While Hutter and his family were in the Ark skirting the shores of the lake looking for Deerslayer who was a prisoner in the enemy camp, the Iroquois entered Muskrat Castle and laid an ambush for the returning family. A desperate fight was waged, in which Hutter lost his life, but Harry March escaped by rolling off the platform into the water, where he was rescued by Chingakook and the girls who had remained aboard the Ark. The situation is a critical one, and Judith tells March that there is but one way of escape for them, but it's very risky...