“What’s that?” Parnell pointed at something in the river.
“It’s a chunk of ice,” Butler said.
MacKim nodded. Since the thaw had begun, the St Lawrence had been a mixture of fast-flowing water, sheets of ice, large icebergs and smaller pieces that the current had swept past them. General Murray had ordered patrols along the riverbank to watch for any French waterborne raiding.
“There’s something on the ice,” Parnell said.
They all peered into the river, although, with the sun reflecting from the ice, the glare made distinguishing anything next to impossible.
“It’s an animal of some sort,” Butler said.
“Animal be damned,” MacKim said. “It’s waving at us. Animals don’t wave.”
“It’s a man,” Parnell said. “No, damn it all, it’s just a boy.”
For a moment, the Rangers watched as the ice f
