The French and Indian War just after Braddock's defeat is again thebackground for an Altsheler triumph. 

Young Robert Lennox and his friend Tayoga, an Onondaga Indian, undertaketo make a dangerous journey through the northern wilderness to warn thegarrison and settlers gathered at Fort Refuge of the hostile forces. Afterwards they join the army as scouts, preceding it on an expeditionto Lake George and Lake Champlain, where they engage in many fierceencounters. The story concludes with the battle of Lake George, in whichthe Colonists win their first great success of the war. 

The story takes place almost wholly in the wilderness, and gives apicture of Iroquois life and warfare, historically true. The descriptionof life in the wilderness, of the intrigue and cunning necessary indealing with the French and Indians, of repeated encounters whereultimate success depends on quick wit and wily cleverness, makesfascinating reading for boys and girls. 

THE RULERS OF THE LAKES

_A STORY OF GEORGE AND CHAMPLAIN_

BY

JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER

AUTHOR OF "THE SHADOW OF THE NORTH, " "THE HUNTERS OF THE HILLS, " "THEEYES OF THE WOODS, " ETC. , ETC. 

APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS, INC. NEW YORK

1917, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

Printed in the United States of America

FOREWORD

"The Rulers of the Lakes" is a complete story, but it is also the thirdvolume of the French and Indian War Series, following "The Hunters ofthe Hills" and "The Shadow of the North. " Robert Lennox, Tayoga, Willet, and all the important characters in the earlier romances reappear. 

CHARACTERS IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES

 ROBERT LENNOX A lad of unknown origin TAYOGA A young Onondaga warrior DAVID WILLET A hunter RAYMOND LOUIS DE ST. LUC A brilliant French officer AGUSTE DE COURCELLES A French officer FRANÇOIS DE JUMONVILLE A French officer LOUIS DE GALISONNIÈRE A young French officer JEAN DE MÉZY A corrupt Frenchman ARMAND GLANDELET A young Frenchman PIERRE BOUCHER A bully and bravo PHILIBERT DROUILLARD A French priest THE MARQUIS DUQUESNE Governor-General of Canada MARQUIS DE VAUDREUIL Governor-General of Canada FRANÇOIS BIGOT Intendant of Canada MARQUIS DE MONTCALM French commander-in-chief DE LEVIS A French general BOURLAMAQUE A French general BOUGAINVILLE A French general ARMAND DUBOIS A follower of St. Luc M. DE CHATILLARD An old French Seigneur CHARLES LANGLADE A French partisan THE DOVE The Indian wife of Langlade TANDAKORA An Ojibway chief DAGANOWEDA A young Mohawk chief HENDRICK An old Mohawk chief BRADDOCK A British general ABERCROMBIE A British general WOLFE A British general COL. WILLIAM JOHNSON Anglo-American leader MOLLY BRANT Col. Wm. Johnson's Indian wife JOSEPH BRANT Young brother of Molly Brant, afterward the great Mohawk chief, Thayendanegea ROBERT DINWIDDIE Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia WILLIAM SHIRLEY Governor of Massachusetts BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Famous American patriot JAMES COLDEN A young Philadelphia captain WILLIAMWILTON A young Philadelphia lieutenant HUGH CARSON A young Philadelphia lieutenant JACOBUS HUYSMAN An Albany burgher CATERINA Jacobus Huysman's cook ALEXANDER MCLEAN An Albany schoolmaster BENJAMIN HARDY A New York merchant JOHNATHAN PILLSBURY Clerk to Benjamin Hardy ADRIAN VAN ZOON A New York merchant THE SLAVER A nameless rover ACHILLE GARAY A French spy ALFRED GROSVENOR A young English officer JAMES CABELL A young Virginian WALTER STUART A young Virginian BLACK RIFLE A famous "Indian fighter" ELIHU STRONG A Massachusetts colonel ALAN HERVEY A New York financier STUART WHYTE Captain of the British sloop, _Hawk_ JOHN LATHAM Lieutenant of the British sloop, _Hawk_ EDWARD CHARTERIS A young officer of the Royal Americans ZEBEDEE CRANE A young scout and forest runner ROBERT ROGERS Famous Captain of American Rangers

CONTENTS

 CHAPTER PAGE

 I. THE HERALDS OF PERIL 1

 II. THE KINDLY BRIDGE 22

 III. THE FLIGHT 42

 IV. A FOREST CONCERT 64

 V. GATHERING FORCES 88

 VI. THE DARK STRANGER 112

 VII. ON THE GREAT TRAIL 136

 VIII. ARESKOUI'S FAVOR 154

 IX. ON ANDIATAROCTE 178

 X. THE NAVAL COMBAT 198

 XI. THE COMRADES 220

 XII. THE SINISTER SIEGE 243

 XIII. TANDAKORA'S GRASP 268

 XIV. SHARP SWORD 289

 XV. THE LAKE BATTLE 312

_The_ RULERS OF THE LAKES

_A STORY OF GEORGE AND CHAMPLAIN_

CHAPTER I

THE HERALDS OF PERIL

The three, the white youth, the red youth, and the white man, lay deepin the forest, watching the fire that burned on a low hill to the west, where black figures flitted now and then before the flame. They did notstir or speak for a long time, because a great horror was upon them. They had seen an army destroyed a few days before by a savage butinvisible foe. They had heard continually for hours the fiercetriumphant yells of the warriors and they had seen the soldiers droppingby hundreds, but the woods and thickets had hid the foe who sent forthsuch a rain of death. 

Robert Lennox could not yet stop the quiver of his nerves when herecalled the spectacle, and Willet, the hunter, hardened though he wasto war, shuddered in spite of himself at the memory of that terriblebattle in the leafy wilderness. Nor was Tayoga, the young Onondaga, free from emotion when he thought of Braddock's defeat, and the blazingtriumph it meant for the western tribes, the enemies of his people. 

They had turned back, availing themselves of their roving commission, when they saw that the victors were not pursuing the remains of thebeaten army, and now they were watching the French and Indians. FortDuquesne was not many miles away, but the fire on the hill had beenbuilt by a party of Indians led by a Frenchman, his uniform showing whenhe passed between eye and flame, the warriors being naked save for thebreech cloth. 

"I hope it's not St. Luc, " said Robert. 

"Why?" asked Willet. "He was in the battle. We saw him leading on theIndian hosts. "

"I know. That was fair combat, I suppose, and the French used the toolsthey had. The Chevalier could scarcely have been a loyal son of Franceif he had not fought us then, but I don't like to think of him overthere by the fire, leading a band of Indians who will kill and scalpwomen and children as well as men along the border. "

"Nor I, either, though I'm not worried about it. I can't tell who theman is, but I know it's not St. Luc. Now I see him black against theblaze, and it's not the Chevalier's figure. "

Robert suddenly drew a long breath, as if he had made a surprisingrecognition. 

"I'm not sure, " he said, "but I notice a trick of movement now and thenreminding me of someone. I'm thinking it's the same Auguste deCourcelles, Colonel of France, whom we met first in the northern woodsand again in Quebec. There was one memorable night, as you know, Dave, when we had occasion to mark him well. "

"I think you're right, Robert, " said the hunter. "It looks like DeCourcelles. "

"I know he is right, " said Tayoga, speaking for the first time. "I havebeen watching him whenever he passed before the fire, and I cannotmistake him. "

"I wonder what he's doing here, " said Robert. "He may have been in thebattle, or he may have come to Duquesne a day or two later. "

"I think, " said Willet, "that he's getting ready to lead a band againstthe border, now almost defenseless. "

"He is a bad man, " said Tayoga. "His soul is full of wickedness andcruelty, and it should be sent to the dwelling place of the evil minded. If Great Bear and Dagaeoga say the word I will creep through thethickets and kill him. "

Robert glanced at him. The Onondaga had spoken in the gentle tones ofone who felt grief rather than anger. Robert knew that his heart wassoft, that in ordinary life none was kinder than Tayoga. And yet he wasand always would be an Indian. De Courcelles had a bad mind, and he wasalso a danger that should be removed. Then why not remove him?

"No, Tayoga, " said Willet. "We can't let you risk yourself that way. Butwe might go a little closer without any great danger. Ah, do you seethat new figure passing before the blaze?"

"Tandakora!" exclaimed the white youth and the red youth together. 

"Nobody who knows him could mistake him, even at this distance. I thinkhe must be the biggest Indian in all the world. "

"But a bullet would bring him crashing to earth as quickly as anyother, " said the Onondaga. 

"Aye, so it would, Tayoga, but his time hasn't come yet, though it willcome, and may we be present when your Manitou deals with him as hedeserves. Suppose we curve to the right through these thick bushes, andfrom the slope there I think we can get a much better view of the band. "

They advanced softly upon rising ground, and being able to approach twoor three hundred yards, saw quite clearly all those around the fire. Thewhite man was in truth De Courcelles, and the gigantic Indian, althoughthere could have been no mistake about him, was Tandakora, the Ojibway. The warriors, about thirty in number, were, Willet thought, a minglingof Ojibways, Pottawattomies and Ottawas. All were in war paint and wereheavily armed, many of them carrying big muskets with bayonets on theend, taken from Braddock's fallen soldiers. Three had small swordsbelted to their naked waists, not as weapons, but rather as the visibleemblems of triumph. 

As he looked, Robert's head grew hot with the blood pumped up from hisangry heart. It seemed to him that they swaggered and boasted, althoughthey were but true to savage nature. 

"Easy, lad, " said Willet, putting a restraining hand upon his shoulder. "It's their hour. You can't deny that, and we'll have to bide a while. "

"But will our hour ever come, Dave? Our army has been beaten, destroyed. The colonies and mother country alike are sluggish, and nowhave no plans, the whole border lies at the mercy of the tomahawk andthe French power in Canada not only grows all the time, but is directedby able and daring men. "

"Patience, lad, patience! Our strength is greater than that of the foe, although we may be slower in using it. But I tell you we'll see our dayof triumph yet. "

"They are getting ready to move, " whispered the Onondaga. "The Frenchmanand the band will march northward. "

"And not back to Duquesne?" said Willet. "What makes you think so, Tayoga?"

"What is left for them to do at Duquesne? It will be many a day beforethe English and Americans come against it again. "

"That, alas, is true, Tayoga. They're not needed longer here, nor arewe. They've put out their fire, and now they're off toward the north, just as you said they would be. Tandakora and De Courcelles lead, marching side by side. A pretty pair, well met here in the forest. Now, I wish I knew where they were going!"

"Can't the Great Bear guess?" said the Onondaga. 

"No, Tayoga. How should I?"

"Doesn't Great Bear remember the fort in the forest, the one calledRefuge?"

"Of course I do, Tayoga! And the brave lads, Colden and Wilton andCarson and their comrades who defended it so long and so well. That'sthe most likely point of attack, and now, since Braddock's army isdestroyed it's too far in the wilderness, too exposed, and should beabandoned. Suppose we carry a warning!"

Robert's eyes glistened. The idea made a strong appeal to him. He hadmellow memories of those Philadelphia lads, and it would be pleasant tosee them again. The three, in bearing the alarm, might achieve, too, atask that would lighten, in a measure, the terror along the border. Itwould be a relief at least to do something while the governmentdisagreed and delayed. 

"Let's start at once for Fort Refuge, " he said, "and help them to getaway before the storm breaks. What do you say, Tayoga?"

"It is what we ought to do, " replied the Onondaga, in his preciseEnglish of the schools. 

"Come, " said Willet, leading the way, and the three, leaving the firebehind them, marched rapidly into the north and east. Two miles gone, and they stopped to study the sun, by which they meant to take theirreckoning. 

"The fort lies there, " said Willet, pointing a long finger, "and by mycalculations it will take us about five days and nights to reach it, that is, if nothing gets in our way. "

"You think, then, " asked Robert, "that the French and Indians arealready spreading a net?"

"The Indians might stop, Robert, my lad, to exult over their victory andto celebrate it with songs and dances, but the French leaders, whoseinfluence with them is now overwhelming, will push them on. They willwant to reap all the fruits of their great triumph by the river. I'veoften told you about the quality of the French and you've seen foryourself. Ligneris, Contrecoeur, De Courcelles, St. Luc and the otherswill flame like torches along the border. "

"And St. Luc will be the most daring, skillful and energetic of themall. "

"It's a fact that all three of us know, Robert, and now, having fixedour course, we must push ahead with all speed. De Courcelles, Tandakoraand the warriors are on the march, too, and we may see them again beforewe see Fort Refuge. "

"The forest will be full of warriors, " said Tayoga, speaking with greatgravity. "The fort will be the first thought of the western barbarians, and of the tribes from Canada, and they will wish to avenge the defeatthey suffered before it. "

It was not long until they had ample proof that the Onondaga's wordswere true. They saw three trails in the course of the day, and all ofthem led toward the fort. Willet and Tayoga, with their wonderfulknowledge of the forest, estimated that about thirty warriors made onetrail, about twenty another, and fifteen the smallest. 

"They're going fast, too, " said the hunter, "but we must go faster. "

"They will see our traces, " said Tayoga, "and by signaling to oneanother they will tell all that we are in the woods. Then they will seta force to destroy us, while the greater bands go on to take the fort. "

"But we'll pass 'em, " said Robert confidently. "They can't stop us!"

Tayoga and the hunter glanced at him. Then they looked at each otherand smiled. They knew Robert thoroughly, they understood his vivid andenthusiastic nature which, looking forward with so much confidence tosuccess, was apt to consider it already won, a fact that perhapscontributed in no small measure to the triumph wished so ardently. Atlast, the horror of the great defeat in the forest and the slaughter ofan army was passing. It was Robert's hopeful temperament and brilliantmind that gave him such a great charm for all who met him, a charm towhich even the fifty wise old sachems in the vale of Onondaga had notbeen insensible. 

"No, Robert, " said the Great Bear gravely, "I don't think anything canstop us. I've a prevision that De Courcelles and Tandakora will stand inour way, but we'll just brush 'em out of it. "

They had not ceased to march at speed, while they talked, and now Tayogaannounced the presence of a river, an obstacle that might proveformidable to foresters less expert than they. It was lined on bothsides with dense forest, and they walked along its bank about a mileuntil they came to a comparatively shallow place where they forded it inwater above their knees. However, their leggings and moccasins driedfast in the midsummer sun, and, experiencing no discomfort, they pressedforward with unabated speed. 

All the afternoon they continued their great journey to save those atthe fort, fording another river and a half dozen creeks and leapingacross many brooks. Twice they crossed trails leading to the east andtwice other trails leading to the west, but they felt that all of themwould presently turn and join in the general march converging upon FortRefuge. They were sure, too, that De Courcelles, Tandakora and theirband were marching on a line almost parallel with them, and that theywould offer the greatest danger. 

Night came, a beautiful, bright summer night with a silky blue sky inwhich multitudes of silver stars danced, and they sought a covert in adense thicket where they lay on their blankets, ate venison, and talkeda little before they slept. 

Robert's brilliant and enthusiastic mood lasted. He could see nothingbut success. With the fading of the great slaughter by the river cameother pictures, deep of hue, intense and charged with pleasant memories. Life recently had been a great panorama to him, bright and full ofchanges. He could not keep from contrasting his present position, hid ina thicket to save himself from cruel savages, with those vivid days atQuebec, his gorgeous period in New York, and the gay time with sportingyouth in the cozy little capital of Williamsburg. 

But the contrast, so far from making him unhappy, merely expanded hisspirit. He rejoiced in the pleasures that he had known and adaptedhimself to present conditions. Always influenced greatly by what layjust around him, he considered their thicket the best thicket in whichhe had ever been hidden. The leaves of last year, drifted into littleheaps on which they lay, were uncommonly large and soft. The lightbreeze rustling the boughs over his head whispered only of peace andease, and the two comrades, who lay on either side of him, were thefinest comrades any lad ever had. 

"Tayoga, " he asked, and his voice was sincerely earnest, "can you see onhis star Tododaho, the founder and protector of the great league of theHodenosaunee?"

The young Onondaga, his face mystic and reverential, gazed toward thewest where a star of great size and beauty quivered and blazed. 

"I behold him, " he replied. "His face is turned toward us, and the wiseserpents lie, coil on coil, in his hair. There are wreaths of vaporabout his eyes, but I can see them shining through, shining withkindness, as the mighty chief, who went away four hundred years ago, watches over us. His eyes say that so long as our deeds are just, solong as we walk in the path that Manitou wishes, we shall be victorious. Now a cloud passes before the star, and I cannot see the face ofTododaho, but he has spoken, and it will be well for us to remember hiswords. "

He sank back on his blanket and closed his eyes as if he, too, inthought, had shot through space to some great star. Robert and Willetwere silent, sharing perhaps in his emotion. The religion and beliefs ofthe Indian were real and vital to them, and if Tododaho promised successto Tayoga then the promise would be fulfilled. 

"I think, Robert, " said Willet, "that you'd better keep the first watch. Wake me a little while before midnight, and I'll take the second. "

"Good enough, " said Robert. "I think I can hear any footfall Tandakoramay make, if he approaches. "

"It is not enough to hear the footfall of the Ojibway, " said Tayoga, opening his eyes and sitting up. "To be a great sentinel and foresterworthy to be compared with the greatest, Dagaeoga must hear the whisperof the grass as it bends under the lightest wind, he must hear the soundmade by the little leaf as it falls, he must hear the ripple in thebrook that is flowing a hundred yards from us, and he must hear the wildflowers talking together in the night. Only then can Dagaeoga callhimself a sentinel fit to watch over two such sleeping foresters as theGreat Bear and myself. "

"Close your eyes and go to sleep without fear, " said Robert in the samevein. "I shall hear Tandakora breathing if he comes within a mile of us, at the same distance I shall hear the moccasin of De Courcelles, when itbrushes against last year's fallen leaf, and at half a mile I shall seethe look of revenge and cruelty upon the face of the Ojibway seeking forus. "

Willet laughed softly, but with evident satisfaction. 

"You two boys are surely the greatest talkers I've heard for a longtime, " he said. "You have happy thoughts and you put 'em into words. IfI didn't know that you had a lot of deeds, too, to your credit, I'd callyou boasters, but knowing it, I don't. Go ahead and spout language, because you're only lads and I can see that you enjoy it. "

"I'm going to sleep now, " said Tayoga, "but Dagaeoga can keep on talkingand be happy, because he will talk to himself long after we have gone tothe land of dreams. "

"If I do talk to myself, " said Robert, "it's because I like to talk toa bright fellow, and I like to have a bright fellow talk to me. Sleep assoundly as you please, you two, because while you're sleeping I cancarry on an intellectual conversation. "

The hunter laughed again. 

"It's no use, Tayoga, " he said. "You can't put him down. The fifty wiseold sachems in the vale of Onondaga proclaimed him a great orator, andgreat orators must always have their way. "

"It is so, " said the Onondaga. "The voice of Dagaeoga is like a river. It flows on forever, and like the murmur of the stream it will soothe meto deeper slumbers. Now I sleep. "

"And so do I, " said the hunter. 

It seemed marvelous that such formal announcements should be followed byfact, but within three minutes both went to that pleasant land of dreamsof which they had been talking so lightly. Their breathing was long andregular and, beyond a doubt, they had put absolute faith in theirsentinel. Robert's mind, so quick to respond to obvious confidence, glowed with resolve. There was no danger now that he would relax theneeded vigilance a particle, and, rifle in the hollow of his arm, hebegan softly to patrol the bushes. 

He was convinced that De Courcelles and Tandakora were not many milesaway--they might even be within a mile--and memory of a former occasion, somewhat similar, when Tayoga had detected the presence of the Ojibway, roused his emulation. He was determined that, while he was on watch, nocreeping savage should come near enough to strike. 

Hand on the hammer and trigger of his rifle he walked in an everwidening circle about his sleeping comrades, searching the thickets witheyes, good naturally and trained highly, and stopping now and then tolisten. Two or three times he put his ear to the earth that he mighthear, as Tayoga had bade him, the rustle of leaves a mile away. 

His eager spirit, always impatient for action, found relief in thecontinuous walking, and the steady enlargement of the circle in which hetraveled, acquiring soon a radius of several hundred yards. On thewestern perimeter he was beyond the deep thicket, and within amagnificent wood, unchoked by undergrowth. Here the trees stood up ingreat, regular rows, ordered by nature, and the brilliant moonlightclothed every one of them in a veil of silver. On such a bright night insummer the wilderness always had for him an elusive though powerfulbeauty, but he felt its danger. Among the mighty trunks, with noconcealing thickets, he could be seen easily, if prowling savages werenear, and, as he made his circles, he always hastened through what hecalled to himself his park, until he came to the bushes, in the densityof which he was well hidden from any eye fifty feet away. 

It was an hour until midnight, and the radius of his circle hadincreased another fifty yards, when he came again to the great spacesamong the oaks and beeches. Halfway through and he sank softly downbehind the trunk of a huge oak. Either in fact or in a sort of mentalillusion, he had heard a moccasin brush a dry leaf far away. The commandof Tayoga, though spoken in jest, had been so impressive that his earwas obeying it. Firm in the belief that his own dark shadow blurredwith the dark trunk, and that he was safe from the sight of a questingeye, he lay there a long time, listening. 

In time, the sound, translated from fancy into fact, came again, and nowhe knew that it was near, perhaps not more than a hundred yards away, the rustling of a real moccasin against a real dry leaf. Twice andthrice his ear signaled to his brain. It could not be fancy. It wasinstead an alarming fact. 

He was about to creep from the tree, and return to his comrades withword that the enemy was near, but he restrained his impulse, merelycrouching a little lower that his dark shadow might blend with the darkearth as well as the dark trunk. Then he heard several rustlings and thevery low murmur of voices. 

Gradually the voices which had been blended together, detachedthemselves and Robert recognized those of Tandakora and De Courcelles. Presently they came into the moonlight, followed by the savage band, andthey passed within fifty yards of the youth who lay in the shelter ofthe trunk, pressing himself into the earth. 

The Frenchman and the Ojibway were talking with great earnestness andRobert's imagination, plumbing the distance, told him the words theysaid. Tandakora was stating with great emphasis that the three whosetrail they had found had gone on very fast, obviously with the intentionof warning the garrison at the fort, and if they were to be cut off theband must hasten, too. De Courcelles was replying that in his opinionTandakora was right, but it would not be well to get too far ahead. Theymust throw out flankers as they marched, but there was no immediateneed of them. If the band spread out before dawn it would be sufficient. 

Robert's fancy was so intense and creative that, beginning by imaginingthese things so, he made them so. The band therefore was sure to go onwithout searching the thickets on either right or left at present, andall immediate apprehension disappeared from his mind. Tandakora and DeCourcelles were in the center of the moonlight, and although knowingthem evil, he was surprised to see how very evil their faces looked, each in its own red or white way. He could remember nothing at thatmoment but their wickedness, and their treacherous attacks upon his lifeand those of his friends, and the memory clothed them about with ahideous veil through which only their cruel souls shone. It wascharacteristic of him that he should always see everything in extremecolors, and in his mind the good were always very good and the bad werevery bad. 

Hence it was to him an actual physical as well as mental relief, whenthe Frenchman, the Ojibway and their band, passing on, were blotted fromhis eyes by the forest. Then he turned back to the thicket in which hiscomrades lay, and bent over them for the purpose of awakening them. Butbefore he could speak or lay a hand upon either, Tayoga sat up, his eyeswide open. 

"You come with news that the enemy has been at hand!"

"Yes, but how did you know it?"

"I see it in your look, and, also when I slept, the Keeper of Dreamswhispered it in my ear. An evil wind, too, blew upon my face and I knewit was the breath of De Courcelles and Tandakora. They have been near. "

"They and their entire band passed not more than four hundred yards tothe eastward of us. I lay in the bush and saw them distinctly. They'retrying to beat us to Fort Refuge. "

"But they won't do it, because we won't let 'em, " said Willet, who hadawakened at the talking. "We'll make a curve and get ahead of 'em again. You watched well, Robert. "

"I obeyed the strict injunctions of Tayoga, " said young Lennox, smilingfaintly. "He bade me listen so intently that I should hear the rustle ofa dry leaf when a moccasin touched it a mile away in the forest. Well, Iheard it, and going whence the sound came I saw De Courcelles, Tandakoraand their warriors pass by. "

"You love to paint pictures with words, Robert. I see that well, but'tis not likely that you exaggerate so much, after all. I'm sorry youwon't get your share of sleep, but we must be up and away. "

"I'll claim a double portion of it later on, Dave, but I agree with youthat what we need most just now is silence and speed, and speed andsilence. "

The three, making a curve toward the east, traveled at high speedthrough the rest of the night, Tayoga now leading and showing all hisinimitable skill as a forest trailer. In truth, the Onondaga was in hiselement. His spirits, like Robert's, rose as dangers grew thicker aroundthem, and he had been affected less than either of his comrades by theterrible slaughter of Braddock's men. Mentally at least, he was more ofa stoic, and woe to the vanquished was a part of the lore of all theIndian tribes. The French and their allies had struck a heavy blow andthere was nothing left for the English and Americans to do but to strikeback. It was all very simple. 

Day came, and at the suggestion of Willet they rested again in thethickets. Robert was not really weary, at least the spirit uplifted him, though he knew that he must not overtask the body. His enthusiasm, basedupon such a sanguine temperament, continued to rise. Again he foresawglittering success. They would shake off all their foes, reach the fortin time, and lead the garrison and the people who had found refuge theresafely out of the wilderness. 

Where they lay the bushes were very dense. Before hiding there they haddrunk abundantly at a little brook thirty or forty feet away, and nowthey ate with content the venison that formed their breakfast. Over thevast forest a brilliant sun was rising and here the leaves and grasswere not burned much by summer heat. It looked fresh and green, and thewind sang pleasantly through its cool shadows. It appealed to Robert. With his plastic nature he was all for the town when he was in town, andnow in the forest he was all for the forest. 

"I can understand why you love it so well, " he said to Tayoga, wavinghis hand at the verdant world that curved about them. 

"My people and their ancestors have lived in it for more generationsthan anyone knows, " said the Onondaga, his eyes glistening. "I havebeen in the white man's schools, and the white man's towns, and I haveseen the good in them, but this is my real home. This is what I lovebest. My heart beats strongest for the forest. "

"My own heart does a lot of beating for the woods, " said Willet, thoughtfully, "and it ought to do so, I've spent so many years of mylife in them--happy years, too. They say that no matter how great anevil may be some good will come out of it, and this war will achieve onegood end. "

"What is that, Great Bear?"

"It will delay the work of the ax. Men will be so busy with the riflethat they will have mighty little time for the ax. The trees will stopfalling for a while, and the forest will cover again the places where ithas been cleared away. Why, the game itself will increase!"

"How long do you think we'd better stay here?" asked Robert, his eagersoul anxious to be on again. 

"Patience! patience, my lad, " replied Willet. "It's one thing thatyou'll have to practice. We don't want to run squarely into DeCourcelles, Tandakora and their band, and meanwhile we're verycomfortable here, gathering strength. Look at Tayoga there and learnfrom him. If need be he could lie in the same place a week and behappy. "

"I hope the need will not come, " laughed the Onondaga. 

Robert felt the truth of Willet's words, and he put restraint uponhimself, resolved that he would not be the first to propose the newstart. He had finished breakfast and he lay on his elbow gazing upthrough the green tracery of the bushes at the sky. It was a wonderfulsky, a deep, soft, velvet blue, and it tinted the woods with gloriousand kindly hues. It seemed strange to Robert, at the moment, that aforest so beautiful should bristle with danger, but he knew it too wellto allow its softness and air of innocence to deceive him. 

It was almost the middle of the morning when Willet gave the word torenew the march, and they soon saw they had extreme need of caution. Evidence that warriors had passed was all about them. Now and then theysaw the faint imprint of a moccasin. Twice they found little paintedfeathers that had fallen from a headdress or a scalplock, and onceTayoga saw a red bead lying in the grass where it had dropped, perhaps, from a legging. 

"We shall have to pass by Tandakora's band and perhaps other bands inthe night, " said Tayoga. 

"It's possible, too, " said Willet, "that they know we're on our way tothe fort, and may try to stop us. Our critical time will soon be athand. "

They listened throughout the afternoon for the signals that bands mightmake to one another, but heard nothing. Willet, in truth, was notsurprised. 

"Silence will serve them best, " he said, "and they'll send runners fromband to band. Still, if they do give signals we want to know it. "

"There is a river, narrow but deep, about five miles ahead, " saidTayoga, "and we'll have to cross it on our way to the fort. I think itis there that Tandakora will await us. "

"It's pretty sure to be the place, " said Willet. "Do you know wherethere's a ford, Tayoga?"

"There is none. "

"Then we'll have to swim for it. That's bad. But you say it's a narrowstream?"

"Yes, Great Bear. Two minutes would carry us across it. "

"Then we must find some place for the fording where the trees lean overfrom either side and the shadow is deep. "

Tayoga nodded, and, after that, they advanced in silence, redoublingtheir caution as they drew near to the river. The night was not sobright as the one that had just gone before, but it furnished sufficientlight for wary and watching warriors to see their figures at aconsiderable distance, and, now and then, they stopped to search thethickets with their own eyes. No wind blew, their footsteps made nosound and the intense stillness of the forest wove itself into thetexture of Robert's mind. His extraordinary fancy peopled it withphantoms. There was a warrior in every bush, but, secure in thecomradeship of his two great friends, he went on without fear. 

"There is no signal, " whispered Tayoga at last. "They do not evenimitate the cry of bird or beast, and it proves one thing, Great Bear. "

"So it does, Tayoga. "

"You know as well as I do, Great Bear, that they make no sound becausethey have set the trap, and they do not wish to alarm the game whichthey expect to walk into it. "

"Even so, Tayoga. Our minds travel in the same channel. "

"But the game is suspicious, nevertheless, " continued Tayoga in hisprecise school English, "and the trap will not fall. "

"No, Tayoga, it won't fall, because the game won't walk into it. "

"Tandakora will suffer great disappointment. He is a mighty hunter andhe has hunted mighty game, but the game that he hunts now is more warythan the stag or the bear, and has greater power to strike back thaneither. "

"Well spoken, Tayoga. "

The hunter and the Onondaga looked at each other in the dark andlaughed. Their spirits were as wild as the wilderness, and they wereenjoying the prospect of the Ojibway's empty trap. Robert laughed withthem. Already in his eager mind success was achieved and the crossingwas made. After a while he saw dim silver through the trees, and he knewthey had come to the river. Then the three sank down and approached inchby inch, sure that De Courcelles, Tandakora and their forces would bewatching on the other side. 

CHAPTER II

THE KINDLY BRIDGE

The thicket in which the three lay was of low but dense bushes, withhigh grass growing wherever the sun could reach it. In the grass tinywild flowers, purple, blue and white were in bloom, and Robert inhaledtheir faint odor as he crouched, watching for the enemy who sought hislife. It was a forest scene, the beauty of which would have pleased himat any other time, nor was he wholly unconscious of it now. The riveritself, as Tayoga had stated, was narrow. At some points it did not seemto be more than ten or fifteen yards across, but it flowed in a slow, heavy current, showing depths below. Nor could he see, looking up anddown the stream, any prospect of a ford. 

Robert's gaze moved in an eager quest along the far shore, but hedetected no sign of Tandakora, the Frenchman or their men. Yet he feltthat Tayoga and Willet were right and that foes were on watch there. Itwas inevitable, because it was just the place where they could wait bestfor the three. Nevertheless he asked, though it was merely to confirmhis own belief. 

"Do you think they're in the brush, Dave?"

"Not a doubt of it, Robert, " the hunter whispered back. "They haven'tseen us yet, but they hope to do so soon. "

"And we also, who haven't seen them yet, hope to do so soon. "

"Aye, Robert, that's the fact. Ah, I think I catch a glimpse of themnow. Tayoga, wouldn't you say that the reflection in the big green bushacross the river is caused by a moonbeam falling on a burnished riflebarrel?"

"Not a doubt of it, Great Bear. Now, I see the rifle itself! And now Isee the hands that hold it. The hands belong to a live warrior, anOjibway, or a Pottowattomie. He is kneeling, waiting for a shot, if heshould find anything to shoot at. "

"I see him, too, Tayoga, and there are three more warriors just beyondhim. It's certainly the band of Tandakora and De Courcelles, and they'veset a beautiful trap for three who will not come into it. "

"It is so, Great Bear. One may build a splendid bear trap but of whatuse is it if the bear stays away?"

"But what are we to do?" asked Robert. "We can't cross in the face ofsuch a force. "

"We'll go down the stream, " replied Willet, "keeping hidden, of course, in the thickets, and look for a chance to pass. Of course, they've sentmen in both directions along the bank, but we may go farther than any ofthem. "

He led the way, and they went cautiously through the thickets two orthree miles, all the time intently watching the other shore. Twice theysaw Indian sentinels on watch, and knew that they could not risk thepassage. Finally they stopped and waited a full two hours in thethickets, the contest becoming one of patience. 

Meanwhile the night was absolutely silent. The wind was dead, and theleaves hung straight down. The deep, slow current of the river, althoughflowing between narrow banks, made no noise, and Robert's mind, coloredby the conditions of the moment, began to believe that the enemy hadgone away. It was impossible for them to wait so long for foresters whomthey did not see and who might never come. Then he dismissed imaginationand impression, and turned with a wrench to his judgment. He knew enoughof the warriors of the wilderness to know that nobody could wait longerthan they. Patience was one of the chief commodities of savage life, because their habits were not complex, and all the time in the world wastheirs. 

He took lessons, too, from Tayoga and Willet. The Onondaga, an Indianhimself, had an illimitable patience, and Willet, from long practice, had acquired the ability to remain motionless for hours at a time. Helooked at them as they crouched beside him, still and silent figures inthe dusk, apparently growing from the earth like the bushes about them, and fixed as they were. The suggestion to go on that had risen to hislips never passed them and he settled into the same immobility. 

Another hour, that was three to Robert, dragged by, and Tayoga led theway again down the stream, Robert and the hunter following without aword. They went a long distance and then the Onondaga uttered a whisperof surprise and satisfaction. 

"A bridge!" he said. 

"Where? I don't see it, " said Robert. 

"Look farther where the stream narrows. Behold the great tree that hasbeen blown down and that has fallen from bank to bank?"

"I see it now, Tayoga. It hasn't been down long, because the leaves uponit are yet green. "

"And they will hide us as we cross. Tododaho on his star has beenwatching over us, and has put the bridge here for our use in thiscrisis. "

Tayoga's words were instinct with faith. He never doubted that the greatOnondaga who had gone away four hundred years ago was serving them nowin this, their utmost, need. Robert and Willet glanced at each other. They, too, believed. An electric current had passed from Tayoga to them, and, for the moment, their trust in Tododaho was almost as great as his. At the same time, a partial darkening of the night occurred, cloudsfloating up from the south and west, and dimming the moon and stars. 

"How far would you say it is from one shore to the other?" asked Robertof Willet. 

"About sixty feet, " replied the hunter, "but it's a long tree, and itwill easily bear the weight of the three of us all the way. We may beattacked while we're upon it, but if so we have our rifles. "

"It is the one chance that Tododaho has offered to us, and we must takeit, " said Tayoga, as he led the way upon the natural bridge. Robertfollowed promptly and Willet brought up the rear. 

The banks were high at that point, and the river flowed rather moreswiftly than usual. Robert, ten feet beyond the southern shore, lookeddown at a dark and sullen current, seeming in the dim moonlight to haveinterminable depths. It was only about fifteen feet below him, but hisimagination, heightened by time and place, made the distance three orfourfold greater. 

He felt a momentary fear lest he slip and fall into the dark stream, andhe clung tightly to an upthrust bough. 

The fallen tree swayed a little with the weight of the three, but Robertknew that it was safe. It was not the bridge that they had to fear, butwhat awaited them on the farther shore. Tayoga stopped, and the tensemanner in which he crouched among the boughs and leaves showed that hewas listening with all his ears. 

"Do you hear them?" Robert whispered. 

"Not their footsteps, " Tayoga whispered back, "but there was a soft callin the woods, the low cry of a night bird, and then the low cry ofanother night bird replying. It was the warriors signaling to oneanother, the first signal they have given. "

"I heard the cries, too, " said Willet, behind Robert, "and no doubtTandakora and De Courcelles feel they are closing in on us. It's a goodthing this tree was blown down but lately, and the leaves and boughs areso thick on it. "

"It was so provided by Tododaho in our great need, " said Tayoga. 

"Do you mean that we're likely to be besieged while we're still on ourbridge?" asked Robert, and despite himself he could not repress ashiver. 

"Not a siege exactly, " replied Willet, "but the warriors may pass on thefarther shore, while we're still in the tree. That's the reason why Ispoke so gratefully of the thick leaves still clinging to it. "

"They come even now, " said Tayoga, in the lowest of whispers, and thethree, stopping, flattened themselves like climbing animals against thetrunk of the tree, until the dark shadow of their bodies blurred againstthe dusk of its bark. They were about halfway across and the distance ofthe stream beneath them seemed to Robert to have increased. He saw itflowing black and swift, and, for a moment, he had a horrible fear lesthe should fall, but he tightened his grasp on a bough and turning hiseyes away from the water looked toward the woods. 

"The warriors come, " whispered Tayoga, and Robert, seeing, alsoflattened himself yet farther against the tree, until he seemed fairlyto sink into the bark. Their likeness to climbing animals increased, andit would have required keen eyes to have seen the three as they layalong the trunk, deep among the leaves and boughs thirty feet fromeither shore. 

Tandakora, De Courcelles and about twenty warriors appeared in theforest, walking a little distance back from the stream, where they couldsee on the farther bank, and yet not be seen from it. The moon was stillobscured, but a portion of its light fell directly upon Tandakora, andRobert had never beheld a more sinister figure. The rays, feeble, wereyet strong enough to show his gigantic figure, naked save for thebreech cloth, and painted horribly. His eyes, moreover, were lighted upeither in fact or in Robert's fancy with a most wicked gleam, as if hewere already clutching the scalps of the three whom he was hunting sosavagely. 

"Now, " whispered Tayoga, "Tododaho alone can save us. He holds our fatein the hollow of his hand, but he is merciful as well as just. "

Robert knew their danger was of the uttermost, but often, in the extremecrises of life and death, one may not feel until afterward that fate hasturned on a hair. 

De Courcelles was just behind Tandakora, but the light did not fall soclearly upon him. The savage had a hideous fascination for Robert, andthe moon's rays seemed to follow him. Every device and symbol paintedupon the huge chest stood out like carving, and all the features of theheavy, cruel face were disclosed as if by day. But Robert noticed withextraordinary relief that the eyes so full of menace were seeking thethree among the woods on the farther shore, and were paying littleattention to the tree. It was likely that neither Tandakora nor DeCourcelles would dream that they were upon it, but it was whollypossible that the entire band should seek to cross that way, and reachthe southern shore in the quest of their prey. 

The three in the depths of the boughs and leaves did not stir. Therising wind caused the foliage to rustle about them again. It made thetree sway a little, too, and as Robert could not resist the temptationto look downward once, the black surface of the river seemed to bedancing back and forth beneath him. But, save the single glance, hiseyes all the while were for the Ojibway and the Frenchman. 

Tandakora and De Courcelles came a little closer to the bank. Apparentlythey were satisfied that no one was on the farther shore, and that theywere in no danger of a bullet, as presently they emerged fully into theopen, and stood there, their eyes questing. Then they looked at thebridge, and, for a few instants, Robert was sure they would attempt thecrossing upon it. But in a minute or so they walked beyond it, and thenhe concluded that the crisis had passed. After all, it would be theirplan to hold their own shore, and prevent the passage of the three. 

Yet Tandakora and De Courcelles were cruelly deliberate and slow. Theywalked not more than fifteen feet beyond the end of the tree, and thenstood a while talking. Half of the warriors remained near them, standingstolidly in the background, and the others went on, searching among thewoods and thickets. The two glanced at the tree as they talked. Was itpossible that they would yet come back and attempt the crossing? AgainRobert quivered when he realized that in truth the crisis had notpassed, and that Tandakora and De Courcelles might reconsider. Oncemore, he pressed his body hard against the tree, and held tightly to asmall bough which arched an abundant covering of leaves over his head. The wind rustled among those leaves, and sang almost in words, butwhether they told him that Tandakora and De Courcelles would go on orcome upon the bridge he did not know. 

Five minutes of such intense waiting that seemed nearer to an hour, andthe leaders, with the band, passed on, disappearing in the undergrowththat lined the stream. But for another five minutes the three among theboughs did not stir. Then Tayoga whispered over his shoulder:

"Great is the justice of Tododaho and also great is his mercy. I did notdoubt that he would save us. I felt within me all the time that he wouldcause Tandakora and De Courcelles to leave the bridge and seek uselsewhere. "

Robert was not one to question the belief of Tayoga, his sagaciousfriend. If it was not Tododaho who had sent their enemies away then itwas some other spirit, known by another name, but in essence the same. His whole being was permeated by a sort of shining gratitude. 

"At times, " he said, "it seems that we are favored by our God, who isyour Manitou. "

"Now is the time for us to finish the crossing, " said Willet, alive tothe needs of the moment. "Lead, Tayoga, and be sure, Robert, not to giveany bough a shake that might catch the eye of a lurking savage in theforest. "

The Onondaga resumed the slow advance, so guiding his movements that hemight neither make the tree quiver nor bring his body from beneath thecovering of leaves. Robert and the hunter followed him in closeimitation. Thus they gained the bank, and the three drew long breaths ofdeep and intense relief, as they stepped upon firm ground. But theycould not afford to linger. Tayoga still in front, they plunged into thedepths of the forest, and advanced at speed a half hour, when theyheard a single faint cry behind them. 

"They've found our trail at the end of the natural bridge, " said Willet. 

"It is so, " said Tayoga, in his precise school English. 

"And they're mad, mad clean through, " said the hunter. "That single cryshows it. If they hadn't been so mad they'd have followed our trailwithout a sound. I wish I could have seen the faces of the Ojibway andthe Frenchman when they came back and noticed our trace at the end ofthe tree. They're mad in every nerve and fiber, because they did notconclude to go upon it. It was only one chance in a thousand that we'dbe there, they let that one chance in a thousand go, and lost. "

The great frame of the hunter shook with silent laughter. But Robert, invery truth, saw the chagrin upon the faces of Tandakora and DeCourcelles. His extraordinary imagination was again up and leaping andthe picture it created for him was as glowing and vivid as fact. Theyhad gone some distance, and then they had come back, continuallysearching the thickets of the opposite shore with their powerful andtrained eyesight. They had felt disappointed because they had seen notrace of the hunted, who had surely come by this time against thebarrier of the river. Frenchman and Ojibway were in a state of angrywonder at the disappearance of the three who had vanished as if on wingsin the air, leaving no trail. Then Tandakora had chanced to look down. His eye in the dusky moonlight had caught the faint imprint of a foot onthe grass, perhaps Robert's own, and the sudden shout had been wrenchedfrom him by his anger and mortification. Now Robert, too, was convulsedby internal laughter. 

"It was our great luck that they did not find us on the tree, " he said. 

"No, it was not luck, " said Tayoga. 

"How so?"

"They did not come upon the tree because Tododaho would not let them. "

"I forgot. You're right, Tayoga, " said Robert sincerely. 

"We'll take fresh breath here for five minutes or so, " said the hunter, "and then we'll push on at speed, because we have not only the band ofTandakora and De Courcelles to fear. There are others in the forestconverging on Fort Refuge. "

"Great Bear is right. He is nearly always right, " said Tayoga. "We havepassed one barrier, but we will meet many more. There is also dangerbehind us. Even now the band is coming fast. "

They did not move until the allotted time had passed. Again Robert'smind painted a picture in glowing colors of the savage warriors, led byTandakora and De Courcelles, coming at utmost speed upon their trail, and his muscles quivered, yet he made no outward sign. To the eye he wasas calm as Tayoga or Willet. 

An hour after the resumption of their flight they came to a shallowcreek with a gravelly bed, a creek that obviously emptied into the riverthey had crossed, and they resorted to the commonest and most effectiveof all devices used by fugitives in the North American wilderness whowished to hide their trail. They waded in the stream, and, as it led inthe general direction in which they wished to go, they did not leave thewater until they had covered a distance of several miles. Then theyemerged upon the bank and rested a long time. 

"When Tandakora and De Courcelles see our traces disappear in the creekand fail to reappear on the other side, " said Willet, "they'll dividetheir band and send half of it upstream, and half downstream, lookingeverywhere for our place of entry upon dry land, but it'll take 'em along time to find it. Robert, you and Tayoga might spread your blankets, and if you're calm enough, take a nap. At any rate, it won't hurt you tostretch yourselves and rest. I can warn you in time, when an enemycomes. "

The Onondaga obeyed without a word, and soon slept as if his will hadmerely to give an order to his five senses to seek oblivion. Robert didnot think he could find slumber, but closing his eyes in order to restbetter, he drifted easily into unconsciousness. Meanwhile Willetwatched, and there was no better sentinel in all the northernwilderness. The wind was still blowing lightly, and the rustling of theleaves never ceased, but he would have detected instantly any strangenote, jarring upon that musical sound. 

The hunter looked upon the sleeping lads, the white and the red. Bothhad a powerful hold upon his affection. He felt that he stood to themalmost in the relationship of a father, and he was proud, too, of theirstrength and skill, their courage and intelligence. Eager as he was toreach Fort Refuge and save the garrison and people there, he was evenmore eager to save the two youths from harm. 

He let them sleep until the gold of the morning sun was gilding theeastern forest, when the three drew further upon their supplies of breadand venison and once more resumed the journey through the pathless woodstowards their destination. There was no interruption that day, and theyfelt so much emboldened that near sundown Tayoga took his bow andarrows, which he carried as well as his rifle, and stalked and shot adeer, the forest being full of game. Then they lighted a fire and cookeddelicate portions of the spoil in a sheltered hollow. But they did noteat supper there. Instead, they took portions of the cooked food and asmuch as they could conveniently carry of the uncooked, and, wading alongthe bed of a brook, did not stop until they were three or four milesfrom the place in which they had built the fire. Then they sat down andate in great content. 

"We will fare well enough, " said Willet, "if it doesn't rain. 'Tis luckyfor us that it's the time of year when but little rain falls. "

"But rain would be as hard upon those who are hunting us as upon us, "said Robert. 

"'Tis true, lad, and I'm glad to see you always making the best ofeverything. It's a spirit that wins. "

"And now, Great Bear, " said Tayoga, his eyes twinkling, "you have talkedenough. It is only Dagaeoga who can talk on forever. "

"That's so about Robert, but what do you mean by saying I've talkedenough?"

"It is time for you to sleep. You watched last night while we slept, and now your hour has come. While you slumber Dagaeoga and I will besentinels who will see and hear everything. "

"Why the two of you?"

"Because it takes both of us to be the equal of the Great Bear. "

"Come, now, Tayoga, that's either flattery or irony, but whatever it isI'll let it pass. I'll own that I'm sleepy enough and you two canarrange the rest between you. "

He was asleep very soon, his great figure lying motionless on hisblanket, and the two wary lads watched, although they sat together, and, at times, talked. Both knew there was full need for vigilance. They hadtriumphed for the moment over Tandakora and De Courcelles, but theyexpected many other lions in the path that led to Fort Refuge. It wasimportant also, not only that they should arrive there, but that theyshould arrive in time. It was true, too, that they considered the dangergreater by night than by day. In the day it was much easier to see theapproach of an enemy, but by night one must be very vigilant indeed todetect the approach of a foe so silent as the Indian. 

The two did not yet mention a division of the watch. Neither was sleepyand they were content to remain awake much longer. Moreover, they hadmany things of interest to talk about and also they indulged inspeculation. 

"Do you think it possible, Tayoga, " asked Robert, "that the garrison, hearing of the great cloud now overhanging the border, may haveabandoned the fort and gone east with the refugees?"

"No, Dagaeoga, it is not likely. It is almost certain that the young menfrom Philadelphia have not heard of General Braddock's great defeat. French and savage runners could have reached them with the news, couldhave taunted them from the forest, but they would not wish to do so;they seek instead to gather their forces first, to have all the effectof surprise, to take the fort, its garrison and the people as one takesa ripe apple from a tree, just when it is ready to fall. "

"That rout back there by Duquesne was a terrible affair for us, Tayoga, not alone because it uncovers the border, but because it heartens allour enemies. What joy the news must have caused in Quebec, and what joyit will cause in Paris, too, when it reaches the great French capital!The French will think themselves invincible and so will their redallies. "

"They would be invincible, Dagaeoga, if they could take with them theHodenosaunee. "

"And may not this victory of the French and their tribes at Duquesneshake the faith of the Hodenosaunee?"

"No, Dagaeoga. The fifty sachems will never let the great League joinOnontio. Champlain and Frontenac have been gone long, but their shadowsstill stand between the French and the Hodenosaunee, and there isQuebec, the lost Stadacona of the Ganegaono, whom you call the Mohawks. As long as the sun and stars stand in the heavens the Keepers of theEastern Gate are the enemies of the French. Even now, as you know, theyfight by the side of the Americans and the English. "

"It is true. I was wrong to question the faith of the great nations ofthe Hodenosaunee. If none save the Mohawks fight for us it is at leastcertain that they will not fight against us, and even undecided, whilewe're at present suffering from disaster, they'll form a neutralbarrier, in part, between the French and us. Ah, that defeat byDuquesne! I scarcely see yet how it happened!"

"A general who made war in a country that he did not know, with an enemythat he did not understand. "

"Well, we'll learn from it. We were too sure. Pride, they say, goesbefore a fall, but they ought to add that those who fall can rise again. Perhaps our generals will be more cautious next time, and won't walkinto any more traps. But I foresee now a long, a very long war. Nearlyall of Europe, if what comes across the Atlantic be true, will beinvolved in it, and we Americans will be thrown mostly upon our ownresources. Perhaps it will weld our colonies together and make of them agreat nation, a nation great like the Hodenosaunee. "

"I think it will come to pass, Dagaeoga. The mighty League was formed byhardship and self-denial. A people who have had to fight long andtenaciously for themselves grows strong. So it has been said often bythe fifty sachems who are old and very wise, and who know all that it isgiven to men to know. Did you hear anything stirring in the thicket, Dagaeoga?"

"I did, Tayoga. I heard a rustling, the sound of very light footfalls, and I see the cause. "

"A black bear, is it not, seeing what strangers have invaded the bush!Now, he steals away, knowing that we are the enemies most to be dreadedby him. Doubtless there are other animals among the bushes, watching us, but we neither see nor hear them. It is time to divide the watch, for wemust save our strength, and it is not well for both to remain awake farinto the night. "

It was arranged that Robert should sleep first and the Onondaga gave hisfaithful promise to awaken him in four hours. The two lads meant to takethe burden of the watch upon themselves, and, unless Willet awoke, ofhis own accord, he was to lie there until day. 

Robert lay down upon his blanket, went to sleep in an instant, and thenext instant Tayoga awakened him. At least it seemed but an instant, although the entire four hours had passed. Tayoga laughed at the dubiouslook on his face. 

