering the house, hidden him- 

 self behind some barrels in the corner, where he 

 would sometimes remain crouched for hours, in 

 a constrained and painful posture, half sufi'ocated 



