Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
Third Person, Limited
Sign of the Beaver is written in the third person, which means our narrator sits outside the story and tells us what's going on. However, the narrator is limited, so they only give us Matt's perspective. It keeps us close to our main man—and helps engages us in the story—while also making sure there are plenty of surprises. Let's look at Matt's bee sting fiasco as an example:
He could still not think clearly. Things seemed to keep fading before he could quite grasp them. He could not protest when the man lifted him again and carried him like a baby. It did not seem to matter where they were taking him, but shortly he found himself lying on his own bed in his own cabin. He was alone; the Indians had gone. (5.10)
We have a really clear idea about how Matt's feeling, right? The poor kid is majorly struggling in this moment, and seriously unwell, and we are right there with him, foggy-brained and unclear about what's transpiring around him. Because of this, we—like Matt—don't yet know that the person carrying him is Saknis, nor do we know that Saknis will come back to make sure he's okay. In other words, we know enough to care… but not enough to not be surprised when Saknis returns the next day.