Thinking That The Gun Had Been Discharged For The Purpose Of Cleaning It He Did Not Go To The Fire At First, And When Michel Called To Him That Mr. Hood Was Dead A Considerable Time Had Elapsed.

Although I dared not openly to evince any suspicion that I thought Michel guilty of the deed, yet he repeatedly protested that he was incapable of committing such an act, kept constantly on his guard, and carefully avoided leaving Hepburn and me together.

He was evidently afraid of permitting us to converse in private and whenever Hepburn spoke he inquired if he accused him of the murder. It is to be remarked that he understood English very imperfectly yet sufficiently to render it unsafe for us to speak on the subject in his presence. We removed the body into a clump of willows behind the tent and, returning to the fire, read the funeral service in addition to the evening prayers. The loss of a young officer of such distinguished and varied talents and application may be felt and duly appreciated by the eminent characters under whose command he had served, but the calmness with which he contemplated the probable termination of a life of uncommon promise, and the patience and fortitude with which he sustained, I may venture to say, unparalleled bodily sufferings, can only be known to the companions of his distresses. Owing to the effect that the tripe de roche invariably had when he ventured to taste it, he undoubtedly suffered more than any of the survivors of the party.

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