"The time is up. It really is, " he said. "You made me give my faithfulpromise. Look at the moon, and it will tell you I am no teller of afalsehood. "

"I never knew four hours to pass so quickly before. Has anythinghappened while I slept?"

"Much, Dagaeoga. Many things, things of vast importance. "

"What, Tayoga! You astonish me. The forest seems quiet. "

"And so it is. But the revolving earth has turned one-sixth of its wayupon itself. It has also traveled thousands and thousands of miles inthat vast circle through the pathless void that it makes about the sun. I did not know that such things happened until I went to the whiteman's school at Albany, but I know them now, and are they not important, hugely important?"

"They're among the main facts of the universe, but they happen everynight. "

"Then it would be more important if they did not happen?"

"There'd be a big smash of some kind, but as I don't know what the kindwould be I'm not going to talk about it. Besides, I can see that you'remaking game of me, Tayoga. I've lived long enough with Indians to knowthat they love their joke. "

"We are much like other people. I think perhaps that in all this greatworld, on all the continents and islands, people, whether white or red, brown or black, are the same. "

"Not a doubt of it. Now, stop your philosophizing and go to sleep. "

"I will obey you, Dagaeoga, " said Tayoga, and in a minute he was fastasleep. 

Robert watched his four hours through and then awakened the Onondaga, who was sentinel until day. When they talked they spoke only in whisperslest they wake Willet, whose slumbers were so deep that he neverstirred. At daybreak Tayoga roused Robert, but the hunter still slept, his gigantic bulk disposed at ease upon his blanket. Then the two ladsseized him by either shoulder and shook him violently. 

"Awake! Awake, Great Bear!" Tayoga chanted in his ear. "Do you think youhave gone into a cave for winter quarters? Lo, you have slept now, likethe animal for which you take your name! We knew you were exhausted, and that your eyes ached for darkness and oblivion, but we did not knowit would take two nights and a day to bring back your wakefulness. Dagaeoga and I were your true friends. We watched over you while youslept out your mighty sleep and kept away from you the bears andpanthers that would have devoured you when you knew it not. They camemore than once to look at you, and truly the Great Bear is so large thathe would have made breakfast, dinner and supper for the hungriest bearor panther that ever roamed the woods. "

Willet sat up, sleep still heavy on his eyelids, and, for a moment ortwo, looked dazed. 

"What do you mean, you young rascals?" he asked. "You don't say thatI've been sleeping here two nights and a day?"

"Of course you have, " replied Robert, "and I've never seen anybody sleepso hard, either. Look under your blanket and see how your body hasactually bored a hole into the ground. "

Then Willet began to laugh. 

"I see, it's a joke, " he said, "though I don't mind. You're good lads, but it was your duty to have awakened me in the night and let me take mypart in the watch. "

"You were very tired, " said Robert, "and we took pity on you. Moreover, the enemy is all about us, and we knew that the watch must be of thebest. Tayoga felt that at such a time he could trust me alone, and Ifelt with equal force that I could trust him alone. We could not put ourlives in the hands of a mere beginner. "

Willet laughed again, and in the utmost good humor. 

"As I repeat, you're sprightly lads, " he said, "and I don't mind a jestthat all three of us can enjoy. Now, for breakfast, and, truth to say, we must take it cold. It will not do to light another fire. "

They ate deer meat, drank water from a brook, and then, refreshedgreatly by their long rest, started at utmost speed for Fort Refuge, keeping in the deepest shadows of the wilderness, eager to carry thealarm to the garrison, and anxious to avoid any intervening foe. The daywas fortunate, no enemy appearing in their path, and they traveled manymiles, hope continually rising that they would reach the fort before acloud of besiegers could arrive. 

Thus they continued their journey night and day, seeing many signs ofthe foe, but not the foe himself, and the hope grew almost intoconviction that they would pass all the Indian bands and gain the fortfirst. 

CHAPTER III

THE FLIGHT

They were within twenty-four hours of the fort, when they struck a newtrail, one of the many they had seen in the forest, but Tayoga observedit with unusual attention. 

"Why does it interest you so much?" asked Robert. "We've seen otherslike it and you didn't examine them so long. "

"This is different, Dagaeoga. Wait a minute or two more that I mayobserve it more closely. "

Young Lennox and Willet stood to one side, and the Onondaga, kneelingdown in the grass, studied the imprints. It was late in the afternoon, and the light of the red sun fell upon his powerful body, and long, refined, aristocratic face. That it was refined and aristocratic Robertoften felt, refined and aristocratic in the highest Indian way. In himflowed the blood of unnumbered chiefs, and, above all, he was in himselfthe very essence and spirit of a gentleman, one of the finest gentlemeneither Robert or Willet had ever known. Tayoga, too, had matured greatlyin the last year under the stern press of circumstance. Though but ayouth in years he was now, in reality, a great Onondaga warrior, surpassed in skill, endurance and courage by none. Young Lennox and thehunter waited in supreme confidence that he would read the trail andread it right. 

Still on his knees, he looked up, and Robert saw the light of discoveryin the dusky eyes. 

"What do you read there, Tayoga?" he asked. 

"Six men have passed here. "

"Of what tribe were they?"

"That I do not know, save as it concerns one. "

"I don't understand you. "

"Five were of the Indian race, but of what tribe I cannot say, but thesixth was a white man. "

"A Frenchman. It certainly can't be De Courcelles, because we've lefthim far behind, and I hope it's not St. Luc. Maybe it's Jumonville, DeCourcelles' former comrade. Still, it doesn't seem likely that any ofthe Frenchmen would be with so small a band. "

"It is not one of the Frenchmen, and the white man was not with theband. "

"Now you're growing too complex for my simple mind, Tayoga. I don'tunderstand you. "

"It is one trail, but the Indians and the white man did not pass over itat the same time. The Indian imprints were made seven or eight hoursago, those of the white man but an hour or so since. Stoop down, GreatBear, and you will see that it is true. "

"You're right, Tayoga, " said Willet, after examining minutely. 

"It follows, then, " said the young Onondaga, in his precise tones, "thatthe white man was following the red men. "

"It bears that look. "

"And you will notice, Great Bear, and you, too, Dagaeoga, that thewhite man's moccasin has made a very large imprint. The owner of thefoot is big. I know of none other in the forest so big except the GreatBear himself. "

"Black Rifle!" exclaimed Robert, with a flash of insight. 

"It can be none other. "

"And he's following on the trail of these Indians, intending to ambushthem when they camp tonight. He hunts them as we would hunt wolves. "

Robert shuddered a little. It was a time when human life was held cheapin the wilderness, but he could not bring himself to slay except inself-defense. 

"We need Black Rifle, " said Willet, "and they'll need him more at thefort. We've an hour of fair sunlight left, and we must follow this trailas fast as we can and call him back. Lead the way, Tayoga. "

The young Onondaga, without a word, set out at a running walk, and theothers followed close behind. It was a plain trail. Evidently thewarriors had no idea that they were followed, and the same was true ofBlack Rifle. Tayoga soon announced that both pursuers and pursued weregoing slowly, and, when the last sunlight was fading, they stopped atthe crest of a hill and called, imitating first the cry of a wolf, andthen the cry of an owl. 

"He can't be more than three or four hundred yards away, " said Willet, "and he may not understand either cry, but he's bound to know that theymean something. "

"Suppose we stand out here where he can see us, " said Robert. "He mustbe lurking in the thickets just ahead. "

"The simplest way and so the right way, " said Willet. "Come forth, youlads, where the eyes of Black Rifle may look upon you. "

The three advanced from the shelter of the woods, and stood clearlyoutlined in an open space. A whistle came from a thicket scarce ahundred yards before them, and then they saw the striking figure of thegreat, swarthy man emerging. He came straight toward them, and, althoughhe would not show it in his manner, Robert saw a gleam of gladness inthe black eyes. 

"What are you doing here, you three?" he asked. 

"Following you, " replied Robert in his usual role of spokesman. 

"Why?"

"Tayoga saw the trail of the Indians overlaid by yours. We knew you werepursuing them, and we've come to stop you. "

"By what right?"

"Because you're needed somewhere else. You're to go with us to FortRefuge. "

"What has happened?"

"Braddock's army was destroyed near Fort Duquesne. The general and manyof his officers were killed. The rest are retreating far into the east. We're on our way to Fort Refuge to save the garrison and people if wecan, and you're to go with us. "

Black Rifle was silent a moment or two. Then he said:

"I feared Braddock would walk into an ambush, but I hardly believed hisarmy would be annihilated. I don't hold it against him, because heturned my men and me away. How could I when he died with his soldiers?"

"He was a brave man, " said Robert. 

"I'm glad you found me. I'll leave the five Indians, though I could haveambushed 'em within the hour. The whole border must be ablaze, andthey'll need us bad at Fort Refuge. "

The three, now four, slept but little that night and they pressedforward all the next day, their anxiety to reach the fort before anattack could be made, increasing. It did not matter now if they arrivedexhausted. The burden of their task was to deliver the word, to carrythe warning. At dusk, they were within a few miles of the fort. An hourlater they noticed a thread of blue smoke across the clear sky. 

"It comes from the fort, " said Tayoga. 

"It's not on fire?" said Robert, aghast. 

"No, Dagaeoga, the fort is not burning. We have come in time. The smokerises from the chimneys. "

"I say so, too, " said Willet. "Unless there's a siege on now, we'reahead of the savages. "

"There is no siege, " said Tayoga calmly. "Tododaho has held the warriorsback. Having willed for us to arrive first, nothing could prevent it. "

"Again, I think you're right, Tayoga, " said Robert, "and now for thefort. Let our feet devour the space that lies between. "

He was in a mood of high exaltation, and the others shared hisenthusiasm. They went faster than ever, and soon they saw rising in themoonlight the strong palisade and the stout log houses within it. Smokeascended from several chimneys, and, uniting, made the line across thesky that they had beheld from afar. From their distant point of viewthey could not yet see the sentinels, and it was hard to imagine a morepeaceful forest spectacle. 

"At any rate, we can save 'em, " said Robert. 

"Perhaps, " said Willet gravely, "but we come as heralds of disasteroccurred, and of hardships to come. It will be a task to persuade themto leave this comfortable place and plunge into the wilderness. "

"It's fortunate, " said Robert, "that we know Colden and Wilton andCarson and all of them. We warned 'em once when they were coming to theplace where the fort now is, and they didn't believe us, but they soonlearned better. This time they'll know that we're making no mistake. "

As they drew near they saw the heads of four sentinels projecting abovethe walls, one on each side of the square. The forest within rifle shothad also been cleared away, and Black Rifle spoke words of approval. 

"They've learned, " he said. "The city lads with the white hands havebecome men. "

"A fine crowd of boys, " said Willet, with hearty emphasis. "You'll see'em acting with promptness and courage. Now, we want to tell 'em we'rehere without getting a bullet for our pains. "

"Suppose you let me hail 'em, " said Robert. "I'll stand on the littlehill there--a bullet from the palisades can't reach me--and sing 'em asong or two. "

"Go ahead, " said the hunter. 

Standing at his full height, young Lennox began to shout:

"Awake! Awake! Up! Up! We're friends! We're friends!"

His musical voice had wonderful carrying power, and the forest, and theopen space in which the fort stood, rang with the sound. Robert becameso much intoxicated with his own chanting that he did not notice itseffect, until Willet called upon him to stop. 

"They've heard you!" exclaimed the hunter. "Many of them have heard you!All of them must have heard you! Look at the heads appearing above thepalisade!"

The side of the palisade fronting them was lined with faces, some thefaces of soldiers and others the faces of civilians. Robert uttered ajoyful exclamation. 

"There's Colden!" he exclaimed. "The moonlight fell on him just then, and I can't be mistaken. "

"And if my eyes tell me true, that's young Wilton beside him, " said thehunter. "But come, lads, hold up your hands to show that we're friends, and we'll go into the fort. "

They advanced, their hands, though they grasped rifles, held on high, but Robert, exalted and irrepressible, began to sing out anew:

"Hey, you, Colden! And you, too, Wilton and Carson! It's fine to see youagain, alive and well. "

There was silence on the wall, and then a great shout of welcome. 

"It's Lennox, Robert Lennox himself!" cried someone. 

"And Willet, the big hunter!"

"And there's Black Rifle, too!"

"And Tayoga, the Onondaga!"

"Open the gate for 'em! Let 'em come in, in honor. "

The great gate was thrown wide, and the four entered quickly, to besurrounded at once by a multitude, eager for news of the outside world, from which they had been shut off so long. Torches, held aloft, cast aflickering light over young soldiers in faded uniforms, men in deerskin, and women in home-made linsey. Colden, and his two lieutenants, Wiltonand Carson, stood together. They were thin, and their faces brown, butthey looked wiry and rugged. Colden shook Robert's hand with greatenergy. 

"I'm tremendously glad to see you, " he exclaimed, "and I'm equally gladto see Mr. Willet, the great Onondaga, and Black Rifle. You're the firstmessengers from the outside world in more than a month. What news ofvictory do you bring? We heard that a great army of ours was marchingagainst Duquesne. "

Robert did not answer. He could not, because the words choked in histhroat, and a silence fell over the crowd gathered in the court, oversoldiers and men and women and children alike. A sudden apprehensionseized the young commander and his lips trembled. 

"What is it, Lennox, man?" he exclaimed. "Why don't you speak? What isit that your eyes are telling me?"

"They don't tell of any victory, " replied Robert slowly. 

"Then what do they tell?"

"I'm sorry, Colden, that I have to be the bearer of such news. I wouldhave told it to you privately, but all will have to know it anyhow, andknow it soon. There has been a great battle, but we did not win it. "

"You mean we had to fall back, or that we failed to advance? But ourarmy will fight again soon, and then it will crush the French and Indianbands!"

"General Braddock's army exists no longer. "

"What? It's some evil jest. Say it's not true, Lennox!"

"It's an evil jest, but it's not mine, Colden. It's the jest of fate. General Braddock walked into a trap--it's twice I've told the terribletale, once to Black Rifle and now to you--and he and his army weredestroyed, all but a fragment of it that is now fleeing from the woods. "

The full horror of that dreadful scene in the forest returned to him fora moment, and, despite himself, he made tone and manner dramatic. Along, deep gasp, like a groan, came from the crowd, and then Robertheard the sound of a woman on the outskirts weeping. 

"Our army destroyed!" repeated Colden mechanically. 

"And the whole border is laid bare to the French and Indian hosts, " saidRobert. "Many bands are converging now upon Fort Refuge, and the placecannot be held against so many. "

"You mean abandon Fort Refuge?"

"Aye, Colden, it's what wiser men than I say, Dave here, and Tayoga, andBlack Rifle. "

"The lad is speaking you true, Captain Colden, " said Willet. "Not onlymust you and your garrison and people leave Fort Refuge, but you mustleave it tomorrow, and you must burn it, too. "

Again Robert heard the sound of a woman weeping in the outskirts of thecrowd. 

"We held it once against the enemy, " protested Colden. 

"I know, " said Willet, "but you couldn't do it now. A thousand warriors, yes, more, would gather here for the siege, and the French themselveswould come with cannon. The big guns would blow your palisades tosplinters. Your only safety is in flight. I know it's a hard thing todestroy the fort that your own men built, but the responsibility of allthese women and children is upon you, and it must be done. "

"So it is, Mr. Willet. I'm not one to gainsay you. I think we can beready by daylight. Meanwhile you four rest, and I'll have food served toyou. You've warned us and we can count upon you now to help us, can'twe?"

"To the very last, " said Willet. 

After the first grief among the refugees was over the work ofpreparation was carried on with rapidity and skill, and mostly insilence. There were enough men or well grown boys among the settlers tobring the fighting force up to a hundred. Colden and his assistants knewmuch of the forest now, and they were willing and anxious, too, to takethe advice of older and far more experienced men like Black Rifle andWillet. 

"The fighting spirit bottled up so long in our line has surely ampleopportunity to break out in me, " said Wilton to Robert toward morning. "As I've told you before, Lennox, if I have any soldierly quality it'sno credit of mine. It's a valor suppressed in my Quaker ancestors, butnot eradicated. "

"That is, if you fight you fight with the sword of your fathers and notyour own. "

"You put it well, Lennox, better than I could have stated it myself. What has become of that wonderful red friend of yours?"

"Tayoga? He has gone into the forest to see how soon we can expectTandakora, De Courcelles and the Indian host. "

The Onondaga returned at dawn, saying that no attack need be fearedbefore noon, as the Indian bands were gathering at an appointed place, and would then advance in great force. 

"They'll find us gone by a good six hours, " said Willet, "and we mustmake every minute of those six hours worth an ordinary day, because thewarriors, wild at their disappointment, will follow, and at least we'llhave to beat off their vanguard. It's lucky all these people are used tothe forest. "

Just as the first rim of the sun appeared they were ready. There weresix wagons, drawn by stout horses, in which they put the spareammunition and their most valuable possessions. Everybody but thedrivers walked, the women and children in the center of the column, thebest of the scouts and skirmishers in the woods on the flanks. Then atthe command of Colden the whole column moved into the forest, butTayoga, Willet and a half dozen others ran about from house to house, setting them on fire with great torches, making fifty blazes which grewrapidly, because the timbers were now dry, uniting soon into one vastconflagration. 

Robert and Colden, from the edge of the forest, watched the destructionof Fort Refuge. They saw the solid log structures fall in, sending upgreat masses of sparks as the burning timbers crashed together. They sawthe strong blockhouse go, and then they saw the palisade itself flaming. Colden turned away with a sigh. 

"It's almost like burning your own manor house which you built yourself, and in which you expected to spend the remainder of your life, " he said. "It hurts all the more, too, because it's a sign that we've lost theborder. "

"But we'll come back, " said Robert, who had the will to be cheerful. 

"Aye, so we will, " said Colden, brightening. "We'll sweep back theseFrench and Indians, and we'll come here and rebuild Fort Refuge on thisvery spot. I'll see to it, myself. This _is_ a splendid place for afort, isn't it, Lennox?"

"So it is, " replied Robert, smiling, "and I've no doubt, Colden, thatyou'll supervise the rebuilding of Fort Refuge. "

And in time, though the interval was great, it did come to pass. 

Colden was not one to be gloomy long, and there was too much work aheadfor one to be morbid. Willet had spoken of the precious six hours andthey were, in, truth, more precious than diamonds. The flight waspushed to the utmost, the old people or the little children who grewweary were put in the wagons, and the speed they made was amazing forthe wilderness. Robert remained well in the rear with Tayoga, Willet andBlack Rifle, and they continually watched the forest for the firstappearance of the Indian pursuit. That, in time, it would appear theynever doubted, and it was their plan to give the vanguard of thewarriors such a hot reception that they would hesitate. Besides thehundred fighting men, including the soldiers and boys large enough tohandle arms, there were about a hundred women and children. Coldenmarched with the main column, and Wilton and Carson were at the rear. Black Rifle presently went ahead to watch lest they walk into an ambush, while Tayoga, Robert and Willet remained behind, the point from whichthe greatest danger was apprehended. 

"Isn't it likely, " asked Robert, "that the Indians will see the light ofthe burning fort, and that it will cause them to hasten?"

"More probably it will set them to wondering, " replied the hunter, "andthey may hesitate. They may think a strong force has come to rescue thegarrison and people. "

"But whatever Tandakora and the officer of Onontio may surmise, " saidTayoga, "our own course is plain, and that is to march as fast as wecan. "

"And hope that a body of Colonial troops and perhaps the Mohawks willcome to help us, " said Willet. "Colonel William Johnson, as we all know, is alert and vigorous, and it would be like him to push westward for theprotection of settlers and refugees. 'Twould be great luck, Tayoga, ifthat bold young friend of yours, Daganoweda, the Mohawk chief, should bein this region. "

"It is not probable, " said the Onondaga. "The Keepers of the EasternGate are likely to remain in their own territory. They would not, without a strong motive, cross the lands of the other nations of theHodenosaunee, but it is not impossible. They may have such a motive. "

"Then let us hope that it exists!" exclaimed Robert fervently. "Thesight of Daganoweda and a hundred of his brave Mohawks would lift amighty load from my mind. "

Tayoga smiled. A compliment to the Mohawks was a compliment to theentire Hodenosaunee, and therefore to the Onondagas as well. Moreoverthe fame and good name of the Mohawks meant almost as much to him as thefame and good name of the Onondagas. 

"The coming of Daganoweda would be like the coming of light itself, " hesaid. 

They were joined by Wilton, who, as Robert saw, had become a fine forestsoldier, alert, understanding and not conceited because of hisknowledge. Robert noted the keen, wary look of this young man of Quakerblood, and he felt sure that in the event of an attack he would be amongthe very best of the defenders. 

"The spirit of battle, bursting at last in you, Will, from its longconfinement, is likely to have full chance for gratification, " he said. 

"So it will, Lennox, and I tremble to think of what that released spiritmay do. If I achieve any deed of daring and valor bear in mind thatit's not me, but the escaped spirit of previous ages taking violent andreckless charge of my weak and unwilling flesh. "

"Suppose we form a curtain behind our retreating caravan, " said Robert. "A small but picked force could keep back the warriors a long time, andpermit our main column to continue its flight unhampered. "

"A good idea! an idea most excellent!" exclaimed Willet. 

As a matter of form, the three being entirely independent in theirmovements, the suggestion was made to Colden, and he agreed at once andwith thorough approval. Thirty men, including Willet, Robert, Tayoga andWilton, were chosen as a fighting rear guard, and the hunter himselftook command of it. Spreading out in a rather long line to prevent beingflanked, they dropped back and let the train pass out of sight on itseastern flight. 

They were now about ten miles from the burned fort, and, evidences ofpursuit not yet being visible, Robert became hopeful that the caution ofTandakora and De Courcelles would hold them back a long time. He andTayoga kept together, but the thirty were stretched over a distance ofseveral hundred yards, and now they retreated very slowly, watchingcontinually for the appearance of hostile warriors. 

"They have, of course, a plain trail to follow, " Robert said. "One couldnot have a better trace than that made by wagon wheels. It's just amatter of choice with them whether they come fast or not. "

"I think we are not likely to see them before the night, " said Tayoga. "Knowing that the column has much strength, they will prefer thedarkness and ambush. "

"But they're not likely to suspect the screen that we have thrown out tocover the retreat. "

"No, that is the surprise we have prepared for them. But even so, we, the screen, may not come into contact with them before the dark. "

Tayoga's calculation was correct. The entire day passed while the rearguard retreated slowly, and all the aspects of the forest were peaceful. They saw no pursuing brown figures and they heard no war cry, nor thecall of one band to another. Yet Robert felt that the night would bringa hostile appearance of some kind or other. Tandakora and De Courcelleswhen they came upon the site of the burned fort would not linger longthere, but would soon pass on in eager pursuit, hoping to strike afleeing multitude, disorganized by panic. But he smiled to himself atthe thought that they would strike first against the curtain of fire andsteel, that is, the thirty to whom he belonged. 

When night came he and Tayoga were still together and Willet was a shortdistance away. He watched the last light of the sun die and then thedusk deepen, and he felt sure that the approach of the pursuing hostcould not be long delayed. His eyes continually searched the thicketsand forest in front of them for a sight of the savage vanguard. 

"Can you see Tododaho upon his star?" he asked Tayoga in allearnestness. 

"The star is yet faint in the heavens, " replied the Onondaga, "and I canonly trace across its face the mists and vapors which are the snakes inthe hair of the great chieftain, but Tododaho will not desert us. We, his children, the Onondagas, have done no harm, and I, Tayoga, am one ofthem. I feel that all the omens and presages are favorable. "

The reply of the Onondaga gave Robert new strength. He had the deepestrespect for the religion of the Hodenosaunee, which he felt was soclosely akin to his own, and Tododaho was scarcely less real to him thanto Tayoga. His veins thrilled with confidence that they would driveback, or at least hold Tandakora and De Courcelles, if they came. 

The last and least doubt that they would come was dispelled within anhour when Tayoga suddenly put a hand upon his arm, and, in a whisper, told him to watch a bush not more than a hundred yards away. 

"A warrior is in the thicket, " he said. "I would not have seen him as hecrept forward had not a darker shadow appeared upon the shadow of thenight. But he is there, awaiting a chance to steal upon us and fire. "

"And others are near, seeking the same opportunity. "

"It is so, Dagaeoga. The attack will soon begin. "

"Shall we warn Willet?"

"The Great Bear has seen already. His eyes pierce the dark and they havenoted the warrior, and the other warriors. Lie down, Dagaeoga, the firstwarrior is going to fire. "

Robert sank almost flat. There was a report in the bush, a flash offire, and a bullet whistled high over their heads. From a point on theirright came an answering report and flash, and the warrior in the bushuttered his death cry. Robert, who was watching him, saw him throw uphis hands and fall. 

"It was the bullet of the Great Bear that replied, " said Tayoga. "It wasrash to fire when such a marksman lay near. Now the battle begins. "

The forest gave forth a great shout, penetrating and full of menace, coming in full volume, and indicating to the shrewd ears of Tayoga thepresence of two or three hundred warriors. Robert knew, too, that alarge force was now before them. How long could the thirty hold back theIndian hosts? Yet he had the word of Tayoga that Tododaho looked downupon them with benignity and that all the omens and presages werefavorable. There was a flash at his elbow and a rifle sang its deadlysong in his ear. Then Tayoga uttered a sigh of satisfaction. 

"My bullet was not wasted, " he said. 

Robert waited his opportunity, and fired at a dusky figure which he sawfall. He was heart and soul averse to bloodshed, but in the heat ofaction, and in self-defense, he forgot his repugnance. He was as eagernow for a shot as Tayoga, Willet, or any other of the thirty. Tayoga, who had reloaded, pulled trigger again and then a burst of firing camefrom the savage host. But the thirty, inured to the forest and forestwarfare, were sheltered well, and they took no hurt. The Indians whowere usually poor marksmen, fired many bullets after their fashion andwasted much lead. 

"They make a great noise, inflict no wounds, and do not advance, "whispered Tayoga to Robert. 

"Doubtless they are surprised much at meeting our line in the forest, and think us many times more numerous than we are. "

"And we may fill their minds with illusions, " said Robert hopefully. "They may infer from our strong resistance that reënforcements havecome, that the Mohawks are here, or that Colonel Johnson himself hasarrived with Colonial troops. "

"It may be that Waraiyageh will come in time, " said Tayoga. "Ah, theyare trying to pass around our right flank. "

His comment was drawn by distant shots on their right. The reports, however, did not advance, and the two, reassured, settled back intotheir places. Three or four of the best scouts and skirmishers were atthe threatened point, and they created the effect of at least a dozen. Robert knew that the illusion of a great force confronting them wasgrowing in the Indian mind, and his heart glowed with satisfaction. While they held the savage host the fugitive train was putting freshmiles between them and pursuit. Suddenly he raised his own rifle andfired. Then he uttered a low cry of disappointment. 

"It was Tandakora himself, " he said. "I couldn't mistake his size, butit was only a glimpse, and I missed. "

"The time of the Ojibway has not come, " said Tayoga with conviction, "but it will come before this war is over. "

"The sooner the better for our people and yours, Tayoga. "

"That is so, Dagaeoga. "

They did not talk much more for a long time because the combat in theforest and the dark deepened, and the thirty were so active that therewas little time for question or answer. They crept back and forth frombush to bush and from log to log, firing whenever they saw a flittingform, and reloading with quick fingers. Now and then Willet, or someother, would reply with a defiant shout to the yells of the warriors, and thus, while the combat of the sharpshooters surged to and fro in thedim light, many hours passed. 

But the thirty held the line. Robert knew that the illusion of at leasta hundred, doubtless more, was created in the minds of the warriors, and, fighting with their proverbial caution, they would attempt no rush. He had a sanguine belief now that they could hold the entire host untilday, and then the fleeing train would be at least twenty miles fartheron. A few of the thirty had been wounded, though not badly enough to putthem out of the combat, but Robert himself had not been touched. Asusual with him in moments of success or triumph his spirits flamed high, and his occasional shout of defiance rose above the others. 

"In another hour, " said Tayoga, "we must retreat. "

"Why?" asked Robert. "When we're holding 'em so well?"

"By day they will be able to discover how few we are, and then, althoughthey may not be able to force our front, they will surely spread out andpass around our flanks. I do not see the Great Bear now, but I know hethinks so, too, and it will not be long before we hear from him. "

Within five minutes Willet, who was about a hundred yards away, uttereda low whistle, which drew to him Robert, Tayoga and others, and then hepassed the word by them to the whole line to withdraw swiftly, but inabsolute silence, knowing that the longer Tandakora and De Courcellesthought the defenders were in their immediate front the better it wasfor their purpose. Seven of the thirty were wounded, but not one of themwas put out of the combat. Their hurts merely stung them to renewedenergy, and lighted higher in them the fire of battle. 

Under the firm leadership of Willet they retreated as a group, whollywithout noise, vanishing in the thickets, and following fast on thetracks left by the wagons. When the sun rose they stopped and Tayogawent back to see if the Indian host was yet coming. He returned in anhour saying there was no indication of pursuit, and Robert exulted. 

"We've come away, and yet we are still there!" he exclaimed. 

"What do you mean?" asked Willet. 

"We abandoned our position, but we left the great illusion there for thewarriors. They think we're still before 'em and so long as that illusionlasts it will hold 'em. So you see, Dave, an illusion is often fully asgood as reality. "

"It may be for a little while, but it doesn't last as long. Withinanother hour Tandakora and De Courcelles will surely find out that we'vegone, and then, raging mad, they'll come on our trail. "

"And we'll meet 'em with a second stand, I suppose?"

"If we can find a good place for defense. "

One of the men, Oldham, who had been sent ahead, soon returned with newsthat the train had crossed a deep creek with rather high banks. 

"It was a hard ford, " he said, "but I followed the trail some distanceon the other side, and they seem to have made the passage without anybad accident. "

"Was the far bank of the creek thick with forest?" asked Willet. 

"Trees and undergrowth are mighty dense there, " replied Oldham. 

"Then that's the place for our second stand. If we can hold the creekagainst 'em for three or four hours more it will be another tremendousadvantage gained. With high banks and the woods and thickets on 'em sodense, we ought to create what Robert would call a second illusion. "

"We will!" exclaimed Robert. "We can do it!"

"At least, we'll try, " said Willet, and he led the little force at speedtoward the creek. 

CHAPTER IV

A FOREST CONCERT

The deep creek with its high banks and interwoven forest and thickets onthe other side formed an excellent second line of defense, and Willet, with the instinct of a true commander, made the most of it, againposting his men at wide intervals until they covered a distance ofseveral hundred yards, at the same time instructing them to concealthemselves carefully, and let the enemy make the first move. He allowedRobert and Tayoga to remain together, knowing they were at their bestwhen partners. 

The two lay behind the huge trunk of a tree torn down by some oldhurricane and now almost hidden by vegetation and trailing vines. Theywere very comfortable there, and, uplifted by their success of the nightthey were sanguine of an equal success by day. 

To the right Robert caught occasional glimpses of Willet, moving aboutin the bushes, but save for these stray glances he watched the otherside of the stream. Luckily it was rather open there, and no savage, however cunning, could come within fifty yards of it without being seenby the wary eyes in the thickets. 

"How long do you think it will be before they come?" Robert asked ofTayoga, for whose forest lore he had an immense respect. 

"Three hours, maybe four, " replied the Onondaga. "Tandakora and DeCourcelles may or may not know of this creek, but when they see it theyare sure to advance with caution, fearing a trap. "

"What a pity our own people don't show the same wisdom!"

"You are thinking of the great slaughter at Duquesne. Every people hasits own ways, and the soldiers have not yet learned those of the forest, but they _will_ learn. "

"At a huge cost!"

"Perhaps there is no other way? You will notice the birds on the busheson the far side of the stream, Dagaeoga?"

"Aye, I see 'em. They're in uncommon numbers. What a fine lot of fellowswith glossy plumage! And some of 'em are singing away as if they livedfor nothing else!"

"I see that Dagaeoga looks when he is told to look and sees when he istold to see. The birds are at peace and are enjoying themselves. "

"That is, they're having a sunlight concert, purely for their ownpleasure. "

"It is so. They feel joy and know that danger is not present. They areprotected by the instinct that Manitou, watching over the least of hiscreatures, has given to them. "

"Why this dissertation on birds at such a time, Tayoga?"

"Dissertation is a very long word, but I am talking for Dagaeoga's owngood. He has learned much of the forest, but he can learn more, and I amhere to teach him. "

"Wondrous good of you, Tayoga, and, in truth, your modesty also appealsto me. Proceed with your lesson in woodcraft, although it seems to methat you have chosen a critical time for it. "

"The occasion is most fitting, because it comes out of our presentdanger. We wish to see the approach of our enemies who will lie downamong the grass and bushes, and creep forward very silently. We will notsee them, perhaps, but others will give warning. "

"Oh, you mean that the birds, alarmed by the warriors, will fly away?"

"Nothing else, Dagaeoga. "

"Then why so much circumlocution?"

"Circumlocution is another very long word, Dagaeoga. It is the firsttime that I have heard it used since we left the care of our teacher inAlbany. But I came to the solution by a circular road, because I wishedyou to see it before I told it to you. You did see it, and so I feelencouraged over the progress of my pupil. "

"Thanks, Tayoga, I appreciate the compliment, and, as I said before, your modesty also appeals to me. "

"You waste words, Dagaeoga, but you have always been a great talker. Now, watch the birds. "

Tayoga laughed softly. The Indian now and then, in his highest estate, used stately forms of rhetoric, and it pleased the young Onondaga, whohad been so long in the white man's school, to employ sometimes the mostorotund English. It enabled him to develop his vein of irony, withwhich he did not spare Robert, just as Robert did not spare him. 

"I will watch the birds, " said young Lennox. "They're intelligent, reasoning beings, and I'll lay a wager that while they're singing awaythere they're not singing any songs that make fun of their friends. "

"Of that I'm not sure, Dagaeoga. Look at the bird with the red crest, perched on the topmost tip of the tall, green bush directly in front ofus. I can distinguish his song from those of the others, and it seemsthat the note contains something saucy and ironic. "

"I see him, Tayoga. He is an impudent little rascal, but I should callhim a most sprightly and attractive bird, nevertheless. Observe how hishead is turned on one side. If we were only near enough to see his eyesI'd lay another wager that he is winking. "

"But his head is not on one side any longer, Dagaeoga. He hasstraightened up. If you watch one object a long time you will see itmuch more clearly, and so I am able to observe his actions even at thisdistance. He has ceased to sing. His position is that of a soldier atattention. He is suspicious and watchful. "

"You're right, Tayoga. I can see, too, that the bird's senses are on thealert against something foreign in the forest. All the other birds, imitating the one who seems to be their leader, have ceased singingalso. "

"And the leader is unfolding his wings. "

"So I see. He is about to fly away. There he goes like a flash of redflame!"

"And there go all the rest, too. It is enough. Tandakora, De Courcellesand the savages have come. "

Robert and Tayoga crouched a little lower and stared over the fallenlog. Presently the Onondaga touched the white youth on the arm. Robert, following his gaze, made out the figure of a warrior creeping slowlythrough a dense thicket toward the creek. 

"It is likely that Great Bear sees him, too, " said Tayoga, "but we willnot fire. He will not come nearer than fifty yards, because good coveris lacking. "

"I understand that the contest is to be one of patience. So they canloose their bullets first. I see the bushes moving in several placesnow, Tayoga. "

"It is probable that their entire force has come up. They may wait atleast an hour before they will try a ford. "

"Like as not. Suppose we eat a little venison, Tayoga, and strengthenourselves for the ordeal. "

"You have spoken well, Dagaeoga. "

They ate strips of venison contentedly, but did not neglect to keep awary watch upon the creeping foe. Robert knew that Tandakora and DeCourcelles were trying to discover whether or not the line of the creekwas defended, and if Willet and his men remained well hidden it wouldtake a long time for them to ascertain the fact. He enjoyed theirperplexity, finding in the situation a certain sardonic humor. 

"The Ojibway and the Frenchman would give a good deal to know just whatis in the thickets here, " he whispered to Tayoga. "But the longer theymust take in finding out the better I like it. "

"They will delay far into the afternoon, " said Tayoga. "The warriorsand the Frenchmen have great patience. It would be better for theAmericans and the English if they, too, like the French, learned thepatience of the Indians. "

"The birds gave us a warning that they had come. You don't think itpossible, Tayoga, that they will also give the savages warning that weare here?"

"No, Dagaeoga, we have been lying in the thickets so long now, and havebeen so quiet that the birds have grown used to us. They feel sure weare not going to do them any harm, and while they may have flown awaywhen we first came they are back now, as you can see with your own eyes, and can hear with your own ears. "

Almost over Robert's head a small brown bird on a small green bough wassinging, pouring out a small sweet song that was nevertheless clear andpenetrating. Within the radius of his sight a half dozen more weretrilling and quavering, and he knew that others were pouring out theirsouls farther on, as the low hum of their many voices came to his ears. Now and then he saw a flash of blue or brown or gray, as some restlessfeathered being shot from one bough to another. The birds, unusual innumber and sure that there was no hostile presence, were having a grandconcert in honor of a most noble day. 

Robert listened and the appeal to his imagination and higher side wasstrong. Overhead the chorus of small sweet voices went on, as if therewere no such things as battle or danger. Tayoga also was moved by it. 

"By the snakes in the hair of the wise Tododaho, " he said, "it ispleasant to hear! May the wilderness endure always that the birds cansing in it, far from men, and in peace!"

"May it not be, Tayoga, that the warriors watching the thickets herewill see the birds so thick, and will conclude from it that no defendersare lying in wait?"

"De Courcelles might, but Tandakora, who has lived his whole life in theforest, will conclude that the birds are here, unafraid, because we havebeen so long in the bushes. "

Time went on very slowly and the forest on either side of the creek wassilent, save for the singing of the birds among the bushes in which thedefenders lay hidden. Robert, from whom the feeling of danger departedfor the moment, was almost tempted into? a doze by the warmth of thethicket and the long peace. His impressions, the pictures that passedbefore his mental and physical eye, were confused but agreeable. He waslying on a soft bank of turf that sloped up to a huge fallen trunk, andwarm, soothing winds stole about among the boughs, rustling the leavesmusically. The birds were singing in increased volume, and, though hiseyes were half veiled by drooping lids, he saw them on many boughs. 

"'Tis not their daily concert, " he said to Tayoga "In very truth it mustbe their grand, annual affair I believe that a great group on our rightis singing against another equally great group on our left. I can'trecall having heard ever before such a volume of song in the woods. It'sin my mind that a contest is going on, for a prize, perhaps. Doubtlessjuicy worms are awaiting the winners. "

Tayoga laughed. 

"You are improving, Dagaeoga, " he said in precise tones. "You do notmerely fight and eat and sleep like the white man. You are developing asoul. You are beginning to understand the birds and animals that live inthe woods. Almost I think you worthy to be an Onondaga. "

"I know you can pay me what is to you no higher compliment, but I have anotion the end of the concert is not far away. It seems to me the volumeof song from the group on the left is diminishing. "

"And you notice no decrease on our right?"

"No, Tayoga. The grand chorus there is as strong as ever, and unless myears go wrong, I detect in it a triumphant note. "

"Then the test of song which you have created is finished, and the prizehas been won by the group on the right. It is a fine conceit that youhave about the birds, Dagaeoga. I like it, and we will see it to theend. "

The song on their left died, the one on their right swelled anew, andthen died in its turn. Soon the birds began to drift slowly away. Robertwatched some of them as they disappeared among the green boughs fartheron. 

"I also am learning to read the signs, Tayoga, " he said, "and, havingobserved 'em, I conclude that our foes are about to make an advance, orat least, have crept forward a little more. The birds, used to ourpresence, know we are neither dangerous nor hostile, but they do notknow as much about those on the other side of the creek. While theadvance of the warriors is not yet sufficient to threaten 'em, it'senough to make 'em suspicious, and so they are flying away slowly, readyto return if it be a false alarm. "

"Good! Very good, Dagaeoga! I can believe that your conclusions aretrue, and I can say to you once more that almost you are worthy to be anOnondaga. If you will look now toward the spot where the banks shelvedown, and the grass grows high you will see four warriors on their handsand knees approaching the creek. If they reach the water without beingfired upon they will assume that we are not here. Then the entire forcewill rush across the stream and take up the trail. "

"But the creeping four will be fired upon. "

"I think so, too, Dagaeoga, because there is no longer any reason for usto delay, and the rifle of the Great Bear will speak the first word. "

There was a report near them, and one of the warriors, sinking flat inthe grass, lay quite still. Robert, through the bushes, saw Willet, smoking rifle in hand. The three savages who lived began a swiftretreat, and the others behind them uttered a great cry of grief andrage. They fired a dozen shots or so, but the bullets merely clippedleaves and twigs in the thickets. Nobody among the defenders save Willetpulled trigger, but his single shot was a sufficient warning toTandakora and De Courcelles. They knew that the creek was held strongly. 

Now ensued another long combat in which the skill, courage and ingenuityof warriors and hunters were put to the supreme test. Many shots werefired, but faces and bodies were shown only for an instant. Neverthelessa bullet now and then went home. One of Willet's men was killed andthree more sustained slight wounds. Several of the warriors were slain, and others were wounded, but Robert had no means of telling the exactnumber of their casualties, as it was an almost invisible combat, whichWillet and Tayoga, as the leaders, used all their skill to prolong tothe utmost with the smallest loss possible. What they wanted was time, time for the fugitive train, now far away among the hills. 

So deftly did they manage the defense of the creek that the entireafternoon passed and Tandakora and De Courcelles were still held infront of it, not daring to make a rush, and Willet, Robert and Tayogaglowed with the triumph they were achieving at a cost relatively sosmall. Night arrived, fortunately for them thick and black, and Willetgathered up his little force. They would have taken away with them thebody of the slain man, but that was impossible, and, covering it up withbrush and stones, they left it. Then still uplifted and exulting, theyslipped away on the trail of the wagons, knowing that the Indian hordemight watch for hours at the creek before they discovered the departureof the defenders. 

"You see, Dagaeoga, " said Tayoga to Robert, "that there is more in warthan fighting. Craft and cunning, wile and stratagem are often asprofitable as the shock of conflict. "

"So I know, Tayoga. I learned it well in the battle by Duquesne. Whatright had a force of French and Indians which must have been relativelysmall to destroy a fine army like ours!"

"No right at all, " said Willet, "but it happened, nevertheless. We'lllearn from it, though it's a tremendous price to pay for a lesson. "

"Do we make a third stand somewhere, Dave?" asked Robert, "and delaythem yet another time?"

"I scarcely see a chance for it, " replied the hunter. "We must havefavorable ground or they'd outflank us. How old does the trail of thewagons look, Tayoga?"

"They are many, many hours ahead, " replied the Onondaga. "They have madegood use of the time we have secured for them. "

"Another day and night and they should be safe, " said Willet. "Tandakoraand De Courcelles will scarcely dare follow deep into the fringe ofsettlements. What is it, Tayoga?"

The Onondaga had stopped and, kneeling down, he was examining the trailas minutely as he could in the dusk. 

"Others have come, " he replied tersely. 

"What do you mean by 'others'?" asked Willet. 

"Those who belong neither to pursued nor pursuers, a new force, whitemen, fifteen, perhaps. They came down from the north, struck this trail, for which they were not looking, and have turned aside from whatevertask they were undertaking to see what it means. "

"And so they're following the fugitive train. Possibly it's a band ofFrench. "

"I do not think so, Great Bear. The French do not roam the forest alone. The warriors are always with them, and this party is composed wholly ofwhite men. "

"Then they must be ours, perhaps a body of hunters or scouts, and weneed 'em. How long would you say it has been since they passed?"

"Not more than two hours. "

"Then we must overtake 'em. Do you lead at speed, Tayoga, but on thebare possibility that they're French, look out for an ambush. "

"The new people, whoever they are, " said Robert, "are trailing thetrain, we're trailing them, and the French and Indians are trailing us. It's like a chain drawing its links through the forest. "

"But the links are of different metals, Robert, " said Willet. 

They talked but little more, because they needed all their breath nowfor the pursuit, as Tayoga was leading at great speed, the broad trailin the moonlight being almost as plain as day. It was a pleasure toRobert to watch the Onondaga following like a hound on the scent. Hishead was bent forward a little, and now and then when the brightest raysfell across them, Robert could see that his eyes glittered. He waswholly the Indian, his white culture gone for the moment, following thewilderness trail as his ancestors had done for centuries before him. 

"Do the traces of the new group grow warmer?" asked Robert. 

"They do, " replied Tayoga. "We are advancing just twice as fast as they. We will overtake them before midnight. "

"White men, and only by the barest possibility French, " said Robert. "So the chances are nine out of ten that they're our own people. Now, Iwonder what they are and what they're doing here. "

"Patience, Dagaeoga, " said the young Onondaga. "We will learn bymidnight. How often have I told you that you must cultivate patiencebefore you are worthy to be an Onondaga?"

"I'll bear it in mind, O worthy teacher. Your great age and vastlearning compel me to respect your commands. "

The new trail, which was like a narrow current in the broad stream ofthat left by the flying train, was now rapidly growing warmer. The speedof the thirty was so great that it became evident to Tayoga that theywould overtake the strange band long before midnight. 

"They stopped here and talked together a little while, " he said, whenthey had been following the trail about two hours. "They stood by theside of the path. Their footprints are gathered in a group. They knew bythe wagon tracks that white settlers, fleeing, were ahead of them, andthey may have thought of turning back to see who followed. That is whythey drew up in a group, and talked. At last they concluded to keep onfollowing the train, and they cannot be more than a half hour aheadnow. "

Willet knelt down for the first time, and examined the traces with thegreatest care and attention. 

"The leader stood here by this fallen log, " he said, "He had big feet, as anybody can see, and I believe I can make a good guess at hisidentity. I hope to Heaven I'm right!"

"Whom do you mean?" exclaimed Robert eagerly. 

"I won't say just yet, because if I'm wrong you won't know the mistakeI've made. But come on, lads. 'Twill not take long to decide thequestion that interests us so much. "

He led the way with confidence, and when they had gone about a mile hesank down in a thicket beside the trail, the others imitating him. Thenthe hunter emitted a sharp whistle. 

"I think I'll soon get an answer to that, " he said, "and it'll not comefrom French or Indian. "

They waited a minute or two and then the whistling note, clear anddistinct, rose from a point ahead of them. Willet whistled a secondtime, and the second reply soon came in similar fashion. 

"Now, lads, " he said, rising from the bush, "we'll up and join 'em. It'sthe one I expected, and right glad I am, too. "

He led the way boldly, making no further effort at concealment. Robertsaw outlined in the moonlight on a low hill in front of them a group offifteen or sixteen white men, all in hunter's garb, all strong, resolutefigures, armed heavily. One, a little in advance of the others, and whomthe lad took at once to be the leader, was rather tall, with a verypowerful figure and a bold, roving eye. He was looking keenly at theapproaching group and as they drew near his eyes lighted up withrecognition and pleasure. 

"By all that's glorious, it's Dave Willet, the Great Bear himself, thegreatest hunter and marksman in all the northern province! Of acertainty it's none other!"

"Yes, Rogers, it's Willet, " said the hunter, extending his hand, "though you complimented me too prettily. But glad am I, too, to see youhere. You're no beauty, but your face is a most welcome sight. "

Then Robert understood. It was Robert Rogers from the New Hampshiregrants, already known well, and destined to become famous as one of thegreat partisan leaders of the war, a wild and adventurous spirit who wasfully a match for Dumas and Ligneris or St. Luc himself, a man whosebattles and hairbreadth escapes surpassed fiction. Around him gatheredspirits dauntless and kindred, and here already was the nucleus of thelarger force that he was destined to lead in so many a daring deed. Nowhis fierce face showed pleasure, as he shook the hunter's powerful handwith his own hand almost as powerful. 

"It's a joy to meet you in these woods, Dave, " he said. "But who are thetwo likely lads with you? Lads, I call 'em because their faces are thoseof lads, though their figures have the stature and size of men. "

"Rogers, this is Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the nationOnondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, a friend of ours, andno braver or more valiant youth ever trod moccasin. Tayoga, this isRobert Rogers of the New Hampshire grants. "

The sunburnt face of Rogers shone with pleasure. 

"I've heard of the lad, " he said, "and I know he's all that you claimfor him, Dave. "

"And the other youth, " continued Willet, "is Robert Lennox, in a way award of mine, in truth almost a son to me. What Tayoga is among theOnondagas, he is among the white people of New York. I can say nomore. "

"That's surely enough, " said Rogers, "and glad am I to meet you, Lennox. I've come from the north and the east, from Champlain and George, withmy brave fellows, hearing of Braddock's defeat and thinking we might beneeded, and by chance we struck this broad trail. It's plain enough thatit's made by settlers withdrawing from the border, but whether 'tis aprecaution or they're pursued closely we don't know. We thought once ofturning back to see. But you know, Dave. "

Willet explained rapidly and again the fierce face of Rogers shone withpleasure. 

"'Twas in truth a fortunate chance that guided us down here, " he said. 

"It was Tododaho himself, " said Tayoga with reverence. 

Then Willet also called rapidly the names of his hunters and scouts, whohad remained in a little group in the rear, while the leaders talked. 

"Dave, " said Rogers, "you and I will be joint leaders, if you say so. We've now nearly two score stout fellows ready for any fray, and sinceyou've twice held back Tandakora, De Courcelles and their scalp hunters, our united bands should be able to do it a third time. I agree with youthat the best way to save the train is to fight rear guard actions, andnever let the train itself be attacked. "

"If we had about twenty more good men, " said Willet, "we might not onlydefend a line but push back the horde itself. What say you to sendingTayoga, our swiftest runner, to the wagons for a third force?"

"A good plan, a most excellent plan, Dave! And while he's about it, tellhim to make it thirty instead of twenty. Then we'll burn the faces ofthese Indian warriors. Aye, Dave, we'll scorch 'em so well that they'llbe glad to turn back!"

It was arranged in a minute or two and Tayoga disappeared like one ofhis own arrows in the forest and the darkness, while the othersfollowed, but much more slowly. It would not escape the sharp eyes ofthe warriors that a reënforcement had come, but, confident in theirnumbers, they would continue the pursuit with unabated zeal. 

The united bands of hunters and scouts fell back slowly, and for a longtime. Robert looked with interest at Rogers' men. They were the pickedsurvivors of the wilderness, the forest champions, young mostly, lean, tough of muscle, darkened by wind and weather, ready to follow wherevertheir leader led, ready to risk their lives in any enterprise, no matterhow reckless. They affiliated readily with Willet's own band, and werenot at all averse to being overtaken by the Indian horde. 

After dawn they met Tayoga returning with thirty-five men, rather morethan they had expected, and also with the news that the train was makinggreat speed in its flight. Willet and Rogers looked over the seventy ormore brave fellows, with glistening eyes, and Robert saw very well that, uplifted by their numbers, they were more than anxious for a thirdcombat. In an hour or so they found a place suitable for an ambush, along ravine, lined and filled with thickets which the wagons evidentlyhad crossed with difficulty, and here they took their stand, all of theforce hidden among the bushes and weeds. Robert, at the advice ofWillet, lay down in a secure place and went to sleep. 

