62 THE VALUE OF A FIDDLE. 



somely endeavouring to get ahead of one another. 

 Dick was well acquainted with the customs of his 

 enemies, and was careful not to run : any such movement 

 would have been the signal for a general assault ; but the 

 cayeutes seldom attack men unless they show signs of 

 fear. 



His only chance of safety was to prolong this dangerous 

 escapade as far as the border of the forest. There he 

 hoped the cayeutes, who do not dare to venture into 

 open ground, would quit him, and allow him to finish 

 his journey unmolested. He remembered also that in 

 the midst of the clearing stood an abandoned hut, and the 

 thought that he might reach this refuge partially restored 

 his courage. 



Every moment the audacity of the cayeutes increased, 

 and the unfortunate negro could not look around him 

 without seeing the brilliant eyes which glittered in every 

 direction, like the phosphorescent gleams of fire-flies in 

 the summer air. One after another, the quadrupeds tried 

 their teeth against the meagre legs of the fiddler, who, 

 having lost his stick, had recourse to his violin to keep 

 the enemy at a distance. With the first blow, the strings 

 produced a jar, thrown back simultaneously by the sound- 

 post of the instrument ; and this ^Eolian utterance had 

 the immediate effect of making the cayeutes spring back 

 several paces, in grim astonishment at the unexpected 

 music. 



Dick, always observant by nature, and now by necessity, 

 began to thrum his violin with his fingers : the carnivor- 

 ous animals instantly gave new signs of surprise, as if a 

 charge of shot had riddled their hides. This fortunate 

 diversion, several times repeated, carried Dick to the 



