He heard
voices outside, and very soon felt the movement of the bateau
under his feet, and through one of the shoreward windows he saw
trees and sandy beach slowly drifting away. On that shore, as far
as his eyes could travel up and down, he saw no sign of Marie-
Anne, but there remained a canoe, and near the canoe stood Black
Roger Audemard, and beyond him, huddled like a charred stump in
the sand, was Andre, the Broken Man. On the opposite shore the
raft was getting under way.
During the next half-hour several things happened which told him
there was no longer a sugar-coating to his imprisonment. On each
side of the bateau two men worked at his windows, and when they
had finished, no one of them could be opened more than a few
inches. Then came the rattle of the lock at the door, the grating
of a key, and somewhat to Carrigan's surprise it was Bateese who
came in. The half-reed bore no facial evidence of the paralyzing
blows which had knocked him out a short time before. His jaw, on
which they had landed, was as aggressive as ever, yet in his face
and his attitude, as he stared curiously at Carrigan, there was no
sign of resentment or unfriendliness.
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