"You're young, lad, " he said, "and not as much seasoned in the bark asthe rest of us who are older. I'll be sure to wake you when the battlebegins, and then you'll be so much the better for a nap that you'll be avery Hercules in the combat. "

Robert, trained in wilderness ways, knew that it was best, and he closedhis eyes without further ado. When he opened them again it was becausethe hunter was shaking his shoulder, and he knew by the position of thesun that several hours had passed. 

"Have they come?" he asked calmly. 

"We've seen their skirmishers in the woods about two hundred yardsaway, " replied the hunter. "I believe they suspect danger here merelybecause this is a place where danger is likely to be, but 'twill notkeep them from attacking. You can hold your rifle ready, lad, but you'llhave no use for it for a good quarter of an hour. They'll do a lot ofscouting before they try to pass the ravine, but our fellows are happyin the knowledge that they'll try to pass it. "

Robert suppressed as much as he could the excitement one was bound tofeel at such a time, and ate a little venison to stay him for thecombat, imitating the coolness and providence of Tayoga, who was alsostrengthening his body for the ordeal. 

"About noon, isn't it?" he asked of the Onondaga. 

"A little after it, " Tayoga replied. 

"When did they come up?"

"Just now. I too have slept, although my sleep was shorter than yours. "

"Have you seen Tandakora or De Courcelles?"

"I caught one glimpse of Tandakora. My bullet will carry far, but alas!it will not carry far enough to reach the Ojibway. It is not the will ofTododaho that he should perish now. As I have said, his day will come, though it is yet far away. "

"What will happen here, Tayoga?"

"The forces of Tandakora and De Courcelles will be burned worse thanbefore. The man Rogers, whom some of the Mohawks call the Mountain Wolf, is like a Mohawk warrior himself, always eager to fight. He will want topush the battle and Great Bear, having so many men now, will bewilling. "

The words of Tayoga came to pass. After a long delay, accompanied bymuch scouting and attempts to feel out the defense, Tandakora and DeCourcelles finally charged the ravine in force and suffered a bitterrepulse. Seventy or eighty rifles, aimed by cool and experiencedsharpshooters, poured in a fire which they could not withstand, and somany warriors were lost that the Ojibway and the Frenchman retreated. The Great Bear and the Mountain Wolf would not allow their eager men tofollow, lest in their turn they fall into an ambush. 

Later in the day the Indian horde returned a second time to the attack, with the same result, and when night came Tayoga and several others whowent forward to scout reported that they had withdrawn several miles. The white leaders then decided in conference that they had done enoughfor their purpose, and, after a long rest on their arms, withdrew slowlyin the path of the retreating train, ready for another combat, ifpursued too closely, but feeling sure that Tandakora and De Courcelleswould not risk a battle once more. 

They overtook the train late that evening and their welcome was enoughto warm their hearts and to repay them for all the hardships and dangersendured. Colden was the first to give them thanks, and his fine youngface showed his emotion. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been back there with you, " he said, when heheard the report Robert made; "you had action, and you faced the enemy, while we have merely been running over the hills. "

"In truth you've made a good run of it, " said Robert, "and as I see it, it was just as necessary for you to run as it was for us to fight. Wehad great luck, too, in the coming of Rogers and his men. "

That night the train, for the first time since it began its flight, madea real camp. Willet, Rogers and all the great foresters thought it safe, as they were coming now so near to the settled regions, and the faces ofthe pursuers had been scorched so thoroughly. Scouts and skirmisherswere thrown out on all sides, and then fires were built of the fallenbrushwood that lay everywhere in the forest. The ample supplies in thewagons were drawn upon freely, and the returning victors feasted attheir leisure. 

It was a happy time for Robert. His imaginative mind responded as usualto time and place. They had won one victory. It was no small triumph toprotect the fugitive train, and so they would win many more. He alreadysaw them through the flame of his sanguine temperament, and the glow ofthe leaping fires helped in the happy effect. All around him werecheerful faces and he heard the chatter of happy voices, their ownershappy because they believed themselves released from a great andimminent danger. 

"Has anything been heard of Black Rifle?" Robert asked of Tayoga. 

"He has not come back, " replied the Onondaga, "but they think he will behere in the morning. "

The dawn brought instead fifty dusky figures bare to the waist andpainted in all the terrible imagery of Indians who go to war. Some ofthe women cried out in fright, but Tayoga said:

"Have no fear. These be friends. The warriors of our great brothernation, the Ganeagaono, known to you as the Mohawks, have come to aidus. "

The leader of the Mohawks was none other than the daring young chief, Daganoweda himself, flushed with pride that he had come to the help ofhis white brethren, and eager as always for war. He gravely salutedRobert, Willet and Tayoga. 

"Dagaeoga is a storm bird, " he said. "Wherever he goes battle follows. "

"Either that, " laughed Robert, "or because I follow battle. How could Ikeep from following it, when I have Willet on one side of me and Tayogaon the other, always dragging me to the point where the combat ragesfiercest?"

"Did you meet Black Rifle?" asked Willet. 

"It was he who told us of your great need, " replied Daganoweda. "Thenwhile we came on at the speed of runners to help you, he continued northand east in the hope that he would meet Waraiyageh and white troops. "

"Do you know if Colonel William Johnson is in this region or near it?"

"He lay to the north with a considerable force, watching for the Frenchand Indians who have been pouring down from Canada since their greattaking of scalps by Duquesne. Black Rifle will find him and he willcome, because Waraiyageh never deserts his people, but just when he willarrive I cannot say. "

Ample food was given to the Mohawks and then, burning for battle, Daganoweda at their head, they went on the back trail in search ofTandakora, De Courcelles and their savage army. 

"We could not have a better curtain between us and the enemy, " saidWillet. "War is their trade and those fifty Mohawks will sting and stinglike so many hornets. "

The train resumed its flight an hour after sunrise, although more slowlynow and with less apprehension, and about the middle of the afternoonthe uniforms of Colonial militia appeared in the forest ahead. All setup a great shout, because they believed them to be the vanguard ofJohnson. They were not mistaken, as a force of a hundred men, betterequipped and drilled than usual, met them, at their head Colonel WilliamJohnson himself, with the fierce young Mohawk eagle, Joseph Brant, otherwise Thayendanegea, at his side. The somber figure of Black Rifle, who had brought him, stood not far away. 

Colonel Johnson was in great good humor, thoroughly delighted to findthe train safe and to meet such warm friends of his again. He was firstpresented duly to Captain Colden and his young officers, paid them somecompliments on their fine work, talked with them a while and thenconversed more intimately with Tayoga, Robert and Willet. 

"The train is now entirely safe, " he said. "Even if Tandakora and DeCourcelles could brush away the screen of the Mohawks, they dare notrisk an encounter with such a force as we have here. They will turnaside for easier game. "

"And there will be no battle!" exclaimed young Brant, in deepdisappointment. "Ah! why did I not have the chance to go forward with mycousin, Daganoweda?"

Colonel Johnson laughed, half in pride and half in amusement, and pattedhis warlike young Mohawk brother-in-law on the shoulder. 

"All in good time, Joseph, my lad, " he said. "Remember that you arescarce twelve and you may have fifty years of fighting before you. Noone knows how long this conflagration in America may last. As for you, Tayoga and Lennox, and you, Willet, your labors with the train are over. But there is a fierce fire burning in the north, and it is for us to putit out. You have lost one commander, Braddock, but you may find another. I can release you from your obligations to Governor Dinwiddie ofVirginia. Will you go with me?"

The three assented gladly, and they saw that their service of danger wasbut taking a new form. 

CHAPTER V

GATHERING FORCES

The eyes of all the warlike young men now turned northward. The peoplewhom they had rescued scattered among their relatives and friends, awaiting the time when they could return to the wilderness, and rebuildtheir homes there, but Colden, Wilton, Carson and their troop were eagerfor service with Colonel William Johnson. In time orders arrived fromthe Governor of Pennsylvania, directing them to join the force that wasbeing raised in the province of New York to meet the onrush of thesavages and the French, and they rejoiced. Meanwhile Robert, Tayoga andWillet made a short stay at Mount Johnson, and in the company of itshospitable owner and his wife refreshed themselves after their greathardships and dangers. 

Colonel Johnson's activities as a host did not make him neglect hisduties as a commander. Without military experience, save that recentlyacquired in border war, he nevertheless showed indomitable energy as aleader, and his bluff, hearty manner endeared him to Colonials andMohawks alike. A great camp had been formed on the low grounds byAlbany, and Robert and his comrades in time proceeded there, where anumerous force of men from New York and New England and many Mohawkswere gathered. It was their plan to march against the great Frenchfortress of Crown Point on Lake Champlain, which Robert heard would bedefended by a formidable French and Indian army under Baron Dieskau, anelderly Saxon in the French service. 

Robert also heard that St. Luc was with Dieskau, and that he was leadingdaring raids against little bands of militia on their way from NewEngland to the camp near Albany. Two were practically destroyed, half oftheir numbers being killed, while the rest were sent as prisoners intoCanada. Two more succeeded in beating off the Frenchman, though withlarge loss, but he was recognized by everybody as a great danger, andDaganoweda and the best of the Mohawks went forth to meet him. 

Rogers with his partisan band and Black Rifle also disappeared in thewilderness, and Robert looked longingly after them, but he and hisfriends were still held at the Albany camp, as the march of the army wasdelayed, owing to the fact that five provincial governors, practicallyindependent of one another, had a hand in its management, and they couldnot agree upon a plan. Braddock's great defeat had a potent influence inthe north, and now they were all for caution. 

While they delayed Robert went into Albany one bright morning to seeMynheer Jacobus Huysman, who showed much anxiety about him these days. The little Dutch city looked its best, a comfortable place on its hills, inhabited by comfortable people, but swarming now with soldiers and evenwith Mohawks, all of whom brought much business to the thriftyburghers. Albany had its profit out of everything, the river commerce, the fur trade, and war itself. 

Robert, as he walked along, watched with interest the crowd which was, in truth, cosmopolitan, despite the smallness of the place. Some of theColonials had uniforms of blue faced with red, of which they were veryproud, but most of them were in the homespun attire of every day. Theywere armed with their own rifles. Only the English had bayonets so far. The Americans instead carried hatchets or tomahawks at their belts, andthe hatchet had many uses. Every man also carried a big jack or claspknife which, too, had its many uses. 

The New Englanders, who were most numerous in the camp, were of pureBritish blood, a race that had become in the American climate tall, thinand very muscular, enduring of body and tenacious of spirit, religious, ambitious, thinking much of both worldly gain and the world hereafter. Among them moved the people of Dutch blood from the province of NewYork, generally short and fat like their ancestors, devoted to goodliving, cheerful in manner, but hard and unscrupulous in their dealingwith the Indians, and hence a menace to the important alliance with theHodenosaunee. 

There were the Germans, also, most of them descendants of the fugitivesfrom the Palatinate, after it had been ravaged by the generals of LouisXIV, a quiet, humble people, industrious, honest, sincerely religious, low at present in the social scale, and patronized by the older familiesof English or Dutch blood, perhaps not dreaming that their race wouldbecome some day the military terror of the world. 

The Mohawks, who passed freely through the throng, were its mostpicturesque feature. The world bred no more haughty savages than they. Tall men, with high cheek bones, and fierce eyes, they wore littleclothing in the summer weather, save now and then a blanket of brilliantcolor for the sake of adornment. There were also some Onondagas, asproud as the Mohawks, but not so fierce. 

A few Virginians and Marylanders, come to cooperate with the northernforces, were present, and they, like the New Englanders, were of pureBritish blood. Now and then a Swede, broad of face, from the Jerseysettlements could be seen, and there was scarcely a nation in westernEurope that did not have at least one representative in the streets ofAlbany. 

It pleased Robert to see the great variety of the throng. It made a deepimpression upon his imaginative mind. Already he foresaw the greatnessof America, when these races were blended in a land of infiniteresources. But such thoughts were driven from his mind by a big figurethat loomed before him and a hearty voice that saluted him. 

"Day dreaming, Master Lennox?" said the voice. "One does not have muchtime for dreams now, when the world is so full of action. "

It was none other than Master Benjamin Hardy, portly, rubicund, richlybut quietly dressed in dark broadcloth, dark silk stockings and shoes ofSpanish leather with large silver buckles. Robert was unaffectedly gladto see him, and they shook hands with warmth. 

"I did not know that you were in Albany, " said young Lennox. 

"But I knew that you were here, " said Master Hardy. 

"I haven't your great resources for collecting knowledge. "

"A story reached me in New York concerning the gallant conduct of oneRobert Lennox on the retreat from Fort Refuge, and I wished to come heremyself and see if it be true. "

"I did no better than a hundred others. How is the wise Master JonathanPillsbury?"

"As wise as ever. He earnestly urged me, when I departed for this town, not to be deceived by the glamour of the military. 'Bear in mind, MasterBenjamin, ' he said, 'that you and I have been associates many years, andyour true path is that of commerce and gain. The march and thebattlefield are not for you any more than they are for me. ' Wise wordsand true, and it was not for me to gainsay them. So I gave him mypromise that I would not march with this brave expedition to the lakes. "

The merchant's words were whimsical, but Robert felt that he wasexamining him with critical looks, and he felt, too, that a protectinginfluence was once more about him. He could not doubt that Master Hardywas his sincere friend, deeply interested in him. He had given too manyproofs of it, and a sudden curiosity about his birth, forgotten amid theexcitement of continued action, rose anew. He was about to askquestions, but he remembered that they would not be answered, and so heheld his peace, while the merchant walked on with him toward the houseof Mynheer Jacobus Huysman. 

"You are bent upon going with the army?" said Mr. Hardy. "Haven't youhad enough of battle? There was a time, after the news of Braddock'sdefeat came, when I feared that you had fallen, but a message sent bythe young Englishman, Grosvenor, told me you were safe, and I was verythankful. It is natural for the young to seek what they call adventure, and to serve their country, but you have done much already, Robert. Youmight go with me now to New York, and still feel that you are noshirker. "

"You are most kind, Mr. Hardy. I believe that next to Willet and Tayogayou are the greatest and best of my friends. Why, I know not, nor do Iask now, but the fact is patent, and I thank you many times over, although I can't accept your offer. I'm committed to this expedition andthere my heart lies, too. Willet and Tayoga go with it. So do BlackRifle and Rogers, I think, and Colonel Johnson, who is also my goodfriend, is to lead it. I couldn't stay behind and consider myself a trueman. "

Master Benjamin Hardy sighed. 

"Doubtless you are right, Robert, " he said, "and perhaps at your age Ishould have taken the same view, despite Jonathan's assertion that mytrue ways are the ways of commerce and gain. Nevertheless, my interestin this struggle is great. It is bound to be since it means vast changesin the colonies, whatever its result. "

"What changes do you have in mind, Mr. Hardy?"

"Mental changes more than any other, Robert. The war in its sweep bidsfair to take in almost all the civilized world we know. We are theoutpost of Britain, Canada is the outpost of France, and in a long anddesperate strife such as this promises to be we are sure to achievegreater mental stature, and to arrive at a more acute consciousness ofour own strength and resources. Beyond that I don't care to predict. Butcome, lad, we'll not talk further of such grave matters, you and I. Instead we'll have a pleasant hour with Mynheer Jacobus Huysman, a manof no mean quality, as you know. "

Mynheer Jacobus was at home, and he gave them a great welcome, glancingat one and at the other, and then back again, apparently rejoiced to seethem together. 

Then he ordered a huge repast, of which they ate bountifully, and uponwhich he made heavy inroads himself. When the demands of hospitalitywere somewhat satisfied, he put aside knife and fork, and said to Mr. Hardy:

"And now, old friend, it iss no impertinence on my part to ask what hassbrought you to Albany. "

Master Benjamin, who was gravely filling a pipe, lighted it, took onepuff, and replied:

"No, Jacobus, it is no impertinence. No question that you might ask mecould be an impertinence. You and I are old friends, and I think weunderstand each other. I have to say in reply that I have come here on amatter of army contracts, to get a clearer and better view of the warwhich is going to mean so much to all of us, and to attend to one ortwo matters personal to myself. "

Robert, excusing himself, had risen and was looking out of a window at apassing company of soldiers. Mynheer Jacobus glanced at him and thenglanced back at the merchant. 

"It iss a good lad, " he said, "und you watch over him as well as youcan. "

"Aye, I do my best, " replied Hardy in the same subdued tones, "but he isbold of spirit, full of imagination and adventurous, and, though I wouldfain keep him out of the war, I cannot. Yet if I were his age I would gointo it myself. "

"It iss the way of youth. He lives in times troubled und full of danger, yet he hass in the hunter, Willet, and the Onondaga, Tayoga, friends whoare a flaming sword on each side of him. Willet hass a great mind. Heiss as brave as a lion und full of resource. "

"Right well do I know it, Jacobus. "

"And the young Onondaga, Tayoga, is of the antique mold. Do I not knowit, I who haf taught him so long? Often I could think he was a youngGreek or Roman of the best type, reincarnated und sent to the forest. Hedoes haf the lofty nature, the noble character und simplicity of a youngRoman of the republic, before it was corrupted by conquest. I tell you, Benjamin Hardy, that we do not value the red men at their true worth, especially those of the Hodenosaunee!"

"Right well do I know that, too, Jacobus. I had a fair reading in theclassics, when I was a schoolboy, and I should call the lad, Tayoga, more Greek in spirit than Roman. I have found in him the spiritualquality, the love of beauty and the kindliness of soul which the bookssay the Greeks had and which the Romans lacked. "

"It iss fairly put, Benjamin, und I bethink me you are right. But thereiss one thing which you do not know, but which you ought to know, because it iss of much importance. "

"What is it?" asked Hardy, impressed by the manner of Jacobus. 

"It iss the fact that Adrian Van Zoon arrived in Albany this morning. "

The merchant started slightly in surprise, and then his face became amask. 

"Adrian Van Zoon is a merchant like myself, " he said. "He has a right tocome to Albany. Perhaps he feels the necessity, too, as no doubt he isinterested in large contracts for the army. "

"It iss true, Benjamin, but you und I would rather he had not come. Hearrived but this morning on his own sloop, the _Dirkhoeven_, und I feelthat wherever Adrian Van Zoon iss the air becomes noxious, full ofpoisonous vapors und dangerous to those about him. "

"You're right, Jacobus. I see that your faculties are as keen as ever. You can see through a mill stone, and you can put together much largerfigures than two and two. "

Mynheer Jacobus smiled complacently. 

"I haf not yet reached my zenith, " he said, "und I am very glad I am notyet an old man, because I am so full of curiosity. "

"I don't take your meaning, Jacobus. "

"I would not like to die before this great und long war iss endedbecause I wish to see how it does end. Und I want to see the nature ofthe mighty changes which I feel are coming in the world. "

"What changes, for instance, Jacobus?"

"The action of the New World upon the Old, und the action of the oldmonarchies upon one another. All things change, Benjamin. You und I knowthat. The veil of majesty that wraps around kings und thrones iss notvisible to us here in der American forest, und maybe for dot reason wesee the changes coming in Europe better than those who are closer by. France is the oldest of all the old und great monarchies und for dotreason the French monarchy iss most overripe. Steeped in luxury undcorruption, the day of its decay hass set in. "

"But the French people are valiant and great, Jacobus. Think not that wehave in them a weak antagonist. "

"I said nothing of the French nation, Benjamin, mein friend. I spoke ofthe French throne. The French leaders in Canada are brave undenterprising. They will inflict on us many defeats, but the Frenchthrone will not give to them the support to which they as Frenchmen areentitled. "

"You probably see the truth, Jacobus, and it's to our advantage. Perhaps'tis better that the French throne should decay. But we'll return toaffairs closer by. You've had Van Zoon watched?"

"My stable boy, Peter, hass not let him out of sight, since he landedfrom the _Dirkhoeven_. Peter is not a lad of brilliant appearance, which iss perhaps all the better for our purpose, but he will keep VanZoon in sight, if it iss humanly possible, without being himselfsuspected. "

"Well done, Jacobus, but I might have known that you would take allneedful precautions. "

Robert came back from the window, and they promptly changed the currentof the talk, speaking now of the army, its equipment, and the probabletime of its march to meet Dieskau. Presently they left Mynheer Huysman'shouse, and Robert and the merchant went toward the camp on the flats. Here they beheld a scene of great activity and of enormous interest toRobert. 

Few stranger armies have ever been gathered than that which ColonelWilliam Johnson was preparing to lead against Crown Point. The NewEnglanders brought with them all their characteristics, theirindependence, their love of individualism and their piety. Despite thispiety it was an army that swore hugely, and, despite its huge swearing, it was an honest army. It survives in written testimony that thegreatest swearers were from the provinces of New York and Rhode Island, and Colonel Ephraim Williams, an officer among them writing at the time, said that the language they most used was "the language of Hell. " And, on the other hand, a New York officer testified that not a housewife inAlbany or its suburbs could mourn the loss of a single chicken. Privateproperty everywhere was absolutely safe, and, despite the oaths andrough appearance of the men, no woman was ever insulted. 

"They're having prayer meeting now, " said Mr. Hardy, as they came uponthe flats. "I've learned they have sermons twice a week--their ministerscame along with them--prayers every day, and the singing of songs manytimes. They often alternate the psalm singing with the military drill, but I'm not one to decry their observances. Religious fervor is a greatthing in battle. It made the Ironsides of Cromwell invincible. "

Five hundred voices, nearly all untrained, were chanting a hymn. Theywere the voices of farmers and frontiersmen, but the great chorus hadvolume and majesty, and Robert was not one to depreciate them. Insteadhe was impressed. He understood the character of both New Englanders andNew Yorkers. Keen for their own, impatient of control, they werenevertheless capable of powerful collective effort. A group of Mohawksstanding by were also watching with grave and serious attention. Whenthey raised a chant to Manitou they demanded the utmost respect, andthey gave it also, without the asking, to the white man when he sang inhis own way to his own God. 

It was when they turned back to the town that they were hailed in ajoyous voice, and Robert beheld the young English officer, Grosvenor, whom he had known in New York, Grosvenor, a little thinner than of old, but more tanned and with an air of experience. His pleasure at meetingRobert again was great and unaffected. He shook hands with him warmlyand exclaimed:

"When I last saw you, Lennox, it was at the terrible forest fight, where we learned our bitter lesson. I saw that you escaped, but I didnot know what became of you afterward. "

"I've had adventures, and I'll tell you of 'em later, " said Robert. "Glad I am to see you, although I had not heard of your coming toAlbany. "

"I arrived but this morning. No British troops are here. I understandthis army is to be composed wholly of Colonials--pardon the word, I useit for lack of a better--and of Mohawks. But I was able to secure in NewYork a detail on the staff of Colonel Johnson. My position perhaps willbe rather that of an observer and representative of the regular troops, but I hope, nevertheless, to be of some service. I suppose I won't seeas much of you as I would like, as you're likely to be off in the forestin front of the army with those scouting friends of yours. "

"It's what we can do best, " said Robert, "but if there's a victory aheadI hope we'll all be present when it's gained. "

Jacobus Huysman insisted that all his old friends be quartered with him, while they were in Albany, and as there was little at present forGrosvenor to do, he was added by arrangement with Colonel Johnson to thegroup. They sat that evening on the portico in the summer dusk, andMaster Alexander McLean, the schoolmaster, joined them, still regardingRobert and Tayoga as lads under his care, and soon including Grosvenoralso. But the talk was pleasant, and they were deep in it when a manpassed in the street and a shadow fell upon them all. 

It was Adrian Van Zoon, heavy, dressed richly as usual, and carrying alarge cane, with a gold head. To the casual eye he was a man ofimportance, aware of his dignity, and resolute in the maintenance of it. He bowed with formal politeness to the group upon the portico, andwalked majestically on. Mynheer Jacobus watched him until he was out ofsight, going presumably to his inn, and then his eyes began to searchfor another figure. Presently it appeared, lank, long and tow-headed, the boy, Peter, of whom he had spoken. Mynheer Huysman introduced himbriefly to the others, and he responded, in every case, with a pull at along lock on his forehead. His superficial appearance was that of asimpleton, but Robert noticed sharp, observant eyes under the thickeyebrows. Mynheer Jacobus, Willet and Master Hardy, excusing themselvesfor a few minutes, went into an inner room. 

"What has Mynheer Van Zoon been doing, Peter?" asked Jacobus. 

"He has talked with three contractors for the army, " replied the lad. "He also had a short conversation with Colonel Ephraim Williams of theMassachusetts militia. "

"Williams is a thoroughly honest man, " said Mr. Hardy. "His talk withVan Zoon could only have been on legitimate business. We'll dismiss him. What more have you seen, Peter?"

"Late in the afternoon he went to his schooner, the _Dirkhoeven_, whichis anchored in the river. I could not follow him there, but I saw himspeaking on the deck to a man who did not look like a sailor. They werethere only a minute, then they went into the cabin, and when MynheerVan Zoon came ashore he came alone. "

"And the man who did not look like a sailor was left on the ship. It maymean nothing, or it may mean anything, but my mind tells me it hath anunpleasant significance. Now, I wish I knew this man who is lying hid inthe _Dirkhoeven_. Perhaps it would be better, Jacobus, to instruct Peterto follow the lad, Lennox, and give the alarm if any threat or menaceappears. "

"I think it is the wiser course, Benjamin, and I will even instructPeter in such manner. "

He spoke a few sentences to Peter, who listened with eagerness, apparently delighted with the task set for him. When Mynheer Huysman hadfinished the lad slipped out at a back door, and was gone like a shadow. 

"An admirable youth for our purpose, " said Mynheer Jacobus Huysman. "Helikes not work, but if he is to watch or follow anyone he hangs on likea hound. In Albany he will become the second self of young Lennox, whosefirst self will not know that he has a second self. "

They returned to the portico. Robert glanced curiously at them, but notone of the three offered any explanation. He knew, however, that theirguarded talk with Peter had to do with himself, and he felt a greatemotion of gratitude. If he was surrounded by dangers he was alsosurrounded by powerful friends. If chance had put him on the outskirtsof the world it had also given him comrades who were an armor of steelabout him. 

Tayoga and he occupied their old bedroom at Mynheer Jacobus Huysman'sthat night, and once when Robert glanced out of the window he caught aglimpse of a dark figure lurking in the shrubbery. It was a man who didnot look like a sailor, but as he did not know of the conversation inthe inner room the shadow attracted little attention from him. Itdisappeared in an instant, and he thought no more about it. 

Robert and his comrades were back in the camp next day, and now they sawColonel Johnson at his best, a man of wonderful understanding and tact. He was soon able to break through the reserve of the New England citizenofficers who were not wont to give their confidence in a hurry, andaround great bowls of lemon punch they talked of the campaign. TheMohawks, as of old, told him all their grievances, which he remediedwhen just, and persuaded them into forgetting when unjust. 

Robert, Tayoga and Willet, in their capacity of scouts and skirmishers, could go about practically as they pleased. Colonel Johnson trusted themabsolutely and they talked of striking out into the wilderness on a newexpedition to see what lay ahead of the army. Adrian Van Zoon, theylearned definitely, had started for New York on the _Dirkhoeven_, andRobert felt relief. Yet the lank lad, Peter, still followed him, and, ashad been predicted truly, was his second self, although his first selfdid not know it. 

He had been at Albany several days when he returned alone from the flatsto the town late one evening. At a dark turn in the road he heard areport, and a bullet whistled very near him. It was followed quickly bya second report, but not by the whistling of any bullet. He had a pairof pistols in his belt, and, taking out one and cocking it, he searchedthe woods, though he found nothing. He concluded then that it was arandom bullet fired by some returning hunter, and that the second shotwas doubtless of the same character. But the first hunter had beenuncommonly careless and he hastened his steps from a locality which hadbeen so dangerous, even accidentally. 

Inured, however, as he was to risks, the incident soon passed entirelyout of his mind. Yet an hour or two later the lad, Peter, sat in a backroom with Mynheer Jacobus Huysman, and told him with relish of theoccurrence at the dark turn of the road. 

"I was fifty or sixty yards behind in the shadow of the trees, " he said. "I could see Master Lennox very well, though he could not see me. Thefigure of a man appeared in the woods near me and aimed a pistol atMaster Lennox. I could not see his face well, but I knew it was the manon the boat who was talking to Mynheer Van Zoon. I uttered a cry whichdid not reach Master Lennox, but which did reach the man with thepistol. It disturbed his aim, and his bullet flew wide. Then I fired athim, but if I touched him at all it was but lightly. He made off throughthe woods and I followed, but his speed was so great I could notovertake him. "

"You haf done well, Peter. Doubtless you haf saved the life of youngMaster Lennox, which was the task set for you to do. But it iss notenough. You may haf to save it a second und yet a third time. "

The pale blue eyes of Peter glistened. Obviously he liked his presenttask much better than the doing of chores. 

"You can trust me, Mynheer Huysman, " he said importantly. "I will guardhim, and I will do more. Is there anybody you want killed?"

"No, no, you young savage! You are to shoot only in self-defense, or indefense of young Lennox whom you are to protect. Bear that in mind. "

"Very well, Mynheer. Your orders are law to me. "

Peter went out of the room and slid away in the darkness. MynheerJacobus Huysman watched his departure and sighed. He was a good man, averse to violence and bloodshed, and he murmured:

"The world iss in a fever. The nations fight among themselves und eventhe lads talk lightly of taking life. "

Peter reported to him again the next night, when Robert was safely inbed. 

"I followed Master Lennox to the parade ground again, " he said. "TheOnondaga, Tayoga, the hunter, Willet, and the Englishman, Grosvenor, were with him. They watched the drill for a while, and spoke withColonel Johnson. Then Master Lennox wandered away alone to the northedge of the drill ground, where there are some woods. Since I havereceived your instructions, Mynheer, I always examine the woods, and Ifound in them a man who might have been in hiding, or who might havebeen lying there for the sake of the shade, only I am quite sure it wasnot the latter. Just when Master Lennox came into his view I spoke tohim, and he seemed quite angry. He asked me impatiently to go away, butI stood by and talked to him until Master Lennox was far out of sight. "

"You saw the man well, then, Peter?"

"I did, Mynheer Huysman, and I cannot be mistaken. It was the same thattalked with Mynheer Van Zoon on the deck of the _Dirkkoeven_. "

"I thought so. And what kind of a looking man was he, Peter?"

"About thirty, I should say, Mynheer, well built and strong, andforeign. "

"Foreign! What mean you, Peter?"

"French. "

"What? French of France or French of Canada?"

"That I cannot say with certainty, Mynheer, but French he was I dobelieve and maintain. "

"Then he must be a spy as well as a threat to young Lennox. This goesdeeper than I had thought, but you haf done your work well, Peter. Continue it. "

He held out a gold coin, which Peter pocketed with thanks, and wentforth the next morning to resume with a proud heart the task that heliked. 

Robert, all unconscious that a faithful guardian was always at hisheels, was passing days full of color, variety and pleasure. Admissioninto the society of Albany was easy to one of his manner and appearance, who had also such powerful friends, and there were pleasant evenings inthe solid Dutch houses. But he knew they could not last long. Daganowedaand a chosen group of his Mohawks came back, reporting the French andIndian force to be far larger than the one that had defeated Braddock byDuquesne, and that Baron Dieskau who led it was considered a finegeneral. Unless Waraiyageh made up his mind to strike quickly Dieskauwould strike first. 

The new French and Indian army, Daganoweda said, numbered eight thousandmen, a great force for the time, and for the New World, and it would beboth preceded and followed by clouds of skirmishers, savages from theregions of the Great Lakes and even from beyond. They were flushed withvictory, with the mighty taking of scalps, at Braddock's defeat, andthey expected here in the north a victory yet greater. They were alreadyassuming control of Champlain and George, the two lakes which from timeimmemorial, long before the coming of the white man, had formed the lineof march between what had become the French colonies and the Britishcolonies. It was equally vital now to possess this passage. Whoeverbecame the rulers of the lakes might determine in their favor the issueof the war in America, and the youths in Johnson's army were eager to goforward at once and fight for the coveted positions. 

But further delay was necessary. The commander still had the difficulttask of harmonizing the provincial governors and legislatures, and healso made many presents to the Indians to bind them to the cause. Fiveof the Six Nations, alarmed by the French successes and the slowness ofthe Americans and English, still held neutral, but the Mohawks were fullof zeal, and the best of their young chiefs and warriors stood byJohnson, ready to march when he marched, and to cover his van with theirskirmishers and patrols. 

Meanwhile the army drilled incessantly. The little troop ofPhiladelphians under Colden, Wilton and Carson were an example. Theyhad seen much hard service already, although they spoke modestly of thedangers over which they had triumphed in the forest. It was their pride, too, to keep their uniforms neat, and to be as soldierly in manner aspossible. They had the look of regulars, and Grosvenor, the youngEnglishman who had been taken on Colonel Johnson's staff, spoke of themas such. 

New York and the four New England Colonies, whatever their lack ofcooperation, showed energy. The governors issued proclamations, and ifnot enough men came, more were drafted from the regiments of militia. Bounties of six dollars for every soldier were offered by Massachusetts, and that valiant colony, as usual, led the way in energy. 

They were full days for Robert. He listened almost incessantly to thesound of drum and fife, the drill master's word of command, or to voicesraised in prayer, preaching or the singing of psalms. Recruits werecontinually coming in, awkward plowboys, but brave and enduring, waitingonly to be taught. Master Benjamin Hardy was compelled to return to NewYork, departing with reluctance and holding an earnest conference withMynheer Jacobus Huysman before he went. 

"The man, who is most certainly a French spy, is somewhere about, " saidMynheer Jacobus. "Peter haf seen him twice more, but he haf caught onlyglimpses. But you can trust Peter even as I do. His whole heart iss inthe task I have set him. He wass born Dutch but hiss soul iss Iroquois!He iss by nature a taker of scalps. "

Master Benjamin laughed. 

"Just at present, " he said, "'tis the nature that suits us best. Mosturgent business calls me back to New York, and, after all, I can't domore here than you are doing, old friend. "

When they had bidden each other good-by in the undemonstrative manner ofelderly men who have long been friends, Master Jacobus strolled down themain street of Albany and took a long look at a substantial housestanding in fine grounds. Then he shook his head several times, and, walking on, met its owner, whom he greeted with marked coolness, although the manner of the other toward him had been somewhat effusive. 

"I gif you good day, Hendrik Martinus, " he said, "und I hear that youare prospering. I am not one to notice fashions myself, but others hafspoken to me of the beautiful new shawls your daughters are wearing undof the brooches und necklaces they haf. "

The face of Martinus, a man of about fifty, turned a deep red, but theexcessive color passed in a few moments, and he spoke carelessly. Intruth, his whole manner was lighter and more agile than that of theaverage man of Dutch blood. 

"I am not so sure, Mynheer Jacobus, that you did not take noticeyourself, " he said. "Mynheer Jacobus is grave and dignified, but many agrave and dignified man has a wary eye for the ladies. "

Mynheer Jacobus Huysman frowned. 

"And as for shawls and brooches and necklaces, " continued Martinus, "itis well known that war brings legitimate profits to many men. It makestrade in certain commodities brisk. Now I'd willingly wager that yourfriend, Master Benjamin Hardy, whom you have just seen on his way to NewYork, will be much the richer by this war. "

"Master Hardy has ships upon the seas, and important contracts for thetroops. "

"I have no ships upon the seas, but I may have contracts, too. "

"It may well be so, Hendrik, " said Mynheer Jacobus, and without anotherword he passed on. When he had gone a hundred yards he shook himselfviolently, and when he had gone another hundred yards he gave himself asecond shake of equal vigor. An hour later he was in the back roomtalking with the lad, Peter. 

"Peter, " he said, "you haf learned to take naps in the day und to keepawake all through the night?"

"Yes, Mynheer, " replied Peter, proudly. 

"Then, Peter, you vass an owl, a watcher in the dark. "

"Yes, Mynheer. "

"Und I gif you praise for watching well, Peter, und also gold, which issmuch more solid than praise. Now I gif you by und by more praise undmore gold which iss still more solid than praise. The lad, RobertLennox, will be here early tonight to take supper with me, und I willsee that he does not go out again before the morrow. Now, do you, Peter, watch the house of Hendrik Martinus all night und tell me if anyonecomes out or goes in, und who und what he may be, as nearly as you can. "

"Yes, Mynheer, " said Peter, and a sudden light flickered in the paleblue eyes. 

No further instructions were needed. He left the house in silence, andMynheer Jacobus Huysman trusted him absolutely. 

CHAPTER VI

THE DARK STRANGER

Robert arrived at the house of Jacobus Huysman about dark and Tayogacame with him. Willet was detained at the camp on the flats, where hehad business with Colonel Johnson, who consulted him often. The two ladswere in high good spirits, and Mynheer Jacobus, whatever he may havebeen under the surface, appeared to be so, too. Robert believed that thearmy would march very soon now. The New York and New England men alikewere full of fire, eager to avenge Braddock's defeat and equally eagerto drive back and punish the terrible clouds of savages which, under theleadership of the French, were ravaging the border, spreadingdevastation and terror on all sides. 

"There has been trouble, Mynheer Huysman, " said Robert, "betweenGovernor Shirley of Massachusetts, who has been in camp several days, and Colonel Johnson. I saw Governor Shirley when he was in the councilat Alexandria, in Virginia, and I know, from what I've heard, that he'sthe most active and energetic of all the governors, but they say he'svery vain and pompous. "

"Vanity and pomp comport ill with a wilderness campaign, " said MynheerJacobus, soberly. "Of all the qualities needed to deal with the Frenchund Indians I should say that they are needed least. It iss a shame thata man should demand obeisance from others when they are all in a greatcrisis. "

"The Governor is eager to push the war, " said Robert, "yet he demandsmore worship of the manner from Colonel Johnson than the colonel hastime to give him. 'Tis said, too, that the delays he makes causedissatisfaction among the Mohawks, who are eager to be on the great wartrail. Daganoweda, I know, fairly burns with impatience. "

Mynheer Jacobus sighed. 

"We will not haf the advantage of surprise, " he said. "Of that I amcertain. I do believe that the French und Indians know of all ourmovements und of all we do. "

"Spies?" said Robert. 

"It may be, " replied Mynheer Jacobus. 

Robert was silent. His first thought was of St. Luc, who, he knew, woulddare anything, and it was just the sort of adventure that would appealto his bold and romantic spirit. But his thought passed on. He had noreal feeling that St. Luc was in the camp. Mynheer Jacobus must bethinking of another or others. But Huysman volunteered no explanation. Presently he rose from his chair, went to a window and looked out. Tayoga observed him keenly. 

The Onondaga, trained from his childhood to observe all kinds ofmanifestations, was a marvelous reader of the minds of men, and, merelybecause Mynheer Jacobus Huysman interrupted a conversation to look outinto the dark, he knew that he expected something. And whatever it wasit was important, as the momentary quiver of the big man's lipindicated. 

The Indian, although he may hide it, has his full share of curiosity, and Tayoga wondered why Mynheer Jacobus watched. But he asked noquestion. 

The Dutchman came back from the window, and asked the lads in to supperwith him. His slight air of expectancy had disappeared wholly, butTayoga was not deceived. "He has merely been convinced that he wasgazing out too soon, " he said to himself. "As surely as Tododaho on hisstar watches over the Onondagas, he will come back here after supper andlook from this window, expecting to see something or somebody. "

The supper of Mynheer Jacobus was, in reality, a large dinner, and, asit was probably the last the two lads would take with him before theywent north, he had given to it a splendor and abundance even greaterthan usual. Tayoga and Robert, as became two such stout youths, atebountifully, and Mynheer Jacobus Huysman, whatever his secret troublesmay have been, wielded knife and fork with them, knife for knife andfork for fork. 

But Tayoga was sure that Mynheer Jacobus was yet expectant, and still, without making it manifest, he watched him keenly. He noted that the bigman hurried the latter part of the supper, something which the Onondagahad never known him to do before, and which, to the observant mind ofthe red youth, indicated an expectancy far greater than he had supposedat first. 

Clearly Mynheer Jacobus was hastening, clearly he wished to be out ofthe room, and it was equally clear to Tayoga that he wanted to go backto his window, the one from which he could see over the grounds, andinto the street beyond. 

"Will you take a little wine?" he said to Robert, as he held up abottle, through which the rich dark red color shone. 

"Thank you, sir, no, " replied Robert. 

"Und you, Tayoga?"

"I never touch the firewater of the white man, call they it wine or callthey it whiskey. "

"Good. Good for you both. I merely asked you for the sake of politeness, und I wass glad to hear you decline. But as for me, I am old enough tobe your father, und I will take a little. "

He poured a small glass, drank it, and rose. 

"Your old room iss ready, " he said, "und now, if you two lads will go toit, you can get a good und long night's sleep. "

Robert was somewhat surprised. He felt that they were being dismissed, which was almost like the return of the old days when they wereschoolboys, but Tayoga touched him on the elbow, and his declarationthat he was not sleepy died on his lips. Instead, he said a politegood-night and he and Tayoga went away as they were bid. 

"Now, what did he mean? Why was he so anxious to get rid of us?" askedRobert, when they were again in their room. 

"Mynheer Jacobus expects something, " replied the Onondaga, gravely. "Heexpects it to come out of the night, and appear at a window of the roomin which we first sat, the window that looks over the garden, and to thestreet behind us. "

"How do you know that?" asked Robert, astonished. 

Tayoga explained what he had seen. 

"I do not doubt you. It's convincing, " said Robert, "but I'd not havenoticed it. "

"We of the red nations have had to notice everything in order that wemight live. As surely as we sit here, Dagaeoga, Mynheer Jacobus is atthe window, watching. When I lie down on the bed I shall keep my clotheson, and I shall not sleep. We may be called. "

"I shall do the same, Tayoga. "

Nevertheless, as time passed, young Lennox fell asleep, but the Onondagadid not close his eyes. What was time to him? The red race always hadtime to spare, and nature and training had produced in him illimitablepatience. He had waited by a pool a whole day and night for a deer tocome down to drink. He heard the tall clock standing on the floor in thecorner strike ten, eleven, and then twelve, and a half hour later, whenhe was as wide awake as ever, there was a knock at the door. But he hadfirst heard the approaching footsteps of the one who came and knocked, and he was already touching the shoulder of Robert, who sat up at once, sleep wholly gone from him. 

"It is Mynheer Jacobus, " said Tayoga, "and he wants us. "

Then he opened the door and the large red face of Mynheer Huysmanlooked into the room, which was illuminated by the moonlight. 

"Come, you lads, " he said, in sharp, eager tones, "und bring yourpistols with you. "

Robert and Tayoga snatched up their weapons, and followed him into thesitting-room, where the tall lank youth, Peter, stood. 

"You know Peter, " he said, "und Peter knows you. Now, listen to what hehass to tell, but first pledge me that you will say nothing of it untilI give you leave. Do you?"

"We do, " they replied together. 

"Then, Peter, tell them what you haf seen, but be brief, because it maybe that we must act quickly. "

"Obeying the instructions of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman, whom I serve, "said Peter, smoothly, evidently enjoying his importance of the moment, "I watched tonight the house of Mynheer Hendrik Martinus, who is nottrusted by my master. The building is large, and it stands on groundwith much shrubbery that is now heavy with leaf. So it was difficult towatch all the approaches to it, but I went about it continuously, hourafter hour. A half hour ago, I caught a glimpse of a man, strong, and, as well as I could tell in the night, of a dark complexion. He was onthe lawn, among the shrubbery, hiding a little while and then going onagain. He came to a side door of the house, but he did not knock, because there was no need. The door opened of itself, and he went in. Then the door closed of itself, and he did not come out again. I waitedten minutes and then hurried to the one whom I serve with the news. "

Mynheer Jacobus turned to Tayoga and Robert. 

"I haf long suspected, " he said, "that Hendrik Martinus iss a spy in theservice of France, a traitor for his own profit, because he lovesnothing but himself und his. He has had remarkable prosperity of late, aprosperity for which no one can account, because he has had no increaseof business. Believing that a Frenchman wass here, a spy who wished tocommunicate with him, I set Peter to watch his house, und the result youknow. "

"Then it is for us to go there and seize this spy, " said Robert. 

"It iss what I wish, " said Mynheer Huysman, "und we may trap a traitorund a spy at the same time. It is well to haf money if you haf ithonestly, but Hendrik Martinus loves money too well. "

He took from a drawer a great double-barreled horse pistol, put it underhis coat, and the four, quietly leaving the house, went toward that ofHendrik Martinus. There was no light except that of the moon and, in thedistance, they saw a watchman carrying a lantern and thumping upon thestones with a stout staff. 

"It iss Andrius Tefft, " said Mynheer Jacobus. "He hass a strong arm unda head with but little in it. It would be best that he know nothing ofthis, or he would surely muddle it. "

They drew back behind some shrubbery, and Andrius Tefft, night watchman, passed by without a suspicion that one of Albany's most respectedcitizens was hiding from him. The light of his lantern faded in thedistance, and the four proceeded rapidly towards the house of HendrikMartinus, entering its grounds without hesitation and spreading in acircle about it. Robert, who lurked behind a small clipped pine in therear saw a door open, and a figure slip quietly out. It was that of aman of medium height, and as he could see by the moonlight, of darkcomplexion. He had no doubt that it was a Frenchman, the fellow whomPeter had seen enter the house. 

Robert acted with great promptness, running forward and crying to thefugitive to halt. The man, quick as a flash, drew a pistol and fireddirectly at him. The lad felt the bullet graze his scalp, and, for amoment, he thought he had been struck mortally. He staggered, butrecovered himself, and raising his own pistol, fired at the flyingfigure which was now well beyond him. He saw the man halt a moment, andquiver, but in an instant he ran on again faster than ever, anddisappeared in an alley. A little later a swift form followed in pursuitand Robert saw that it was Tayoga. 

Young Lennox knew that it was useless for him to follow, as he felt alittle dizzy and he was not yet sure of himself. He put his hand to hishair, where the bullet had struck, and, taking it away, looked anxiouslyat it. There was no blood upon either palm or finger, and then herealized, with great thankfulness, that he was merely suffering a briefweakness from the concussion caused by a heavy bullet passing so closeto his skull. He heard a hasty footstep, and Mynheer Huysman, breathingheavily and anxious, stood before him. Other and lighter footstepsindicated that Peter also was coming to his aid. 

"Haf you been shot?" exclaimed Mynheer Jacobus

"No, only shot at, " replied Robert, whimsically, "though I don't believethe marksman could come so close to me again without finishing me. Ithink it was Peter's spy because I saw him come out of the house, andcried to him to halt, but he fired first. My own bullet, I'm sure, touched him, and Tayoga is in pursuit, though the fugitive has a longlead. "

"We'll leave it to Tayoga, because we haf to, " said Mynheer Jacobus. "Ifanybody can catch him the Onondaga can, though I think he will get away. But come now, we will talk to Hendrik Martinus und Andrius Tefft whohass heard the shots und who iss coming back. You lads, let me do all ofthe talking. Since the spy or messenger or whatever he iss hass gotaway, it iss best that we do not tell all we know. "

The watchman was returning at speed, his staff pounding quick and hardon the stones, his lantern swinging wildly. The houses there weredetached and nobody else seemed to have heard the shots, save HendrikMartinus and his family. Martinus, fully dressed, was coming out of hishouse, his manner showing great indignation, and the heads of women innightcaps appeared at the windows. 

"What is this intrusion, Mynheer Huysman? Why are you in my grounds? Andwho fired those two pistol shots I heard?"

"Patience, Hendrik! Patience!" replied Mynheer Jacobus, in a smoothsuave manner that surprised Robert. "My young friend, Master Lennox, here, saw a man running across your grounds, after having slippedsurreptitiously out of your house. Suspecting that he had taken undcarried from you that which he ought not to haf, Master Lennox called tohim to stop. The reply wass a pistol bullet und Master Lennox, beingyoung und like the young prone to swift anger, fired back. But the manhass escaped with hiss spoil, whatefer it iss, und you only, Hendrik, know what it iss. "

Hendrik Martinus looked at Jacobus Huysman and Jacobus Huysman lookedsquarely back at him. The angry fire died out of the eyes of Martinus, and instead came a swift look of comprehension which passed in aninstant. When he spoke again his tone was changed remarkably:

"Doubtless it was a robber, " he said, "and I thank you, Mynheer Jacobus, and Master Lennox, and your boy Peter, for your attempt to catch him. But I fear that he has escaped. "

"I will pursue him und capture him, " exclaimed Mynheer Andrius Tefft, who stood by, listening to their words and puffing and blowing. 

"I fear it iss too late, Andrius, " said Mynheer Jacobus Huysman, shakinghis head. "If anyone could do it, it would be you, but doubtless MynheerHendrik hass not lost anything that he cannot replace, und it would bebetter for you, Andrius, to watch well here und guard against futureattempts. "

"That would be wise, no doubt, " said Martinus, and Robert thought hedetected an uneasy note in his voice. 

"Then I will go, " said Andrius Tefft, and he walked on, swinging hislantern high and wide, until its beams fell on every house and tree andshrub. 

"I will return to my house, " said Mynheer Martinus. "My wife anddaughters were alarmed by the shots, and I will tell them what hashappened. "

"It iss the wise thing to do, " said Mynheer Huysman, gravely, "und Iwould caution you, Hendrik, to be on your guard against robbers who slipso silently into your house und then slip out again in the same silence. The times are troubled und the wicked take advantage of them to theirown profit. "

"It is true, Mynheer Jacobus, " said Martinus somewhat hastily, and hewalked back to his own house without looking Huysman in the eyes again. 

Mynheer Huysman, Robert and Peter returned slowly. 

"I think Hendrik understands me, " said Mynheer Huysman; "I am sorry thatwe did not catch the go-between, but Hendrik hass had a warning, und hewill be afraid. Our night's work iss not all in vain. Peter, you hafdone well, but I knew you would. Now, we will haf some refreshment undawait the return of Tayoga. "

"I believe, " said Robert, "that in Albany, when one is in doubt what todo one always eats. Is it not so?"

"It iss so, " replied Mynheer Jacobus, smiling, "und what better couldone do? While you wait, build up the body, because when you build up thebody you build up the mind, too, und at the same time it iss apleasure. "

Robert and Peter ate nothing, but Mynheer Jacobus partook amply of coldbeef and game, drank a great glass of home-made beer, and then smoked along pipe with intense satisfaction. One o'clock in the morning came, then two, then three, and Mynheer Jacobus, taking the stem of his pipefrom his mouth, said:

"I think it will not be long now before Tayoga iss here. Long ago hehass either caught hiss man or hiss man hass got away, und he issreturning. I see hiss shadow now in the shrubbery. Let him in, Peter. "

Tayoga entered the room, breathing a little more quickly than usual, hisdark eyes showing some disappointment. 

