1763.] THE ESCAPED CAPTIVE. 93 



upward ; and, to his horror and amazement, he 

 recognizes the very fire from which he had fled a 

 few hours before, and the piles of spruce-boughs 

 upon which the warriors had slept. They have 

 gone, however, and are ranging the forest, in keen 

 pursuit of the fugitive, who, in his blind flight 

 amid the darkness, had circled round to the very 

 point whence he set out ; a mistake not uncommon 

 with careless or inexperienced travellers in the 

 woods. Almost in despair, he leaves the ill-omened 

 spot, and directs his course eastward with greater 

 care ; the bark of the trees, rougher and thicker on 

 the northern side, furnishing a precarious clew for 

 his guidance. Around and above him nothing can 

 be seen but the same endless monotony of brown 

 trunks and green leaves, closing him in with an 

 impervious screen. He reaches the foot of a moun- 

 tain, and toils upwards against the rugged declivity ; 

 but when he stands on the summit, the view is still 

 shut out by impenetrable thickets. High above 

 them all shoots up the tall, gaunt stem of a blasted 

 pine-tree ; and, in his eager longing for a view of 

 the surrounding objects, he strains every muscle to 

 ascend. Dark, wild, and lonely, the wilderness 

 stretches around him, half hidden in clouds, half 

 open to the sight, mountain and valley, crag and 

 glistening stream ; but nowhere can he discern the 

 trace of human hand or any hope of rest and har- 

 borage. Before he can look for relief, league upon 

 league must be passed, without food to sustain or 

 weapon to defend him. He descends the moun- 

 tain, forcing his way through the undergrowth of 



