No sooner, however, had
their arms been extended in such a manner as to be utterly
powerless, when the dark mass was seen to roll away in
an opposite direction, and with such rapidity that, before
the men could regain their feet and level their muskets,
it had entirely disappeared from their view.
"Cleverly managed, to give the red skin his due," half
laughingly observed Captain Erskine, while his brother
officers continued to fix their eyes in astonishment on
the spot so recently occupied by the strange object; "but
what the devil could be his motive for lying there so
long? Not playing the eaves-dropper, surely; and yet, if
he meant to have picked off a sentinel, what was to have
prevented him from doing it sooner?"
"He had evidently no arms," said Ensign Delme.
"No, nor legs either, it would appear," resumed the
literal Erskine. "Curse me if I ever saw any thing in
the shape of a human form bundled together in that manner."
"I mean he had no fire-arms--no rifle," pursued Delme.
"And if he had, he certainly would have rifled one of us
of a life," continued the captain, laughing at his own
conceit.
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