"It wass not your fault that he got away, Tayoga, " said Mynheer Jacobussoothingly. "He had too long a start, und doubtless he was fleet offoot. I think he iss the very kind of man who would be fleet of foot. "

"I had to pick up his trail after he went through the alley, " saidTayoga, "and I lost time in doing so. When I found it he was out of themain part of the town and in the outskirts, running towards the river. Even then I might have caught him, but he sprang into the stream andswam with great skill and speed. When I came upon the bank, he was toofar away for a shot from my pistol, and he escaped into the thickets onthe other shore. "

"I wish we could have caught him, " said Mynheer Jacobus. "Then we mighthave uncovered much that I would like to know. What iss it, Tayoga? Youhaf something more to tell!"

"Before he reached the river, " said the Onondaga, "he tore in pieces aletter, a letter that must have been enclosed in an envelope. I saw thelittle white pieces drift away before the wind. I suppose he was afraidI might catch him, and so he destroyed the letter which must have had atale to tell. When I came back I looked for the pieces, but I found onlyone large enough to bear anything that had meaning. " He took from histunic a fragment of white paper and held it up. It bore upon it twowords in large letters:

"ACHILLE GARAY"

"That, " said Robert, "is obviously the name of a Frenchman, and it seemsto me it must have been the name of this fugitive spy or messenger towhom the letter was addressed. Achille Garay is the man whom we want. Don't you think so, Mynheer Huysman?"

"It iss truly the one we would like to capture, " said Mynheer Jacobus, "but I fear that all present chance to do so hass passed. Still, we willremember. The opportunity may come again. Achille Garay! Achille Garay!We will bear that name in mind! Und now, lads, all of you go to bed. Youhaf done well, too, Tayoga. Nobody could haf done better. "

Robert, when alone the next day, met Hendrik Martinus in the street. Martinus was about to pas? without speaking, but Robert bowed politelyand said:

"I'm most sorry, Mr. Martinus, that we did not succeed in capturing yourburglar last night, but my Onondaga friend followed him to the river, which he swam, then escaping. 'Tis true that he escaped, butnevertheless Tayoga salvaged a piece of a letter that he destroyed as heran, and upon the fragment was written a name which we're quite sure wasthat of the bold robber. "

Robert paused, and he saw the face of Martinus whiten. 

"You do not ask me the name, Mynheer Martinus, " he said. "Do you feel nocuriosity at all about it?"

"What was it?" asked Martinus, thickly. 

"Achille Garay. "

Martinus trembled violently, but by a supreme effort controlled himself. 

"I never heard it before, " he said. "It sounds like a French name. "

"It is a French name. I'm quite confident of it. I merely wanted you tounderstand that we haven't lost all trace of your robber, that we knowhis name, and that we may yet take him. "

"It does look as if you had a clew, " said Martinus. He was as white asdeath, though naturally rubicund, and without another word he walked on. Robert looked after him and saw the square shoulders drooping a little. He had not the slightest doubt of the man's guilt, and he was filledwith indignant wonder that anyone's love of money should be strongenough to create in him the willingness to sell his country. He was sureMynheer Jacobus was right. Martinus was sending their military secretsinto Canada for French gold, and yet they had not a particle of proof. The man must be allowed to go his way until something much moreconclusive offered. Both he and Tayoga talked it over with Willet, andthe hunter agreed that they could do nothing for the present. 

"But, " he said, "the time may come when we can do much. "

Then Martinus disappeared for a while from Robert's mind, because thenext day he met the famous old Indian known in the colonies as KingHendrik of the Mohawks. Hendrik, an ardent and devoted friend of theAmericans and English, had come to Albany to see Colonel WilliamJohnson, and to march with him against the French and Indians. There wasno hesitation, no doubt about him, and despite his age he would lead theMohawk warriors in person into battle. Willet, who had known him long, introduced Robert, who paid him the respect and deference due to an agedand great chief. 

Hendrik, who was a Mohegan by birth but by adoption a Mohawk, adoptionhaving all the value of birth, was then a full seventy years of age. Hespoke English fluently, he had received education in an American school, and a substantial house, in which he had lived for many years, stoodnear the Canajoharie or upper castle of the Mohawks. He had been twiceto England and on each occasion had been received by the king, the headof one nation offering hospitality to the allied head of another. Aportrait of him in full uniform had been painted by a celebrated Londonpainter. 

He had again put on his fine uniform upon the occasion of his meetingwith Colonel Johnson on the Albany flats, and when Robert saw him he wasstill clothed in it. His coat was of superfine green cloth, heavilyornamented with gold epaulets and gold lace. His trousers were of thesame green cloth with gold braid all along the seams, and his feet werein shoes of glossy leather with gold buckles. A splendid cocked hat witha feather in it was upon his head. Beneath the shadow of the hat was aface of reddish bronze, aged but intelligent, and, above all, honest. 

Hendrik in an attire so singular for a Mohawk might have lookedridiculous to many a man, but Robert, who knew so much of Indian nature, found him dignified and impressive. 

"I have heard of you, my son, " said Hendrik, in the precise, scholarlyEnglish which Tayoga used. "You are a friend of the brave young chief, Daganoweda, and to you, because of your gift of speech, has been giventhe name, Dagaeoga. The Onondaga, Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, isyour closest comrade, and you are also the one who made the great speechin the Vale of Onondaga before the fifty sachems against the missionary, Father Drouillard, and the French leader, St. Luc. They say that wordsflowed like honey from your lips. "

"It was the occasion, not any words of mine, " said Robert modestly. 

"I was ill then, and could not be present, " continued the old chiefgravely, "and another took my place. I should have been glad could Ihave heard that test of words in the Vale of Onondaga, because goldenspeech is pleasant in my ears, but Manitou willed it otherwise, and Icannot complain, as I have had much in my long life. Now the time forwords has passed. They have failed and the day of battle is at hand. Igo on my last war trail. "

"No! No, Hendrik!" exclaimed Willet. "You will emerge again the victor, covered with glory. "

"Yes, Great Bear, it is written here, " insisted the old Mohawk, tappinghis forehead. "It is my last war trail, but it will be a great one. Iknow it. How I know it I do not know, but I know it. The voice ofManitou has spoken in my ear and I cannot doubt. I shall fall in battleby the shores of Andiatarocte (the Iroquois name of Lake George) andthere is no cause to mourn. I have lived the three score years and tenwhich the Americans and English say is the allotted age of man, and whatcould be better for a Mohawk chief, when the right end for his days hascome, than to fall gloriously at the head of his warriors? I have knownyou long, Great Bear. You have always been the friend of theHodenosaunee. You have understood us, you have never lied to us, andtricked us, as the fat traders do. I think that when I draw my lastbreath you will not be far away and it will be well. I could not wishfor any better friend than Great Bear to be near when I leave this earthon my journey to the star on which the mighty Hayowentha, the Mohawkchief of long ago, lives. "

Willet was much affected, and he put his hand on the shoulder of his oldfriend. 

"I hope you are wrong, Hendrik, " he said, "and that many years of goodlife await you, but if you do fall it is fitting, as you say, to fall atthe head of your warriors. "

The old chief smiled. It was evident that he had made his peace with hisManitou, and that he awaited the future without anxiety. 

"Remember the shores of Andiatarocte, " he said. "They are bold andlofty, covered with green forest, and they enclose the most beautiful ofall the lakes. It is a wonderful lake. I have known it more than sixtyyears. The mountains, heavy with the great forest, rise all around it. Its waters are blue or green or silver as the skies over it change. Itis full of islands, each like a gem in a cluster. I have gone thereoften, merely to sit on a great cliff a half mile above its waters, andlook down on the lake, Andiatarocte, the Andiatarocte of theHodenosaunee that Manitou gave to us because we strive to serve him. Itis a great and glorious gift to me that I should be allowed to die inbattle there and take my flight from its shores to Hayowentha's star, the star on which Hayowentha sits, and from which he talks acrossinfinite space, which is nothing to them, to the great Onondagachieftain Tododaho, also on his star to which he went more than fourcenturies ago. "

The face of the old chief was rapt and mystic. The black eyes in thebronzed face looked into futurity and infinity. Robert was more thanimpressed, he had a feeling of awe. A great Indian chief was a greatIndian chief to him, as great as any man, and he did not doubt that thewords of Hendrik would come true. And like Hendrik himself he did notsee any cause for grief. He, too, had looked upon the beautiful shoresof Andiatarocte, and it was a fitting place for a long life to end, preparatory to another and eternal life among the stars. 

He gravely saluted King Hendrik with the full respect and deference duehim, to which the chief replied, obviously pleased with the good mannersof the youth, and then he and the hunter walked to another portion ofthe camp. 

"A great man, a really great man!" said Willet. 

"He made a great speech here in Albany more than a year ago to acongress of white men, and he has made many great speeches. He is also agreat warrior, and for nearly a half century he has valiantly defendedthe border against the French and their Indians. "

"I wonder if what he says about falling in battle on the shores ofAndiatarocte will come true. "

"We'll wait and see, Robert, we'll wait and see, but I've an idea thatit will. Some of these Indians, especially the old, seem to have thegift of second sight, and we who live so much in the woods know thatmany strange things happen. "

A few days of intense activity followed. The differences betweenGovernor Shirley and the commander, Colonel William Johnson, werecomposed, and the motley army would soon march forward to the head ofAndiatarocte to meet Dieskau and the French. It was evident that thebeautiful lake which both English and French claimed, but which reallybelonged to the Hodenosaunee, had become one of two keys to the NorthAmerican lock, the other being its larger and scarcely less beautifulsister, Champlain. They and their chains of rivers had been forcenturies the great carry between what had become the French and Englishcolonies, and whoever became the ruler of these two lakes would becomethe ruler of the continent. 

It was granted to Robert with his extraordinary imaginative gifts tolook far into the future. He had seen the magnificence of the northcountry, its world of forest and fertile land, its network of rivers andlakes, a region which he believed to be without an equal anywhere onearth, and he knew that an immense and vigorous population was bound tospring up there. He had his visions and dreams, and perhaps his youthmade him dream all the more, and more magnificently than older men whoselives had been narrowed by the hard facts of the present. It was inthese brilliant, glowing dreams of his that New York might some day beas large as London, with a commerce as large, and that Boston andPhiladelphia and other places for which the sites were not yet cleared, would be a match for the great cities of the Old World. 

And yet but few men in the colonies were dreaming such dreams, whichbecame facts in a period amazingly short, as the history of the worldruns. Perhaps the dream was in the wise and prophetic brain of Franklinor in the great imagination of Jefferson, but there is little to provethat more than a few were dreaming that way. To everybody, almost, thepeople on the east coast of North America were merely the rival outpostsof France and England. 

But the army that was starting for the green shores of Andiatarocte borewith it the fate of mighty nations, and its march, hidden and obscure, compared with that of many a great army in Europe, was destined to havea vast influence upon the world. 

It was a strange composite force. There were the militiamen from NewEngland, tall, thin, hardy and shrewd, accustomed to lives of absoluteindependence, full of confidence and eager to go against the enemy. Manyof the New Yorkers were of the same type, but the troops of thatprovince also included the Germans and the Dutch, most of the Germansstill unable to speak the English language. There was the littlePhiladelphia troop under Colden, trained now, the wild rangers from theborder, and the fierce Mohawks led by King Hendrik and Daganoweda. Colonel Johnson, an Irishman by birth, but more of an American than manyof those born on the soil, was the very man to fuse and lead an army ofsuch varying elements. 

Robert now saw Waraiyageh at his best. He soothed the vanity of GovernorShirley. He endeared himself to the New England officers and their men. He talked their own languages to the men of German and Dutch blood, andhe continued to wield over the Mohawks an influence that no other whiteman ever had. The Mohawk lad, Joseph Brant, the great Thayendanegea ofthe future, was nearly always with him, and Tayoga himself was not moreeager for the march. 

Now came significant arrivals in the camp, Robert Rogers, the ranger, atthe head of his men, and with him Black Rifle, dark, saturnine andsilent, although Robert noticed that now and then his black eyes flashedunder the thick shade of his long lashes. They brought reports of thegreatest activity among the French and Indians about the northern end ofAndiatarocte, and that Dieskau was advancing in absolute confidence thathe would equal the achievement of Dumas, St. Luc, Ligneris and theothers against Braddock. All about him were the terrible Indian swarms. Every settler not slain had fled with his people for their lives. Onlythe most daring and skillful of the American forest runners could livein the woods, and the price they paid was perpetual vigilance. Foremostamong the Indian leaders was Tandakora, the huge Ojibway, and he sparednone who fell into his hands. Torture and death were their fate. 

The face of Colonel Johnson darkened when Rogers told him the news. "Mypoor people!" he groaned. "Why were we compelled to wait so long?" Andby his "people" he meant the Mohawks no less than the whites. Thevaliant tribe, and none more valiant ever lived, was threatened withdestruction by the victorious and exultant hordes. 

Refugees poured into Albany, bringing tales of destruction and terror. Albany itself would soon be attacked by Dieskau, with his regulars, hiscannon, his Canadians and his thousands of Indians, and it could notstand before them. Robert, Tayoga and Willet were with Colonel Johnson, when Rogers and Black Rifle arrived, and they saw his deep grief andanger. 

"The army will march in a few more days, David, old friend, " he said, "but it must move slowly. One cannot take cannon and wagons through theunbroken forest, and so I am sending forward two thousand men to cut aroad. Then our main force will advance, but we should do somethingearlier, something that will brush back these murderous swarms. David, old friend, what are we to do?"

Willet looked around in thought, and he caught the flashing eyes ofRogers. He glanced at Black Rifle and his dark eyes, too, were sparklingunder their dark lashes. He understood what was in their minds, and itappealed to him. 

"Colonel Johnson, " he said, "one must burn the faces of the French andIndians, and show them a victory is not theirs until they've won it. LetMr. Rogers here take the rangers he has, other picked ones from thecamp, Robert, Tayoga and me, perhaps also a chosen band of Mohawks underDaganoweda, and go forward to strike a blow that will delay Dieskau. "

The somber face of Waraiyageh lightened. 

"David Willet, " he said, "you are a man. I have always known it, but itseems to me that every time I meet you you have acquired some new virtueof the mind. 'Tis a daring task you undertake, but a noble one that Ithink will prove fruitful. Perhaps, though, you should leave the ladsbehind. "

Then up spoke Robert indignantly. 

"I've been through a thousand dangers with Dave, and I'll not shirk anew one. I have no commission in the army and it cannot hold me. I shallbe sorry to go without your permission, Colonel Johnson, but go I surelywill. "

"For more centuries than man knows, my ancestors have trod the wartrail, " said Tayoga, "and I should not be worthy to have been born a sonof the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League ofthe Hodenosaunee, if I did not go now upon the greatest war trail ofthem all, when the nations gather to fight for the lordship of half aworld. When the Great Bear and the Mountain Wolf and Dagaeoga and theothers leave this camp for the shores of Andiatarocte I go with them!"

He stood very erect, his head thrown back a little, his eyes flashing, his face showing unalterable resolve. Colonel Johnson laughed mellowly. 

"What a pair of young eagles we have!" he exclaimed in a pleased tone. "And if that fiery child, Joseph Brant, were here he would be wild to gotoo! And if I let him go on such a venture Molly Brant would neverforgive me. Well, it's a good spirit and I have no right to make anyfurther objection. But do you, Dave Willet, and you, Rogers, and you, Black Rifle, see that they take no unnecessary risks. "

Grosvenor also was eager to go, but they thought his experience in thewoods was yet too small for him to join the rangers, and, to his greatdisappointment, the band was made up without him. Then they arranged fortheir departure. 

CHAPTER VII

ON THE GREAT TRAIL

Robert appreciated fully all the dangers they were sure to encounterupon their perilous expedition to the lakes. Having the gift ofimagination, he saw them in their most alarming colors, but having abrave heart also, he was more than willing, he was eager to encounterthem with his chosen comrades by his side. The necessity of strikingsome quick and sharp blow became more apparent every hour, or the lakes, so vital in the fortunes of the war, would soon pass into the completepossession of the French and Indians. 

The band was chosen and equipped with the utmost care. It included, ofcourse, all of Rogers' rangers, Robert, Tayoga, Willet and Black Rifle, making a total of fifty white men, all of tried courage and inured tothe forest. Besides there were fifty Mohawks under Daganoweda, the verypick of the tribe, stalwart warriors, as tough as hickory, experiencedin every art of wilderness trail and war, and eager to be at the foe. Every white man was armed with a rifle, a pistol, a hatchet and a knife, carrying also a pouch containing many bullets, a large horn of powder, ablanket folded tightly and a knapsack full of food. The Mohawks werearmed to the teeth in a somewhat similar fashion, and, it beingmidsummer and the weather warm, they were bare to the waist. Rogers, theranger, was in nominal command of the whole hundred, white and red, butWillet and Daganoweda in reality were on an equality, and since thethree knew one another well and esteemed one another highly they weresure to act in perfect coordination. Black Rifle, it was understood, would go and come as he pleased. He was under the orders of no man. 

"I give you no instructions, " said Colonel William Johnson to the threeleaders, "because I know of none to be given under such circumstances. No man can tell what awaits you in the forest and by the lakes. I merelyask you in God's name to be careful! Do not walk into any trap! And yet'tis foolish of me to warn Robert Rogers, David Willet, Black Rifle andDaganoweda, four foresters who probably haven't their equal in all NorthAmerica. But we can ill afford to lose you. If you do not see your wayto strike a good blow perhaps it would be better to come back and marchwith the army. "

"You don't mean that, William, old friend, " said Willet, smiling andaddressing him familiarly by his first name. "In your heart you would beashamed of us if we returned without achieving at least one good deedfor our people. And turning from William, my old friend, to ColonelWilliam Johnson, our commander, I think I can promise that a high deedwill be achieved. Where could you find a hundred finer men than these, fifty white and fifty red?"

Daganoweda, who understood him perfectly, smiled proudly and glanced atthe ranks of Mohawks who stood impassive, save for their eager, burningeyes. 

"But be sure to bring back the good lads, Robert and Tayoga, " saidMynheer Jacobus Huysman, who stood with Colonel William Johnson. "Iwould keep them from going, if I could, but I know I cannot and perhapsI am proud of them, because I know they will not listen to me. "

King Hendrik of the Mohawks, in his gorgeous colored clothes, was alsopresent, his bronzed and aged face lighted up with the warlike gleamfrom his eyes. Evidently his mind was running back over the countlessforays and expeditions he had led in the course of fifty years. Helonged once more for the forests, the beautiful lakes and the great wartrail. His seventy years had not quenched his fiery spirit, but they hadtaken much of his strength, and so he would abide with the army, goingwith it on its slow march. 

"My son, " he said, with the gravity and dignity of an old Indian sachem, to Daganoweda, "upon this perilous chance you carry the honor andfortune of the Ganeagaono, the great warlike nation of the Hodenosaunee. It is not necessary for me to bid you do your duty and show to the GreatBear, the Mountain Wolf, Black Rifle and the other white men that ayoung Mohawk chief will go where any other will go, and if need be willdie with all his men before yielding a foot of ground. I do not bid youdo these things because I know that you will do them without any wordsfrom me, else you would not be a Mohawk chief, else you would not beDaganoweda, son of fire and battle. "

Daganoweda smiled proudly. The wise old sachem had struck upon the mostresponsive chords in his nature. 

"I will try to bear myself as a Mohawk should, " he said simply. 

Colden and Grosvenor were also there. 

"I'm sorry our troop can't go with you, " said the young Philadelphian, "but I'm not one to question the wisdom and decision of ourcommander-in-chief. Doubtless we'd be a drag upon such a band as yours, but I wish we could have gone. At least, we'll be with the army which isgoing to march soon, and perhaps we'll overtake you at Lake Georgebefore many days. "

"And I, " said Grosvenor to Robert and Tayoga, "am serving on the staffof the commander. I'm perhaps the only Englishman here and I'm anobserver more than anything else. So I could be spared most readily, butthe colonel will not let me go. He says there is no reason why we shouldoffer a scalp without price to Tandakora, the Ojibway. "

"And I abide by what I said, " laughed Colonel Johnson, who heard. "You're in conditions new to you, Grosvenor, though you've had onetragic and dreadful proof of what the Indians can do, but there's greatstuff in you and I'm not willing to see it thrown away before it'sdeveloped. Don't be afraid the French and Indians won't give you all thefighting you want, though I haven't the slightest doubt you'll stand upto it like a man. "

"Thank you, sir, " said Grosvenor, modestly. 

The lad, Peter, was also eager to go, and he was soothed only by thepromise of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman that he might join the army on themarch to Lake George. 

Then the leaders gave the word and the hundred foresters, fifty whiteand fifty red, plunged into the great northern wilderness whichstretched through New York into Canada, one of the most beautifulregions on earth, and at that particular time the most dangerous, swarming with ruthless Indians and daring French partisans. 

It was remarkable how soon they reached the wilds after leaving Albany. The Dutch had been along the Hudson for more than a century, and theEnglish had come too, but all of them had clung mostly to the river. Powerful and warlike tribes roamed the great northern forests, and theFrench colonies in the north and the English colonies in the south had ahealthy respect for the fighting powers of one another. The doubtfulground between was wide and difficult, and anyone who ventured into itnow had peril always beside him. 

The forest received the hundred, the white and the red, and hid them atonce in its depths. It was mid-summer, but there was yet no brown on theleaves. A vast green canopy overhung the whole earth, and in everyvalley flowed brooks and rivers of clean water coming down from the firmhills. The few traces made by the white man had disappeared since thewar. The ax was gone, and the scalp-hunters had taken its place. 

Robert, vivid of mind, quickly responsive to the externals of nature, felt all the charm and majesty that the wilderness in its mightiestmanifestations had for him. He did not think of danger yet, because hewas surrounded by men of so much bravery and skill. He did not believethat in all the world there was such another hundred, and he was full ofpride to be the comrade of such champions. 

Daganoweda and the Mohawks reverted at once to the primitive, from whichthey had never departed much. The young Mohawk chieftain was in advancewith Willet. He had a blanket but it was folded and carried in a smallpack on his back. He was bare to the waist and his mighty chest waspainted in warlike fashion. All his warriors were in similar attire orlack of it. 

Daganoweda was happy. Robert saw his black eyes sparkling, and hecontinually raised his nose to scent the wind like some hunting animal. Robert knew that in his fierce heart he was eager for the sight of ahostile band. The enemy could not come too soon for Daganoweda and theMohawks. Tayoga's face showed the same stern resolve, but the Onondaga, more spiritual than the Mohawk, lacked the fierceness of Daganoweda. 

When they were well into the wilderness they stopped and held aconsultation, in which Rogers, Willet, Black Rifle, Daganoweda, Robertand Tayoga shared. They were to decide a question of vitalimportance--their line of march. They believed that Dieskau and the mainFrench army had not yet reached Crown Point, the great French fortresson Lake Champlain, but there was terrible evidence that the swarms ofhis savage allies were not only along Champlain but all around LakeGeorge, and even farther south. Unquestionably the French partisanleaders were with them, and where and when would it be best for theAmerican-Iroquois force to strike?

"I think, " said Willet, "that St. Luc himself will be here. The Marquisde Vaudreuil, the new Governor General of Canada, knows his merit andwill be sure to send him ahead of Dieskau. "

Robert felt the thrill that always stirred him at the mention of St. Luc's name. Would they meet once more in the forest? He knew that if theChevalier came all their own skill and courage would be needed to meethim on equal terms. However kindly St. Luc might feel toward him hewould be none the less resolute and far-seeing in battle against theEnglish and Americans. 

"I think we should push for the western shore of Andiatarocte, " saidWillet. "What is your opinion, Daganoweda?"

"The Great Bear is right. He is nearly always right, " replied theMohawk. "If we go along the eastern shore and bear in toward Champlainwe might be trapped by the French and their warriors. West ofAndiatarocte the danger to us would not be so great, while we would havean equal chance to strike. "

"Well spoken, Daganoweda, " said Rogers. "I agree with you that for thepresent it would be wise for us to keep away from Oneadatote (the Indianname for Lake Champlain) and keep to Andiatarocte. The Indians are armedat Crown Point on Oneadatote, which was once our own Fort SaintFrederick, founded by us, but plenty of them spread to the westward andwe'll be sure to have an encounter. "

The others were of a like opinion, and the line of march was quicklyarranged. Then they settled themselves for the night, knowing there wasno haste, as the French and Indians would come to meet them, but knowingalso there was always great need of caution, since if their foes weresure to come it was well to know just when they would come. The Mohawksasked for the watch, meaning to keep it with three relays of a dozenwarriors each, a request that Rogers and Willet granted readily, and allthe white forest runners prepared for sleep, save the strange andterrible man whom they commonly called Black Rifle. 

Black Rifle, whose story was known in some form along the whole border, was a figure with a sort of ominous fascination for Robert, who couldnot keep from watching him whenever he was within eye-shot. He hadnoticed that the man was restless and troubled at Albany. The presenceof so many people and the absence of the wilderness appeared to vex him. But since they had returned to the forest his annoyance and uneasinesswere gone. He was confident and assured, he seemed to have grown greatlyin size, and he was a formidable and menacing figure. 

Black Rifle did not watch with the Mohawk sentinels, but he wascontinually making little trips into the forest, absences of ten orfifteen minutes, and whenever he returned his face bore a slight look ofdisappointment. Robert knew it was because he had found no Indian sign, but to the lad himself the proof that the enemy was not yet near gavepeace. He was eager to go on the great war trail, but he was not fond ofbloodshed, though to him more perhaps than to any other was given thevision of a vast war, and of mighty changes with results yet moremighty flowing from those changes. His heart leaped at the belief thathe should have a part in them, no matter how small the part. 

He lay on the grass with his blanket beneath him, his head on a pillowof dead leaves. Not far away was Tayoga, already asleep. They had builtno fires, and as the night was dark the bronze figures of the Indiansentinels soon grew dim. Rogers and Willet also slept, but Robert stilllay there awake, seeing many pictures through his wide-open eyes, Quebec, the lost Stadacona of the Mohawks, the St. Lawrence, Tandakora, the huge Ojibway who had hunted him so fiercely, St. Luc, De Courcelles, and all the others who had passed out of his life for a while, though hefelt now, with the prescience of old King Hendrik, that they were comingback again. His path would lie for a long time away from cities and thegay and varied life that appealed to him so much, and would lead oncemore through the wilderness, which also appealed to him, but in anotherway. Hence when he slept his wonderfully vivid imagination did notpermit him to sleep as soundly as the others. 

He awoke about midnight and sat up on his blanket, looking around at thesleeping forms, dim in the darkness. He distinguished Tayoga near him, just beyond him the mighty figure of Willet, then that of Rogers, scarcely less robust, and farther on some of the white men. He did notsee Black Rifle, but he felt sure that he was in the forest, looking forthe signs of Indians and hoping to find them. Daganoweda also wasinvisible and it was likely that the fiery young Mohawk chief wasoutside the camp on an errand similar to that of Black Rifle. He wasable to trace on the outskirts the figures of the sentinels, shadowy andalmost unreal in the darkness, but he knew that the warriors of theGaneagaono watched with eyes that saw everything even in the dusk, andlistened with ears that heard everything, whether night or day. 

He fell again into a doze or a sort of half sleep in which Tarenyawagon, the sender of dreams, made him see more pictures and see them muchfaster than he ever saw them awake. The time of dreams did not last morethan half an hour, but in that period he lived again many years of hislife. He passed once more through many scenes of his early boyhood whenWillet was teaching him the ways of the forest. He met Tayoga anew forthe first time, together they went to the house of Mynheer JacobusHuysman in Albany, and together they went to the school of AlexanderMcLean; then he jumped over a long period and with Willet and Tayoga hadhis first meeting with St. Luc and Tandakora. He was talking to theFrenchman when he came out of that period of years which was yet lessthan an hour, and sat up. 

All the others save the sentinels were asleep, but his delicate senseswarned him that something was moving in the forest. It was at first aninstinct rather than anything seen or heard, but soon he traced againstthe misty background of the dusk the shadowy figures of moving Mohawks. He saw the tall form of Daganoweda, who had come back from the forest, and who must have come because he had something to tell. Then he madeout behind the Mohawk chief, Black Rifle, and, although he could notsee his features, the white man nevertheless looked swart and menacing, an effect of the day carried over into the night. 

It was Robert's first impulse to lie down again and pretend not to know, but he remembered that he was in the full confidence of them all, atrusted lieutenant, welcomed at any time, anywhere, and so remembering, he arose and walked on light foot to the place where Daganoweda stoodtalking with the others. The Mohawk chief gave him one favoring glance, telling him he was glad that he had come. Then he returned his attentionto a young Indian warrior who stood alert, eager and listening. 

"Haace (Panther), where did you find the sign that someone had passed?"he asked. 

"Two miles to the north _Gao_ (the wind) brought me a sound, " repliedHaace. "It was light. It might have been made by the boughs of _Oondote_(a tree) rubbing together, but the ears of Haace told him it was not so. I crept through _Gabada_ (the forest) to the place, whence the sound hadcome, and lo! it and whatever had made it were gone, but I found amongthe bushes traces to show that moccasins had passed. "

Fire leaped up in the black eyes of Daganoweda. 

"Did you follow?" he asked. 

"For a mile, and I found other traces of moccasins passing. The tracesmet and fused into one trail. All the owners of the moccasins knelt anddrank at a _Dushote_ (a spring), and as they were very thirsty they musthave come far. "

"How do you know, Haace?"

"Because the imprints of their knees were sunk deep in the earth, showing that they drank long and with eagerness. _Oneganosa_ (the water)was sweet to their lips, and they would not have drunk so long had theynot been walking many miles. I would have followed further, but I feltthat I should come back and tell to my chief, Daganoweda, what I hadseen. "

"You have done well, Haace. Some day the Panther will turn into achief. "

The black eyes of the young warrior flashed with pleasure, but he saidnothing, silence becoming him when he was receiving precious words ofpraise from his leader. 

"I saw sign of the savages too, " said Black Rifle. "I came upon thecoals of a dead fire about two days' old. By the side of it I foundthese two red beads that had dropped from the leggings or moccasins ofsome warrior. I've seen beads of this kind before, and they all comefrom the French in Canada. "

"Then, " said Robert, speaking for the first time, "you've no doubt theenemy is near?"

"None in the world, " replied Black Rifle, "but I think they're goingwest, away from us. It's not likely they know yet we're here, but solarge a band as ours can't escape their notice long. "

"If they did not find that we are here, " said Daganoweda proudly, "wewould soon tell it to them ourselves, and in such manner that they wouldremember it. "

"That we would, " said Black Rifle, with equal emphasis. "Now, what doyou think, Daganoweda? Should we wake the Great Bear and the MountainWolf?"

"No, Black Rifle. Let them sleep on. They will need tomorrow the sleepthey get tonight. Man lives by day in the sleep that he has at night, and we wish the eyes of them all to be clear and the arms of them all tobe strong, when the hour of battle, which is not far away, comes to us. "

"You're right, Daganoweda, right in both things you say, right that theyneed all their strength, and right that we'll soon meet St. Luc, at thehead of the French and Indians, because I'm as sure as I know that I'mstanding here that he's now leading 'em. Shall we finish out the nighthere, and then follow on their trail until we can bring 'em to battle onterms that suit us?"

"Yes, Black Rifle. That is what the Great Bear and the Mountain Wolfwould say too, and so I shall not awake them. Instead, I too will go tosleep. "

Daganoweda, as much a Viking as any that ever lived in Scandinavia, laydown among his men and went quickly to the home over which Tarenyawagonpresided. Haace, filled with exultation that he had received the highapproval of his chief, slid away among the trees on another scout, and, in like manner, the forest swallowed up Black Rifle. Once more the campwas absolutely silent, only the thin and shadowy figures of the bronzesentinels showing through the misty gloom. Robert lay down again andTarenyawagon, the sender of dreams, held him in his spell. His excitedbrain, even in sleep, was a great sensitive plate, upon which pictures, vivid and highly colored, were passing in a gorgeous procession. 

Now, Tarenyawagon carried him forward and not back. They met St. Luc inbattle, and it was dark and bloody. How it ended he did not know, because a veil was dropped over it suddenly, and then he was in theforest with Tayoga, fleeing for his life once more from Tandakora, DeCourcelles and their savage band. Nor was it given to him to know howthe pursuit ended, because the veil fell again suddenly, and when it waslifted he was in a confused and terrible battle not far from a lake, where French soldiers, American soldiers and English soldiers weremingled in horrible conflict. For some strange reason, one that hewondered at then, he stood among the French, but while he wondered, andwhile the combat increased in ferocity the veil slipped down and it wasall gone like a mist. Then came other pictures, vivid in color, butvague in detail, that might or might not be scenes in his future life, and he awoke at last to find the dawn had come. 

Tayoga was already awake and handed him a piece of venison. 

"Eat, Dagaeoga, " he said, "and drink at the little spring in the wood onour right. I have learned what Haace and Black Rifle saw in the night, and we march in half an hour. "

Robert did more than drink at the spring; he also bathed his face, neckand hands at the little brook that ran away from it, and althoughTarenyawagon had been busy shifting his kaleidoscope before him while heslept, he was as much refreshed as if he had slumbered without dreams. The dawn, clear but hot in the great forest, brought with it zeal andconfidence. They would follow on the trail of the French and Indianleaders, and he believed, as surely as a battle came, that Willet, Rogers, Daganoweda and their men would be the victors. 

As soon as the brief and cold breakfast was finished the hundreddeparted silently. The white rangers wore forest dress dyed green thatblended with the foliage, and the Mohawks still wore scarcely anythingat all. It was marvelous the way in which they traveled, and it wouldnot have been possible to say that white man or red man was the better. Robert heard now and then only the light brush of a moccasin. A hundredmen flitted through the greenwood and they passed like phantoms. 

In a brief hour they struck the trail that Haace had found, and followedit swiftly, but with alert eyes for ambush. Presently other littletrails flowed into it, some from the east, and some from the west, andthe tributaries included imprints, which obviously were those of whitemen. Then the whole broad trail, apparently a force of about onehundred, curved back toward the west. 

"They go to Andiatarocte, " said Daganoweda. "Perhaps they meet anotherforce there. "

"It's probably so, " said Willet. "Knowing that our army is about toadvance they wouldn't come to the southwest shore of the lake unlessthey were in strength. I still feel that St. Luc is leading them, butother Frenchmen are surely with him. It behooves us to use all thecaution of which white men and red together are capable. In truth, theremust be no ambush for us. Besides the loss which we should suffer itwould be a terrible decrease of prestige for it to be known that theMountain Wolf and Daganoweda, the most warlike of all the chiefs of theGaneagaono, were trapped by the French and their savage allies. "

Willet spoke artfully and the response was instantaneous. The greatchest of Daganoweda swelled, and a spark leaped from his eyes. 

"It will never be told of us, " he said, "because it cannot happen. Thereare not enough of the French and their savage allies in the world totrap the Great Bear, the Mountain Wolf, Daganoweda, and the lads Tayogaand Dagaeoga. "

Willet smiled. It was the reply that he had expected. Moreover, both hiswords and those of the chief were heard by many warriors, and he knewthat they would respond in every fiber to the battle cry of theirleader. His contemptuous allusion to the allies of the French as"savages" met a ready response in their hearts, since the nations of theHodenosaunee considered themselves civilized and enlightened, which, intruth, they were in many respects. 

Robert always remembered the place at which they held their briefcouncil. They stood in a little grove of oaks and elms, clear ofunderbrush. The trees were heavy with foliage, and the leaves were yetgreen. The dawn had not yet fully come, and the heavens, save low downin the east, were still silver, casting a silvery veil which gave anextraordinary and delicate tint to the green of foliage. In the distanceon the right was the gleam of water, silver like the skies, but it wasone of the beautiful lakelets abundant in that region and not yetAndiatarocte, which was still far away. The bronze figures of theIndians, silent and impassive as they listened to their chief, fittedwonderfully into the wilderness scene, and the white men in forestgreen, their faces tanned and fierce, were scarcely less wild in lookand figure. Robert felt once more a great thrill of pride that he hadbeen chosen a member of such a company. 

They talked less than five minutes. Then Black Rifle, alone as usualbecause he preferred invariably to be alone, disappeared in the woods tothe right of the great trail. Three young warriors, uncommonly swift offoot, soon followed him, and three more as nimble of heel as the others, sank from sight in the forest to the left. Both right and left soonswallowed up several of the rangers also, who were not inferior asscouts and trailers to the Mohawks. 

"The wings of our force are protected amply now, " said Tayoga, in hisprecise school English. "When such eyes as those of our flankers arelooking and watching, no ambush against us is possible. Now our mainforce will advance with certainty. "

Twenty men had been sent out as scouts and the remaining eighty, eagerfor combat, white and red, advanced on the main trail, not fast butsteadily. Now and then the cries of bird or beast, signals from theflankers, came from right or left, and the warriors with Daganowedaresponded. 

"They are telling us, " said Tayoga to Robert, "that they have not yetfound a hostile presence. The enemy has left behind him no skirmishersor rear guard. It may be that we shall not overtake them until weapproach the lake or reach it. "

"How do you know that we will overtake them at all, Tayoga? They may goso fast that we can't come up. "

"I know it, Dagaeoga, because if they are led by St. Luc, and I thinkthey are, they will not try to get away. If they believe we are notabout to overtake them they will wait for us at some place they considergood. "

"You're probably right, Tayoga, and it's likely that we'll be in battlebefore night. One would think there is enough country here on thiscontinent for the whole world without having the nations making war overany part of it. As I have said before, here we are fighting to securefor an English king or a French king mountains and lakes and rivers andforests which neither of them will ever see, and of the existence ofwhich, perhaps, they don't know. "

"And as I have told you before, Dagaeoga, the mountains and lakes andrivers and forests for which the English and French kings have theirpeople fight, belong to neither, but to the great League of theHodenosaunee and other red nations. "

"That's true, Tayoga. Sometimes I'm apt to forget it, but you know I'm afriend of the Hodenosaunee. If I had the power I'd see that never anacre of their country was filched from them by the white men. "

"I know it well, Dagaeoga. "

The pursuit continued all the morning, and the great trail left by theFrench and Indians broadened steadily. Other trails flowed into andmerged with it, and it became apparent that the force pursued was largerthan the force pursuing. Yet Willet, Rogers and Daganoweda did notflinch, clinging to the trail, which now led straight towardAndiatarocte. 

CHAPTER VIII

ARESKOUI'S FAVOR

In the dusk of the evening the whole force came to the crest of a hillfrom which through a cleft they caught a glimpse of the shimmeringwaters of the lake, called by the Iroquois Andiatarocte, by the French, St. Sacrement, and by the English, George. It was not Robert's firstview of it, but he always thrilled at the prospect. 

"Both Andiatarocte and Oneadatote must be ours, " he said to Tayoga. "They're too fine and beautiful to pass into possession of the French. "

"What about the Hodenosaunee? Do you too forget, Dagaeoga?"

"I don't forget, Tayoga. When I said 'ours' I meant American, Hodenosaunee and English combined. You've good eyes, and so tell me ifI'm not right when I say I see a moving black dot on the lake. "

"You do see it, my friend, and also a second and a third. The segment ofthe lake that we can see from here is very narrow. At this distance itdoes not appear to be more than a few inches across, but I know assurely as Tododaho sits on his star watching over us, that those arecanoes, or perhaps long boats, and that they belong to our enemies. "

"A force on the water coöperating with that on land?"

"It seems so, Dagaeoga. "

"And they mean to become the rulers of the lakes! With their armypowerfully established at Crown Point, and their boats on bothAndiatarocte and Oneadatote, it looks as if they were getting a greatstart in that direction. "

"Aye, Dagaeoga. The French move faster than we. They seize what we bothwish, and then it will be for us to put them out, they being inpossession and intrenched. Look, Black Rifle comes out of the forest!And Haace is with him! They have something to tell!"

It was the honor and pleasure of young Lennox and the Onondaga to bepresent at the councils, and though they said nothing to their eldersunless asked for an opinion, they always listened with eagerness toeverything. Now Willet, Rogers and Daganoweda drew together, and BlackRifle and Haace, their dark eyes gleaming, made report to them. 

"A strong force, at least one hundred and fifty men, lies about fivemiles to the north, on the shore of the lake, " said Black Rifle. "Abouttwenty Frenchmen are with it, and it is commanded by St. Luc. I saw himfrom the bushes. He has with him the Canadian, Dubois. De Courcelles andJumonville are there also. At least a hundred warriors and Frenchmen areon the lake, in canoes and long boats. I saw Tandakora too. "

"A formidable force, " said Willet. "Do you wish to turn back, Daganoweda?"

The eyes of the Mohawk chieftain glittered and he seemed to swell bothin size and stature. 

"We are a hundred, " he replied proudly. "What does it matter how manythey are? I am astonished that the Great Bear should ask me such aquestion. "

Willet laughed softly. 

"I asked it, " he said, "because I knew what the answer would be. Noneother could come from a Mohawk chieftain. "

Again the eyes of Daganoweda glittered, but this time with pride. 

"Shall we advance and attack St. Luc's force tonight?" said Willet, turning to Rogers. 

"I think it would be best, " replied the Mountain Wolf. "A surprise ispossible tonight only. Tomorrow his scouts are sure to find that we arenear. What say you, Daganoweda?"

"Tonight, " replied the Mohawk chief, sententiously. 

There was no further discussion, and the whole force, throwing outskirmishers, moved cautiously northward through the great, greenwilderness. It was a fair night for a march, not enough moonlight todisclose them at a distance, and yet enough to show the way. Robert keptclose to Tayoga, who was just behind Willet, and they bore in toward thelake, until they were continually catching glimpses of its watersthrough the vast curtain of the forest. 

Robert's brain once more formed pictures, swift, succeeding one anotherlike changes of light, but in high colors. The great lake set in themountains and glimmering under the moon had a wonderful effect upon hisimagination. It became for the time the core of all the mighty strugglethat was destined to rage so long in North America. The belief became aconviction that whoever possessed Andiatarocte and Oneadatote wasdestined to possess the continent. 

The woods themselves, like the lake, were mystic and brooding. Theirheavy foliage was ruffled by no wind, and no birds sang. The wildanimals, knowing that man, fiercer than they, would soon join in mortalcombat, had all fled away. Robert heard only the faint crush ofmoccasins as the hundred, white and red, sped onward. 

An hour, and a dim light showed on a slope gentler than the rest, leading down to the lake. It was a spark so faint and vague that itmight have passed to the ordinary eye as a firefly, but rangers andMohawks knew well that it came from some portion of St. Luc's camp andthat the enemy was close at hand. Then the band stopped and the threeleaders talked together again for a few moments. 

"I think, " said Willet, "that the force on land is in touch with the onein the boats, though a close union has not been effected. In my opinionwe must rush St. Luc. "

"There is no other way, " said Rogers. 

"It is what I like best, " said Daganoweda. 

They promptly spread out, the entire hundred in a half circle, coveringa length of several hundred yards, and the whole force advanced swiftly. Robert and Tayoga were in the center, and as they rushed forward withthe others, their moccasined feet making scarcely any sound, Robert sawthe fireflies in the forest increase, multiply and become fixed. If hehad felt any doubt that the camp of St. Luc was just ahead itdisappeared now. The brilliant French leader too, despite all his craft, and lore of the forest, was about to be surprised. 

Then he heard the sharp reports of rifles both to right and left. Thehorns of the advancing crescent were coming into contact with St. Luc'ssentinels. Then Daganoweda, knowing that the full alarm had been given, uttered a fierce and thrilling cry and all the Mohawks took it up. Itwas a tremendous shout, making the blood leap and inciting to battle. 

Robert, by nature kindly and merciful, felt the love of combat rising inhim, and when a bullet whistled past his ear a fury against the enemybegan to burn in his veins. More bullets came pattering upon the leaves, and one found its target in a ranger who was struck through the heart. Other rangers and Mohawks received wounds, but under the compellingorders of their leaders they held their fire until they were near thecamp, when nearly a hundred rifles spoke together in one fierce andtremendous report. 

St. Luc's sentinels and skirmishers were driven back in a minute or two, many of them falling, but his main force lay along a low ridge, timberedwell, and from its shelter his men, French and Indians, sent in a rapidfire. Although taken by surprise and suffering severely in the firstrush, they were able to stem the onset of the rangers and Mohawks, andsoon they were uttering fierce and defiant cries, while their bulletscame in showers. The rangers and Mohawks also took to cover, and thebattle of the night and the wilderness was on. 

Robert pulled Tayoga down, and the two lay behind a fallen log, wherethey listened to the whining of an occasional bullet over their heads. 

"We may win, " said the Onondaga gravely, "but we will not win so easily. One cannot surprise Sharp Sword (St. Luc) wholly. You may attack when heis not expecting it, but even then he will make ready for you. "

"That's true, " said Robert, and he felt a curious and contradictorythrill of pleasure as he listened to Tayoga. "It's not possible to takethe Chevalier in a trap. "

"No, Dagaeoga, it is not. I wish, for the sake of our success, that someother than he was the leader of the enemy, but Manitou has willed thatmy wish should not come true. Do you not think the dark shadow passingjust then on the ridge was Tandakora?"

"The size indicated to me the Ojibway, and I was about to seize my rifleand fire, but it's too far for a shot with any certainty. I think ourmen on the horns of the crescent are driving them in somewhat. "

"The shifting of the firing would prove that it is so, Dagaeoga. Oursharpshooting is much better than theirs, and in time we will push themdown to the lake. But look at Black Rifle! See how he craves thebattle!"

The swart ranger, lying almost flat on the ground, was creeping forward, inch by inch, and as Robert glanced at him he fired, a savage in theopposing force uttering his death yell. The ranger uttered a shout oftriumph, and, shifting his position, sought another shot, his dark bodydrawn among the leaves and grass like that of some fierce wild animal. He fired a second time, repeated his triumphant shout and then hissliding body passed out of sight among the bushes. 

Both Rogers and Willet soon joined Robert and Tayoga behind the logswhere they had a good position from which to direct the battle, butDaganoweda on the right, with all of his Mohawks, was pushing forwardsteadily and would soon be able to pour a flanking fire into St. Luc'slittle army. The forest resounded now with the sharp reports of therifles and the shouts and yells of the combatants. Bullets cut leavesand twigs, but the rangers and the Mohawks were advancing. 

"Do you know how many men we have lost, Rogers?" asked Willet. 

"Three of the white men and four of the Mohawks have been slain, Dave, but we're winning a success, and it's not too high a price to pay inwar. If Daganoweda can get far enough around on their left flank we'lldrive 'em into the lake, sure. Ah, there go the rifles of the Mohawksand they're farther forward than ever. That Mohawk chief is a boldfighter, crafty and full of fire. "

"None better than he. I think they're well around the flank, Rogers. Listen to their shouts. Now, we'll make a fresh rush of our own. "

They sprang from the shelter of the log, and, leading their men, rushedin a hundred yards until they dropped down behind another one. Robertand Tayoga went with them, firing as they ran, borne on by the thrill ofcombat, but Robert felt relief nevertheless when he settled again in theshelter of the second log and for the time being was secure frombullets. 

"I think, " said Willet to Rogers, "that I'll go around toward the left, where the flanking force is composed mostly of rangers, and press inthere with all our might. If the two horns of the crescent are able toenclose St. Luc, and you charge at the center, we should win the victorysoon. "

"It's the right idea, Dave, " said Rogers. "When we hear your shots and ashout or two we'll drive our hardest. "

"I'd like to take Tayoga and Robert with me. "

"They're yours. They're good and brave lads, and I'll need 'em, butyou'll need 'em too. How many more of the men here will you want?"

"About ten. "

"Then take them too. "

Willet, with Robert, Tayoga and the ten, began a cautious circuit in thedarkness toward the western horn of the crescent, and for a few minutesleft the battle in the distance. As they crept through the bushes, Robert heard the shouts and shots of both sides and saw the pink flashesof flame as the rifles were fired. In the darkness it seemed confusedand vague, but he knew that it was guided by order and precision. Nowand then a spent bullet pattered upon the leaves, and one touched himupon the wrist, stinging for a moment or two, but doing no harm. 

But as they passed farther and farther to the west the noise of thebattle behind them gradually sank, while that on the left horn of thecrescent grew. 

In a few more minutes they would be with the rangers who were pressingforward so strenuously at that point, and as Robert saw dusky figuresrise from the bushes in front of them he believed they were already intouch. Instead a dozen rifles flashed in their faces. One of the rangerswent down, shot through the head, dead before he touched the ground, three more sustained slight wounds, including Robert who was grazed onthe shoulder, and all of them gave back in surprise and consternation. But Willet, shrewd veteran of the forest, recovered himself quickly. 

"Down, men! Down and give it back to 'em!" he cried. "They've sent out aflanking force of their own! It was clever of St. Luc!"

All the rangers dropped on their faces instantly, but as they went downthey gave back the fire of the flanking party. Robert caught a glimpseof De Courcelles, who evidently was leading it, and pulled trigger onhim, but the Frenchman turned aside at that instant, and his bulletstruck a St. Regis Indian who was just behind him. Now the return volleyof the rangers was very deadly. Two Frenchmen were slain here and fourwarriors, and De Courcelles, who had not expected on his circlingmovement to meet with a new force, was compelled to give back. He andhis warriors quickly disappeared in the forest, leaving their deadbehind them, and Willet with his own little force moved on triumphantly, soon joining his strength to that of the rangers on the left. 

The combined force hurled itself upon St. Luc's flank and crumpled itup, at the same time uttering triumphant shouts which were answered fromthe right and center, rangers and Mohawks on all fronts now pressingforward, and sending in their bullets from every covert. So fierce wastheir attack that they created the effect of double or triple theirnumbers, and St. Luc's French and Indians were driven down the slope tothe edge of the lake, where the survivors were saved by the second bandin the canoes and great boats. 

The defeated men embarked quickly, but not so quickly that several moredid not fall in the water. At this moment Robert saw St. Luc, and henever admired him more. He, too, was in forest green, but it was of thefinest cloth, trimmed with green yet darker. A cap of silky fur was onhis head, and his hair was clubbed in a queue behind. March and forestbattle had not dimmed the cleanliness and neatness of his attire, and, even in defeat, he looked the gallant chevalier, without fear andwithout reproach. 

St. Luc was in the act of stepping into one of the long boats when aranger beside Robert raised his rifle and took aim squarely at theFrenchman's heart. It was not a long shot and the ranger would not havemissed, but young Lennox at that moment stumbled and fell against him, causing the muzzle of his weapon to be deflected so much that his bulletstruck the uncomplaining water. Robert's heart leaped up as he saw thechevalier spring into the boat, which the stalwart Indians paddledswiftly away. 

The entire Indian fleet now drew together, and it was obviously makingfor one of the little islands, so numerous in Andiatarocte, where itwould be safe until the English and Americans built or brought boats oftheir own and disputed the rulership of the lake. But the rangers andthe Mohawks, eager to push the victory, rushed down to the water's edgeand sent after the flying fleet bullets which merely dropped vainly inthe water. Then they ceased, and, standing there, uttered long thrillingshouts of triumph. 

Robert had never beheld a more ferocious scene but he felt in it, too, asort of fierce and shuddering attraction. His veins were still warm withthe fire of battle, and his head throbbed wildly. Everything took onstrange and fantastic shapes, and colors became glaring and violent. Themoonlight, pouring down on the lake, made it a vast sea of crumblingsilver, the mountains on the farther shores rose to twice or thricetheir height, and the forests on the slopes and crests were an immenseand unbroken curtain, black against the sky. 

