"Why did he leave his extra powder-horn in his canoe, when he knew that the Hurons were all around him?
You wouldn't catch Dick or old Bob Kelly in any such scrape, nor me either, for that matter, for I would"-- Frank's soliloquy was brought to a close very suddenly, and what he was about to say must forever remain a secret.

His throat was seized with an iron grasp, and he was lifted bodily out of his chair, and thrown upon the floor.

So quickly was it done that he had no time to resist or to cry out.

Before he could realize what had happened, he found himself lying flat on his back, and felt a heavy weight upon his breast holding him down.
Filled with surprise and indignation, he looked up into the face that was bending over him, and recognized Pierre Costello, whose features wore a fiendish expression, the effect of which was heightened by a murderous-looking knife which he carried between his teeth.

Scowling fiercely, as if he were trying to strike terror to the boy's heart by his very appearance, he loosened his grasp on Frank's throat, and the latter, after coughing and swallowing to overcome the effects of the choking he had received, demanded: "What do you mean, you villain ?" Pierre, without making any reply, coolly proceeded to overhaul the contents of Frank's pockets.