If the others saw him, which was probable, they would think that
he was making a landing from the ship. Once he was in the deep
fringe of shadow along the shore he could redouble his exertions
and draw nearer to them without being observed.
No sooner had he readied the sheltering gloom than he bent to his
paddle and the light birch-bark fairly hissed through the water.
Not until he found himself abreast of the pursued did it occur to
him that he could beat them out to the mouth of the Churchill and
lie in wait for them. Every stroke of his paddle widened the
distant between him and the larger canoe. Fifteen minutes later he
reached the edge of the huge delta of wild rice and reeds through
which the sluggish volume of the river emptied into the Bay. The
chances were that the approaching canoe would take the nearest
channel into the main stream, and Philip concealed himself so that
it would have to pass within twenty yards of him.
From his ambuscade he looked out upon the approaching canoe. He
was puzzled by the slowness of its progress. At times it seemed to
stand still, and he could distinguish no movement at all among its
occupants. At first he thought they were undecided as to which
course to pursue, but a few minutes more sufficed to show that
this was not the reason for their desultory advance.
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