Five or six hundred yards away hovered the Indian fleet, the canoes andboats dark splotches upon the silver surface of the water. The islandupon which they intended to land was just beyond them, but knowing thatthey were out of rifle range they had paused to look at the victoriousforce, or as much of it as showed itself, and to send back the defiantyells of a defeated, but undaunted band. 

Robert clearly saw St. Luc again, standing up in his boat, andapparently giving orders to the fleet, using his small sword, as aconductor wields a baton, though the moonlight seemed to flash in firealong the blade as he pointed it here and there. He beheld somethingfierce and unconquerable in the man's attitude and manner. He evenimagined that he could see his face, and he knew that the eye was calm, despite defeat and loss. St Luc, driven from the field, would be nonethe less dangerous than if he had been victor upon it. 

The whole Indian fleet formed in a half circle and the Chevalier ceasedto wave orders with his sword. Then he drew himself up, stood rigidlyerect, despite his unstable footing, faced the land, and, using thesword once more, gave a soldier's salute to the foe. The act was sogallant, so redolent of knightly romance that despite themselves therangers burst into a mighty cheer, and the Mohawks, having the Indianheart that always honored a brave foe, uttered a long and thrillingwhoop of approval. 

Robert, carried away by an impulse, sprang upon a rock and whirled hisrifle around his head in an answering salute. St. Luc evidently saw, andevidently, too, he recognized Robert, as he lifted his sword inrejoinder. Then the Indians, bent to their paddles, and the fleet, hanging together, swept around the island and out of sight. But theyknew that the French and Indian force landed there, as fires soon blazedupon its heavily-wooded crest, and they saw dusky figures passing andrepassing before the flames. 

"The victory has been given to us tonight, " said Tayoga gravely toRobert, "but Manitou has not allowed us to complete it. Few triumph overSt. Luc, and, though his manner may have been gay and careless, hisheart burns to win back what he has lost. "

"I take it you're right, Tayoga, " said Robert. "His is a soul that willnot rest under defeat, and I fancy St. Luc on the island is a greatdanger. He can get at us and we can't get at him. "

"It is true, Dagaeoga. If we strike we must strike quickly and then beoff. This, for the time being, is the enemy's country, yet I think ourleaders will not be willing to withdraw. Daganoweda, I know, will wantto push the battle and to attack on the island. "

The Onondaga's surmise was correct. The triumph of the rangers and theMohawks, although not complete, was large, as at least one-third of St. Luc's force was slain, and the three leaders alike were eager to make ityet larger, having in mind that in some way they could yet reach theFrench and Indian force on the island. So they built their own fires onthe slope and the Mohawks began to sing songs of triumph, knowing thatthey would infuriate the foe, and perhaps tempt him to some deed ofrashness. 

"Did you see anything of Tandakora?" asked Robert of Tayoga. "I knowit's no crime to wish that he fell. "

"No, it's no crime, Dagaeoga, " replied the Onondaga soberly, "and mywish is the same as yours, but this time we cannot have it. I saw him inone of the boats as they passed around the island. "

The two then sat by one of the fires and ate venison, thankful that theyhad escaped with only slight wounds, and as there was no immediate callfor their services they wrapped themselves in their blankets, by and by, and went to sleep. When Robert awoke, the morning was about half goneand the day was bright and beautiful beyond compare. 

Although the hostile forces still confronted each other there was noother evidence of war, and Robert's first feelings were less for man andmore for the magnificence of nature. He had never seen Andiatarocte, the matchless gem of the mountains, more imposing and beautiful. Itswaters, rippling gently under the wind, stretched far away, silver orgold, as the sunlight fell. The trees and undergrowth on the islandsshowed deepest green, and the waving leaves shifted and changed in colorwith the changing sky. Far over all was a deep velvet blue arch, tingedalong the edges with red or gold. 

Keenly sensitive to nature, it was a full minute before young Lennoxcame back to earth, and the struggles of men. Then he found Tayogalooking at him curiously. 

"It is good!" said the Onondaga, flinging out his hand. "In the whiteman's Bible it is said that Manitou created the world in six days andrested on the seventh, but in the unwritten book of the Hodenosaunee itis said that he created Andiatarocte and Oneadatote, and then reposed abit, and enjoyed his work before he went on with his task. "

"I can well believe you, Tayoga. If I had created a lake like George andanother like Champlain I should have stopped work, and gloried quite awhile over my achievement. Has the enemy made any movement while weslept?"

"None, so far as our people can tell. They have brought part of theirfleet around to the side of the island facing us. I count six largeboats and twenty canoes there. I also see five fires, and I have nodoubt that many of the warriors are sleeping before them. Despitelosses, his force is still larger than ours, but I do not think St. Luc, brave as he is, would come back to the mainland and risk a battle withus. "

"Then we must get at him somehow, Tayoga. We must make our blow soheavy that it will check Dieskau for a while and give Colonel Johnson'sarmy time to march. "

"Even so, Dagaeoga. Look at the Mountain Wolf. He has a pair of fieldglasses and he is studying the island. "

Rogers stood on a knoll, and he was making diligent use of his glasses, excellent for the time. He took them from his eyes presently, and walkeddown to Robert and Tayoga. 

"Would you care to have a look?" he said to Robert. 

"Thank you, I'd like it very much, " replied young Lennox eagerly. 

The powerful lenses at once brought the island very near, and trees andbushes became detached from the general mass, until he saw between themthe French and Indian camp. As Tayoga had asserted, many of the warriorswere asleep on the grass. When nothing was to be done, the Indian coulddo it with a perfection seldom attained by anybody else. Tandakora wassitting on a fallen log, looking at the mainland. As usual, he was bareto the waist, and painted frightfully. Not far away a Frenchman wassleeping on a cloak, and Robert was quite sure that it was DeCourcelles. St. Luc himself was visible toward the center of the island. He, too, stood upon a knoll, and he, too, had glasses with which he wasstudying his foe. 

"The command of the water, " said Rogers, "is heavily against us. If wehad only been quick enough to build big boats of our own, the tale tobe told would have been very different. "

"And if by any means, " said Willet, "we contrive to drive them from theisland, they can easily retreat in their fleet to another, and theycould repeat the process indefinitely. George has many islands. "

"Then why not capture their fleet?" said Robert in a moment ofinspiration. 

Rogers and Willet looked at each other. 

"It's queer we didn't think of that before, " said the hunter. 

"'Twill be an attempt heavy with danger, " said Rogers. 

"So it will, my friend, but have we shirked dangers? Don't we live andsleep with danger?"

"I was merely stating the price, Dave. I was making no excuse forshirking. "

"I know it, old friend. Whoever heard of Robert Rogers shunning danger?We'll have a talk with Daganoweda, and you, Robert, since you suggestedthe plan, and you, Tayoga, since you've a head full of wisdom, shall bepresent at the conference. "

The Mohawk chieftain came, and, when the scheme was laid before him, hewas full of eagerness for it. 

"Every one of my warriors will be glad to go, " he said, "and I, asbecomes my place, will lead them. It will be a rare deed, and the newsof it will be heard with wonder and admiration in all our castles. "

He spoke in the language of the Ganeagaono, which all the othersunderstood perfectly, and the two white leaders knew they could relyupon the courage and enthusiasm of the Mohawks. 

"It depends upon the sun whether we shall succeed tonight or not, " saidTayoga, glancing up at the heavens, "and at present he gives no promiseof favoring us. The sun, as you know, Dagaeoga, is with us the Sun God, also, whom we call Areskoui, or now and then Aieroski, and who issometimes almost the same as Manitou. "

"I know, " said Robert, who had an intimate acquaintance with the complexPantheon of the Hodenosaunee, which was yet not so complex after all, and which also had in its way the elements of the Christian religion inall their beauty and majesty. 

Tayoga gazed out upon Andiatarocte. 

Robert's eyes followed the Onondaga's. 

"It's true, " he said, "that the Sun God, your Areskoui, and mine, too, for that matter, makes no promise to us. The warriors of theHodenosaunee have looked upon Andiatarocte for many centuries, butdoubtless there has never been a day before when any one of them saw itmore beautiful and more gleaming than it is now. "

"Yes, Dagaeoga, the waters slide and ripple before the wind, and theyare blue and green, and silver and gold, and all the shades between, asthe sunlight shifts and falls, but it is many hours until night andAreskoui may be of another mind by then. "

"I know it, Tayoga. I remember the two storms on Champlain, and I don'tforget how quickly they can come on either lake. I'm not praying for anystorm, but I do want a dark and cloudy night. "

"Dagaeoga should not be too particular, " said Tayoga, his eyestwinkling. "He has told Areskoui exactly what kind of a night hewishes, but I think he will have to take just the kind of a night thatAreskoui may send. "

"I don't dispute it, Tayoga, but when you're praying to the Sun God it'sas well to pray for everything you want. "

"We'll watch Areskoui with more than common interest today, you and I, Dagaeoga, but the warriors of the Ganeagaono, even as the Hurons, theAbenakis and the Ojibways, will go to sleep. Behold, Daganoweda even nowlies down upon his blanket!"

The Mohawk chief, as if sure that nothing more of importance was goingto happen that day, spread his fine green blanket upon some leaves, andthen settling himself in an easy posture upon it, fell asleep, whilemany of his warriors, and some of the rangers too, imitated his example. But Robert and Tayoga had slept enough, and, though they moved about butlittle, they were all eyes and ears. 

Scouts had been sent far up and down the shores of the lake, and theyreported that no other band was near, chance leaving the issue wholly tothe two forces that now faced each other. Yet the morning, whileremaining of undimmed beauty, had all the appearance of ease, even oflaziness. Several of the rangers went down to the edge of the lake, and, removing their clothing, bathed in the cool waters. Then they lay on theslope until their bodies dried, dressed themselves, and waited patientlyfor the night. 

The French and Indians, seeing them engaged in a pleasant task, found itwell to do likewise. The waters close to the island were filled withFrenchmen, Canadians and Indians, wading, swimming and splashing water, the effect in the distance being that of boys on a picnic and enjoyingit to the utmost. 

Robert took a little swim himself, though he kept close to the shore, and felt much refreshed by it. When he had been dried by the sun and wasbade in his clothes, he stretched himself luxuriously near the rangerson the slope, taking an occasional glance at the sun from under hissheltering hand. 

"There is a little mist in the southwest, " he said, after a long time, to Tayoga. "Do you think it possible that Areskoui will change his mindand cease to flood the world with beams?"

"I see the vapor, " replied Tayoga, looking keenly. "It is just a wisp, no larger than a feather from the wing of an eagle, but it seems togrow. Areskoui changes his mind as he pleases. Who are we to questionthe purposes of the Sun God? Yet I take it, Dagaeoga, that the chance ofa night favorable to our purpose has increased. "

"I begin to think, Tayoga, that Areskoui does, in truth, favor us, through no merit of ours, but perhaps because of a lack of merit inTandakora and De Courcelles. Yet, as I live, you're right when you saythe cloud of mist or vapor is growing. Far in the southwest, so it seemsto me, the air becomes dim. I know it, because I can't see the foreststhere as distinctly as I did a half hour ago, and I hold that the changein Areskoui's heart is propitious to our plan. "

"A long speech, but your tongue always moves easily, Dagaeoga, and whatyou say is true. The mist increases fast, and before he goes down on theother side of the world the Sun God will be veiled in it. Then thenight will come full of clouds, and dark. Look at Andiatarocte, and youwill see that it is so. "

The far shores of the lake were almost lost in the vapors, only spots offorest green appearing now and then, a veil of silver being over theeastern waters. The island on which St. Luc lay encamped was growingindistinct, and the fires there shone through a white mist. 

Tayoga stood up and gazed intently at the sun, before which a veil hadbeen drawn, permitting his eyes to dwell on its splendors, now coming ina softened and subdued light. 

"All the omens are favorable, " he said. "The heart of Areskoui hassoftened toward us, knowing that we are about to go on a great andperilous venture. Tonight Tododaho on his star will also look downkindly on us. He will be beyond the curtain of the clouds, and we willnot see him, but I know that it will be so, because I feel in my heartthat it must be so. You and I, Dagaeoga, are only two, and among themany on this earth two can count for little, but the air is full ofspirits, and it may be that they have heard our prayers. With the unseenpowers the prayers of the humble and the lowly avail as much as those ofthe great and mighty. "

His eyes bore the rapt and distant expression of the seer, as hecontinued to gaze steadily at the great silver robe that hung before theface of Areskoui's golden home. Splendid young warrior that he was, always valiant and skillful in battle, there was a spiritual quality inTayoga that often showed. The Onondagas were the priestly nation of theHodenosaunee and upon him had descended a mantle that was, in a way, themantle of a prophet. Robert, so strongly permeated by Indian lore andfaith, really believed, for a moment, that his comrade saw into thefuture. 

But not the white youth and the red youth alone bore witness to thegreat change, the phenomenon even, that Areskoui was creating. BothRogers and Willet had looked curiously at the sun, and then had lookedagain. Daganoweda, awaking, stood up and gazed in the intent andreverential manner that Tayoga had shown. The soul of the Mohawkchieftain was fierce. He existed for the chase and war, and had no lovebeyond them. There was nothing spiritual in his nature, but none theless he was imbued with the religion of his race, and believed that thewhole world, the air, the forests, the mountains, and the lakes werepeopled with spirits, good or bad. Now he saw one of the greatest ofthem all, Areskoui, the Sun God himself, in action and working amiracle. 

The untamable soul of Daganoweda was filled with wonder and admiration. Not spiritual, he was nevertheless imaginative to a high degree. Throughthe silver veil which softened the light of the sun more and more, permitting his eyes to remain fixed upon it, he saw a mighty figure inthe very center of that vast globe of light, a figure that grew and grewuntil he knew it was Areskoui, the Sun God himself. 

A shiver swept over the powerful frame of Daganoweda. The Mohawkchieftain, whose nerves never quivered before the enemy, felt as alittle child in the presence of the mighty Sun God. But his confidencereturned. Although the figure of Areskoui continued to grow, his facebecame benevolent. He looked down from his hundred million miles in thevoid, beheld the tiny figure of Daganoweda standing upon the earth, andsmiled. Daganoweda knew that it was so, because he saw the smile withhis own eyes, and, however perilous the venture might be, he knew thenit could not fail, because Areskoui himself had smiled upon it. 

The great veil of mist deepened and thickened and was drawn slowlyacross all the heavens. Robert felt a strange thrill of awe. It was, invery truth, to him a phenomenon, more than an eclipse, not a merepassage of the moon before the sun for which science gave a naturalaccount, but a sudden combination of light and air that had in it atinge of the supernatural. 

All the Mohawks were awake now, everybody was awake and everybodywatched the sun, but perhaps it was Daganoweda who saw most. No tinctureof the white man's religion had ever entered his mind to question any ofhis Iroquois beliefs. There was Areskoui, in the very center of the sun, mighty and shining beyond belief, and still smiling across his hundredmillion miles at the earth upon which Daganoweda stood. But, all thewhile he was drawing his silver robe, fold on fold, thicker and tighterabout himself, and his figure grew dim. 

One after another the distant islands in the lake sank out of sight, andthe fires were merely a faint red glow on the one occupied by St. Luc. Over the waters the vapors swept in great billows and columns. Daganoweda drew a great breath. The sun itself was fading. Areskoui hadshown his face long enough and now he meant to make the veil betweenhimself and man impenetrable. He became a mere shadow, the mists andvapors rolled up wave on wave, and he was gone entirely. Then night camedown over mountains, forest and Andiatarocte. The last fire on St Luc'sisland had been permitted to die out, and it, too, sank into the mistsand vapors with the others, and was invisible to the watchers on themainland slope. 

But little could be seen of Andiatarocte itself, save occasionalglimmers of silver under the floating clouds. Not a star was able tocome out, and all the lake and country about it were wrapped in a heavygrayish mist which seemed to Robert to be surcharged with some kind ofexciting solution. But the three leaders, Rogers, Willet and Daganoweda, gathered in a close council, did not yet give any order save that plentyof food be served to rangers and Mohawks alike. 

Thus a long time was permitted to pass and the mists and vapors overAndiatarocte deepened steadily. No sound came from St. Luc's island, norwas any fire lighted there. For all the darkness showed, it had sunkfrom sight forever. It was an hour till midnight when the three leadersgave their orders and the chosen band began to prepare. Robert hadbegged to be of the perilous number. He could never endure it if Tayogawent and not he, and Willet, though reluctant, was compelled to consent. Willet himself was going also, and so was Daganoweda, of course, andBlack Rifle, but Rogers was to remain behind, in command of the force onthe slope. 

Thirty rangers and thirty Mohawks, all powerful swimmers, were chosen, and every man stripped to the skin. Firearms, of necessity, were leftbehind with the clothes, but everyone buckled a belt around his barebody, and put in it his hatchet and hunting knife. The plan was to swimsilently for the island and then trust to courage, skill and fortune. Buoyed up by the favor of Areskoui, who had worked a miracle for them, the sixty dropped into the water, and began their night of extremehazard. 

CHAPTER IX

ON ANDIATAROCTE

Robert, as was natural, swam by the side of Tayoga, his comrade in somany hardships and dangers, and, after the long period of tense andanxious waiting, he felt a certain relief that the start was made, eventhough it was a start into the very thick of peril. 

Willet was on the right wing of the swimming column and Daganoweda wason the left, the white leader and the red understanding each otherthoroughly, and ready to act in perfect unison. Beneath the hoveringmists and above the surface of the water, the bronze faces of theMohawks and the brown faces of the rangers showed, eager and fierce. There was not one among them whose heart did not leap, because he waschosen for such a task. 

Robert felt at first a chill from the water, as Andiatarocte, set amongits northern mountains, is usually cold, but after a few vigorousstrokes the blood flowed warm in his veins again, and the singularexciting quality with which the mists and vapors seemed to be surchargedentered his mind also. The great pulse in his throat leaped, and thepulses in his temples beat hard. His sensitive and imaginative mind, that always went far ahead of the present, had foreseen all thedangers, and, physically at least, he had felt keen apprehension when hestepped into the lake. But now it was gone. Youth and the strongcomrades around him gave imagination another slant, allowing it to paintwonderful deeds achieved, and victory made complete. 

His eyes, which in his condition of superheated fancy enlarged orintensified everything manifold, saw a flash of light near him. It wasmerely Tayoga drawing his knife from his belt and putting the bladebetween his teeth, where the whitish mist that served for illuminationhad thrown back a reflection. He glanced farther down the swimming lineand saw that many others had drawn their hunting knives and had claspedthem between their teeth, where they would be ready for instant use. Mechanically he did likewise, and he felt something flow from the coldsteel into his body, heating his blood and inciting him to battle. Heknew at the time that it was only imagination, but the knowledge itselftook nothing from the power of the sensation. He became every instantmore eager for combat. 

It seemed that Tayoga caught glimpses of his comrade's face and with hisOnondaga insight read his mind. 

"Dagaeoga, who wishes harm to nobody, now craves the battle, nevertheless, " he said, taking the knife from between his teeth for amoment or two. 

"I'm eager to be in it as soon as I can in order to have it over as soonas we can, " said Robert, imitating him. 

"You may think the answer wholly true, though it is only partly so. There come times when the most peaceful feel the incitement of war. "

"I believe it's the strangeness of the night, the quality of the air webreathe and that singular veiling of the sun just when we wished it, andas if in answer to our prayers. "

"That is one of the reasons, Dagaeoga. We cannot see Areskoui, becausehe is on the other side of the world now, but he turned his face towardus and bade us go and win. Nor can we see Tododaho on his star, becauseof the mighty veil that has been drawn between, but the great Onondagachief who went away to eternal life more than four hundred centuries agostill watches over his own, and I know that his spirit is with us. "

"Can you see the island yet, Tayoga? My eyes make out a shadow in themist, but whether it's land, or merely a darker stream of vapor, I can'ttell. "

"I am not sure either, but I do not think it is land. The island is fourhundred yards away, and the mist is so thick that neither the earthitself nor the trees and bushes would yet appear through it. "

"You must be right, and we're swimming slowly, too, to avoid anysplashing of the water that would alarm St. Luc's sentinels. At whatpoint do you think we'll approach the island, Tayoga?"

"From the north, because if they are expecting us at all they will lookfor us from the west. See, Daganoweda already leads in the curve towardthe north. "

"It's so, Tayoga. I can barely make out his figure, but he has certainlychanged our course. I don't know whether it's my fancy or not, but Iseem to feel a change, too, in the quality of the air about us. A streamof new and stronger air is striking upon the right side of my face, thatis, the side toward the south. "

"It is reality and not your fancy, Dagaeoga. A wind has begun to blowout of the south and west. But it does not blow away the vapors. Itmerely sends the columns and waves of mist upon one another, fusing themtogether and then separating them again. It is the work of Areskoui. Though there is now a world between us and him he still watches over usand speeds us on to a great deed. So, Dagaeoga, the miracle of the skyis continued into the night, and for us. Areskoui will clothe us in amighty blanket of mist and water and fire. "

The Onondaga's face was again the rapt face of a seer, and his wordswere heavy with import like those of a prophet of old. 

"Listen!" he said. "It is Areskoui himself who speaks!"

Robert shivered, but it was not from the cold of the water. It wasbecause a mighty belief that Tayoga spoke the truth had entered hissoul, and what the Onondaga believed he, too, believed with an equalfaith. 

"I hear, " he replied. 

A low sound, deep and full of menace, came out of the south, and rumbledover Andiatarocte and all the mountains about it. It was the voice ofthunder, but Tayoga and Robert felt that its menace was not for them. 

"One of the sudden storms of the lake comes, " said the Onondaga. "Themists will be driven away now, but the clouds in their place will be yetdarker, Areskoui still holds his shrouding blanket before us. "

"But the lightning which will come soon, Tayoga, and which you meant, when you spoke of fire, will not that unveil us to the sentinels of St. Luc?"

"No, because only our heads are above the water and at a little distancethey are blended with it. Yet the same flashes of fire will disclose tous their fleet and show us our way to it. Andiatarocte has already feltthe wind in the south and is beginning to heave and surge. "

Robert felt the lake lift him up on a wave and then drop him down into ahollow, but he was an expert swimmer, and he easily kept his head on thesurface. The thunder rumbled again. There was no crash, it was more likea deep groan coming up out of the far south. The waters of Andiataroctelifted themselves anew, and wave after wave pursued one anothernorthward. A wind began to blow, straight and strong, but heavy floatingclouds came in its train, and the darkness grew so intense that Robertcould not see the face of Tayoga beside him. 

Daganoweda called from the north end of the swimming line, and the wordwas passed from Mohawk and ranger until Willet at the south end replied. All were there. Not a man, white or red, had dropped out, and not onewould. 

"In a minute or two the lightning will show the way, " said Tayoga. 

As the last word left his lips a flaming sword blazed across the lake, and disclosed the island, wooded and black, not more than two hundredyards distant, and the dim shadows of canoes and boats huddled againstthe bank. Then it was gone and the blackness, thicker and heavier thanever, settled down over island, lake and mountain. But Robert, Tayogaand all the others had seen the prize they were seeking, and theircourse lay plain before them now. 

Robert's emotion was so intense and his mind was concentrated sopowerfully upon the object ahead that he was scarcely conscious of thefact that he was swimming. An expert in the water, he kept afloatwithout apparent effort, and the fact that he was one of fifty all doingthe same thing gave him additional strength and skill. The lightningflashed again, blue now, almost a bar of violet across the sky, tintingthe waters of the lake with the same hue, and he caught another glimpseof the Indian fleet drawn up against the shore, and of the Indiansentinels, some sitting in the boats, and others standing on the land. 

Then the wind strengthened, and he felt the rain upon his face. It was acurious result, but he sank a little deeper in the water to shelterhimself from the storm. Light waves ran upon the surface of the lake, and his body lifted with them. The fleet could not be more than ahundred yards away now, and his heart began to throb hard with thethought of imminent action. Yet he knew that he was in a mystic andunreal world. His singular position, the night, the coming of the stormwith its swift alternations of light and blackness, heated his blood andimagination until he saw many things that were not, and did not seesome that were. He saw a triumph and the capture of the Indian fleet, and in his eager anticipation he failed to see the dangers just ahead. 

The air grew much colder and the rain beat upon his face like hail. Thethunder which had rumbled almost incessantly, like a mighty groaning, now ceased entirely, and the last flash of lightning burned across thelake. It showed the fleet of the foe not more than fifty yards away now, and, so far as Robert could tell, the Indian sentinels had yet taken noalarm. Three were crouched in the boats with their blankets drawn abouttheir shoulders to protect them from the cold rain, and the four who hadbeen standing on the land were huddled under the trees with theirblankets wrapped about their bodies also. 

"Do you think we'll really reach the fleet unobstructed?" whisperedRobert to Tayoga. 

"It does not seem possible, " the Onondaga whispered back. "The favor ofAreskoui is great to us, but the miracle he works in our behalf couldhardly go so far. Now the word comes from both Daganoweda and the GreatBear, and we swim faster. The rain, too, grows and it drives in sheets, but it is well for us that it does so. Rifles and muskets cannot be usedmuch in the storm, but our knives and tomahawks can. Perhaps this rainis only one more help that Areskoui has sent to us. "

The swimming line was approaching fast, and a few more strokes wouldbring them to the canoes, when one of the warriors on the land suddenlycame from the shelter of his tree, leaned forward a little and peeredintently from under his shading hand. He had seen at last the darkheads on the dark water, and springing back he uttered a fierce whoop. 

"Now we swim for our lives and victory!" said Tayoga. 

Willet and Daganoweda, attempting no farther concealment, cried to theirmen to hurry. In a moment more the boarders were among the boats. Robertshut his eyes as the knives flashed in the dusk, and the dead bodies ofthe sentinels were thrown into the water. He seized the side of a longcanoe, which he gladly found to be empty, pulled himself in, to discoverTayoga sitting just in front of him, paddle in hand also. All around himmen, red and white, were laying hold of canoes and boats and at the edgeof the water the sentinels were attacking. 

On the island a terrific turmoil arose. Despite the rain a great fireflared up as the forces of St. Luc kindled some bonfire anew, and theyheard him shouting in French and more than one Indian language to hismen. They heard also heavy splashes, as the warriors leaped into thewater to defend their fleet. A dark figure rose up by the side of theboat in which young Lennox and his comrade sat. The knife of Tayogaflashed and Robert involuntarily shut his eyes. When he opened themagain the dark figure was gone, and the knife was back in the Onondaga'sbelt. 

St. Luc, although surprised again, was rallying his men fast. The Frenchwere shouting their battle cries, the Indians were uttering the warwhoop, as they poured down to the edge of the island, leaping into thelake to save their fleet. The water was filled with dusky forms, Mohawkand Huron met in the death grasp, and sometimes they found their fatebeneath the waters, held tight in the arms of each other. Confused andterrible struggles for the boats ensued, and in the darkness and rain itwas knife and hatchet and then paddles, which many snatched up and usedas clubs. 

Above the tumult Robert heard the trumpet tones of St. Luc cheering hismen and directing them. Once he caught a glimpse of him standing up tohis knees in the water, waving the small gold-hilted sword that hecarried so often, and he might have brought him down with a bullet hadhe carried a rifle, but he would have had no thought of drawing triggerupon him. Then he was gone in the mist, and the gigantic painted figureof Tandakora appeared in his place for a moment. Then the mists closedin for a second time, and he saw through it only fleeting forms andflashes of fire, when rifles and muskets were fired by the enemy. 

His feeling of unreality increased. The elements themselves hadconspired to lend to everything a tinge weird and sinister to the lastdegree. There was a lull for a little in the wind and rain, butAndiatarocte was heaving, and great waves were chasing one another overthe surface of the water, after threatening to overturn the canoes andboats for which both sides fought so fiercely. The thunder began tomutter again, furnishing a low and menacing under note like the growlingof cannon in battle. Occasional streaks of lightning flashed anew acrossthe lake, revealing the strained faces of the combatants and tinging thesurface of the waters with red. Then both thunder and lightning ceasedagain, and wind and rain came with a renewed sweep and roar. 

Robert and Tayoga still occupied their captured long boat alone, andthey hovered near the edge of the battle, not ready to withdraw with theprize until their entire force, whether victor or vanquished, turnedback from the island. Now and then Robert struck with his tomahawk atsome foe who came swimming to the attack, but, as the violence of thestorm grew, both he and Tayoga were compelled to take up their paddles, and use all their skill to keep the boat from being capsized. Theshouting and the shots and the crash of the storm made a turmoil fromwhich he could detach little, but he knew that the keen eyes of theOnondaga, dusk or no dusk, confusion or no confusion, would pierce tothe heart of things. 

"What do you see, Tayoga?" he exclaimed. "How goes the battle?"

"I cannot see as much as I wish, Dagaeoga, but it turns in our favor. Isaw the Great Bear just then in a boat, and when the lightning flaredlast I saw Daganoweda in another. Beware, Dagaeoga! Beware!"

His shout of warning was just in time. A figure rose out of the waterbeside their boat, and aimed a frightful blow at him with a tomahawk. Itwas an impulse coming chiefly from the words of Tayoga, but Robert threwhimself flat in the boat and the keen weapon whistled through the emptyair. He sprang up almost instantly, and, not having time to draw eitherhatchet or knife, struck with his clenched fist at the dark faceglaring over the side of the boat. It was a convulsive effort, and thefist was driven home with more than natural power. The figuredisappeared like a stone dropped into the water. 

Despite the dusk, Robert had seen the countenance, and he recognized thesinister features of the French spy whom they had tried to catch inAlbany, the man whose name he had no doubt was Achille Garay. He hadfelt a fierce joy when his fist came into contact with his face, but hewas quite sure the spy had not perished. Hardy men of the wilderness didnot die from a blow with the naked hand. The water would revive him, andhe would quickly come up again to fight elsewhere. 

Tayoga leaned over suddenly and pulled in a dusky figure dripping withwounds, a Mohawk warrior, hurt badly and sure to have been lost withoutquick help. There was no time to bind up his hurts, as the combat wasgrowing thicker and fiercer, and they drove their boat into the middleof it, striking out with hatchet and knife whenever an enemy came withinreach. 

A shrill whistle presently rose over all the noise of battle, and itseemed to have a meaning in it. 

"What is it, Tayoga?" shouted Robert. 

"It is the whistle of the Great Bear himself, and I have no doubt it isa signal to retire. Reason tells me, too, that it is so. We havecaptured as much of the enemy's fleet as we may at this time, and wemust make off with it lest we be destroyed ourselves. "

The whistle still rose shrill, penetrating and insistent, and at theother end of the line Daganoweda began to shout commands to theGaneagaono. Robert and Tayoga paddled away from the island, and oneither side of them they saw canoes and boats going in the samedirection. Flashes of fire came from the land, where the French andIndians, raging up and down, sought to destroy those who had capturedmost of their fleet. But the darkness made their aim uncertain, almostworthless, and only two or three of the invaders were struck, nonemortally. Twenty canoes and boats were captured, and the venture was abrilliant success. Areskoui had not worked his miracles in vain, and atriumphant shout, very bitter for the enemy, burst from rangers andMohawks. Willet, alone in a captured canoe, paddled swiftly up and downthe line, seeing like a good commander what the losses and gains mightbe, and also for personal reasons peering anxiously through the dusk forsomething that he hoped to see. Suddenly he uttered a low cry ofpleasure. 

"Ah, it is you, Robert!" he exclaimed. "And you, Tayoga! And bothunhurt!"

"Yes, except for scratches, " replied Robert. "I think that Tayoga'sAreskoui was, in very truth, watching over us, and watching well. In thedarkness and confusion all the bullets passed us by, but I was attackedat the boat's edge by a Frenchman, the one whom I saw in Albany, the onewho I am quite sure is Achille Garay. Luck saved me. "

"Some day we'll deal with that Achille Garay, " said the hunter, "but nowwe must draw off in order, and see to our wounded. "

He passed on in his canoe, and met Daganoweda in another. The youngMohawk chieftain was dripping from seven wounds, but they were all inthe shoulders and forearms and were slight, and they were a source ofpride to him rather than inconvenience. 

"'Twas well done, Daganoweda, " said Willet. 

"It is a deed of which the Ganeagaono in their castles will hear withpride, " said the Mohawk. "The fleet of Onontio and his warriors, or mostof it, is ours, and we dispute with them the rulership of the lake. "

"Great results, worthy of such a risk. I'm sorry we didn't take everyboat and canoe, because then we might have cooped up St. Luc on hisisland, and have destroyed his entire force. "

"It is given to no man, Great Bear, to achieve his whole wish. We havedone as much as we hoped, and more than we expected. "

"True, Daganoweda! True! What are your losses?"

"Nine of my men have been slain, but they fell as warriors of theGaneagaono would wish to fall. Two more will die and others are hurt, but they need not be counted, since they will be in any other battlethat may come. And what have you suffered, Great Bear?"

"Five of the rangers have gone into the hereafter, another will go, andas for the hurt, like your Mohawks they'll be good for the next fight, no matter how soon it comes. We'd better go along the line, Daganoweda, and caution them all to be steady. The wind and rain are driving hardand Andiatarocte is heaving mightily. We don't want to lose a man or acanoe. "

"No, Great Bear, after taking the fleet in battle we must not give itup to the waters of the lake. See, the flare of a great fire on themainland! The Mountain Wolf and the rest of the men await us with joy. "

Then Daganoweda achieved a feat which Willet himself would have said amoment before was impossible. He stood suddenly upright in his rockingcanoe, whirled his paddle around his head, and uttered a tremendousshout, long and thrilling, that pierced far above the roar of wind andrain. Then Mohawks and rangers took it up in a tremendous chorus, andthe force of Rogers on land joined in, too, adding to the mighty volume. When it sank into the crash and thunder of the storm, a shrill whoop ofdefiance came from the island. 

"Are they trying pursuit?" asked Robert. 

"They would not dare, " replied Tayoga. "They do not know, of course, that we have only the edges of our tomahawks and hunting knives withwhich to meet them, and even in the darkness they dread our rifles. "

Robert glanced back, catching only the dark outline of the islandthrough the rain and fog, and that, too, for but a moment, as then theunbroken dark closed in, and wind and rain roared in his ears. Herealized for the first time, since their departure on the greatadventure, that he was without clothes, and as the fierce tension ofmind and body began to relax he felt cold. The rain was driving upon himin sheets and he began to paddle with renewed vigor in order to keep uphis circulation. 

"I'll welcome the fire, Tayoga, " he said. 

"And I, too, " said the Onondaga in his precise fashion. "The collapseis coming after our mighty efforts of mind and body. We will not reachshore too soon. The Mountain Wolf and his men build the fire high, sohigh that it can defy the rain, because they know we will need it. "

A shout welcomed them as they drew in to the mainland, and the spectacleof the huge fire, sputtering and blazing in the storm, was grateful toRobert. All the captured boats and canoes were drawn out of the water, well upon the shore, and then, imitating a favorite device of theIndians, they inverted the long boats, resting the ends on logs beforethe fires, and sat or stood under them, sheltered from the rain, whilethey warmed white or brown bodies in the heat of the flames. 

"'Twas a great achievement, Dave, " said Rogers to Willet, "and improvesour position wonderfully, but 'twas one of the hardest things I've everhad to do to stand here, just waiting and listening to the roar of thebattle. "

"Tayoga says we were helped by Areskoui, and we must have been helped bysome power greater than our own. We paid a price for our victory, thoughit wasn't too high, and tomorrow we'll see what St. Luc will do. 'Tisaltogether possible that we may have a naval fight. "

"It's so, Dave, but this is a fine deed you and Daganoweda and your menhave done. "

"Nothing more than you would have done, Rogers, if you had been in ourplace. "

They spoke in ordinary tones, being men too much hardened to danger andmighty tasks to show emotion. Robert stood under the same inverted boatthat sheltered them, and he heard their words in a kind of daze, hisbrain still benumbed after the long and terrible test. But it was apleasant numbing, a provision of nature, a sort of rest that was akin tosleep. 

The storm had not abated a particle. Wind and rain roared acrossAndiatarocte and along the slopes and over the mountains. The waters ofthe lake whenever they were disclosed were black and seething, and allthe islands were invisible. 

Robert looked mostly at the great fire that crackled and blazed so near. It was fed continually by Indians and rangers, who did not care for therain, and it alone defied the storm. The sheets of rain, poured upon it, seemed to have no effect. The coals merely hissed as if it were oilinstead of water, and the flames leaped higher, deep red at the heartand often blue at the edges. 

Robert had never seen a more beautiful fire, a vast core of warmth andlight that challenged alike darkness, wind and rain. There had been atime, so he had heard, in the remote, dim ages when man knew nothing offire. It might have been true, but he did not see how man could haveexisted, and certainly no cheer ever came into his life. He turnedhimself around, as if he were broiling on a spit, and heated first oneside and then the other, until the blood in his veins sparkled with newlife and vigor. Then he dressed, still pervaded by that enormous feelingof comfort and content, and ate of the food that Rogers ordered to beserved to the returned and refreshed men. He also resumed his rifle andpistol, but kept his seat under the inverted boat, where the rain couldnot reach him. 

He would have slept, but the ground was too wet, and he waited with theothers for the approach of day and the initiative of St. Luc. Therangers and Mohawks had made the first move, and it was now for theFrench leader to match it. Robert wondered what St. Luc would attempt, but that he would try something he never doubted for a moment. 

A log was rolled beneath the long boat under which the leaders stood, and, spreading their blankets over it, they sat down on it. There wasroom at the end for Robert and Tayoga, too, and Robert found that hiscomfort increased greatly. He was in a kind of daze, that was verysoothing, and yet he saw everything that went on around him. But hestill looked mostly at the great fire which zealous hands fed and whichstood up a pillar of light in the darkness and cold. He reflected dimlythat it was a beautiful fire, a magnificent, a most magnificent fire. How the first man who saw the first fire must have rejoiced in it!

Toward morning the wind sank, and the sheets of rain grew thinner. Onceor twice thunder moaned in the southwest, and there were occasionalstreaks of lightning, but they were faint, and merely disclosed fleetingstrips of a black lake and a black forest. 

"Before the sun rises the storm will be gone, " said Tayoga. "The miraclethat Areskoui worked in our behalf is finished, and the rest must bedone by our own courage and skill. Who are we to ask more for ourselvesthan the Sun God has done?"

"We've been splendidly favored, " said Robert, "and if he does not helpus with another miracle he'll at least shine for us before long. Aftersuch a night as this, I'll be mighty glad to see the day, the greenmountains, and the bright waters of Andiatarocte again. "

"I feel the dawn already, Dagaeoga. The rain, as you see, has almoststopped, and the troubled wind will now be still. The storm will passaway, and it will leave not a mark, save a fallen tree here and there. "

Tayoga's words came true. In a half hour both wind and rain diedutterly, and they breathed an air clean and sweet, as if the world hadbeen washed anew. A touch of silver appeared on the eastern mountains, and then up came the dawn, crisp and cool after the storm, and the worldwas more splendid and beautiful than ever. The green on slopes andridges had been deepened and the lake was all silver in the morninglight. 

The islands stood up, sharp and clear, and there were the forces of St. Luc still on his island, and Rogers, through his powerful glasses, wasable to make out the French leader himself walking about, while whitemen and Indians were lighting the fires on which they expected to cooktheir breakfasts. 

Several boats and canoes were visible drawn upon the shore, showing thatSt. Luc had saved a portion of his fleet, and it appeared that he andhis men did not fear another attack, or perhaps they wanted it. Meanwhile rangers and Mohawks prepared their own breakfasts and awaitedwith patience the word of their leaders. Apparently there was nothingbut peace. It was a camping party on the island and another on themainland, and the waters of the lake danced in the sunshine, reflectingone brilliant color after another. 

"Reënforcements are coming for St. Luc, " said Robert, who saw blackspecks on the lake to the eastward of the island. "I think that's afleet of Indian canoes. "

"It's what I expected, " said Tayoga. "The French and their allies hadcomplete control of Andiatarocte until we appeared, and it is likely, when the storm began to die, Sharp Sword sent for the aid that is nowcoming. "

The canoes soon showed clear outlines in the intense sunlight, and, aswell as Rogers could judge through his glasses, they brought about fiftymen, ten of whom were Frenchmen. But there were no long boats, a fact atwhich they all rejoiced, as in a naval battle the canoes would be at agreat disadvantage opposed to the heavier craft. 

"When do you think it best to make the attack?" Willet asked the leaderof the rangers. 

"Within an hour, " replied Rogers. "If we had been in condition we mighthave gone at them before their help came, but it was wise to let the menrest a little after last night's struggle. "

"And it will be better for our purpose to beat two forces instead ofone. "

"So it will, and that's the right spirit, Dave. You can always bedepended upon to take the cheerful view of things. It's good, oldfriend, for us to be together again, doing our best. "

"So it is, and it's a time that demands one's best. The world's afire, and our part of it is burning with the rest. What do your glasses tellyou now?"

"The reënforcements are landing on the island. St. Luc himself has goneforward to meet them. He's a fine leader. He impresses red men and whitemen alike, and he'll make the new force feel that it's the mostimportant and timely in the world. Have you found anything in the woods, Black Rifle?"

"No, " replied the swart forester, who had been circling about the camp. "Nobody is there. It's just ourselves and the fellows out there on theisland. "

"Do you see any more canoes, Rogers, coming to the help of St. Luc?"asked Willet. 

The ranger searched long and carefully over the surface of the lake withhis strong glasses and then replied:

"Not a canoe. If they have any more force afloat it's too far in thenorth to reach here in time. We've all of our immediate enemy before us, and we'll attack at once. "

The boats and canoes were lifted into the water and the little forcemade ready for the naval battle. 

CHAPTER X

THE NAVAL COMBAT

Robert and Tayoga went into a long boat with Willet, a boat that heldeight men, all carrying paddles, while their rifles were laid on thebottom, ready to be substituted for the paddles when the time came. Daganoweda was in another of the large boats, and Rogers commanded athird, the whole fleet advancing slowly and in almost a straight linetoward St. Luc's stronghold. 

Doubtless many a combat between Indians had taken place on Andiataroctein the forgotten ages, but Robert believed the coming encounter would bethe first in which white men had a part, and, for the moment, he forgothis danger in the thrilling spectacle that opened before him. 

St. Luc, when he saw the enemy approaching, quickly launched his ownfleet, and filled it with men, although he kept it well in the lee ofthe land, and behind it posted a formidable row of marksmen, French, Canadians and Indians. Rogers, who had the general command, paddled hisboat a little in front of the others and examined the defense cautiouslythrough his glasses. Tayoga could see well enough with the naked eye. 

"St. Luc is leaning on the stump of a wind-blown tree near the water, "he said, "and he holds in his hand his small sword with which he willdirect the battle. But there is a canoe almost at his feet, and if needbe he will go into it. De Courcelles is in a large boat on the right, and Tandakora is in another on the left. On the land, standing behindSt. Luc, is the Canadian, Dubois. "

"A very good arrangement to meet us, " said Willet. "St. Luc will stay onthe island, but if he finds we're pressing him too hard, he'll havehimself paddled squarely into the center of his fleet, and do or die. Now, it's a lucky thing for us that our rangers are such fine marksmen, and that they have the good, long-barreled rifles. "

The boats containing the Mohawks were held back under the instructionsof Rogers, despite the eagerness of Daganoweda, who, however, wascompelled to yield to the knowledge that red men were never equal to thefinest white sharpshooters, and it was important to use the advantagegiven to them by the long rifles. Willet's boat swung in by the side ofthat of Rogers, and several more boats and canoes, containing rangers, drew level with them. Rogers measured the distance anxiously. 

"Do you think you can reach them with your rifle, Dave?" he asked. 

"A few yards more and a bullet will count, " replied the hunter. 

"We'll go ahead, then, and tell me as soon as you think we're nearenough. All our best riflemen are in front, and we should singe them abit. "

The boats glided slowly on, and, at the island, the enemy was attentiveand waiting, with the advantage wholly on his side, had it not been forthe rifles of great range, surpassing anything the French and Indianscarried. St. Luc did not move from his position, and he was a heroicfigure magnified in the dazzling sunlight. 

Willet held up his hand. 

"This will do, " he said. 

At a sign from Rogers the entire fleet stopped, and, at another signfrom Willet, twenty rangers, picked marksmen, raised their rifles andfired. Several of the French and Indians fell, and their comrades gaveforth a great shout of rage. Those in the canoes and boats fired, butall their bullets fell short, merely pattering in vain on the water. Daganoweda and his warriors, when they saw the result, uttered anexultant war whoop that came back in echoes from the mountains. Rogershimself rejoiced openly. 

"That's the way to do it, Dave!" he cried. "Reload and give 'em anothervolley. Unless they come out and attack us we can decimate 'em. "

Although it was hard to restrain the rangers, who wished to crowdcloser, Rogers and Willet nevertheless were able to make them keep theirdistance, and they maintained a deadly fire that picked off warriorafter warrior and that threatened the enemy with destruction. St. Luc'sIndians uttered shouts of rage and fired many shots, all of which fellshort. Then Robert saw St. Luc leave the stump and enter his waitingcanoe. 

"They'll come to meet us now, " he said. "We've smoked 'em out. "

"Truly they will, " said Tayoga. "They must advance or die at the land'sedge. "

The portion of his fleet which St. Luc and his men had managed to savewas almost as large as that of the Americans and Mohawks, and seeingthat they must do it, they put out boldly from the land, St. Luc in thecenter in his canoe, paddled by a single Indian. As they approached, therifles of Daganoweda's men came into action also, and St. Luc's forcereplied with a heavy fire. The naval battle was on, and it was foughtwith all the fury of a great encounter by fleets on the high seas. Robert saw St. Luc in his canoe, giving orders both with his voice andthe waving of his sword, while the single Indian in the light craftpaddled him to and fro as he wished, stoically careless of the bullets. 

In the heat and fury of the combat the fleet of Rogers came under thefire of the French and Indians on the island, many being wounded andsome slain. These reserves of St. Luc in their eagerness waded waistdeep into the water, and pulled trigger as fast as they could load andreload. 

A ranger in Willet's boat was killed and two more received hurts, butthe hunter kept his little command in the very thick of the battle, anddespite the great cloud of smoke that covered the fleets of both sidesRobert soon saw that the rangers and Mohawks were winning. One of thelarger boats belonging to St. Luc, riddled with bullets, went down, andthe warriors who had been in it were forced to swim for their lives. Several canoes were rammed and shattered. Willet and Tayoga meanwhilewere calmly picking their targets through the smoke, and when theyfired they never missed. 

The rangers, too, were showing their superiority as sharpshooters to theFrench and Indians, and were doing deadly execution with their longrifles. St. Luc, in spite of the great courage shown by his men, wascompelled to sound the recall, and, hurriedly taking on board all theFrench and Indians who were on land, he fled eastward across the lakewith the remnant of his force. Rogers pursued, but St. Luc was stillable to send back such a deadly fire and his French and Indians workedso desperately with the paddles that they reached the eastern rim, abandoned the fragments of their fleet, climbed the lofty shore anddisappeared in the forest, leaving Rogers, Willet, Daganoweda and theirmen in triumphant command of Andiatarocte, for a little while, at least. 

But the victors bore many scars. More men had been lost, and their forcesuffered a sharp reduction in numbers. The three leaders, still in theirboats, conferred. Daganoweda was in favor of landing and of pushing thepursuit to the utmost, even to the walls of Crown Point on Champlain, where the fugitives would probably go. 

"There's much in favor of it, " said Willet. "There's nothing likefollowing a beaten enemy and destroying him, and there is also much tobe said against it. We might run into an ambush and be destroyedourselves. Although we've paid a price for it, we've a fine victory andwe hold command of the lake for the time being. By pushing on we riskall we've won in order to obtain more. "

But Daganoweda was still eager to advance, and urged it in a spiritedMohawk speech. Rogers himself favored it. The famous leader of rangershad a bold and adventurous mind. No risk was too great for him, anddangers, instead of repelling, invited him. 

Robert, as became him, listened to them in silence. Prudence told himthat they ought to stay on the lake, but his was the soul of youth, andthe fiery eloquence of Daganoweda found an answer in his heart. It wasdecided at last to leave a small guard with the fleet, while rangers andMohawks to the number of fifty should pursue toward Oneadatote. Allthree of the leaders, with Black Rifle, Tayoga and Robert, were to sharein the pursuit, while a trusty man named White was left in command ofthe guard over the boats. 

The fifty--the force had been so much reduced by the fighting that nomore could be mustered--climbed the lofty shore, making their way up aravine, thick with brush, until they came out on a crest more than athousand feet above the lake. Nor did they forget, as they climbed, toexercise the utmost caution, looking everywhere for an ambush. They knewthat St. Luc, while defeated, would never be dismayed, and it would belike him to turn on the rangers and Mohawks in the very moment of theirvictory and snatch it from them. But there was no sign of a foe'spresence, although Daganoweda's men soon struck the trail of the fleeingenemy. 

They paused at the summit a minute or two for breath, and Robert lookedback with mixed emotions at Andiatarocte, a vast sheet of blue, then ofgreen under the changing sky, the scene of a naval victory of which hehad not dreamed a few days ago. But the lake bore no sign of strife now. The islands were all in peaceful green and the warlike boats were gone, save at the foot of the cliff they had just climbed. There they, too, looked peaceful enough, as if they were the boats of fishermen, and theguards, some of whom were aboard the fleet and some of whom lay at easenear the edge of the water, seemed to be men engaged in pursuits thathad nothing to do with violence and war. 

Tayoga's eyes followed Robert's. 

"Andiatarocte is worth fighting for, " he said. "It is well for us to bethe rulers of it, even for a day. Where will you find a more splendidlake, a lake set deep in high green mountains, a lake whose waters maytake on a dozen colors within a day, and every color beautiful?"

"I don't believe the world can show its superior, Tayoga, " repliedRobert, "and I, like you, am full of pride, because we are lords of itfor a day. I hope the time will soon come when we shall be permanentrulers of both lakes, Andiatarocte and Oneadatote. "

"We shall have to be mighty warriors before that hour arrives, " saidTayoga, gravely. "Even if we gain Andiatarocte we have yet to secure afooting on the shores of Oneadatote. The French and their allies are notonly in great force at Crown Point, but we hear that they mean tofortify also at the place called Ticonderoga by the Hodenosaunee andCarillon by the French. "

The order to resume the march came, and they pressed forward on thetrail through the deep woods. Usually at this time of the year it washot in the forest, but after the great storm and rain of the nightbefore a brisk, cool wind moved in waves among the trees, shaking theleaves and sending lingering raindrops down on the heads of thepursuers. 

Black Rifle curved off to the right as a flanker against ambush, and twoof Daganoweda's best scouts were sent to the left, while the main forcewent on directly, feeling now that the danger from a hidden force hadbeen diminished greatly, their zeal increasing as the trail grew warmer. Daganoweda believed that they could overtake St. Luc in three or fourhours, and he and his Mohawks, flushed with victory on the lake, werenow all for speed, the rangers being scarcely less eager. 

