"Is it a ghost?" he asked of Henry Ware in an awed whisper.
At that moment the moonlight shifted and fell upon something metallic that
gleamed upon the breast of the mystic visitor.
"It is Father Montigny," said Henry. He, too, felt awe, not at any ghostly
apparition but because the priest had come suddenly at such a time.
"What does it portend?" was his silent thought.
Paddling with a strong hand the priest came straight toward them. The
moonlight continued to shine upon his face, and Henry thought that he read
there the impulse of a great mission.
CHAPTER XX
THE BATTLE OF THE BAYOU
The priest came directly to the boat, in which Henry Ware and Adam Colfax
were sitting--the remainder of the five were in the next boat--and held up
his hand as a sign of recognition and relief.
"Father Montigny!" said Henry.
"Yes, my son, it is I, and I give thanks to Heaven that I have found you
in time."
"What is it, father?" It seemed natural that at this moment Henry should
be the spokesman for the fleet.
"A great danger has closed upon you and all here."
"Alvarez?"
"Yes, he is the master spirit, but back of him are the allied tribes of
the south, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, even Osages from the west, and
others, and in addition there are two hundred desperate white men drawn
from all nations.
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