The country through which they were passing was wooded heavily, wild, picturesque and full of game. But it was well known to Mohawks andrangers, and the two lads had also been through it. They started up manydeer that fled through the forest, and the small streams and ponds werecovered with wild fowl. 

"I don't wonder that the settlers fail to come in here on this strip ofland between George and Champlain, " said Robert to Tayoga. "It's a NoMan's land, roamed over only by warriors, and even the most daringfrontiersman must have some regard for the scalp on his head. "

"I could wish it to be kept a No Man's land, " said Tayoga earnestly. 

"Maybe it will--for a long time, anyway. But, Tayoga, you're as good atrailer as Black Rifle or any Mohawk. Judging from the traces theyleave, how many men would you say St. Luc now has with him?"

"As many as we have, or more, perhaps seventy, though their quality isnot as good. The great footprint in the center of the trail is made byTandakora. He, at least, has not fallen, and the prints that turn outare those of St. Luc, De Courcelles and doubtless of the officerJumonville. The French leaders walked together, and here they stoppedand talked a minute or two. St. Luc was troubled, and it was hard forhim to make up his mind what to do. "

"How do you know that, Tayoga?"

"Because, as he stood by the side of this bush, he broke three of itslittle stems between his thumb and forefinger. See, here are the stumps. A man like St. Luc would not have had a nervous hand if he had not beenperplexed greatly. "

"But how do you know it was St. Luc who stood by the bush, and not DeCourcelles or Jumonville?"

"Because I have been trained from infancy, as an Onondaga and Iroquois, to notice everything. We have to see to live, and I observed long agothat the feet of St. Luc were smaller than those of De Courcelles orJumonville. You will behold the larger imprints that turn out just here, and they face St. Luc, who stood by the bush. Once they not only thoughtof turning back to meet us, but actually prepared to do so. "

"What proof have you?"

"O Dageaoga, you would not have asked me that question if you had usedyour eyes, and had thought a little. The print is so simple that alittle child may read. The toes of their moccasins at a point justbeyond the bush turn about, that is, back on the trail. And here thehuge moccasins of Tandakora have taken two steps back. Perhaps theyintended to meet us in full face or to lay an ambush, but at last theycontinued in their old course and increased their speed. "

"How do you know they went faster, Tayoga?"

"O Dagaeoga, is your mind wandering today that your wits are so dull?See, how the distance between the imprints lengthens! When you runfaster you leap farther. Everybody does. "

"I apologize, Tayoga. It was a foolish question to be asked by one whohas lived in the forest as long as I have. Why do you think theyincreased their speed, and how does St. Luc know that they arefollowed?"

"It may be that they know a good place of ambush farther ahead, and St. Luc is sure that he is pursued, because he knows the minds of Willet, Rogers and Daganoweda. He knows they are the kind of minds that alwaysfollow and push a victory to the utmost. Here the warriors knelt anddrank. They had a right to be thirsty after such a battle and such aretreat. "

He pointed to numerous imprints by the bank of a clear brook, andrangers and Mohawks, imitating the example of those whom they pursued, drank thirstily. Then they resumed the advance, and they soon saw thatthe steps of St. Luc's men were shortening. 

"They are thinking again of battle or ambush, " said Tayoga, "and whenthey think of it a second time they are likely to try it. It becomes usnow to go most warily. "

Daganoweda and Willet also had noticed St. Luc's change of pace, andstopping, they took counsel with themselves. About two miles ahead thecountry was exceedingly rough, cut by rocky ravines, and covered heavilywith forest and thickets. 

"If St. Luc elects to make a stand, " said Willet, "that is the place hewill choose. What say you, Daganoweda?"

"I think as the Great Bear thinks, " replied the Mohawk chieftain. 

"And you, Rogers?"

"Seems likely to me, too. At any rate, we must reckon on it. "

"And so reckoning on it, we'd better stop and throw out more scouts. "

Both Rogers and Daganoweda agreed, and flankers were sent off in eachdirection. Tayoga asked earnestly for this service, and Robert insistedon going with him. As the great skill of the Onondaga was known to thethree leaders, he was obviously the proper selection for the errand, andit was fitting that Robert, his comrade in so many dangers andhardships, should accompany him. Daganoweda and Rogers said yes at once, and Willet was not able to say no. They were the best choice for such anerrand, and although the hunter was reluctant for the youth, who wasalmost a son to him, to go on such a perilous duty, he knew that he mustyield to the necessity. 

The two lads went off to the left or northern flank, and in less than aminute the deep forest hid them completely from the main force. Theywere buried in the wilderness, and, for all the evidence that came tothem, the band of rangers and Mohawks had ceased to exist. 

They passed about a half mile to the north of the main force, and thenthey began to look everywhere for traces of trails, or evidence that anambush was being prepared. 

"Do you think St. Luc will make a new stand at the ridges?" askedRobert. 

"All the chances favor it, " replied the Onondaga. "We know that SharpSword, besides being a great leader, is full of pride. He will not liketo go to Crown Point, and report that he has not only lost his fleet andthe temporary command of Andiatarocte, but a large part of his force aswell. If he can strike a heavy and deadly blow at his pursuers he willfeel much better. "

"Your reasoning seems good to me, and, therefore, it behooves us to bemighty careful. What do you take this imprint to be, Tayoga? Is it thatof a human foot?"

"It is so very faint one can tell little of it. Your eye was keen, Dagaeoga, to have seen it at all, though I think the hoof of a buck andnot the foot of a man trod here on the fallen leaves, but the tread wasso light that it left only a partial impression. "

"I can find no other trace like it farther on. "

"No, the ground grows very hard and rocky, and it leaves no impression. We will advance for a little while toward the ridge, and then it will bewell for us to lie down in some cover and watch, because I think St. Lucwill send out skirmishers. "

"And naturally he will send them to both right and left as we do. "

"Of course, Dagaeoga. "

"And then, if we keep moving on, we're sure to meet them?"

"It would appear so, Dagaeoga. "

"And for that reason, Tayoga, I'm in favor of the greatest care. I hopewe'll come soon to a covert so deep and thick that when we hide in it wecan't be seen five yards away. "

"So do I, Dagaeoga. It is no shame to us to wish to save our lives. Lost, they would be of no use either to ourselves or to those whom weare here to serve. I think I see now the place that is waiting for us. "

He pointed to a dense clump of scrub cedars growing on hard and rockyground. 

"I see, " said Robert. "We can approach it without leaving any trail, andin that mass of green no foe will notice us unless his eyes are almostagainst us. "

"Dagaeoga, at times, shows understanding and wisdom. The day may comewhen he will be a great scout and trailer--if he lives long enough. "

"Go ahead, Tayoga, if it amuses you to make game of me. If humor can beproduced at such a time I'm glad to be the occasion of it. "

"It's best for us, Dagaeoga, to await all things with a light heart. Ourfates are in the hands of Manitou. "

"That's good philosophy, Tayoga, though I'm bound to say I can't lookupon my life as a thing mapped out for me in every detail, though I liveto be a hundred. Manitou knows what's going to happen, but I don't, andso my heart will jump anyhow when the danger comes. Now, you're surewe've left no trail among those rocks?"

"Not a trace, Dagaeoga. If Tododaho himself were to come back to earthhe could not find our path. "

"And you're sure that we're thoroughly hidden among these littlecedars?"

"Quite sure of it. I doubt whether the bird singing over our heads seesus, and Manitou has given to the bird a very good eye that he may seehis food, which is so small. It may be that the birds and animals whichhave given us warning of the enemy's approach before may do it again. "

"At any rate, we can hope so. Are we as deserving now as we were then?"

"Yes, we can hope, Dagaeoga. Hope is never forbidden to anybody. "

"I see that you're a philosopher, Tayoga. "

"I try to be one, " said the Onondaga, his eyes twinkling. 

"Do you think that bird singing with so much power and beauty overheadsees us at last?"

"No, because he would certainly have stopped long enough to gratify hiscuriosity. Even a bird would want to know why strange creatures comeinto his thicket. "

"Then as long as he sings I shall know that danger is not near. We havebeen watched over by birds before. "

"Again you talk like a little child, Dagaeoga. I teach you the wisdom ofthe woods, and you forget. The bird may see a worm or a moth orsomething else that is good to eat, and then he will stop singing todart for his food. A bird must eat, and his love of music often givesway to his love of food. "

"You speak as if you were talking from a book. "

"I learned your language mostly out of books, and so I speak as they arewritten. Ah, the song of the bird has stopped and he has gone away! Butwe do not know whether he has been alarmed by the coming of our enemy orhas seen food that he pursues. "

"It's food, Tayoga; I can hear him, faintly, singing in another tree, some distance to our right. Probably having captured the worm or themoth or whatever it was he was pursuing, and having devoured it, he isnow patting his stomach in his pleasure and singing in his joy. "

"And as a sentinel he is no longer of any use to us. Then we will watchfor the little animals that run on the ground. They cannot fly over theheads of Ojibway and Caughnawaga warriors, and so, if our enemies come, they, too, are likely to come our way. "

"Then I'll rest awhile, Tayoga, and it may be that I'll doze. If arabbit runs in our direction wake me up. "

"You may pretend to sleep, Dagaeoga, but you will not. You may closeyour eyes, but you cannot close your ears, nor can you still yournerves. One waits not with eyes and ears alone, but with all the fiberof the body. "

"True, Tayoga. I was but jesting. I couldn't sleep if I tried. But I canrest. "

He stretched himself in an easy position, a position, also, that allowedhim to go into instant action if hostile warriors came, and he awaitedthe event with a calmness that surprised himself. Tayoga was crouched byhis side, intent and also waiting. 

A full half hour passed, and Robert heard nothing stirring in theundergrowth, save the wandering but gentle winds that rustled the leavesand whispered in the grass. Had he been left to himself he would havegrown impatient, and he would have continued the scouting curve on whichhe had been sent. But he had supreme confidence in Tayoga. If theOnondaga said it was best for them to stay there in the bush, then itwas best, and he would remain until his comrade gave the word to moveon. 

So sure was he of Tayoga that he did close his eyes for a while, although his ears and all the nerves of his body watched. But it wasvery peaceful and restful, and, while he lay in a half-dreamy state, heaccumulated new strength for the crisis that might come. 

"Any little animals running away yet, Tayoga?" he asked, partly in jest. 

"No, Dagaeoga, but I am watching. Two rabbits not twenty feet from usare nibbling the leaves on a tiny weed, that is, they nibble part of thetime, and part of the time they play. "

"They don't sing like the bird, because they can't, but I take it fromwhat you say they're just as happy. "

"Happy and harmless, Dagaeoga. We Iroquois would not disturb them. Wekill only to eat. "

"Well, I've learned your way. You can't say, Tayoga, that I'm not, inspirit and soul at least, half an Iroquois, and spirit and soul meanmore than body and manners or the tint of the skin. "

"Dagaeoga has learned much. But then he has had the advantage ofassociating with one who could teach him much. "

"Tayoga, if it were not for that odd little chord in your voice, I'dthink you were conceited. But though you jest, it is true I've had asplendid chance to discover that the nations of the Hodenosaunee knowsome things better than we do, and do some things better than we do. I've found that the wisdom of the world isn't crystallized in any onerace. How about the rabbits, Tayoga? Do they still eat and play, as ifnobody anywhere near them was thinking of wounds and death?"

"The rabbits neither see nor hear anything strange, and the strangewould be to them the dangerous. They nibble at the leaves a little, thenplay a little, then nibble again. "

"I trust they'll keep up their combination of pleasure and sustenancesome time, because it's very nice to lie here, rest one's overstrainedsystem, and feel that one is watched over by a faithful friend, one whocan do your work as well as his. You're not only a faithful friend, Tayoga, you're a most useful one also. "

"Dagaeoga is lazy. He would not have as a friend one who is lazy likehimself. He needs a comrade to take care of him. Perhaps it is betterso. Dagaeoga is an orator; an orator has privileges, and one of hisprivileges is a claim to be watched over by others. One cannot speakforever and work, too. "

Robert opened his eyes and smiled. The friendship between him andTayoga, begun in school days, had been tested by countless hardships anddangers, and though each made the other an object of jest, it was asfirm as that of Orestes and Pylades or that of Damon and Pythias. 

"What are the rabbits doing now?" asked young Lennox, who had closedhis eyes again. 

"They eat less and play less, " replied the Onondaga. "Ah, their attitudeis that of suspicion! It may be that the enemy comes! Now they run away, and the enemy surely comes!"

Robert sat up, and laid his rifle across his knee. All appearance oflaziness or relaxation disappeared instantly. He was attentive, alert, keyed to immediate action. 

"Can you see anything, Tayoga?" he whispered. 

"No, but I think I hear the sound of footsteps approaching. I am not yetsure, because the footfall, if footfall it be, is almost as light as thedropping of a feather. "

Both remained absolutely still, not moving a leaf in their covert, andpresently a huge and sinister figure walked into the open. It seemed toRobert that Tandakora was larger than ever, and that he was moreevil-looking. His face was that of the warrior who would show no mercy, and his body, save for a waistcloth, was livid with all the hideousdevices of war paint. Behind him came a Frenchman whom Robert promptlyrecognized as Achille Garay, and a half dozen warriors, all of whomturned questing eyes toward the earth. 

"They look for a trail, " whispered Tayoga. "It is well, Dagaeoga, thatwe took the precaution to walk on rocks when we came into this covert, or Tandakora, who is so eager for our blood, would find the traces. "

"Tandakora costs me great pain, " Robert whispered back. "It's mymisfortune always to be seeing him just when I can't shoot at him. I'mtempted to try it, anyhow. That's a big, broad chest of his, and Icouldn't find a finer target. "

"No, Dagaeoga, on your life, no! Our scalps would be the price, and someday we shall take the life of Tandakora and yet keep our own. I know it, because Tododaho has whispered it to me in the half world that liesbetween waking and sleeping. "

"You're right, of course, Tayoga, but it's a tremendous temptation. "

The Onondaga put his hand on his lips to indicate that even a whispernow was dangerous, and the two sank once more into an utter silence. Thechest of Tandakora still presented a great and painted target, andRobert's hand lay on the trigger, but his will kept him from pressingit. Yet he did not watch the Ojibway chief with more eagerness than hebestowed upon the Frenchman, Achille Garay. 

Garay's face was far from prepossessing. In its way it was as evil asthat of Tandakora. He had sought Robert's life more than once. In thenaval battle he had seen the Frenchman pull trigger upon him. Why? Whyhad he singled him out from the others in the endeavor to make a victimof him? There must be some motive, much more powerful than that ofnatural hostility, and he believed now if they were discovered that notTayoga but he would be the first object of Garay's attack. 

But Tandakora and his men passed on, bearing to the right and from themain force. Robert and Tayoga saw their figures vanish among the bushesand heard the fall of their moccasins a little longer, and then thequestion of their own course presented itself to them. Should they goback to Rogers with a warning of the hostile flankers, or should theyfollow Tandakora and see what he meant? They decided finally in favor ofthe latter course, and passing quietly from their covert, began to trailthose who were seeking to trail a foe. The traces led toward the west, and it was not hard to follow them, as Tandakora and his men had takenbut little care, evidently not thinking any scouting rangers or Mohawksmight be near. 

Robert and Tayoga followed carefully for several hundred yards; thenthey were surprised to see the trail curve sharply about, and go backtoward the main force. 

"We must have passed them, " said Robert, "although we were too far awayto see each other. "

"It would seem so, " said the Onondaga. "Tandakora may have come to theconclusion that no enemy is on his extreme flank, and so has gone backto see if any has appeared nearer the center. "

"Then we must follow him in his new course. "

"If we do what we are sent to do we will follow. "

"Lead on, Tayoga. "

The Onondaga stooped that the underbrush might hide him, advanced overthe trail, and Robert was close behind. The thickets were very still. All the small wild creatures, usually so numerous in them, haddisappeared, and there was no wind. Tayoga saw that the imprints of themoccasins were growing firmer and clearer, and he knew that Tandakoraand his men were but a short distance ahead. Then he stopped suddenlyand he and Robert crouched low in the thicket. 

They had heard the faint report of rifles directly in front, and theybelieved that Tandakora had come into contact with a party of rangers orMohawks. As they listened, the sound of a second volley came, and thenthe echo of a faint war whoop. Tayoga rose a little higher, perhapsexpecting to see something in the underbrush, and a rifle flashed lessthan forty yards away. 

The Onondaga fell without a cry before the horrified eyes of hiscomrade, and then, as Robert heard a shout of triumph, he saw an Indian, horribly painted, rush forward to seize what he believed to be a Mohawkscalp. 

Young Lennox, filled with grief and rage, stood straight up, and astream of fire fairly poured from the muzzle of his rifle as his bulletmet the exultant warrior squarely in the heart. The savage fell like alog, having no time to utter his death cry, and paying no furtherattention to him, feeling that he must be merely a stray warrior fromthe main band, Robert turned to his fallen comrade. 

Tayoga was unconscious, and was bleeding profusely from a wound in theright shoulder. Robert seized his wrist and felt his pulse. He was notdead, because he detected a faint beat, but it was quite evident thatthe wound from a big musket bullet had come near to cutting the threadof life. 

For a moment or two Lennox was in despair, while his heart continued toswell with grief and rage. It was unthinkable that the noblest youngOnondaga of them all, one fit to be in his time the greatest ofsachems, the very head and heart of the League, should be cut down by amere skulker. And yet it had happened. Tayoga lay, still whollyunconscious, and the sounds of firing to the eastward were increasing. Abattle had begun there. Perhaps the full forces of both sides were nowin conflict. 

The combat called to Robert, he knew that he might bear a great part init, but he never hesitated. Such a thought as deserting his strickencomrade could not enter his mind. He listened a moment longer to thesounds of the conflict now growing more fierce, and then, fasteningTayoga's rifle on his back with his own, he lifted his wounded comradein his arms and walked westward, away from the battle. 

CHAPTER XI

THE COMRADES

Robert settled the inert form of the Onondaga against his left shoulder, and, being naturally very strong, with a strength greatly increased by along life in the woods, he was able to carry the weight easily. He hadno plan yet in his mind, merely a vague resolve to carry Tayoga outsidethe fighting zone and then do what he could to resuscitate him. It wasan unfortunate chance that the hostile flankers had cut in between himand the main force of Rogers, but it could not be helped, and thefarther he was from his own people the safer would he and Tayoga be. 

Two hundred yards more and putting his comrade on the ground he cut awaythe deerskin, disclosing the wound. The bullet had gone almost throughthe shoulder, and as he felt of its path he knew with joy that it hadtouched no bone. Then, unless the loss of blood became great, it couldnot prove mortal. But the bullet was of heavy type, fired from the oldsmoothbore musket and the shock had been severe. Although it had notgone quite through the shoulder he could feel it near the surface, andhe decided at once upon rude but effective surgery. 

Laying Tayoga upon his face, he drew his keen hunting knife and cutboldly into the flesh of the shoulder until he reached the bullet. Thenhe pried it out with the point of the knife, and threw it away in thebushes. A rush of blood followed and Tayoga groaned, but Robert, rapidlycutting the Onondaga's deerskin tunic into suitable strips, boundtightly and with skill both the entrance and the exit of the wound. Theflow of blood was stopped, and he breathed a fervent prayer ofthankfulness to the white man's God and the red man's Manitou. Tayogawould live, and he knew that he had saved the life of his comrade, asthat comrade had more than once saved his. 

Yet both were still surrounded by appalling dangers. At any moment St. Luc's savages might burst through the woods and be upon them. As hefinished tying the bandage and stood erect the flare of the fightingcame from a point much nearer, though between them and the ranger band, forbidding any possible attempt to rejoin Rogers and Willet. Tayogaopened his eyes, though he saw darkly, through a veil, and said infeeble tones:

"They have closed again with the forces of St. Luc. You would be there, Dagaeoga, to help in the fighting. Go, I am useless. It is not a time tocumber yourself with me. "

"If I lay there as you are, and you stood here as I am would you leaveme?" asked Robert. 

The Onondaga was silent. 

"You know you wouldn't, " continued Robert, "and you know I won't. Listen, the battle comes nearer. St. Luc must have received areënforcement. "

He leaned forward a little, cupping his ear with his right hand, and heheard distinctly all the sounds of a fierce and terrible conflict, rifleshots, yells of the savages, shouts of the rangers, and once or twice hethought he saw faintly the flashes of rifles as they were fired in thethickets. 

"Go, " said Tayoga again. "I can see that your spirit turns to thebattle. They may not find me, and, perhaps in a day, I shall be able towalk and take care of myself. "

Robert made no reply in words, but once more he lifted the Onondaga inhis sinewy arms, settled his weight against his left shoulder andresumed his walk away from the battle. Tayoga did not speak, and Robertsoon saw that he had relapsed again into unconsciousness. He went atleast three hundred yards before resting, and all the while the battlecalled to him, the shots, the yells and the shouts still coming clearlythrough the thin mountain air. 

He rested perhaps fifteen minutes, and he saw that, while Tayoga wasunconscious, the flow of blood was still held in check by the bandages. Resuming his burden, he went on through the forest, a full quarter of amile now, and the last sound of the battle sank into nothingness behindhim. He was consumed with anxiety to know who had won, but there was nota sign to tell. 

He came to a brook, and putting Tayoga down once more, he bathed hisface freely, until the Onondaga opened his eyes and looked about, notwith a veil before his eyes now, but clearly. 

"Where are we, Dagaeoga?" he asked. 

"I'd tell you if I could, but I can't, " replied Robert, cheerfully, rejoiced at the sight of his comrade's returning strength. 

"You have left the battle behind you?"

"Yes. I can state in general terms that we're somewhere betweenAndiatarocte and Oneadatote, which is quite enough for you to know atthe present time. I'm the forest doctor, and as this is the first chanceI've ever had to exert authority over you, I mean to make the most ofit. "

Tayoga smiled wanly. 

"I see that you have bound up my wound, " he said. "That was well. Butsince I cannot see the wound itself I do not know what kind of a bulletmade it. "

"It wasn't a bullet at all, Tayoga. It was a cannon ball, though it cameout of a wide-mouthed musket, and I'm happy to tell you that it somehowgot through your shoulder without touching bone. "

"The bullet is out?"

"Yes, I cut it out with this good old hunting knife of mine. "

Again Tayoga smiled wanly. 

"You have done well, Dagaeoga, " he said. "Did I not say to others inyour defense that you had intelligence and, in time, might learn? Youhave saved my life, a poor thing perhaps, but the only life I have, andI thank you. "

Robert laughed, and his laugh was full of heartiness. He saw the oldTayoga coming back. 

"You'll be a new man tomorrow, " he said. "With flesh and blood ashealthy as yours a hole through your shoulder that I could put my fistin would soon heal. "

"What does Dagaeoga purpose to do next?"

"You'll find out in good time. I'm master now, and I don't intend totell my plans. If I did you'd be trying to change 'em. While I'm ruler Imean to be ruler. "

"It is a haughty spirit you show. You take advantage of my beingwounded. "

"Of course I do. As I said, it's the only chance I've had. Stop that!Don't try to sit up! You're not strong enough yet. I'll carry youawhile. "

Tayoga sank back, and, in a few more minutes, Robert picked him up andwent on once more. But he noticed that the Onondaga did not now lie adead weight upon his shoulder. Instead, there was in him again the vitalquality that made him lighter and easier to carry. He knew that Tayogawould revive rapidly, but it would be days before he was fit to takecare of himself. He must find not only a place of security, but one ofshelter from the fierce midsummer storms that sometimes broke over thosemountain slopes. Among the rocks and ravines and dense woods he mightdiscover some such covert. Food was contained in his knapsack and theone still fastened to the back of Tayoga, food enough to last severaldays, and if the time should be longer his rifle must find more. 

The way became rougher, the rocks growing more numerous, the slopesincreasing in steepness, and the thickets becoming almost impenetrable. 

"Put me down, " said Tayoga. "We are safe from the enemy, for a while atleast. All the warriors have been drawn by the battle, and, whether itgoes on now or not, they have not yet had time to scatter and seekthrough the wilderness. "

"I said I was going to be absolute master, but it looks, Tayoga, as ifyou meant to give advice anyhow. And as your advice seems good, and Iconfess I'm a trifle weary, I'll let you see if you can sit up a littleon this heap of dead leaves, with your back against this old fallentrunk. Here we go! Gently now! Oh, you'll soon be a warrior again, ifyou follow my instructions!"

Tayoga heaved a little sigh of relief as he leaned back against thetrunk. His eyes were growing clearer and Robert knew that the beat ofhis pulse was fuller. All the amazing vitality that came from a powerfulconstitution, hard training and clean living was showing itself. Already, and his wound scarcely two hours old, his strength was comingback. 

"You look for a wigwam, Dagaeoga?" he said. 

"Well, scarcely that, " replied Robert. "I'm not expecting an inn in thiswilderness, but I'm seeking some sort of shelter, preferably high upamong the rocks, where we might find protection from storms. "

"Two or three hundred yards farther on and we'll find it. "

"Come, Tayoga, you're just guessing. You can't know such a thing. "

"I am not guessing at all, Dagaeoga, and I do know. Your position asabsolute ruler was brief. It expired between the first and second hour, and now you have an adviser who may become a director. "

"Then proceed with your advice and direction. How do you know there isshelter only two or three hundred yards farther on?"

"I look ahead, and I see a narrow path leading up among the rocks. Suchpaths are countless in the wilderness, and many of them are untrodden, but the one before my eyes has sustained footsteps many times. "

"Come down to earth, Tayoga, and tell me what you see. "

"I see on the rocks on either side of this path long, coarse hairs. Theywere left by a wild animal going back and forth to its den. It was alarge wild animal, else it would not have scraped against the rocks oneither side. It was probably a bear, and if you will hand me the two orthree twisted hairs in the crevice at your elbow I will tell you. "

Robert brought them to him and Tayoga nodded assent. 

"Aye, it was a bear, " he said, "and a big one. "

"But how do you know his den is only two or three hundred yards away?"

"That is a matter of looking as far as the eyes can reach. If you willonly lift yours and gaze over the tops of those bushes you will see thatthe path ends against a high stone face or wall, too steep for climbing. So the den must be there, and let us hope, Dagaeoga, that it is largeenough for us both. The bear is likely to be away, as this is summer. Now, lift me up. I have talked all the talk that is in me and as much asI have strength to utter. "

Robert carried him again, and it was hard traveling up the steep androcky path, but Tayoga's words were quickly proved to be true. In thecrumbling face of the stone cliff they found not only an opening butseveral, the bear having preferred one of the smaller to the largest, which ran back eight or ten feet and which was roomy enough to house adozen men. It bore no animal odor, and there was before it an abundanceof dead leaves that could be taken in for shelter. 

"Now Manitou is kind, " said Tayoga, "or it may be that Areskoui andTododaho are still keeping their personal watch over us. Lay me in thecave, Dagaeoga. Thou hast acquitted thyself as a true friend. No sachemof the Onondagas, however great, could have been greater in fidelity andcourage. "

Robert made two beds of leaves. On one he spread the blanket that wasstrapped to Tayoga's back. Then he built his own place and felt thatthey were sheltered and secure for the time, and in truth they werehoused as well as millions of cave men for untold centuries had been. Itwas a good cave, sweet-smelling, with pure, clean air, and Robert sawthat if it rained the water would not come in at the door, but would runpast it down the slope, which in itself was one of the luckiest strokesof fortune. 

Tayoga lay on his blanket on his bed of leaves, and, looking up at therough and rocky roof, smiled. He had begged Robert to leave him and goto the battle, and he knew that if his comrade had gone, he, wounded ashe was, would surely have perished. If a hostile skirmisher did not findhim, which was more than likely, he would have been overcome by thefever of his wound, and, lying unconscious while some rainstorm sweptover him, his last chance would be gone. He could feel the fevercreeping into his veins now, and he knew that they had found the refugejust in time. Yet he was grateful and cheerful, and in his heart he saidsilent thanks to Tododaho, Areskoui and Manitou. Then he called toRobert. 

"See if you can find water, " he said. "There should be more than onestream among these rocky hollows. Bring the water here in your cap andwash my wound. "

Iroquois therapeutics were very simple, but wonderfully effective, and, as Robert had seen both Onondagas and Mohawks practice their healingart, he understood. He discovered a good stream not many yards away, andcarefully removing Tayoga's bandages, and bringing his cap filled to thebrim with water, he cleansed the wound thoroughly. Then the bandageswere put on again firmly and securely. This in most cases constitutedthe whole of the Iroquois treatment, so far as the physical body wasconcerned. The wound must be kept absolutely clean and away from theair, nature doing the rest. Now and then the juices of powerful herbswere used, but they were not needed for one so young and so wholesome inblood as Tayoga. 

When the operation was finished the Onondaga lay back on his bed andsmiled once more at the rough and rocky roof. 

"Again you show signs of intelligence, Dagaeoga, " he said. "As you havelearned to be a warrior, perhaps you can learn to be a medicine manalso, not the medicine man who deals with spirits, but one who heals. Now, as you have done your part, I shall do mine. "

"What do you mean, Tayoga?"

"I will resolve to be well. You know that among my people the healersheld in highest honor are those who do not acknowledge the existence ofany disease at all. The patient is sick because he has not willed thathe should be well. So the medicine man exerts a will for him and byreciting to himself prayers or charms drives away the complaint whichthe sick man fancies that he has. Now, I do not accept all their belief. A bullet has gone through my shoulder, and I know it. Nothing can alterthe fact. Yet I do know that the will has great control over the nerves, which direct the body, and I shall strengthen my will as much as I can, and make it order my body to get well. "

Robert knew that what he said was true. Already the Iroquois were, andlong had been, practicing what came to be known much later among thewhite people as Christian Science. 

"Try to sleep, Tayoga, " he said. "I know the power of your will. If youorder yourself to sleep, sleep you will. I have your rifle and mine, andif the enemy should come I think I can hold 'em off. "

"They will not come, " said Tayoga, "at least, not today nor in the nightthat will follow. They are so busy with the Great Bear and the MountainWolf and Daganoweda that they will not have time to hunt among the hillsfor the two who have sought refuge here. What of the skies, Dagaeoga?What do they promise?"

Robert, standing in the entrance, took a long look at the heavens. 

"Rain, " he replied at last; "I can see clouds gathering in the west, anda storm is likely to come with the night. I think I hear distantthunder, but it is so low I'm not sure. "

"Areskoui is good to us once more. The kindness of his heart is neverexhausted. Truly, O Dagaeoga, he has been a shield between us and ourenemies. Now the rain will come, it will pour hard, it will sweep alongthe slopes, and wash away any faint trace of a trail that we may haveleft, thus hiding our flight from the eyes of wandering warriors. "

"All that's true, and now that you've explained it to your satisfaction, you obey me, exercise your will and go to sleep. I've recovered myrulership, and I mean to exercise it to the full for the little timethat it may last. "

Tayoga obeyed, composing himself in the easiest attitude on his blanketand bed of leaves, and he exerted his will to the utmost. He wishedsleep, and sleep must come, yet he knew that the fever was still risingin his veins. The shock and loss of blood from the great musket ballcould not be dismissed by a mere effort of the mind, but the mindnevertheless could fight against their effects and neutralize them. 

As the fever rose steadily he exerted his will with increasing power. Hesaid to himself again and again how fortunate he was to be watched overby such a brave and loyal friend, and to have a safe and dry refuge, when other warriors of his nation, wounded, had lain in the forest todie of exhaustion or to be devoured by wild beasts. He knew from thefeel of the air that a storm was coming, and again he was thankful tohis patron saint, Tododaho, and also to Areskoui, and to Manitou, greatest of all, because a bed and a roof had been found for him inthis, the hour of his greatest need. 

The mounting fever in his veins seemed to make his senses more vividand acute for the time. Although Robert could not yet hear in realitythe rumbling thunder far down in the southwest, the menace came veryplainly to the ears of Tayoga, but it was no menace to him. Instead, therumble was the voice of a friend, telling him that the deluge was athand to wash away all traces of their flight and to force their enemiesinto shelter, while his fever burned itself out. 

Tayoga on his blanket, with the thick couch of dry leaves beneath, couldstill see the figure of Robert, rifle across his knees, crouched at thedoorway, a black silhouette against the fading sky. The Onondaga knewthat he would watch until the storm came in full flood, and nothingwould escape his keen eyes and ears. Dagaeoga was a worthy pupil ofWillet, known to the Hodenosaunee as the Great Bear, a man of surpassingskill. 

Tayoga also heard the rushing of the rain, far off, coming, perhaps, from Andiatarocte, and presently he saw the flashes of lightning, everyone a vast red blaze to his feverish eyes. It was only by the light ofthese saber strokes across the sky that he could now see Robert, as thedark had come, soon to be followed by floods of rain. Then he closed hiseyes, and calling incessantly for sleep, refused to open them again. Sleep came by and by, though it was Tarenyawagon, the sender of dreams, who presided over it, because as he slept, and his fever grew higher, visions, many and fantastic, flitted through his disordered brain. 

Robert watched until long after the rain had been pouring in sheets, and it was pitchy dark in the cave. Then he felt of Tayoga's foreheadand his pulse, and observed the fever, though without alarm. Tayoga'swound was clean and his blood absolutely pure. The fever was due and itwould run its course. He could do nothing more for his comrade atpresent, and lying down on his own spread of leaves, he soon fellasleep. 

Robert's slumber was not sound. Although the Onondaga might be watchedover by Tododaho, Areskoui and even Manitou himself, he had felt theweight of responsibility. The gods protected those who protectedthemselves, and, even while he slept, the thought was nestling somewherein his brain and awoke him now and then. Upon every such occasion he satup and looked out at the entrance of the cave, to see, as he had hoped, only the darkness and black sheets of driving rain, and also upon everyoccasion devout thanks rose up in his throat. Tayoga had not prayed tohis patron saint and to the great Areskoui and Manitou in vain, else inall that wilderness, given over to night and storm, they would not havefound so good a refuge and shelter. 

Tayoga's fever increased, and when morning came, with the rain stillfalling, though not in such a deluge as by night, it seemed to Robert, who had seen many gunshot wounds, that it was about at the zenith. TheOnondaga came out of his sleep, but he was delirious for a little while, Robert sitting by him, covering him with his blanket and seeing that hishurt was kept away from the air. 

The rain ceased by and by, but heavy fogs and vapors floated over themountains, so dense that Robert could not see more than fifteen ortwenty feet beyond the mouth of the cave, in front of which a stream ofwater from the rain a foot deep was flowing. He was thankful. He knewthat fog and flood together would hide them in absolute security foranother day and night at least. 

He ate a little venison and regretted that he did not have a smallskillet in which he could make soup for Tayoga later on, but since hedid not have it he resolved to pound venison into shreds between stones, when the time came. Examining Tayoga again, he found, to his great joy, that the fever was decreasing, and he washed the wound anew. Then he satby him a long time while the morning passed. Tayoga, who had beenmuttering in his fever, sank into silence, and about noon, opening hiseyes, he said in a weak voice:

"How long have we been here, Dagaeoga?"

"About half of the second day is now gone, " replied Robert, "and yourfever has gone with it. You're as limp as a towel, but you're startedfairly on the road to recovery. "

"I know it, " said Tayoga gratefully, "and I am thankful to Tododaho, toAreskoui, to Manitou, greatest of all, and to you, Dagaeoga, withoutwhom the great spirits of earth and air would have let me perish. "

"You don't owe me anything, Tayoga. It's what one comrade has a right toexpect of another. Did you exert your will, as you said, when you weredelirious, and help along nature with your cure?"

"I did, Dagaeoga. Before I lapsed into the unconsciousness of which youspeak, I resolved that today, when my fever should have passed, my soulshould lift me up. I concentrated my mind upon it, I attuned every nerveto that end, and while I could not prevent the fever and the weakness, yet the resolution to get well fast helps me to do so. By so much doesmy mind rule over my body. "

"I've no doubt you're right about it. Courage and optimism can lift usup a lot, as I've seen often for myself, and you're certainly out ofdanger now, Tayoga. All you have to do is to lie quiet, if the Frenchand Indians will let us. In a week you'll be able to travel and fight, and in a few weeks you'll never know that a musket ball passed throughyour shoulder. When do you think you can eat? I'll pound some of thevenison very fine. "

"Not before night, and then but little. That little, though, I shouldhave. Tomorrow I will eat much more, and a few days later it will be allDagaeoga can do to find enough food for me. Be sure that you wait on mewell. It is the first rest that I have had in a long time, and it is mypurpose to enjoy it. If I should be fretful, humor me; if I should behungry, feed me; if I should be sleepy, let me sleep, and see that I amnot disturbed while I do sleep; if my bed is hard, make me a better, andthrough it all, O Dagaeoga, be thou the finest medicine man that everbreathed in these woods. "

"Come, now, Tayoga, you lay too great a burden upon me. I'm not all theexcellencies melted into one, and I've never pretended to be. But I cansee that you're getting well, because the spirit of rulership is uponyou as strong as ever, and, since you're so much improved, I may takeit into my mind to obey your commands, though only when I feel like it. "

The two lads looked at each other and laughed, and there was immenserelief in Robert's laugh. Only now did he admit to himself that he hadbeen terribly alarmed about Tayoga, and he recognized the enormousrelief he felt when the Onondaga had passed his crisis. 

"In truth, you pick up fast, Tayoga, " he said whimsically. "Suppose wego forth now and hunt the enemy. We might finish up what Rogers, Willetand Daganoweda have left of St. Luc's force. "

"I would go, " replied Tayoga in the same tone, "but Tododaho andAreskoui have told me to bide here awhile. Only a fear that mydisobedience might cause me to lose their favor keeps me in the cave. But I wish you to bear in mind, Dagaeoga, that I still exert my will asthe medicine men of my nation bid the sick and the hurt to do, and thatI feel the fevered blood cooling in my veins, strength flowing back intomy weak muscles, and my nerves, that were all so loose and unattuned, becoming steady. "

"I'll admit that your will may help, Tayoga, but it's chiefly the longsleep you've had, the good home you enjoy, and the superb care of Dr. Robert Lennox of Albany, New York, and the Vale of Onondaga. On thewhole, weighing the question carefully, I should say that theministrations of Dr. Lennox constitute at least eighty per cent of thewhole. "

"You are still the great talker, Dagaeoga, that you were when youdefeated St. Luc in the test of words in the Vale of Onondaga, and it iswell. The world needs good talkers, those who can make speech flow in agolden stream, else we should all grow dull and gloomy, though I willsay for you, O Lennox, that you act as well as talk. If I did not, I, whose life you have saved and who have seen you great in battle, shouldhave little gratitude and less perception. "

"I've always told you, Tayoga, that when you speak English you speak outof a book, because you learned it out of a book and you take delight inlong words. Now I think that 'gratitude' and 'perception' are enough foryou and you can rest. "

"I will rest, but it is not because you think my words are long and I amexhausted, Dagaeoga. It is because you wish to have all the timeyourself for talking. You are cunning, but you need not be so now. Igive my time to you. "

Robert laughed. The old Tayoga with all his keenness and sense of humorwas back again, and it was a sure sign that a rapid recovery had set in. 

"Maybe you can go to sleep again, " he said. "I think it was a stuporrather than sleep that you passed through last night, but now you oughtto find sleep sweet, sound and healthy. "

"You speak words of truth, O great white medicine man, and it being somy mind will make my body obey your instructions. "

He turned a little on his side, away from his wounded shoulder, andeither his will was very powerful or his body was willing, as he soonslept again, and now Tarenyawagon sent him no troubled and disordereddreams. Instead his breathing was deep and regular, and when Robert felthis pulse he found it was almost normal. The fever was gone and thebronze of Tayoga's face assumed a healthful tint. 

Then Robert took a piece of venison, and pounded it well between twostones. He would have been glad to light a fire of dry leaves andsticks, that he might warm the meat, but he knew that it was yet toodangerous, and so strong was Tayoga's constitution that he might takethe food cold, and yet find it nutritious. 

It was late in the afternoon when the Onondaga awoke, yawned in humanfashion, and raised himself a little on his unwounded shoulder. 

"Here is your dinner, Tayoga, " said Robert, presenting the shreddedvenison. "I'm sorry it's not better, but it's the best the lodgeaffords, and I, as chief medicine man and also as first assistantmedicine man and second assistant medicine man, bid you eat and find nofault. "

"I obey, O physician, wise and stern, despite your youth, " said Tayoga. "I am hungry, which is a most excellent sign, and I will say, too, thatI begin to feel like a warrior again. "

He ate as much as Robert would let him have, and then, with a great sighof content, sank back on his bed of leaves. 

"I can feel my wound healing, " he said. "Already the clean flesh isspreading over the hurt and the million tiny strands are knittingclosely together. Some day it shall be said in the Vale of Onondaga thatthe wound of Tayoga healed more quickly than the wound of any otherwarrior of our nation. "

"Good enough as a prophecy, but for the present we'll bathe and bind itanew. A little good doctoring is a wonderful help to will andprediction. "

Robert once more cleansed the hurt very thoroughly, and he was surprisedto find its extremely healthy condition. It had already begun to heal, aproof of amazing vitality on the part of Tayoga, and unless theunforeseen occurred he would set a record in recovery. Robert heaped theleaves under his head to form a pillow, and the young warrior's eyessparkled as he looked around at their snug abode. 

"I can hear the water running by the mouth of the cave, " he said. "Itcomes from last night's rain and flood, but what of tonight, Dagaeoga?The skies and what they have to say mean much to us. "

"It will rain again. I've been looking out. All the west is heavy withclouds and the light winds come, soaked with damp. I don't claim to beany prophet like you, Tayoga, because I'm a modest man, I am, but thenight will be wet and dark. "

"Then we are still under the protection of Tododaho, of Areskoui and ofManitou, greatest of all. Let the dark come quickly and the rain fallheavily, because they will be a veil about us to hide us from Tandakoraand his savages. "

All that the Onondaga wished came to pass. The clouds, circling aboutthe horizon, soon spread to the zenith, and covered the heavens, hidingthe moon and the last star. The rain came, not in a flood, but in a coldand steady pour lasting all night. The night was not only dark and wetoutside, but it was very chill also, though in the cave the two youngwarriors, the white and the red, were warm and dry on their blanketsand beds of leaves. 

Robert pounded more of the venison the next morning and gave Tayogatwice as much as he had eaten the day before. The Onondaga clamored foran additional supply, but Robert would not let him have it. 

"Epicure! Gourmand! Gorger!" said young Lennox. "Would you do nothingbut eat? Do you think it your chief duty in this world to be a glutton?"

"No, Dagaeoga, " replied Tayoga, "I am not a glutton, but I am yethungry, and I warn thee, O grudging medicine man, that I am growingstrong fast. I feel upon my arm muscles that were not there yesterdayand tomorrow or the next day my strength will be so great that I shalltake from you all the food of us both and eat it. "

"By that time we won't have any left, and I shall have to take measuresto secure a new supply. I must go forth in search of game. "

"Not today, nor yet tomorrow. It is too dangerous. You must wait untilthe last moment. It is barely possible that the Great Bear or BlackRifle may find us. "

"I don't think so. We'll have to rely on ourselves. But at any rate, I'll stay in the cave today, though I think the rain is about over. Don't you see the sun shining in at the entrance? It's going to be afine day in the woods, Tayoga, but it won't be a fine day for us. "

"That is true, Dagaeoga. It is hard to stay here in a hole in the rocks, when the sun is shining and the earth is drying. The sun has broughtback the green to the leaves and the light now must be wonderful onAndiatarocte and Oneadatote. Their waters shift and change with all thecolors of the rainbow. It fills me with longing when I think of thesethings. Go now, Dagaeoga, and find the Great Bear, the Mountain Wolf andDaganoweda. I am well past all danger from my wound, and I can take careof myself. "

"Tayoga, you talk like a foolish child. If I hear any more such words Ishall have to gag you, for two reasons, because they make a weariness inmy ear, and because if anyone else were to hear you he would think youwere weak of mind. It's your reputation for sanity that I'm thinkingabout most. You and I stay here together, and when we leave we leavetogether. "

Tayoga said no more on the subject. He had known all the while thatRobert would not leave him, but he had wished to give him the chance. Helay very quiet now for many hours, and Robert sitting at the door of thecave, with his rifle across his knees, was also quiet. While a greattalker upon occasion, he had learned from the Iroquois the habit ofsilence, when silence was needed, and it required no effort from him. 

Though he did not speak he saw much. The stream, caused by the flood, still flowed before the mouth of the cave, but it was diminishingsteadily. By the time night came it would sink to a thin thread andvanish. The world itself, bathed and cleansed anew, was wonderfullysweet and fresh. The light wind brought the pleasant odors of flower andleaf and grass. Birds began to sing on the overhanging boughs, and arabbit or two appeared in the valley. These unconscious sentinels madehim feel quite sure that no savages were near. 

Curiosity about the battle between the forces of St. Luc and those ofthe rangers and Mohawks, smothered hitherto by his anxiety and care forTayoga, was now strong in his breast. It was barely possible that St. Luc had spread a successful ambush and that all of his friends hadfallen. He shuddered at the thought, and then dismissed it as toounlikely. Tayoga fell asleep again, and when he awoke he was not onlyable to sit up, but to walk across the cave. 

"Tomorrow, " he said, "I shall be able to sit near the entrance and loadand fire a rifle as well as ever. If an enemy should come I think Icould hold the refuge alone. "

"That being the case, " said Robert, "and you being full of pride andhaughtiness, I may let you have the chance. Not many shreds of ourvenison are left, and as I shall have in you a raging wolf to feed, I'llgo forth and seek game. It seems to me I ought to find it soon. Youdon't think it's all been driven away by marching rangers and warriors, do you, Tayoga?"

"No, the rangers and warriors have been seeking one another, not thegame, and perhaps the deer and the moose know it. Why does man thinkthat Manitou watches over him alone? Perhaps He has told the big animalsthat they are safer when the men fight. On our way here I twice saw thetracks of a moose, and it may be your fortune to find one tomorrow, Dagaeoga. "

"Not fortune, at all, Tayoga. If I bring down one it will be due to mysurpassing skill in trailing and to my deadly sharpshooting, for whichI am renowned the world over. Anyhow, I think we can sleep another nightwithout a guard and then we'll see what tomorrow will bring forth. "

CHAPTER XII

THE SINISTER SIEGE

Dawn came, very clear and beautiful, with the air crisp and cool. Robertdivided the last of the venison between Tayoga and himself, and when hehad eaten his portion he was still hungry. He was quite certain that theOnondaga also craved more, but a stoic like Tayoga would never admit it. His belief the day before that this was the time for him to go forth andhunt was confirmed. The game would be out, and so might be the savages, but he must take the chance. 

Tayoga had kept his bow and quiver of arrows strapped to his back duringtheir retreat, and now they lay on a shelf in the cave. Robert looked atthem doubtfully and the eyes of the Onondaga followed him. 

"Perhaps it would be best, " he said. 

"I can't bend the bow of Ulysses, " said Robert, "but I may be able tosend in a useful arrow or two nevertheless. "

"You can try. "

"But I don't want any shot to go amiss. "

"Strap your rifle on your back, and take the bow and arrows also. If thearrows fail you, or rather if you should fail the arrows, which alwaysgo where they are sent, you can take the rifle, with which you arealmost as good as the Great Bear himself. And if you should encounterhostile warriors prowling through the woods the rifle will be your bestdefense. "

"I'll do as you advise, Tayoga, and do you keep a good watch at theentrance. You're feeling a lot stronger today, are you not?"

"So much so that I am almost tempted to take the bow and arrows myself, while I leave you on guard. "

"Don't be too proud and boastful. Let's see you walk across the cave. "

Tayoga rose from the bed of leaves, on which he had been sitting, andstrode firmly back and forth two or three times. He was much thinnerthan he had been a week before, but his eyes were sparkling now and thebronze of his skin was clear and beautiful. All his nerves and muscleswere under complete control. 

"You're a great warrior again, Tayoga, thanks to my protecting care, "said Robert, "but I don't think you're yet quite the equal of Tododahoand Hayowentha when they walked the earth, and, for that reason, I shallnot let you go out hunting. Now, take your rifle, which I saved alongwith you, and sit on that ledge of stone, where you can see everythingapproaching the cave and not be seen yourself. "

"I obey, O Dagaeoga. I obey you always when the words you speak areworth being obeyed. See, I take the seat you direct, and I hold my rifleready. "

"Very good. Be prepared to fire on an instant's notice, but be sure youdon't fire at me when I come striding down the valley bearing on myshoulders a fat young deer that I have just killed. "

"Have no fear, Dagaeoga. I shall be too glad to see you and the deer tofire. "

With the rifle so adjusted across his back that, if need be, he coulddisengage it at once, the quiver fastened also and Tayoga's bow in hishand, Robert made ready. 

"Now, Tayoga, " he said, "exert that famous will of yours like a truemedicine man of the Hodenosaunee. While I am absent, so direct me withthe concentrated power of your mind that I shall soon find a fat youngdeer, and that my arrow shall not miss. I'll gratefully receive all thehelp you can give me in this way, though I won't neglect, if I see thedeer, to take the best aim I can with bow and arrow. "

"Do not scoff, O Dagaeoga. The lore and belief of my nation and of thewhole Hodenosaunee are based upon the experience of many centuries. Anddo you not say in your religion that the prayer of the righteousavaileth? Do you think your God, who is the same as my Manitou, intendedthat only the prayers of the white men should have weight, and thatthose of the red men should vanish into nothingness like a snowflakemelting in the air? I may not be righteous, --who knows whether he isrighteous or not?--but, at least, I shall pray in a righteous cause. "

"I don't mock, Tayoga, and maybe the power of your wish, poured in aflood upon me, will help. Yes, I know it will, and I go now, sure that Iwill soon find what I seek. "

He left the cave and passed up the valley, full of confidence. Theearnestness of Tayoga had made a great impression upon him, clothing himabout with an atmosphere that was surcharged with belief, and, as hebreathed in this air, it made his veins fairly sparkle, not alone withhope, but with certainty. 

He walked up a deep defile which gradually grew shallower, and thenascended rapidly. Finally he came out on a crest, crowned with splendidtrees, and he drew a great breath of pleasure as he looked upon a vastgreen wilderness, deepened in color by the long and recent rains, andupon the far western horizon a dim but splendid band of silver which heknew was Andiatarocte. A lover of beauty, and with the soul of a poet, he could have stood, gazing a long time, but there was a sterner taskforward than the contemplation of nature in the wild. 

He must sink the poet in the hunter, and he began to look for tracks ofgame, which he felt sure would be plentiful in the forest, since men hadlong been hunting one another instead of the deer. He had an abundanceof will of his own, but he felt also, despite a certain incredulity ofthe reason, that the concentrated will of his distant comrade wasdriving him on. 

He walked about a mile, remaining well under cover, having a doubleobject, to keep himself hidden from foes and also to find traces ofgame. His confidence that he would find it, and very quickly, was notabated, and, at the end of a mile, he saw a broad footprint on the turfthat made him utter a low exclamation of delight. It was larger thanthat of a cow, and more pointed. He knew at once that it had been madeby a moose, the great animal which was then still to be found in theforests of Northern New York. 

The tracks led northward and he studied them with care. The wind hadrisen and was blowing toward him, which was favorable for his pursuit, as the sound of his own footsteps rustling the grass or breaking alittle stick would not be likely to reach the ear of the moose. He wasconvinced, too, that the tracks were not much more than two hours old, and since the big animal was likely to be rambling along, nibbling atthe twigs, the chance was in favor of the hunter overtaking him verysoon. 

It was easy to follow the trail, the hoof prints were so large, and hesoon saw, too, the broken ends of twigs that had been nibbled by themoose, and also exposed places on the trunks of trees where the bark hadbeen peeled off by the animal's teeth. He was sure that the game couldnot be much more than a mile ahead, and his soul was filled with theardor of the chase. He was confident that he was pursuing a big bull, asthe fact was indicated by the size of the prints, the length of thestride, and the height at which the moose had browsed on the twigs. There were other facts he had learned among the Iroquois, indicating tohim it was a bull. While the tracks were pointed, they were less pointedthan those the cow generally makes, and the twigs that had been nibbledwere those of the fir, while the cow usually prefers the birch. 

The tracks now seemed to Robert to grow much fresher. Tayoga, with hisinfallible eye and his wonderful gifts, both inherited and improved, would have known just how fresh they were, but Robert was compelled toconfine his surmise to the region of the comparative. Nevertheless, heknew that he was gaining upon the moose and that was enough. But as itwas evident by his frequent browsing that the animal was going slowly, he controlled his eagerness sufficiently to exercise great wariness onhis own part. It might be that while he was hunting he could also becomethe hunted. It was not at all impossible that the warriors of Tandakorawould fall upon his own track and follow. 

He looked back apprehensively, and once he returned and retraced hissteps for a little distance, but he could discern no evidence of anenemy and he resumed his pursuit of the moose, going faster now, andseeing twigs which apparently had been broken off only a few minutesbefore. Then, as he topped a little rise, he saw the animal itself, browsing lazily on the succulent bushes. It was a large moose, but toRobert, although an experienced hunter, it loomed up at the moment likean elephant. He had staked so much upon securing the game, and the issuewas so important that his heart beat hard with excitement. 

The wind was still in his favor, and, creeping as near as he dared, hefitted an arrow to Tayoga's bow and pulled the string. The arrow struckwell in behind the shoulder and the moose leaped high. Another arrowsang from the bow and found its heart, after which it ran a few stepsand fell. Robert's laborious task began, to remove at least a part ofthe skin, and then great portions of the meat, as much as he couldcarry, wrapped in the folds of the skin, portions from which he intendedto make steaks. 

He secured at least fifty pounds, and then he looked with regret at thegreat body. He was not one to slay animals for sport's sake, and hewished that the rangers and Mohawks might have the hundreds of poundsof good moose meat, but he knew it was not destined for them. As he drewaway with his own burden his heirs to the rest were already showingsigns of their presence. From the thick bushes about came the rustlingof light feet, and now and then an eager and impatient snarl. Red eyesshowed, and as he turned away the wolves of the hills made a wild rushfor the fallen monarch. Robert, for some distance, heard them yappingand snarling over the feast, and, despite his own success in securingwhat he needed so badly, he felt remorse because he had been compelledto give so fine an animal over to the wolves. 

His heart grew light again as he made his way back to the defile and thecave. He carried enough food to last Tayoga and himself many days, ifnecessity compelled them to remain long in the cave, but he did notforget in his triumph to take every precaution for the hiding of histrail, devoutly glad that it was hard ground, thick with stones, onwhich he could step from one to another. 

Thus he returned, bearing his burden, and Tayoga, sitting near theentrance, rifle on knee, greeted him with becoming words as one whomTododaho and Areskoui had guided to victory. 

"It is well, Dagaeoga, " he said. "I was wishing for you to find a mooseand you found one. You were not compelled to use the rifle!"

"No, the bow served, but I had to shoot two arrows where you would haveshot only one. "

"It is no disgrace to you. The bow is not the white man's weapon, atleast not on this continent. You withdrew the arrows, cleaned them andreturned them to the quiver?"

"Yes. I didn't forget that. I know how precious arrows are, and now, Tayoga, since it's important for you to get back your strength fasterthan a wounded man ever got it back before, I think we'd better risk afire, and broil some of these fat, juicy steaks. "

"It is a danger, but we will do it. You gather the dead wood and we willbuild the fire beside the mouth of the cave. Both of us can cook. "

It was an easy task for two such foresters to light a fire with flintand steel, and they soon had a big bed of coals. Then they broiled thesteaks on the ends of sharpened sticks, passing them back and forthquickly, in order to retain the juices. 

"Now, Tayoga, " announced Robert, "I have a word or two to say to you. "

"Then say them quickly and do not let your eloquence become a stream, because I am hungry and would eat, and where the moose steaks are plentytalk is needed but little. "

"I merely wished to tell you that besides being our hunter, I'm also thefamily doctor. Hence I give you my instructions. "

"What are they, O youth of many words?"

"You can eat just as much of the moose steak as you like, and thequicker you begin the better you will please me, because my mannerswon't allow me to start first. Fall on, Tayoga! Fall on!"

They ate hungrily and long. They would have been glad had they breadalso, but they did not waste time in vain regrets. When they hadfinished and the measure of their happiness was full, they extinguishedthe coals carefully, hid their store of moose meat on a high ledge inthe cave, and withdrew also to its shelter. 

"How much stronger do you feel now, Tayoga?" asked Robert. 

"In the language of your schools, my strength has increased at leastfifty per cent in the last hour. "

"I've the strength of two men myself now, and thinking it over, Tayoga, I've come to the conclusion that was the best moose I ever tasted. Hewas a big bull, and he may not have been young, but he furnished goodsteaks. I'm sorry he had to die, but he died in a good cause. "

"Even so, Dagaeoga, and since we have eaten tremendously and have cookedmuch of the meat for further use, it would be best for us to put out thefire, and hide all trace of it, a task in which I am strong enough tohelp you. "

They extinguished carefully every brand and coal, and even went so faras to take dead leaves from the cave and throw them over the remains ofthe fire in careless fashion as if they had been swept there by thewind. 

"And now, " said Robert, "if I had the power I would summon from the skyanother mighty rain to hide all signs of our banquet and of thepreparations for it. Suppose, Tayoga, you pray to Tododaho and Areskouifor it and also project your mind so forcibly in the direction of yourwish that the wish will come true. "

"It is well not to push one's favor too far, " replied Tayoga gravely. "The heavens are too bright and shining now for rain. Moreover, if oneshould pray every day for help, Tododaho and Areskoui would grow tiredof giving it. I think, however, that we have covered our traces well, and the chance of discovery here by our enemies is remote. "

They put away the moose meat on a high ledge in the cave, and sat downagain to wait. Tayoga's wound was healing rapidly. The miracle for whichhe had hoped was happening. His recovery was faster than that of anyother injured warrior whom he had ever known. He could fairly feel theclean flesh knitting itself together in innumerable little fibers, andalready he could move his left arm, and use the fingers of his lefthand. Being a stoic, and hiding his feelings as he usually did, he said:

"I shall recover, I shall be wholly myself again in time for the greatbattle between the army of Waraiyageh and that of Dieskau. "

"I think, too, that we'll be in it, " said Robert confidently. "Armiesmove slowly and they won't come together for quite a while yet. Meantime, I'm wondering what became of the rangers and the Mohawks. "

"We shall have to keep on wondering, but I am thinking it likely thatthey prevailed over the forces of St. Luc and have passed on towardCrown Point and Oneadatote. It may be that the present area of conflicthas passed north and east of us and we have little to fear from ourenemies. "

"It sounds as if you were talking out of a book again, Tayoga, but Ibelieve you're right. "

"I think the only foes whom we may dread in the next night and day arefour-footed. "

"You mean the wolves?"

"Yes, Dagaeoga. When you left the body of the moose did they notappear?"

"They were fighting over it before I was out of sight. But they wouldn'tdare to attack you and me. "

"It is a strange thing, Dagaeoga, but whenever there is war in the woodsamong men the wolves grow numerous, powerful and bold. They know thatwhen men turn their arms upon one another they are turned aside from thewolves. They hang upon the fringes of the bands and armies, and wherethe wounded are they learn to attack. I have noticed, too, since thegreat war began that we have here bigger and fiercer wolves than anywe've ever known before, coming out of the vast wilderness of the farnorth. "

"You mean the timber wolves, those monsters, five or six feet long, andalmost as powerful and dangerous as a tiger or a lion?"

"So I do, Dagaeoga, and they will be abroad tonight, led by the body ofyour moose and the portion we have here. Tododaho, sitting on his star, has whispered to me that we are about to incur a great danger, one thatwe did not expect. "

"You give me a creepy feeling, Tayoga. All this is weird and uncanny. We've nothing to fear from wolves. "

"A thousand times we might have nothing to fear from them, but one timewe will, and this is the time. In a voice that I did not hear, but whichI felt, Tododaho told me so, and I know. "

"Then all we have to do is to build a fire in front of the cave mouthand shut them off as thoroughly, as if we had raised a steel wall beforeus. "

"The danger from a fire burning all night would be too great. While I donot think any warriors of the enemy are wandering in this immediateregion, yet it is possible, and our bonfire would be a beacon to drawthem. "

"Then we'll have to meet 'em with bullets, but the reports of our riflesmight also draw Tandakora's warriors. "

"We will not use the rifles. We will sit at the entrance of the cave, and you shall fight them with my bow and arrows. If we are pressed toohard, we may resort to the rifles. "

Tayoga's words were so earnest and sententious, his manner so much thatof a prophet, that Robert, in spite of himself, believed in the greatimpending danger that would come in the dark, and the hair on the backof his neck lifted a little. Yet the day was still great and shining, the forest tinted gold with the flowing sunlight, and the pure fresh airblowing into the cave. There the two youths, the white and the red, tooktheir seats at either side of the entrance. Tayoga held his rifle acrosshis knees, but Robert put his and the quiver at his feet, while he heldthe bow and one arrow in his hands. 

They talked a little from time to time and then relapsed into a longsilence. Robert noticed that nothing living stirred in the defile. Nomore rabbits came out to play and no birds sang in the trees. Heconsidered it a sign, nay more, an omen that Tayoga's prediction wascoming true. The peril threatening them was great and imminent. Hissense of the sinister and uncanny increased. A chill ran through hisveins. The great shining day was going, and, although it was midsummer, a cold wind was herald of the coming twilight. He shivered again, andlooked at the long shadows falling in the defile. 

"Tayoga, " he said, "that uncanny talk of yours has affected me, but Ibelieve you've just made it all up. No wolves are coming to attack us. "

"Dagaeoga does not believe anything of the kind. He believes, instead, what I have told him. His voice and his manner show it. He is sure thewolves are coming. "

"You're right, Tayoga, I do believe it. There's every reason why Ishouldn't, but, in very truth and fact, I do. Our fine day is goingfast. Look how the twilight is growing on the mountains. From our nookhere I can just see the rim of the sun, who is your God, Areskoui. Soonhe will be gone entirely and then all the ridges will be lost in thedusk. I hope--and I'm not jesting either--that you've said your prayerto him. "

"As I told you, Dagaeoga, one must not ask too many favors. But now thesun is wholly gone and the night will be dark. The wind rises and itmoans like the soul of an evil warrior condemned to wander betweenheaven and earth. The night will be dark, and in two hours the wolveswill be here. "

Robert looked at him, but the face of the Onondaga was that of a seer, and once more the blood of the white youth ran chill in his veins. Hewas silent again, and now the minutes were leaden-footed, so slow, intruth, that it seemed an hour would never pass and the two hours Tayogahad predicted were an eternity. The afterglow disappeared and thedarkness was deep in the defile. The trees above were fused into a blackmass, and then, after an infinity of waiting, a faint note, sinister andfull of menace, came out of the wilderness. Tayoga and Robert glanced ateach other. 

"It is as you predicted, " said Robert. 

"It is the howl of the great timber wolf from the far north who has madehimself the leader of the band, " said the Onondaga. "When he howls againhe will be much nearer. "

Robert waited for an almost breathless minute or two, and then came themalignant note, much nearer, as Tayoga had predicted, and directly aftercame other howls, faint but equally sinister. 

"The great leader gives tongue a second time, " said Tayoga, "and hispack imitate him, but their voices are not so loud, because their lungsare not so strong. They come straight toward us. Do you see, Dagaeoga, that your nerves are steady, your muscles strong and your eyes bright. Iwould that I could use the bow myself tonight, for the chance will beglorious, but Manitou has willed otherwise. It is for you, Dagaeoga, tohandle my weapon as if you had been familiar with it all your life. "

"I will do my best, Tayoga. No man can do more. "

"Dagaeoga's best is very good indeed. Remember that if they undertake torush us we will use our rifles, but they are to be held in reserve. Hark, the giant leader howls for the third time!"

The long, piercing note came now from a point not very distant. Heardin all the loneliness of the black forest it was inexpressivelythreatening and evil. Not until his own note died did the howl of hispack follow. All doubts that Robert may have felt fled at once. Hebelieved everything that Tayoga had said, and he knew that thewolf-pack, reënforced by mighty timber wolves from the far north, wascoming straight toward the cave for what was left of the moose meat andTayoga and himself. His nerves shook for an instant, but the next momenthe put them under command, and carefully tested the bowstring. 

"It is good and strong, " he said to Tayoga. "It will not be any fault ofthe bow and arrow if the work is not done well. The fault will be mineinstead. "

"You will not fail, Dagaeoga, " said the Onondaga. "Your greatimagination always excites you somewhat before the event, but when itcomes you are calm and steady. "

"I'll try to prove that you estimate me correctly. "

As their eyes were used to the dusk they could see each other well, sitting on opposite sides of the cave mouth and sheltered by theprojection of the rocks. The great wolf howled once more and the packhowled after him, but there followed an interval of silence that causedRobert to think they had, perhaps, turned aside. But Tayoga whisperedpresently:

"I see the leader on the opposite side of the defile among the shortbushes. The pack is farther back. They know, of course, that we arehere. The leader is, as we surmised, a huge timber wolf, come down fromthe far north. Do not shoot, Dagaeoga, until you get a good chance. "

"Do you think I should wait for the leader himself?"

"No. Often the soul of a wicked warrior goes into the body of a wolf, and the wolf becomes wicked, and also full of craft. The leader may notcome forward at first himself, but will send others to receive ourblows. "

There was no yapping and snarling from the wolves such as was usual, andsuch as Robert had often heard, but they had become a phantom pack, silent and ghost-like, creeping among the bushes, sinister andthreatening beyond all reckoning. Robert began to feel that, in verytruth, it was a phantom pack, and he wondered if his arrows, even ifthey struck full and true, would slay. Nature, in her chance moments, touches one among the millions with genius, and she had so tipped himwith living fire. His vivid and powerful imagination often made him seethings others could not see and caused him to clothe objects in colorsinvisible to common eyes. 

Now the wolves, with their demon leader, were moving in silence amongthe bushes, and he felt that in truth he would soon be fighting withwhat Tayoga called evil spirits. For the moment, not the demon leaderalone, but every wolf represented the soul of a wicked warrior, and theywould approach with all the cunning that the warriors had known andpracticed in their lives. 

"Do you see the great beast now, Tayoga?" he whispered. 

"No, he is behind a rock, but there is another slinking forward, drawinghimself without noise over the ground. He must have been in life asavage from the far region, west of the Great Lakes, perhaps an eater ofhis own kind, as the wolf eats his. "

"I see him, Tayoga, just there on the right where the darkness lies likea shroud. I see his jaws slavering too. He comes forward as a stalker, and I've no doubt the soul of a most utter savage is hidden in his body. He shall meet my arrow. "

"Wait a little, Dagaeoga, until you can be sure of your shot. There isanother creeping forward on the left in the same manner, and you'll wantto send a second arrow quickly at him. "

"I never saw a wolf-pack attack in this way before. They come like aband of warriors with scouts and skirmishers, and I can see that theyhave a force massed in the center for the main rush. "

"In a few more seconds you can take the wolf on the right. Bury yourarrow in his throat. It is as I said, Dagaeoga. Now that the moment hascome your hand is steady, your nerves are firm, and even in the dusk Ican see that your eyes are bright. "

It was true. Robert's imagination had painted the danger in the mostvivid colors, but now, that it was here, the beat of his pulse was asregular as the ticking of a clock. Yet the unreal and sinisteratmosphere that clothed him about was not dispelled in the least, and hecould not rid himself of the feeling that in fighting them he wasfighting dead and gone warriors. 

Nearer and nearer came the great wolf on his right, dragging his bodyover the ground for all the world like a creeping Indian. Robert's eyes, become uncommonly keen in the dusk, saw the long fangs, the slaveringjaws and the red eyes, and he also saw the spot in the pulsing throatwhere he intended that the sharp point of his arrow should strike. 

"Now!" whispered Tayoga. 

Robert fitted the shaft to the string, and deftly throwing his weightinto it bent the great bow. Then he loosed the arrow, and, singingthrough the air, it buried itself almost to the feather in the bigbeast's throat, just at the spot that he had chosen. The strangled howlof despair and death that followed was almost like that of a humanbeing, but Robert did not stop to listen, as with all speed he fittedanother arrow to the string and fired at the beast on the left, withequal success, piercing him in the heart. 

"Well done, Dagaeoga, " whispered Tayoga. "Two shots and two wolvesslain. The skirmisher on the right and the skirmisher on the left bothare gone. There will be a wait now while the living devour their deadcomrades. Listen, you can hear them dragging the bodies into thebushes. "

"After they have finished their cannibalism perhaps they will go away. "

"No, it is a great pack, and they are very hungry. In ten or fifteenminutes they will be stalking us again. You must seek a shot at thegiant leader, but it will be hard for you to get it because he will keephimself under cover, while he sends forth his warriors to meet yourarrows. Ah, he is great and cunning! Now, I am more sure than ever thathis body contains the soul of one of the most wicked of all warriors, perhaps that of a brother of Tandakora. Yes, it must be a brother, theblood of Tandakora. "

"Then Tandakora's brother would better beware. My desire to slay himhas increased, and if he's incautious and I get good aim I think I canplace an arrow so deep in him that the Ojibway's wicked soul will haveto seek another home. "

"Hear them growling and snarling in the bushes. It is over theircannibalistic feast. Soon they will have finished and then they willcome back to us. "

The deadly stalking, more hideous than that carried on by men, becauseit was more unnatural, was resumed. Robert discharged a third arrow, butthe fierce yelp following told him that he had inflicted only a wound. He glanced instinctively at the Onondaga, fearing a reproof, but Tayogamerely said:

"If one shoots many times one must miss sometimes. "

A fourth shot touched nothing, but the Onondaga had no rebuke, a fifthshot killed a wolf, a sixth did likewise, and Robert's pride returned. The wolves drew off, to indulge in cannibalism again, and to consultwith their leader, who carried the soul of a savage in his body. 

Robert had sought in vain for a fair shot at the giant wolf. He hadcaught one or two glimpses of him, but they were too fleeting for theflight of an arrow, and, despite all reason and logic, he found himselfaccepting Tayoga's theory that he was, in reality, a lost brother ofTandakora, marshaling forward his forces, but keeping himself secure. After the snarling and yelping over the horrible repast, another silencefollowed in the bushes. 

"Perhaps they've had enough and have gone away, " said Robert, hazardingthe hopeful guess a second time. 

"No. They will make a new attack. They care nothing for those that havefallen. Watch well, Dagaeoga, and keep your arrows ready. "

"I think I'll become a good bowman in time, " said Robert lightly, toease his feelings, "because I'm getting a lot of practice, and it seemsthat I'll have a lot more. Perhaps I need this rest, but, so far as myfeelings are concerned, I wish the wolves would come on and make a finalrush. Their silence and invisibility are pretty hard on the nerves. "

He examined the bow carefully again, and put six arrows on the floor ofthe cave beside him, with the quiver just beyond them. Tayoga satimmovable, his rifle across his knees, ready in the last emergency touse the bullet. Thus more time passed in silence and without action. 

It often seemed to Robert afterward that there was something unnaturalabout both time and place. The darkness came down thicker and heavier, and to his imaginative ear it had a faint sliding sound like thedropping of many veils. So highly charged had become his faculties thatthey were able to clothe the intangible and the invisible with bodilyreality. He glanced across at his comrade, whom his accustomed eyescould see despite the blackness of the night. Tayoga was quite still. Sofar as Robert could tell he had not stirred by a hair's breadth in thelast hour. 

"Do you hear anything?" whispered the white youth. 

"Nothing, " replied the Onondaga. "Not even a dead leaf stirs before thewind. There is no wind to stir it. But I think the pack will be comingagain very soon. They will not leave us until you shoot their demonleader. "

"You mean Tandakora's brother! If I get a fair chance I'll certainlysend my best arrow at him, and I'm only sorry that it's not Tandakorahimself. You persist in your belief that the soul of a wicked warrior isin the body of the wolf?"

"Of course! As I have said, it is surely a brother of Tandakora, becauseTandakora himself is alive, and, as it cannot be his own, it must bethat of a monstrous one so much like his that it can be only abrother's. That is why the wolf leader is so large, so fierce and socunning. I persist, too, in saying that all the wolves of this packcontain the souls of wicked warriors. It is natural that they shoulddraw together and hunt together, and hunt men as they hunted them inlife. "

"I'm not disputing you, Tayoga. Both day and night have more things thanI can ever hope to understand, but it seems to me that night has themore. I've been listening so hard, Tayoga, that I can't tell now whereimagination ends and reality begins, but I think I hear a footfall, assoft as that of a leaf dropping to the ground, but a footfall just thesame. "

"I hear it too, Dagaeoga, and it is not the dropping of a leaf. It is awolf creeping forward, seeking to stalk us. He is on the right, andthere are others on both right and left. Now I know they are warriors, or have been, since they use the arts of warriors rather than those ofwolves. "

"But if they should get in here they would use the teeth and claws ofwolves. "

"Teeth and claws are no worse than the torch, the faggot and the stake, perhaps better. I hear two sliding wolves now, Dagaeoga, but I know thatneither is the giant leader. As before, he keeps under cover, while hesends forward others to the attack. "

"Which proves that Tandakora's brother is a real general. I think I canmake out a dim outline now. It is that of the first wolf on the right, and he does slide forward as if he were a warrior and not a wolf. Ithink I'll give him an arrow. "

"Wait until he comes a dozen feet nearer, Dagaeoga, and you can be quitesure. But when you do shoot snatch up another arrow quicker than youever did before in your life, because the leader, thinking you are notready, may jump from the shelter of the rocks to drive the rest of thepack in a rush upon us. "

"You speak as if they were human beings, Tayoga. "

"Such is my thought, Dagaeoga. "

"Very well. I'll bear in mind what you say, and I'll pick an arrow forTandakora's brother. "

He chose a second arrow carefully and put it on the ledge beside him, where it required but one sweep of his hand to seize it and fit it tothe string, when the first had been sent. He now distinctly saw thecreeping wolf, and again fancy laid hold of him and played strangetricks with his eyes. The creeping figure changed. It was not that of awolf, but a warrior, intent upon his life. A strange terror, the terrorof the weird and unknown, seized him, but in an instant it passed, andhe drew the bowstring. When he loosed it the arrow stood deep in thewolf's throat, but Robert did not see it. His eyes passed on like aflash of lightning to a gigantic form that upreared itself from therocks, an enormous wolf with red eyes, glistening fangs and slaveringjaws. 

"Now!" shot forth Tayoga. 

Robert had already fitted a second arrow to the string and the immensethroat presented a target full and fair. Now, as always in the moment ofimminent crisis, his nerves were steady, never had they been moresteady, and his eyes pierced the darkness. Never before and never againdid he bend so well the bow of Ulysses. The arrow, feathered and barbed, hummed through the air, going as straight and swift as a bullet to itsmark, and then it pierced the throat of the wolf so deep that the barbstood out on one side and the feathers on the other. 

The wolf uttered a horrible growling shriek that was almost human toRobert, leaped convulsively back and out of sight, but for a minute ortwo they heard him threshing among the rocks and bushes. The whole packuttered a dismal howl. Their sliding sounds ceased, and the last dimfigure vanished. 

"I think it is all over with Tandakora's brother, " said Robert. 

Tayoga said nothing, and Robert glanced at him. Beads of perspirationstood on the brow of the Onondago, but his eyes glittered. 

"You have shot well tonight, O Dagaeoga, " he said. "Never did a manshoot better. Tonight you have been the greatest bowman in all theworld. You have slain the demon wolf, the leader of the pack. Perhapsthe wicked soul that inhabited his body has gone to inhabit the body ofanother evil brute, but we are delivered. They will not attack again. "

"How do you know that, Tayoga?"

"Because Tododaho, Tododaho who protects us, is whispering it to me. Ido not see him, but he is leaning down from his star, and his voiceenters my ear. Our fight with the wolf pack and its terrible leader isfinished. Steady, Dagaeoga! Steady! Make no excuses! The greatest ofwarriors, the hero of a hundred battles, might well sink for a fewmoments after such a combat!"

Robert had collapsed suddenly. The great imagination driving forward hiswill, and attuning him for such swift and tremendous action, failed, nowthat the crisis had passed, and he dropped back against the ledge, though his fingers still instinctively clutched the bow. Darkness wasbefore his eyes, and he was weak and trembling, but he projected hiswill anew, and a little later sat upright, collected and firm. Nevertheless, it was Tayoga who now took supreme command. 

"You have surely done enough for one night, Dagaeoga, " he said. "Tododaho himself, after doing so much, would have rested. Lie down nowon your blanket and I will watch for the remainder of the darkness. Itis true my left arm is lame and of no use for the present, but nothingwill come. "

"I'll do as you tell me, Tayoga, " said Robert, "but first I give youback your bow and arrows. They've served us well, though I littlethought I'd ever have to do work as a bowman. "

He was glad enough to stretch himself on the blanket and leaves, as herealized that despite his will he had become weak. Presently he sankinto a deep slumber. When he awoke the sun was shining in the mouth ofthe cave and Tayoga was offering him some of the tenderest of the moosesteak. 

"Eat, Dagaeoga, " he said. "Though a warrior of the clan of the Bear, ofthe nation Onondaga of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, I am proudto serve the king of bowmen. "

"Cease your jesting at my expense, Tayoga. "

"It is not wholly a jest, but eat. "

"I will. Have you seen what is outside?"

"Not yet. We will take our breakfast together, and then we will go forthto see what we may see. "

They ate heartily, and then with rifles cocked passed into the defile, where they found only the bones of wolves, picked clean by the others. But the skeleton of the huge leader was gone, although the arrow thathad slain him was lying among the rocks. 

"The living must have dragged away his bones. A curious thing to do, "said Robert. 

Tayoga was silent. 

CHAPTER XIII

TANDAKORA'S GRASP

They spent two more days in the cave, and Tayoga's marvelous cureproceeded with the same marvelous rapidity. Robert repeatedly bathed thewound for him, and then redressed it, so the air could not get to it. The Onondaga was soon able to flex the fingers well and then to use thearm a little. 

"It is sure now, " he said joyfully, "that Waraiyageh and Dieskau cannotmeet before I am able to do battle. "

"Anyhow, they wouldn't think of fighting until you came, Tayoga, " saidRobert. 

Their spirits were very high. They felt that they had been released fromgreat danger, some of which they could not fathom, and they would soonleave the hollow. Action would bring relief, and they anticipatedeagerly what the world outside might disclose to them. Robert collectedall the arrows he had shot in the fight with the wolf pack, cleaned themand restored them to the quiver. They also put a plentiful supply of themoose meat in their packs, and then he said:

"Which way, Tayoga?"

"There is but one way. "

"You mean we should press on toward Crown Point, and find out what hasbecome of our comrades?"

"That is it. We must know how ended their battle with St. Luc. "

"Which entails a search through the forest. That's just what I wanted, but I didn't know how you felt about it with your lame shoulder. "

"Tomorrow or next day I shall be able to use the shoulder if we have tofight, but we may not meet any of the French or their allied warriors. Ihave no wish at all to turn back. "

"Then forward it is, Tayoga, and I propose that we go toward the spotwhere we left them in conflict. Such eyes as yours may yet find theresigns that you can read. Then we'll know how to proceed. "

"Well spoken, Dagaeoga. Come, we'll go through the forest as fast as wemay. "

The cave had been a most welcome place. It had served in turn as a home, a hospital and a fort, and, in every capacity, it had served well, butboth Robert and Tayoga were intensely glad to be out again in the openworld, where the winds were blowing, where vast masses of green restedand pleased the eye, and where the rustling of leaves and the singing ofbirds soothed the ear. 

"It's a wonderful, a noble wilderness!" said Robert. "I'm glad I'm here, even if there are Frenchmen and Indians in it, seeking our lives. Why, Tayoga, I can feel myself growing in such an atmosphere! Tell me, am Inot an inch taller than I was when I left that hollow in the rocks?"

"You do look taller, " said the Onondaga, "but maybe it's because youstand erect now. Dagaeoga, since the wolves have been defeated, hasbecome proud and haughty again. "

"At any rate, your wonderful cure is still going on at wonderful speed. You use your left arm pretty freely and you seem to have back nearly allyour old strength. "

"Yes, Tododaho still watches over me. He is far better to me than Ideserve. "

They pushed on at good speed, returning on the path they had taken, whenTayoga received his wound, and though they slept one night on the way, to give Tayoga's wound a further chance, they came in time to the placewhere the rangers and the Mohawks had met St. Luc's force in combat. Theheavy rains long since had wiped out all traces of footsteps there, butRobert hoped that the keen eyes of the Onondaga would find other signsto indicate which way the battle had gone. Tayoga looked a long timebefore he said anything. 

"The battle was very fierce, " he said at last. "Our main force lay alonghere among these bushes. "

"How do you know, Tayoga?" asked Robert. 

"It is very simple. For a long distance the bushes are shattered andbroken. It was rifle balls and musket balls that did it. Indians are notusually good marksmen, and they shot high, cutting off twigs above theheads of the Mohawks and rangers. "

"Suppose we look at the opposing ridge and line of bushes where St. Luc's warriors must have stationed themselves. "

They crossed the intervening space of sixty or seventy yards and foundthat the bushes there had not been cut up so much. 

"The rangers and Mohawks are the better marksmen, " said Tayoga. "Theyaimed lower and probably hit the target much oftener. At least they didnot cut off so many twigs. "

He walked back into the open space between the two positions, his eyehaving been caught by something dark lying in a slight depression of theearth. It was part of the brushy tail of a raccoon, such as theborderers wore in their caps. 

"Our men charged, " said the Onondaga. 

"Why do you say so?" asked Robert. 

"Because of the raccoon tail. It was shot from the cap of one of thecharging men. The French and the Indians do not wear such a decoration. See where the bullet severed it. I think St. Luc's men must have brokenand run before the charge, and we will look for evidence of it. "

They advanced in the direction of Champlain, and, two or three hundredyards farther on, Tayoga picked up a portion of an Indian headdress, much bedraggled. 

"Their flight was headlong, " he said, "or the warrior would not havelost the frame and feathers that he valued so much. It fell then, beforethe storm, as the muddy and broken condition of the feathers shows thatit was lying on the ground when the great rain came. "

"And here, " said Robert, "is where a bullet went into the trunk of thisbig oak. "

"Which shows that the rangers and Mohawks were still pursuing closely. It is possible that the French and Indians tried to make a brief standat this place. Let us see if we can find the track of other bullets. "

They discovered the paths of two more in tree trunks and saw the boughsof several shattered bushes, all leading in a line toward Crown Point. 

"They were not able to stand long, " said Tayoga. "Our men rushed themagain. Ah, this shows that they must have been in a panic for a fewmoments. "

He picked an Indian blanket, soiled and worn, from a gulley. 

"See the mud upon it, " he said. "It, too, fell before the rain, becausewhen the flood came a stream ran in the gulley, a stream that has leftthe blanket in this state. The warrior must have been in tremendoushaste to have lost his blanket. We know now that they were routed, andthat the victory was ours. But it is likely that our leaders continuedthe pursuit toward Oneadatote and up to the walls of Crown Point itself. And if your wish be the same as mine, Dagaeoga, we will follow on. "

"You know, Tayoga, that I wouldn't think of anything else. "

"But the dangers grow thick as we approach Crown Point. "

"Not any thicker for me than for you. "

"To that I can make no reply. Dagaeoga is always ready with words. "

"But while I want to go on, I'm not in favor of taking any needlessrisks. I like to keep my scalp on top of my head, the place where itbelongs, and so I bid you, Tayoga, use those keen eyes and ears of yoursto the utmost. "

Tayoga laughed. 

"Dagaeoga is learning wisdom, " he said. "A great warrior does not throwhis life away. He will not walk blind through the forest. I will do allI can with my ears and so will you. "

"I mean to do so. Do you see that silver flash through the tangle offoliage? Don't you think it comes from the waters of Champlain?"

"It cannot be doubted. Once more we see the great lake, and Crown Pointitself is not so many miles away. It is in my mind that Black Rifle, Great Bear, Mountain Wolf, Daganoweda and our men have been scoutingabout it. "

"And we might meet 'em coming back. I've had that thought too. "

They walked on toward Champlain, through a forest apparently withoutsign of danger, and Tayoga, hearing a slight noise in a thicket, turnedoff to the right to see if a deer were browsing there. He found nothing, but as the sound came again from a point farther on, he continued hissearch, leaving his comrade out of sight behind him. The thickets werevery dense and suddenly the warning of Tododaho came. 

He sprang back as quick as lightning, and doubtless he would haveescaped had it not been for his wounded shoulder. He hurled off thefirst warrior who threw himself upon him, slipped from the grasp of asecond, but was unable to move when the mighty Tandakora and anotherseized him by the shoulders. 

But in the moment of dire peril he remembered his comrade and uttered along and thrilling cry of warning, which the huge hand of Tandakoracould not shut off in time. Then, knowing he was trapped and would onlyinjure his shoulder by further struggles, he ceased to resist, submitting passively to the binding of his arms behind him. 

He saw that Tandakora had seven or eight warriors with him, and a halfdozen more were bounding out on the trail after Robert. He heard a shotand then another, but he did not hear any yell of triumph, and he drew along breath of relief. His warning cry had been uttered in time. Dagaeoga would know that it was folly, for him also to fall into thehands of Tandakora, and he would flee at his greatest speed. 

So he stood erect with his wrists bound behind him, his face calm andimmovable. It did not become an Onondaga taken prisoner to show emotion, or, in fact, feeling of any kind before his captors, but his heart wasfull of anxiety as he waited with those who held him. A quarter of anhour they stood thus, and then the pursuing warriors, recognizing thevain nature of their quest, began to return. Tandakora did not upbraidthem, because he was in high good humor. 

"Though the white youth, Lennox, has escaped, " he said in Iroquois, "wehave done well. We have here Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of thenation Onondaga, of the League of the Hodenosaunee, one of our deadliestenemies. It is more than I had hoped, because, though so young, he is agreat warrior, skillful and brave, and we shall soon see how he can bearthe live coals upon his breast. "

Still Tayoga did not move, nor did he visibly shudder at the threat, which he knew Tandakora meant to keep. The Ojibway had never appearedmore repellent, as he exulted over his prisoner. He seemed larger thanever, and his naked body was covered with painted and hideous devices. 

"And so I have you at last, Tayoga, " he said. "Your life shall be short, but your death shall be long, and you shall have full chance to provehow much an Onondaga can bear. "

"Whether it be much or little, " said Tayoga, "it will be more than anyOjibway can endure. "

The black eyes of Tandakora flashed angrily, and he struck Tayogaheavily in the face with his open palm. The Onondaga staggered, butrecovered himself, and gazed steadily into the eyes of the Ojibway. 

"You have struck a bound captive, O Tandakora, " he said. "It is contraryto the customs of your nation and of mine, and for it I shall have yourlife. It is now written that you shall fall by my hand. "

His calm tones, and the fearless gaze with which he met that ofTandakora, gave him all the aspect of a prophet. The huge Ojibwayflinched for a moment, and then he laughed. 

"If it is written that I am to die by your hand it is written falsely, "he said, "because before another sun has set all chance for it will begone. "

"I have said that you will die by my hand, and I say it again. It iswritten, " repeated Tayoga firmly. 

Though he showed no emotion there was much mortification in the soul ofthe young Onondaga. He had practically walked into the hands ofTandakora, and he felt that, for the present, at least, there was astain upon his skill as a forest runner. The blow of Tandakora had leftits mark, too, upon his mind. He had imbibed a part of the Christiandoctrine of forgiveness, but it could not apply to so deadly and evil anenemy as the Ojibway. To such an insult offered to a helpless prisonerthe reply could be made only with weapons. 

Although Tododaho from his star, invisible by day, whispered to him tobe of good heart, Tayoga was torn by conflicting beliefs. He was goingto escape, and yet escape seemed impossible. The last of the warriorswho had gone on the trail of young Lennox had come in, and he wassurrounded now by more than a dozen stalwart men. The promise ofTododaho grew weak. Although his figure remained firm and upright andhis look was calm and brave he saw no possibility of escape. He thoughtof Daganoweda, of the Mohawks and the rangers, but the presence ofTandakora and his men indicated that they had gone back toward the armyof Waraiyageh, and were perhaps with him now. 

He thought of St. Luc, but he did not know whether the gallant Chevalierwas alive or dead. But if he should come he would certainly keepTandakora from burning him at the stake. Tayoga did not fear death, andhe knew that he could withstand torture. No torture could last forever, and when his soul passed he would merely go to the great shining star onwhich Tododaho lived, and do to perfection, forever and without satiety, the things that he loved in life here. 

But Tayoga did not want to die. As far as life here was concerned he wasmerely at the beginning of the chapter. So many things were begun andnothing was finished. Nor did he want to die at the hands of Tandakora, and allow his enemy to have a triumph that would always be sweet to thesoul of the fierce Ojibway. He saw many reasons why he did not wish yetto go to Tododaho's great and shining star, despite the perfection of aneternal existence there, and, casting away the doubts that had assailedhim, he hoped resolutely. 

Tandakora had been regarding him with grim satisfaction. It may be thathe read some of the thoughts passing in the mind of the Onondaga, as hesaid:

"You look for your white friends, Tayoga, but you do not see them. Norwill they come. Do you want to know why?"

"Why, Tandakora?"

"Because they are dead. In the battle back there, toward Andiatarocte, Daganoweda, the Mohawk, was slain. His scalp is hanging in the belt of aPottawattomie who is now with Dieskau. Black Rifle will roam the forestno more. He was killed by my own men, and the wolves have eaten hisbody. The hunter Willet was taken alive, but he perished at the stake. He was a very strong man, and he burned nearly a whole day before thespirit left him. The ranger, Rogers, whom you called the Mountain Wolf, was killed in the combat, and the wolves have eaten his body, too. "

"Now, I know, O Tandakora, " said the Onondaga, "that you are a liar, aswell as a savage and a murderer. Great Bear lives, Daganoweda lives, andthe Mountain Wolf and Black Rifle live, too. St. Luc was defeated in thebattle, and he has gone to join Dieskau at Crown Point, else he would behere. I see into your black heart, Tandakora, and I see there nothingbut lies. "

The eyes of the huge savage once more shot dark fire, and he lifted hishand, but once again he controlled himself, though the taunts of Tayogahad gone in deep and they stung like barbs. Then, feeling that the talkwas not in his favor, but that the situation was all to his liking, heturned away and gave orders to his warriors. They formed instantly insingle file, Tayoga near the center, Tandakora just behind him, andmarched swiftly toward the north. 

The Onondaga knew that their course would not bring them to Crown Point, which now lay more toward the east. Nor was it likely that they would gothere. Dieskau and the French officers would scarcely allow him to beburned in their camp, and Tandakora would keep away from it until hishideous work was done. 

Now Tayoga, despite his cynicism and apparent indifference, was allwatchfulness. He knew that, for the present, any attempt to escape washopeless, but he wished to observe the country through which he waspassing, and see everything pertaining to it as far as the eye couldreach. It was always well to know where one was, and he had been taughtfrom infancy to observe everything, the practice being one of theimportant conditions of life in the wilderness. 

The soul of Tandakora, who walked just behind him, was full of savagejoy. It was true that Lennox had escaped, but Tayoga was an importantcapture. He was of a powerful family of the Onondagas, whom the Ojibwayhated. Despite his youth, his fame as a warrior was already great, andin destroying him Tandakora would strike both at the Hodenosaunee andthe white people who were his friends. Truly, it had been the Ojibway'slucky day. 

As they went on, Tandakora's belief that it was his day of days became aconviction. Perhaps they would yet find Lennox, who had taken to suchswift flight, and before the sun set they could burn the two friendstogether. His black heart was full of joy as he laughed in silence andto himself. In the forest to his right a bird sang, a sweet, piercingnote, and he thought the shoulders of the captive in front of himquivered for a single instant. And well they might quiver! It was asplendid world to leave amid fire and pain, and the sweet, piercing noteof the bird would remind Tayoga of all that he was going to lose. 

There was no pity in the heart of Tandakora. He was a savage and hecould never be anything but a savage. He might admire the fortitude withwhich Tayoga would endure the torture, but he would have no thought ofremitting it on that account. The bird sang again, or another like it, because it was exactly the same sweet, piercing note, but now Tandakoradid not see the shoulders of the Onondaga quiver. Doubtless after thefirst stab of pain that the bird had brought him he had steeled himselfto its renewal. 

Tandakora would soon see how the Onondaga could stand the fire. The testshould be thorough and complete The Ojibway chieftain was a masterartist upon such occasions, and, as he continued the march, he thoughtof many pleasant little ways in which he could try the steel of Tayoga'snature. The captive certainly had shown no signs of shrinking so far, and Tandakora was glad of it. The stronger the resistance the longer andthe more interesting would be the test. 

The Ojibway had in mind a certain little valley a few miles farther tothe north, a secluded place where a leader of men like himself could doas he pleased without fear of interruption. Already he was exulting overthe details, and to him, breathing the essence of triumph, thewilderness was as beautiful as it had ever been to Robert and Tayoga, though perhaps in a way that was peculiarly his own. Unlike Tayoga, hehad heard little of the outside world, and he cared nothing at all forit. His thoughts never went beyond the forest, and the customs of savageancestors were his. What he intended to do they had often done, and thetribes thought it right and proper. 

"In half an hour, Tayoga, we will be at the place appointed, " he said. 

No answer. 

"You said I would die at your hand, but there is only a half hour leftin which to make good the prophecy. "

Still no answer. 

"Tododaho, the patron saint of the Onondagas, is hidden on his star, which is now on the other side of the world, and he cannot help you. "

And still no answer. 

"Does not fear strike into your heart, Tayoga? The flames that will burnyou are soon to be lighted. You are young, but a boy, you are not aseasoned warrior, and you will not be able to bear it. "

Tayoga laughed aloud, a laugh full and hearty. "I have heard frogscroak in the muddy edge of a pond, " he said. "I could not tell what theymeant, but there was as much sense in their voices as in yours, Tandakora. "

"At last you have found your tongue, youth of the Onondagas. You haveheard the frogs croak, but your voice at the stake will sound liketheirs. "

"The flames shall not be lighted around me, Tandakora. "

"How do you know?"

"Tododaho has whispered in my ear the promise that he will save me. Twice has he whispered it to me as we marched. "

"Tododaho in life was no warrior of the Ojibways, " said Tandakora, "andsince he has passed away he is no god of ours. His whispers, if he haswhispered at all to you, are false. There is less than half an hour inwhich you can be saved, and Manitou himself would need all that time. "

Tayoga gave him a scornful look. Tandakora was talking sacrilege, but hehad no right to expect anything else from a savage Ojibway. He refusedto reply. They came presently to the little valley that Tandakora had inmind, an open place, with a tree in the center, and much dead woodscattered about. Tayoga knew instinctively that this was theirdestination, and his heart would have sunk within him had it not beenfor the whispers of Tododaho that he had heard on the march. The Ojibwaygave the word and the file of warriors stopped. The hills enclosing thevalley were much higher on the right than elsewhere, and touching Tayogaon the arm, he said:

"Walk with me to the crest there. "

Tayoga, without a word, walked with him, while the other warriors stoodwatching, musket or rifle in hand. 

The Onondaga, wrists bound behind him, knew that he did not have theslightest chance of escape, even if he made a sudden dash into thewoods. He would be shot down before he went a dozen steps, and his prideand will restrained the body that was eager for the trial. 

They reached the crest, and Tayoga saw then that the hill itself rosefrom a high plateau. When he gazed toward the east he saw a vast expanseof green wilderness, beyond it a ribbon of silver, and beyond the silverhigh green mountains, outlined sharply against a sky of clear blue. 

"Oneadatote, " said Tandakora. 

"Yes, it is the great lake, " said Tayoga. 

"And if you will turn and look in the other direction you will see whereAndiatarocte lies, " said Tandakora. "There are greater lakes to thewest, some so vast that they are as big as the white man's ocean, butthere is none more beautiful than these. Think, Tayoga, that when youstand here upon this hill you have Oneadatote on one side of you andAndiatarocte on the other, and all the country between is splendid, every inch of it. Look! Look your fill, Tayoga! I have brought you herethat you might see, that this might be your last sight before you go toyour Tododaho on his star. "

The Onondaga knew that the Ojibway was taunting him, that the torturehad begun, that Tandakora intended to contrast the magnificent worldfrom which he intended to send him with the black death that awaited himso soon. But the dauntless youth appeared not to know. 

"The lakes I have seen many times, " he said. "They are, as you trulycall them, grand and beautiful, and they are the rightful property ofthe Hodenosaunee, the great League to which my nation belongs. I shallcome to see them many more times all through my life, and when I am anold, old man of ninety summers and winters I shall lay myself down on ahigh shore of Andiatarocte, and close my eyes while Tododaho bears myspirit away to his star. "

It is possible that Tandakora's eyes expressed a fleeting admiration. Savage and treacherous as he was, he respected courage, and the Onondagahad not shown the slightest trace of fear. Instead, he spoke calmly of along life to come, as if the shadow of death were not hovering near atthat moment. 

"Look again, " he said. "Look around all the circle of the world as faras your eyes can reach. It may help you a half hour from now, when youare in the flames, to remember the cool, green forest. And I tell you, too, Tayoga, that your white friend Lennox, the one whom you callDagaeoga, shall soon follow you into the other world and by the sameflaming path. When you are but ashes, which will be by the setting ofthe sun, my warriors will take up his trail, and he cannot escape us. "

"Dagaeoga will live long, even as I do, " said Tayoga calmly. "Hissummers and winters will be ninety each, even as mine. Tododaho haswhispered that to me also, and the whispers of Tododaho are neverfalse. "

Tandakora turned back toward the valley, motioning to his captive todescend, and Tayoga obeyed without resistance. The glen was secluded, just suited to his purpose, which required time, and he did not wish theFrenchman, St. Luc, to come upon him suddenly, and interfere with thepleasure that he anticipated. 

He was quite sure that the forest was empty of everything savethemselves, though he heard again and for the third time the note of thebird, piercing and sweet, trilling among the bushes. 

The warriors, knowing what was to be done, were doing it already, havingpiled many pieces of dead wood around the trunk of the lone tree in thecenter of the opening. Two had cut shavings with their hunting knives, and one stood ready with flint and steel. 

"Do you not tremble, Tayoga?" asked the Ojibway. "Many an old andseasoned warrior has not been able to endure the fire without a groan. "

"You shall not hear any groan from me, " replied Tayoga, "because I shallnot stand among the flames. "

"There is no way to escape them. Even now the pile is built, and thewarrior is ready with flint and steel to make the sparks. "

High, thrillingly sweet, came the voice of the bird in the bushes, andTayoga suddenly leaped with all his might against the great chest ofTandakora. Vast as was the strength of the Ojibway he was thrown fromhis feet by the violent and unexpected impact, and as he fell Tayoga, leaping lightly away, ran like a deer through the bushes. 

The warriors in the valley uttered a shout, but the reply was ashattering volley, before which half of them fell. Tandakora understoodat once. If he had the mind and heart of a savage he had also all thecraft and cunning of one whose life was incessantly in danger. Insteadof springing up, he rolled from the crest of the hill, then, rising to astooping position, darted away at incredible speed through the forest. 

Rangers and Mohawks, Robert, Daganoweda, Willet, Black Rifle and Rogersat their head, burst into the glen and the Mohawks began the pursuit ofTandakora's surviving warriors, who had followed their leader in hisflight. But Robert turned back to meet Tayoga and cut the thongs fromhis wrists. 

"I thank you, Dagaeoga, " said the Onondaga. "You came in time. "

"Yes, they were making ready. A half hour more and we should have beentoo late. But you knew that we were coming, Tayoga?"

"Yes. I heard the bird sing thrice, but I knew the bird was in thethroat of the Great Bear. I will say this, though, to you, Dagaeoga, that I have heard many birds sing and sing sweetly, but never any sosweetly as the one that sang thrice in the throat of the Great Bear. "

"It is not hard for me to believe you, " said Robert, smiling, "and I cantell you in turn, Tayoga, that your patron saint, Tododaho, must in verytruth have watched over you, because when I heard your warning cry andtook to flight, hoping for a chance later on to rescue you, I ranwithin two hours straight into the camp of the rangers and the Mohawks. You can easily surmise how glad I was to see them, and how quickly wefollowed Tandakora. "

"And we'd have attacked sooner, " said Willet, "but we could not get upall our force in time. We've annihilated this band, but I'm sure we didnot get Tandakora. He fled like the wind, and we'll have to settleaccounts with him some other day. "

"It was not possible for Tandakora to fall before your arms today, " saidTayoga. 

"Why not?" asked Willet, curiously. 

"It is reserved for him to die by my hand, though the time is yet faroff. I know it, because Tododaho whispered it to me more than oncetoday. Let him go now, but his hour will surely come. "

"You may be right, Tayoga. I'm not one to question your prophecies, butit's not wise for us to continue the pursuit of him, as we've otherthings to do. We destroyed the forces of St. Luc in the battle, but heescaped with some of his men to Crown Point, and there are still Indianwarriors in the forest, though we mean to continue skirmishing andscouting up to the walls of Crown Point, or until we meet Dieskau's armyon the march. "

Words of approval came from the fierce Daganoweda, who stood by, listening. The young Mohawk chieftain, in the midst of a great andterrible war, was living the life he loved. The Keepers of the EasternGate were taking revenge for Quebec, their lost Stadacona, and he andhis warriors could boast already of more than one victory. Around him, too, stood the white allies whom he respected and admired most, BlackRifle, Willet, Rogers and Dagaeoga, the youth of golden speech. Willet, looking at him, read his mind. 

"What do you say, Daganoweda?" he asked. "Now that Tayoga and Dagaeogahave been recovered, shall we go back and join the army of Waraiyageh, or shall we knock on the walls of Crown Point?"

"The time to turn back has not yet come, " replied the Mohawk. "We mustknow all about the army of Dieskau before we return to Waraiyageh. "

Willet laughed. 

"I knew that would be your reply, " he said. "I merely asked in order tohear you speak the words. As I've said already, it's in my mind to go ontoward Crown Point, and I know Rogers feels that way too. But I thinkwe'd first better rest and refresh ourselves a bit. Although Tayogawon't admit it, food and an hour or two of ease here in the very valleywhere they meant to burn him alive, will do him a power of good. "

After throwing out competent sentinels, they lighted a fire by the verytree to which Tandakora meant to bind Tayoga for the flames, and broiledvenison over the coals. They also had bread and samp, which were mostwelcome, and the whole force ate with great zest. The warriors, in theirflight, had dropped Tayoga's bow and quiver of arrows, and theirrecovery gave him keen delight, though he said little as he strappedthem over his shoulder. 

They spent two hours in the valley, and for the Onondaga the air wasfull of the good spirits that watched over him. The dramatic andextraordinary change, occurring in a few minutes, made an ineffaceableimpression upon a mind that saw meaning in everything. Here was the glenin which he had been held by Tandakora and his most deadly enemies, andthere was the lone tree against which they had already heaped the fuelfor burning him alive. Such a sudden and marvelous change could not havecome if he were not in the special favor of both Tododaho and Areskoui. Secure in his belief that he was protected by the mighty on their stars, he awaited the future with supreme confidence. 

CHAPTER XIV

SHARP SWORD

The rangers and Mohawks had suffered a further thinning in the lastconflict with St. Luc, but they were still a formidable body, not somuch through numbers as through skill, experience, courage and qualityof leadership. There was not one among them who was not eager to advancetoward Crown Point and hazard every peril. But they were too wise inwilderness ways not to have a long and anxious council before theystarted, as there was nothing to be gained and much to be lost bythrowing away lives in reckless attempts. 

They decided at last on a wide curve to the west, in order that theymight approach Crown Point from the north, where they would be leastsuspected, and they decided also that they would make most of thejourney by night, when they would be better hidden from wanderingwarriors. So concluding, they remained in the glen much longer than theyhad intended, and the delay was welcome to Robert, whose nervous systemneeded much restoration, after the tremendous exertions, the hopes andfears of recent days. 

But he was able to imitate the Onondaga calm. He spread his blanket onthe turf, lay down upon it, and lowered his eyelids. He had no intentionof going to sleep, but he put himself into that drowsy state of calmakin to the Hindoo's Nirvana. By an effort of the will he calmed everynerve and refused to think of the future. He merely breathed, and saw ina dim way the things about him, compelling his soul to stay a while inpeace. 

Most of the rangers and Mohawks were lying in the same stillness. Sternexperience had taught them to take rest, and make the most of it whenthey could find it. Only the watchful sentinels at the rim of the valleyand beyond stirred, and their moccasins made no sound as they slid amongthe bushes, looking and listening with all their eyes and ears forwhatever might come. 

The sun was sunk far in the western heavens, tinting with gold thesurface of both lakes, for the rulership of which the nations fought, and outlining the mountains, crests and ridges, sharp and clear againsta sky of amazing blue. Yet so vast was the wilderness and so little hadit been touched by man, that the armies were completely hidden in it, and neither Dieskau nor Johnson yet knew what movement the otherintended. 

The east was already dim with the coming twilight when the three leadersstood up, and, as if by preconcerted signal, beckoned to their men. Scarcely a word was spoken, but everyone looked to his arms, thesentinels came in, and the whole force, now in double file, marchedswiftly toward the north, but inclining also to the east. Robert andTayoga were side by side. 

"I owe thee many thanks, Dagaeoga, " said the Onondaga. 

"You owe me nothing, " said Robert. "I but paid an installment on adebt. "

Then they spoke no more for a long time, because there was nothing tosay, and because the band was now moving so fast that all their breathwas needed for muscular effort. The sun went down in a sea of goldenclouds, then red fire burned for a little while at the rim of the world, and, when it was gone, a luminous twilight, which by and by faded intodarkness, came in its place. 

But the band in double file sped on through the dusk. Daganoweda, whoknew the way, was at the head, and so skillful were they that no stickcrackled and no leaf rustled as they passed. Mile after mile theyflitted on, over hill and valley and through the deep woods. Far in thenight they stopped to drink at a clear little brook that ran down toLake Champlain, but no other halt was made until the dawn broke over avast silver sheet of water, and high green mountains beyond. 

"Oneadatote, " said Tayoga. 

"And a great lake it is, " said Robert. "We had a naval encounter on itonce, and now we've had a battle, too, on George. "

"But the French and their allies hold all of Oneadatote, while we onlydispute the possession of Andiatarocte. They will march against us fromCrown Point on the shores of this lake. "

"We'll take George from 'em, all of it, and then we'll come and drive'em from Champlain, too. "

The eyes of the Onondaga sparkled. 

"Dagaeoga has a brave heart, " he said, "and we will do all that hepredicts, but, as I have said before, it will be a long and terriblewar. "

They descended to a point nearer the lake, but, still remaining hiddenin the dense forest, ate their breakfast of venison, bread and samp, anddrank again from a clear brook. They were now several miles north ofCrown Point, and the leaders talked together again about the best mannerof approach. They not only wished to see what the army of Dieskau wasdoing, but they thought it possible to strike some blow that wouldinflict severe loss, and delay his advance. Rogers used his glassesagain, and was able to discern many Indian canoes on the lake, bothnorth and south of the point where they lay, although they were mostlyscattered, indicating no certain movement. 

"Those canoes ought to be ours, " he said. "'Tis a great pity that we'velet the French take control of Champlain. It's easier to hold a thing inthe beginning than it is, having let your enemy seize it without afight, to win it back again. "

"It's better to do that than to be rash, " said Willet. "I was withBraddock when we marched headlong into the wilderness. If we had beenslower then we'd have now a good army that we've lost. Still, it's hardto see the French take the lead from us. We dance to their tune. "

"Dave, " said Rogers, "I see a whole fleet of Indian canoes far down thelake below Crown Point. One can see many miles in such a clear air asthis, and I'm sure they're canoes, though they look like black dotscrawling on the water. Take the glasses and have a look. "

Willet held the glasses to his eyes a long time, and when he took themdown he said with confidence:

"They're canoes, a hundred of 'em at least, and while they holdcomplete command of the lake, it don't seem natural that so many of 'emshould be in a fleet away down there below the French fort. It meanssomething unusual. What do you think, Tayoga?"

"Perhaps Dieskau is already on the march, " said the Onondaga. "Theglories that St. Luc, Dumas, Ligneris and the others won at Duquesnewill not let him sleep. He would surpass them. He would repeat on theshores of Andiatarocte what they did so triumphantly by the ford of theMonongahela. "

"Thunderation!" exclaimed Rogers. "The boy may be right! They may beeven now stealing a march on us! If our army down below should be wipedout as Braddock's was, then we might never recover!"

Robert, who could not keep from hearing all the talk, listened to itwith dismay. He had visions of Johnson's army of untrained militiaattacked suddenly by French veterans and a huge force of Indians. Itwould be like the spring of a monstrous beast out of the dark, anddefeat, perhaps complete destruction for his own, would be the result. But his courage came back in an instant. The surprise could not becarried out so long as the band to which he belonged was in existence. 

"I think, " said Willet, "that we'd better go south along the shore ofthe lake, and approach as near to the fort as we dare. Then Daganowedaand a half dozen of his best warriors will scout under its very walls. Do you care for the task, Daganoweda?"

The eyes of the young Mohawk chieftain glittered. Willet had judged himaright. It would be no task for him, it would be instead a labor ofpleasure. In fifteen minutes he was off with his warriors, disappearinglike shadows in the undergrowth, and Robert knew that whatever reportDaganoweda might bring back it would not only be true but full. 

The main band followed, though far more slowly, keeping well back fromthe lake, that no Indian eye might catch their presence in the woods, but able, nevertheless, to observe for immense distances everything thatpassed on the vast silver sheet of water. Rogers observed once more thefleet of Indian canoes rowing southward, and he and Willet were firmerthan ever in their belief that it indicated some measure of importance. 

Their own march through the woods was peaceful. They frightened no gamefrom their path, indicating that the entire region had been hunted overthoroughly by the great force that had lain at Crown Point, and, after awhile, they passed a point parallel to the fort, though several miles tothe westward. Willet, Tayoga and Robert looked for trails or traces ofbands or hunters, but found none. Apparently the forest had beendeserted by the enemy for some days, and their alarming belief wasstrengthened anew. 

Four miles farther on they were to meet Daganoweda and his warriors, ata tiny silver pond among the hills, and now they hurried their march. 

"I'm thinking, " said Robert, "that Daganoweda will be there first, waiting with a tale to tell. "

"All signs point to it, " said Tayoga. "It is well that we came north onthis scouting expedition, because we, too, may have something to saywhen we return to Waraiyageh. "

"You know this pond at which we are to meet?"

"Yes, it is in the hills, and the forest is thick all about it. OftenOnondaga and Mohawk have met there to take council, the one with theother. "

In another hour they were at the pond, and they found the Mohawkchieftain and his men sitting at its edge. 

"Well, Daganoweda, " said Willet, "is it as we thought?" Daganoweda roseand waved his hand significantly toward the south. 

"Dieskau with his army has gone to fall upon Waraiyageh, " he said. "Wewent close up to the walls, and we even heard talk. The French and thewarriors were eager to advance, and so were their leaders. It was saidthat St. Luc, whom we call Sharp Sword, urged them most, and the largerpart of his great force soon started in canoes. A portion of it he leftat Ticonderoga, and the rest is going on. They intend to take the fortcalled Lyman, that the English and Americans have built, and then tofall upon Waraiyageh. "

"It is for us to reach Waraiyageh first, " said Willet, quietly, "and wewill. God knows there is great need of our doing it. If Johnson's armyis swept away, then Albany will fall, the Hodenosaunee, under terrificpressure, might be induced to turn against us, and the Province of NewYork would be ravaged with fire and the scalping knife. "

"But we will reach Waraiyageh and tell him, " said Tayoga, firmly. "Hewill not be swept away. Albany will not fall, and nothing can induce theHodenosaunee to join the French. "

The eyes of the Great Bear glistened as he looked at the tall youngwarrior. 

"That's brave talk, and it's true, too!" he exclaimed. "You shame us, Tayoga! If it's for us to save our army by carrying the news ofDieskau's sudden march, then we'll save it. "

Daganoweda had told the exact truth. Dieskau had reached Crown Pointwith a force mighty then for the wilderness, and, after a short rest, heissued orders to his troops to be prepared for advance at a moment'snotice. He especially directed the officers to keep themselves in lightmarching order, every one of them to take only a bearskin, a blanket, one extra pair of shoes, one extra shirt, and no luxuries at all. 

His orders to the Indians showed a savagery which, unfortunately, wasnot peculiar then to him. In the heat of battle they were not to scalpthose they slew, because time then was so valuable. While they weretaking a scalp they could kill ten men. But when the enemy was routedcompletely they could go back on the field and scalp as they wished. 

The Indian horde was commanded by Legardeur de St. Pierre, who had withhim De Courcelles and Jumonville, and St. Luc with his faithful Duboisimmediately organized a daring band of French Canadians and warriors totake the place of the one he had lost. So great was his reputation as aforest fighter, and so well deserved was it, that his fame suffered nodiminution, because of his defeat by the rangers and Mohawks, and theyoung French officers were eager to serve under him. 

It was this powerful army, ably led and flushed with the generaltriumph of the French arms, that Daganoweda and his warriors had seenadvancing, though perhaps no one in all the force dreamed that he wasadvancing to a battle that in reality would prove one of the mostdecisive in the world's history, heavy with consequences to which timeset scarcely any limit. Nor did Robert himself, vivid as was hisimagination, foresee it. His thoughts and energies were bounded for thetime, at least, by the present, and, with the others, he was eager tosave Johnson's army, which now lay somewhere near Lake George, and whichhe was sure had been occupied in building forts, as Waraiyageh, havingspent most of his life in the wilderness, knew that it was well when hehad finished a march forward to make it secure before he undertookanother. 

The rangers and Mohawks now picked up the trail of Dieskau's army, whichwas moving forward with the utmost speed. Yet the obstinacy of hisIndian allies compelled the German baron to abandon the first step inhis plan. They would not attack Fort Lyman, as it was defended byartillery, of which the savages had a great dread, but they were willingto go on, and fall suddenly upon Johnson, who, they heard, thoughfalsely, had no cannon. Dieskau and his French aides, compelled to hideany chagrin they may have felt, pushed on for Lake George with the pickof their army, consisting of the battalions of Languedoc, and La Reine, a strong Canadian force, and a much larger body of Indian warriors, among whom the redoubtable Tandakora, escaped from rangers and Mohawks, was predominant. 

Willet, Rogers, Black Rifle, Daganoweda and their small but formidableband read the trail plainly, and they knew the greatness of the danger. Dieskau was not young, and he was a soldier of fortune, not belonging tothe race that he led, but he was full of ardor, and the daring Frenchpartisans were urging him on. Robert felt certain that St. Luc himselfwas in the very van and that he would probably strike the first blow. 

After they had made sure that Dieskau would not attack Fort Lyman, butwas marching straight against Johnson, the little force turned aside, and prepared to make a circuit with all the speed it could command. 

As Willet put it tersely:

"It's not enough for us to know what Dieskau means to do, but to keephim from doing it. It's muscle and lungs now that count. "

So they deserved to the full the name of forest runners, speeding ontheir great curve, using the long, running walk with which both Indiansand frontiersmen devoured space, and apparently never grew weary. In thenight they passed Dieskau's army, and, from the crest of a lofty hill, saw his fires burning in a valley below. Tayoga and some of the Mohawksslipped down through the undergrowth and reported that the camp had beenmade with all due precaution--the French partisan leaders saw tothat--with plenty of scouts about, and the whole force in swift, marching order. It would probably be up and away again before dawn, andif they were to pass it and reach Johnson in good time not a singlemoment could be wasted. 

"Now I wonder, " said Willet, "if they suspect the advance of thiswarning force. St. Luc, of course, knows that we were back there byChamplain, as we gave him the most complete proofs of it that humanbeings could give. So does Tandakora, and they may prevail upon Dieskauto throw out a swift band for the purpose of cutting us off. If so, St. Luc is sure to lead it. What do you say, Tayoga?"

"I think St. Luc will surely come, " replied the Onondaga youth gravely. "We have been trailing the army of Dieskau, and tomorrow, after we havepassed it, we shall be trailed in our turn. It does not need the whisperof Tododaho to tell me that St. Luc and Tandakora will lead thetrailers, because, as we all know, they are most fitting to lead them. "

"Then there's no sleep for us tonight, " said Rogers; "we'll push on andnot close our eyes again until we reach Colonel Johnson. "

They traveled many miles before dawn, but with the rising of the sunthey knew that they were followed, and perhaps flanked. The Mohawkscouts brought word of it. Daganoweda himself found hostile signs in thebushes, a bead or two and a strand of deerskin fringe caught on a bush. 

"It's likely, " said Willet, "that they were even more cautious than wereckoned. It may be that before Dieskau left his force at Ticonderoga hesent forward St. Luc with a swift band to intercept us and any otherswho might take a warning to Colonel Johnson. "

"I agree with you, " said Rogers. "St. Luc started before we did, and, all the time, has been ahead of us. So we have him in front, Dieskaubehind, and it looks as if we'd have to fight our way through to ourarmy. Oh, the Frenchmen are clever! Nobody can deny it, and they'realways awake. What's your opinion, Daganoweda?"

"We shall have to fight, " replied the Mohawk chieftain, although theprospect caused him no grief. "The traces that we have found prove SharpSword to be already across our path. We have yet no way to know thestrength of his force, but, if a part of us get through, it will beenough. "

Robert heard them talking, and while he was able once more to preserveoutward calm, his heart, nevertheless, throbbed hard. More than anyother present, with the possible exception of Tayoga, his imaginationpictured what was to come, and before it was fought he saw the battle. They were to march, too, into an ambush, knowing it was there, butimpossible to be avoided, because they must get through in some fashionor other. They were now approaching Andiatarocte again, and although theneed of haste was still great they dropped perforce into a slow walk, and sent ahead more scouts and skirmishers. 

Robert and Tayoga went forward on the right, and they caught through thebushes the gleam from the waters of a small stream that ran down to thelake. Going a little nearer, they saw that the farther bank was high anddensely wooded, and then they drew back, knowing that it was a splendidplace for an ambush, and believing that St. Luc was probably there. Tayoga lay almost flat, face downward, and stared intently at the highbank. 

"I think, Dagaeoga, " he said, "that so long as we keep close to theearth we may creep a little nearer, and perhaps our eyes, which aregood, may be able to pick out the figures of our foes from the leavesand bushes in which they probably lie hidden. "

They dragged themselves forward about fifty yards, taking particularcare to make nothing in the thickets bend or wave in a manner for whichthe wind could not account. Robert stared a long time, but his eyesseparated nothing from the mass of foliage. 

"What do you see, Tayoga?" he whispered at last. 

"No proof of the enemy yet, Dagaeoga. At least, no proof of which I amsure. Ah, but I do now! There was a flash in the bushes. It was a ray ofsunlight penetrating the leaves and striking upon the polished metal ofa gun barrel. "

"It means that at least one Indian or Frenchman is there. Keep onlooking and see if you don't see something more. "

"I see a red feather. At this distance you might at first take it for afeather in the wing of a bird, but I know it is a feather in thescalplock of a warrior. "

"And that makes two, at least. Look harder than ever, Tayoga, and tellme what more you see. "

"Now I catch a glimpse of white cloth with a gleam of silver. The clothis on the upper arm, and the silver is on the shoulder of an officer. "

"A uniform and an epaulet. A French officer, of course. "

"Of course, and I think it is Sharp Sword himself. "

"Look once more, Tayoga, and maybe your eyes can pick out something elsefrom the foliage. "

"I see the back and painted shoulder of a warrior. It may be those ofTandakora, but I cannot be sure. "

"You needn't be. You've seen quite enough to prove that the whole forceof St. Luc is there in the bushes, awaiting us, and we must tell ourleaders at once. "

They crept back to the center, where Willet and Rogers lay, Daganowedabeing on the flank, and told them what they had seen. 

"It's good enough proof, " said Rogers. "St. Luc with his whole force inthe bushes means to hold the stream against us and keep us from taking awarning to Johnson, but the hardest way to do a thing isn't always theone you have to choose. "

"I take it, " said Willet, "that you mean to flank him out of hisposition. "

"It was what I had in mind. What do you think, Dave?"

"The only possible method. Those Mohawks are wonders at such operations, and we'd better detail as many of the rangers as we can spare to join'em, while a force here in the center makes a demonstration that willhold 'em to their place in the bushes. I'll take the picked men and joinDaganoweda. "

Rogers laughed. 

"It's like you, Dave, " he said, "to choose the most dangerous part, andleave me here just to make a noise. "

"But the commander usually stays in the center, while his lieutenantslead on the wings. "

"That's true. You have precedent with you, but it wouldn't have made anydifference, anyhow. "

"But when we fall on 'em you'll lead the center forward, and with sucha man as St. Luc I fancy you'll have all the danger you crave. "

Rogers laughed again. 

"Go ahead, old fire-eater, " he said. "It was always your way. I supposeyou'll want to take Tayoga and Lennox with you. "

"Oh, yes, I need 'em, and besides, I have to watch over 'em, in a way. "

"And you watch over 'em by leading 'em into the very thickest of thebattle. But danger has always been a lure for you, and I know you're thebest man for the job. "

Willet quickly picked twenty men, including Black Rifle and the twolads, and bore away with speed toward the flank where Daganoweda and theMohawks already lay. As Robert left he heard the rifle shots with whichthe little force of Rogers was opening the battle, and he heard, too, the rifles and muskets of the French and Indians on the other side ofthe stream replying. 

Fortunately, as the forest was very dense, and it was not possible forany of St. Luc's men to see the flanking movement, Willet and hisrangers joined Daganoweda quickly and without hindrance, the eyes of thechieftain glittering when he saw the new force, and heard the plan tocross the stream far down and fall on St. Luc's flank. 

"It is good, " he said with satisfaction. "Sharp Sword has eyes to seemuch, but he cannot see everything. "

"But one thing must be understood, " said Willet, gravely. "If we seethat we are getting the worst of the fight and our men are fallingfast, the good runners must leave the conflict at once and make allspeed for Waraiyageh. Tayoga, you are the fastest and surest of all, andyou must leave first, and, Daganoweda, do you pick three of your swiftyoung warriors for the same task. "

"I have one request to make, " said Tayoga. 

"What is it?"

"When I leave let me take Dagaeoga with me. We are comrades who haveshared many dangers, and he, too, is swift of foot and hardy. It may bethat there will be danger also in the flight to Waraiyageh's camp. Then, if one should fall the other will go on. "

"Well put, Tayoga. Robert, do you hear? If the tide seems to be turningagainst us join Tayoga in his flight toward Johnson. "

Robert nodded, and the young warriors chosen by Daganoweda alsoindicated that they understood. Then the entire force began its silentmarch through the woods on their perilous encircling movement. Theywaded the river at a ford where the water did not rise above theirknees, and entered the deep woods, gradually drawing back toward thepoint where St. Luc's force lay. 

As they approached they began to hear the sounds of the little battleRogers was waging with the French leader, a combat which was intended tokeep the faculties and energies of the French and Indians busy, whilethe more powerful detachment under Willet and Daganoweda moved up forthe main blow. Faint reports of rifle and musket shots came to them, andalso the long whining yell of the Indians, so like, in the distance, tothe cry of a wolf. Then, as they drew a little nearer they heard theshouts of the rangers, shouts of defiance or of triumph rattlingcontinuously like a volley. 

"That's a part of their duty, " said Willet. "Rogers has only twenty men, but he means to make 'em appear a hundred. "

"Sounds more like two hundred, " said Robert. "It's the first time I everheard one man shout as ten. "

As they drew nearer the volume of the firing seemed to increase. Rogerswas certainly carrying out his part of the work in the most admirablemanner, his men firing with great rapidity and never ceasing theirbattle shouts. Even so shrewd a leader as St. Luc might well believe theentire force of rangers and Mohawks, instead of only twenty men, was infront of him. But Robert was quite sure from the amount of firing comingfrom the Frenchman's position that he was in formidable force, perhapsoutnumbering his opponents two to one, and the fight, though with theadvantage of a flank attack by Willet and Daganoweda, was sure to bedoubtful. It seemed that Tayoga read his thought as he whispered:

"Once more, Dagaeoga, we may leave the combat together, when it is atits height. Remember the duty that has been laid upon us. If the battleappears doubtful we are to flee. "

"A hard thing to do at such a time. "

"But we have our orders from the Great Bear. "

"I had no thought of disobeying. I know the importance of our gettingthrough, if our force is defeated, or even held. Why couldn't our wholedetachment have gone around St. Luc just as we've done, and have lefthim behind without a fight?"

"Because if the Mountain Wolf had not been left in his front, SharpSword would have discovered immediately the absence of us all and wouldhave followed so fast that he would have forced us to battle on histerms, instead of our being able to force him on ours. "

"I see, Tayoga. Look out!"

He seized the Onondaga suddenly and pulled him down. A rifle cracked inthe bushes sixty or seventy yards in front of them, and a bulletwhistled where the red youth's head had been. The shot came from anoutlying sentinel of St. Luc's band, and knowing now that the time for ahidden advance had passed, Willet and all of his men charged with amighty shout. 

Their cheering also was a signal to the twenty men of Rogers on theother side of the river, and they, too, rushed forward. St. Luc wastaken by surprise, but, as Robert had feared, his French and Indiansoutnumbered them two to one. They fell back a little, thus giving Rogersand his twenty a chance to cross the river, but they took up a new andstrong position upon a well-wooded hill, and the battle at close rangebecame fierce, sanguinary and doubtful. 

Robert caught two glimpses of St. Luc directing his men with movementsof his small sword, and once he saw another white man, who, he was surewas Dubois, although generally the enemy was invisible, keeping wellunder the shelter of tree and bush. But while human forms were hidden, the evidences of ferocious battle were numerous. The warriors on eachside uttered fierce shouts, rifles and muskets crackled rapidly, nowand then a stricken man uttered his death cry, and the depths of theforest were illuminated by the rapid jets of the firing. 

The sudden and heavy attack upon his flank compelled St. Luc to take thedefensive, and put him at a certain disadvantage, but he marshaled hissuperior numbers so well that the battle became doubtful, with everyevidence that it would be drawn out to great length. Moreover, thechevalier had maneuvered so artfully that his whole force was now drawndirectly across the path of the rangers and Mohawks, and the way toJohnson was closed, for the time, at least. 

An hour, two hours, the battle swayed to and fro among the trees andbushes. Had their opponent been any other than St. Luc the threeleaders, Willet, Rogers and Daganoweda, would have triumphed by thattime, but French, Canadians and Indians alike drew courage from thedauntless Chevalier. More than once they would have abandoned the field, but he marshaled them anew, and always he did it in a manner so skillfulthat the loss was kept at the lowest possible figure. 

The forest was filled with smoke, though the high sun shot it throughwith luminous rays. But no one looking upon the battle could have toldwhich was the loser and which the winner. The losses on the two sideswere about equal, and St. Luc, holding the hill, still lay across thepath of rangers and Mohawks. Robert, who was crouched behind the trunkof a great oak, felt a light touch upon his arm, and, looking back, sawTayoga. 

"The time has come, Dagaeoga, " said the Onondaga. 

"What time?"

"The time for us to leave the battle and run as fast as we may toWaraiyageh. "

"I had forgotten. The conflict here had gotten so much into my bloodthat I couldn't think of anything else. But, as I said it would be, it'shard to go. "

"Go, Robert!" called Willet from a tree twenty feet away. "Curve aroundSt. Luc. Do what Tayoga says--he can scent danger like an animal of theforest--and make all speed to Johnson. Maybe we'll join you in his camplater on. "

"Good-by, Dave, " said Robert, swallowing hard. He crept away with theOnondaga, not rising to his full height for a long time. Then the twostood for a few moments, listening to the sounds of the battle, whichseemed to be increasing in violence. Far through the forest they faintlysaw the drifting smoke and the sparks of fire from the rifles andmuskets. 

"Once more I say it's hard to leave our friends there, " exclaimedRobert. 

"But our path leads that way, " said Tayoga, pointing southward. 

They struck, without another word, into the long, loping run that theforest runners use with such effect, and sped southward. The sounds ofthe conflict soon died behind them, and they were in the stillness ofthe woods, where no enemy seemed near. But they did not decrease theirpace, leaping the little brooks, wading the wider streams, and flittinglike shades through forest and thicket. Twice they crossed Indiantrails, but paid no heed to them. Once a warrior, perhaps a hunter, fired a long shot at them, but as his bullet missed they paid noattention to him, but, increasing their speed, fled southward at a paceno ordinary man could overtake. 

"Now that we have left, " said Robert, after a while, "I'm glad we didso. It will be a personal pleasure for us two to warn Johnson. "

"We may carry the fate of a war with us, Dagaeoga. Think of that!"

"I've thought of it. But our friends behind us, engaged in the battlewith St. Luc! What of them? Does Tododaho whisper to you anything abouttheir fate?"

"They are great and skillful men, cunning and crafty in all the ways ofthe forest. They have escaped great dangers a thousand times before andTododaho tells me they will escape the thousand and first. Be of goodheart, Dagaeoga, and do not worry about them. "

They dropped almost to a walk for a while, permitting their muscles torest. Tayoga's wound had healed so fast, the miracle was so nearlycomplete, that it did not trouble him, and, after walking two hours, they struck into the long, easy run again. The miles dropped fast behindthem, and now Johnson's camp was not far away. It was well for Tayogaand Robert that they were naturally so strong and that they had livedsuch healthy lives, as now they were able to go on all through the day, and the setting sun found them still traveling, the Onondaga leadingwith an eye as infallible for the way as that of a bird in the heavens. Some time after dark they stopped for a half hour and sat on fallen logswhile they took fresh breath. Robert was apprehensive about Tayoga'swound and expressed his solicitude. 

"There is no pain, " replied the young warrior, "and there will be none. Tododaho and Areskoui gave me the miraculous cure for a purpose. It wasthat I might have the strength to be a messenger to Waraiyageh, becauseif he is crushed then the French and the Indians will strike at theHodenosaunee, and they will ravage the Vale of Onondaga itself with fireand the tomahawk. Tododaho watches over his people. "

"The stars have come out, Tayoga. Can you see the one on which Tododaholives? And if so, what is he saying to you now?"

Tayoga looked up a long time. He had received the white man's culture, but the Indian soul was strong within him, nevertheless, and he wassteeped, too, in Indian lore. All the legends of his race, all theIroquois religion, came crowding upon him. A faint silvery vaporoverspread the sky, the stars in myriads quivered and danced, and therein a remote corner of space was the great star on which Tododaho lived. It hung in the heavens a silver shield, small in the distance, but vast, Tayoga knew, beyond all conception. There were fine lines across itsface, but they were only the snakes in Tododaho's hair. 

Gradually the features and countenance of the great Onondaga emergedupon the star, and the blood of Tayoga ran in a chill torrent throughhis veins, though the chill was not the chill of fear. He was, ineffect, meeting the mighty Onondaga of four hundred years ago, face toface. The forest around him glided away, Robert vanished, the solidearth melted from under his feet, and he was like a being who hung inthe air suspended from nothing. He leaned his head forward a little inthe attitude of one who listens, and he distinctly heard Tododaho say:

"Go on, Tayoga. As I have protected you so far on the way I shallprotect you to the end. Four hundred years ago I left my people, but mywatch over them is as vigilant now as it was when I was on earth. Thenations of the Hodenosaunee shall not perish, and they shall remaingreat and mighty. "

The voice ceased, the face of the mighty Onondaga disappeared, Tayogawas no longer suspended without a support in the air, the forest cameback, and his good comrade, Robert Lennox, stood by his side, staring athim curiously. 

"Have you been in a trance, Tayoga?" asked Robert. 

"No, Dagaeoga, I have not, but I can answer your question. I not onlyheard Tododaho, but I saw him face to face. He spoke to me in a voicelike the wind among the pines, and he said that he would watch over methe rest of the way, and that the Hodenosaunee should remain great andpowerful. Come, Dagaeoga, all danger for us on this march has passed. "

They rose, continued their flight without hindrance, and the nextmorning entered the camp of Johnson. 

CHAPTER XV

THE LAKE BATTLE

Robert and Tayoga approached the American camp in the early dawn of awaning summer, and the air was crisp and cool. The Onondaga's shoulder, at last, had begun to feel the effects of his long flight, and he, aswell as Robert, was growing weary. Hence it was with great delight thatthey caught the gleam of a uniform through a thicket, and knew they hadcome upon one of Johnson's patrols. It was with still greater delight asthey advanced that they recognized young William Wilton of thePhiladelphia troop, and a dozen men. Wilton looked wan and hollow-eyed, as if he had been watching all night, but his countenance was alert, andhis figure erect nevertheless. 

Hearing the steps of Tayoga and Robert in the bushes, he called sharply:

"Who's there?"

His men presented their arms, and he stepped forward, sword in hand. Robert threw up his own hands, and, emerging from the thicket, said intones which he made purposely calm and even. 

"Good morning, Will. It's happy I am to see you keeping such a goodwatch. "

Then he dropped his hands and walked into the open, Tayoga followinghim. Wilton stared as if he had seen someone come back from anotherstar. 

"Lennox, is it really you?" he asked. 

"Nobody else. "

"You in the flesh and not a ghost?"

"In the flesh and no ghost. "

"And is that Tayoga following you?"

"The Onondaga himself. "

"And he is not any ghost, either?"

"No ghost, though Tandakora's men tried hard to make him one, and took agood start at it. But he's wholly in the flesh, too. "

"Then shake. I was afraid, at first, to touch hands with a ghost, but, God bless you, Robert, it fills me with delight to see you again, andyou, too, Tayoga, no less. We thought you both were dead, and Colden andCarson and Grosvenor and I and a lot of others have wasted a lot of goodmourning on you. "

Robert laughed, and it was probably a nervous laugh of relief at havingarrived, through countless dangers, upon an errand of such hugeimportance. 

"Both of you look worn out, " said Wilton. "I dare say you've been up allnight, walking through the interminable forest. Come, have a good, fatbreakfast, then roll between the blankets and sleep all day long. "

Robert laughed again. How little the young Quaker knew or suspected!

"We neither eat nor sleep yet, Will, " he said. "Where is ColonelJohnson? You must take us to him at once!"

"The colonel himself, doubtless, has not had his breakfast. But whythis feverish haste? You talk as if you and Tayoga carried the fate of anation on your shoulders. "

"That's just what we do carry. And, in truth, the fate of more than one, perhaps. Lead on, Will! Every second is precious!"

Wilton looked at him again, and, seeing the intense earnestness in theblue eyes of young Lennox, gave a command to his little troop, startingwithout another word across the clearing, Robert and Tayoga followingclose behind. The two lads were ragged, unkempt, and bore all the signsof war, but they were unconscious of their dilapidated appearance, although many of the young soldiers stared at them as they went by. Theypassed New England and New York troops cooking their breakfast, and on alow hill a number of Mohawks were still sleeping. 

They approached the tent of Colonel Johnson and were fortunate enough tofind him standing in the doorway, talking with Colonel Ephraim Williamsand Colonel Whiting. But he was so engrossed in the conversation that hedid not see them until Wilton saluted and spoke. 

"Messengers, sir!" he said. 

Colonel Johnson looked up, and then he started. 

"Robert and Tayoga!" he exclaimed. "I see by your faces that you haveword of importance! What is it?"

"Dieskau's whole army is advancing, " said Robert. "It long since leftCrown Point, put a garrison in Ticonderoga, and is coming along LakeGeorge to fall on you by surprise, and destroy you. "

Waraiyageh's face paled a little, and then a spark leaped up in hiseye. 

"How do you know this?" he asked. 

"I have seen it with my own eyes. I looked upon Dieskau's marching army, and so did Tayoga. St. Luc was thrown across our path to stop us, and weleft Willet, Rogers and Daganoweda in battle with him, while we fled, according to instructions, to you. "

"Then you have done well. Go now and seek rest and refreshment. You aregood and brave lads. Our army will be made ready at once. We'll not waitfor Dieskau. We'll go to meet him. What say you, Williams, and you, Whiting?". 

"Forward, sir! The troops would welcome the order!" replied ColonelWilliams, and Whiting nodded assent. 

Johnson was now all activity and energy and so were his officers. Heseemed not at all daunted by the news of Dieskau's rapid advance. Ratherhe welcomed it as an end to his army's doubts and delays, and as astrong incentive to the spirits of the men. 

"Go, lads, and rest!" he repeated to Robert and Tayoga, and now thattheir supreme task was achieved they felt the need of obeying him. Bothwere sagging with weariness, and it was well for the Onondaga to look tohis shoulder, which was still a little lame. As they saluted and leftthe tent a young Indian lad sprang toward them and greeted them eagerly. It was young Joseph Brant, the famous Thayendanega of later days, thebrother of Molly Brant, Colonel William Johnson's Mohawk wife. 

"Hail, Tayoga! Hail, Dagaeoga!" he exclaimed in the Mohawk tongue. "Iknew that you were inside with Waraiyageh! You have brought great news, it is rumored already! It is no secret, is it?"

"We do have news, mighty news, and it is no secret, " replied Robert. "It's news that will give you your opportunity of starting on the longpath that leads to the making of a great chief. Dieskau has marchedsuddenly and is near. We're going to meet him. "

The fierce young Mohawk uttered a shout of joy and rushed for his arms. Robert and Tayoga, after a brief breakfast, lay down on their blanketsand, despite all the turmoil and bustle of preparation, fell asleep. 

While the two successful but exhausted messengers slumbered, ColonelJohnson called a council of war, at which the chief militia officers andold Hendrik, the Mohawk sachem, were present. The white men favored theswift advance of a picked force to save Edward, one of the new fortserected to protect the frontier, from the hordes, and the dispatch of asecond chosen force to guard Lyman, another fort, in the same manner. The wise old Mohawk alone opposed the plan, and his action wassignificant. 

Hendrik picked up three sticks from the ground and held them before theeyes of the white men. 

"Put these together, " he said, "and you cannot break them. Take them oneby one and you break them with ease. "

But he could not convince the white leaders, and then, a man of greatsoul, he said that if his white comrades must go in the way they hadchosen he would go with them. Calling about him the Mohawk warriors, two hundred in number, he stood upon a gun carriage and addressed themwith all the spirit and eloquence of his race. Few of the Americansunderstood a word he said, but they knew from his voice that he wasurging his men to deeds of valor. 

Hendrik told the warriors that the French and their allies were at hand, and the forces of Waraiyageh were going out to meet them. Waraiyageh hadalways been their friend, and it became them now to fight by his sidewith all the courage the Ganeagaono had shown through unnumberedgenerations. A fierce shout came from the Mohawks, and, snatching theirtomahawks from their belts, they waved them about their heads. 

To the young Philadelphians and to Grosvenor, the Englishman, who stoodby, it was a sight wild and picturesque beyond description. The Mohawkswere in full war paint and wore little clothing. Their dark eyesflashed, as the eloquence of Hendrik made the intoxication of battlerise in their veins, and when two hundred tomahawks were swung aloft andwhirled about the heads of their owners the sun flashed back from themin glittering rays. Now and then fierce shouts of approval burst forth, and when Hendrik finished and stepped down from the gun carriage, theywere ready to start on a march, of which the wise old sachem had notapproved. 

The militia also were rapidly making ready, and Robert and Tayoga, awakened and refreshed, took their places with the little Philadelphiatroop and the young Englishman, Grosvenor. Hendrik was too old and stoutto march on foot, and he rode at the head of his warriors on a horse, lent him by Colonel Johnson, an unusual spectacle among the Iroquois, who knew little of horses, and cared less about them. 

This was the main force, and the Philadelphia troop, with Robert, Tayogaand Grosvenor, was close behind the Iroquois as they plunged into thedeep woods bordering the lake, a mass of tangled wilderness that mightwell house a thousand ambushes. Grosvenor glanced about himapprehensively. 

"I don't like the looks of it, " he said. "It reminds me too much of theforest into which we marched with Braddock, God rest his soul!"

"I wasn't there, " said young Captain Colden, "but Heaven knows I'veheard enough horrible tales about it, and I've seen enough of the Frenchand Indians to know they're expert at deadly snares. "

"But we fight cunning with cunning, " said Robert, cheerfully. "Look atthe Mohawks ahead. There are two hundred of 'em, and every one of 'emhas a hundred eyes. "

"And look at old Hendrik, trotting along in the very lead on his horse, "said Wilton. "I'm a man of peace, a Quaker, as you know, but myQuakerish soul leaps to see that gallant Indian, old enough to be thegrandfather of us all, showing the way. "

"Bravery and self-sacrifice are quite common among Indians. You'll learnthat, " said Robert. "Now, watch with all your eyes, every man of you, and notice anything that stirs in the brush. "

Despite himself, Robert's own mind turned back to Braddock also, and allthe incidents of the forest march that had so terrible an ending. Johnson's army knew more of the wilderness than Braddock's, but thehostile force was also far superior to the one that had fought atDuquesne. The French were many times more numerous here than there, and, although he had spoken brave words, his heart sank. Like the old Mohawkchief, he knew the army should not have been divided. 

The region was majestic and beautiful. Not far away lay the lake, Andiatarocte, glittering in the sun. Around them stretched the primevalforest, in which the green was touched with the brown of late summer. Above them towered the mountains. The wilderness, picturesque and grand, gave forth no sound, save that of their own marching. The regiments ofWilliams and Whiting followed the Mohawks, and the New England and NewYork men were confident. 

Robert heard behind him the deep hum and murmur that an advancing armymakes, the sound of men talking that no commands could suppress, theheavy tread of the regiments and the clank of metal. That wild regionhad seen many a battle, but never before had it been invaded by armiesso great as those of Dieskau and Johnson, which were about to meet indeadly combat. 

His apprehensions grew. The absence of sounds save those made bythemselves, the lack of hostile presence, not even a single warrior orFrenchman being visible, filled him with foreboding. It was just thisway, when he marched with Braddock, only the empty forest, and no signof deadly danger. 

"Tayoga! Tayoga!" he whispered anxiously. "I don't like it. "

"Nor do I, Dagaeoga. "

"Think you we are likely to march into an ambush again?"

"Tododaho on his star is silent. He whispers nothing to me, yet Ibelieve the trap is set, just ahead, and we march straight into it. "

"And it's to be another Duquesne?"

"I did not say so, Dagaeoga. The trap will shut upon us, but we mayburst it. Behold the Mohawks, the valiant Ganeagaono! Behold all thebrave white men who are used to the forest and its ways! It is a strongtrap that can hold them, one stronger, I think, than any the sons ofOnontio and their savage allies can build. "

Robert's heart leaped up at the brave words of Tayoga. 

"I think so, too, " he said. "It may be an ambush, but if so we willbreak from it. Old Hendrik tried to stop 'em, to keep all our forcetogether, but since he couldn't do it, he's riding at the very head ofthis column, a shining target for hidden rifles. "

"Hendrik is a great sachem, and as he is now old and grown feeble of thebody, though not of the mind, this may well be his last and mostglorious day. "

"I hope he won't fall. "

"Perhaps he may wish it thus. There could be no more fitting death for agreat sachem. "

They ceased talking, but both continued to watch the forest on eitherside with trained eyes. There was no wind, though now and then Robertthought he saw a bough or a bush move, indicating the presence of ahidden foe. But he invariably knew the next instant that it was merelythe product of an uncommonly vivid imagination, always kindling into aburning fire in moments of extreme danger. No, there was nothing in thewoods, at least, nothing that he could see. 

Ahead of him the band of Mohawks, old Hendrik on horseback at theirhead, marched steadily on, warily watching the woods and thickets fortheir enemies. They, at least, were in thorough keeping with thewildness of the scene, with their painted bodies, their fierce eyes andtheir glittering tomahawks. But around Robert and Tayoga were the youngPhiladelphians, trained, alert men now, and following them was thestream of New York and New England troops, strong, vigorous and alivewith enthusiasm. 

The wilderness grew wilder and more dense, the Mohawks entering a greatgorge, forested heavily, down the center of which flowed a brook ofblack water. Thickets spread everywhere, and there were extensiveoutcroppings of rock. At one point rose precipices, with the stonyslopes of French Mountain towering beyond. At another point rose WestMountain, though it was not so high, but at all points nature was wildand menacing. 

The air seemed to Robert to grow darker, though he was not sure whetherit was due to his imagination or to the closing in of the forests andmountains. At the same time a chill ran through his blood, a chill ofalarm, and he knew instinctively that it was with good cause. 

"Look at the great sachem!" suddenly exclaimed Tayoga. 

Hendrik, loyal friend of the Americans and English, had reined in hishorse, and his old eyes were peering into the thicket on his left, themass of Mohawks behind him also stopping, because they knew theirvenerable leader would give no alarm in vain. Tayoga, Robert, Grosvenorand the Philadelphians stopped also, their eyes riveted on Hendrik. Robert's heart beat hard, and millions of motes danced in the air beforehis eyes. 

The sachem suddenly threw up one hand in warning, and with the otherpulled back his horse. The next instant a single rifle cracked in thethicket, but in a few seconds it was followed by the crashing fire ofhundreds. Many of the Mohawks fell, a terrible lane was cut through theranks of the Colonials, and the bullets whistled about the heads of thePhiladelphia troop. 

"The ambush!" cried Robert. 

"The ambush!" echoed the Philadelphians. 

Tayoga uttered a groan. His eyes had seen a sight they did not wish tosee, however much he may have spoken of a glorious death for the old onthe battlefield. Hendrik's horse had fallen beneath the leader, but theold chief leaped to his feet. Before he could turn a French soldierrushed up and killed him with a bayonet. Thus died a great and wisesachem, a devoted friend of the Americans, who had warned them in vainagainst marching into a trap, but who, nevertheless, in the very momentof his death, had saved them from going so completely into the trap thatits last bar could close down. 

A mighty wail arose from the Mohawks when they saw their veneratedleader fall, but the wail merged into a fierce cry for vengeance, towhich the ambushed French and Indians replied with shouts of exultationand increased their fire, every tree and bush and rock and log hiding amarksman. 

"Give back!" shouted Tayoga to those around him. "Give back for yourlives!"

The Mohawks and the frontiersmen alike saw they must slip from the trap, which they had half entered, if they were not to perish as Braddock'sarmy had perished, and like good foresters they fell back withouthesitation, pouring volley after volley into the woods and thicketswhere French and Indians still lay hidden. Yet the mortality among themwas terrible. Colonel Williams noted a rising ground on their right, andled his men up the slope, but as they reached the summit he fell dead, shot through the brain. A new and terrible fire was poured upon histroops there from the bordering forest, and, unable to withstand it, they broke and began to retreat in confusion. 

The young Philadelphians, with Robert, Tayoga and Grosvenor, rushed totheir aid, and they were followed swiftly by the other regiment underWhiting. Yet it seemed that they would be cut to pieces when Robertsuddenly heard a tremendous war cry from a voice he thought he knew, andlooking back, he saw Daganoweda, the Mohawk, rushing into the battle. 

The young chieftain looked a very god of war, his eyes glittering, thefeathers in his headdress waving defiantly, the blade of his tomahawkflashing with light, when he swung it aloft. Now and then his lipsopened as he let loose the tremendous war cry of the Ganeagaono. Closebehind him crowded the warriors who had survived the combat with St. Luc, and there were Black Rifle, Willet, Rogers and the rangers, too, come just in time, with their stout hearts and strong arms to help staythe battle. 

Robert himself uttered a shout of joy and the dark eyes of Tayogaglowed. But from the Mohawks of Hendrik came a mighty, thrilling crywhen they saw the rush of their brethren under Daganoweda to their aid. Hendrik had fallen, and he had been a great and a wise sachem who wouldbe missed long by his nation, but Daganoweda was left, a young chief, avery thunderbolt in battle, and the fire from his own ardent spirit wascommunicated to theirs. Willet, Black Rifle and the rangers were alsopillars of strength, and the whole force, rallying, turned to meet thefoe. 

The French and Indians, sure now of a huge triumph, were rushing fromtheir coverts to complete it, to drive the fugitives in panic andturmoil upon the main camp, where Johnson had remained for the present, and then to annihilate him and his force too. Above the almostcontinuous and appalling yells of the savages the French trumpets sangthe song of victory, and the German baron who led them felt that healready clutched laurels as great as those belonging to the men who haddefeated Braddock. 

But the triumphant sweep of the Northern allies was suddenly met by adeadly fire from Mohawks, rangers and Colonials. Daganoweda and his men, tomahawk in hand, leaped upon the van of the French Indians and drovethem back. The rangers and the frontiersmen, sheltering themselvesbehind logs and tree trunks, picked off the French regulars and theCanadians as they advanced. A bullet from the deadly barrel of BlackRifle slew Legardeur de St. Pierre, who led Dieskau's Indians, and whomthey always trusted. The savage mass, wholly triumphant a minute ago, gave back, and the panic among the Mohawks and Colonials was stopped. 

When St. Pierre fell Robert saw a gallant figure appear in his place, afigure taller and younger, none other than St. Luc himself, theChevalier, arriving in time to help his own, just as Daganoweda, Willetand the others had come in time to aid theirs. The Chevalier was unhurt, and while one dauntless leader had fallen, another as brave and perhapsmore skillful had taken his place. Robert saw him raise a whistle to hislips, and at its clear, piercing call, heard clearly above the crash ofthe battle, the Indians, turning, attacked anew and with yet greaterimpetuosity. 

The smoke from so much firing was growing very thick, but through it theregulars of the regiments, Languedoc and La Reine, in their whiteuniforms, could be seen advancing, with the dark mass of the Canadianson one flank and the naked and painted Indians on the other, confidentnow that their check had been but momentary, and that the victory wouldyet be utter and complete. 

Nevertheless, the Colonials and the Mohawks had rallied, order wasrestored, and while they were giving ground they were retreating in goodformation, and with the rapid fire of their rifles were making the foepay dearly for his advance. 

Grosvenor had snatched up a rifle and ammunition from a fallen man, andwas pulling trigger as fast as he could reload. His face was coveredwith smoke, perspiration and the stains of burned gunpowder, the wholeforming a kind of brown mask, through which his eyes, nevertheless, gleamed with a dauntless light. 

"It won't be Duquesne over again! It won't be! It won't be!" he repeatedto all the world. 

"But if you're not more careful you'll never know anything about it!"exclaimed Robert, as he grasped him suddenly by the coat and pulled himdown behind a log, a half dozen musket balls whistling the next momentwhere his body had been. Grosvenor, in the moment of turmoil andexcitement, did not forget to be grateful. 

"Thanks, my dear fellow, " he said to Robert. "I'll do as much for yousome time. "

Robert was about to reply, but a joyous shout from the rear stopped him. Over a hill behind them a strong body of provincials appeared coming tohelp. Waraiyageh in his camp had received news of ambush and battle, andknowing that his men must be in desperate case had hurried forwardrelief. Never was a force more welcome. Along the retreating line ran awelcoming shout, and all facing about as if by a single order, they gavethe pursuing French and Indians a tremendous volley. 

Robert saw regulars, Canadians and Indians drop as if smitten by athunderbolt, and the whole pursuing army, reeling back, stopped. Then heheard the French trumpets again, and waiting behind the log, he saw thatthe hostile array was no longer advancing. The trumpets of Dieskau weresounding the recall, for the time, at least. Robert did not know untilafterward that the Indian allies of the French had suffered so much thatthey were wavering, and not even the eloquence and example of St. Luccould persuade them, for the time being, to continue such a dangerouspursuit. 

A few minutes of precious rest were allowed to the harried vanguard ofJohnson, and now, holding their fire for a time when it would be neededmore, the men continued to fall back toward the main camp, from whichthey had so recently come. The crash of rifles and muskets sank, butboth sides were merely preparing for a new battle. Robert examinedhimself carefully, but found no trace of a wound. 

"How is it with you, Tayoga?" he asked. 

"Tododaho and Areskoui have protected me once more, " replied theOnondaga. "The exertion has made my shoulder stiff and sore a little, but I have taken no fresh hurt. "

"And you, Grosvenor?"

"My head is thumping at a terrible rate, but I feel that it will soonbecome quieter. "

"Its ability to thump shows that you're full of life. How about yourmen, Captain Colden?"

"Four of my brave lads are sped. God rest their souls! They died in agood cause. Some of the others are wounded, but we won't count woundsnow. "

Robert was still able to see the indistinct figures of the French andIndians, through the clouds of smoke that hung between the two armies, but he saw also that they were not pursuing. At the distance he heard nosounds from them, and he presumed they were gathering up their dead andwounded, preparing for the new attack that would surely come. 

"I was not in the first battle, but I will be in the second, " a youthfulvoice said beside him, and he saw the Mohawk boy, Joseph Brant, his faceglowing. 

"We heard the firing, " continued the boy, "and Colonel Johnson hurriedforward a force, as you know. We are almost back at the camp now. "

Robert had taken no notice of distance, but facing about, he saw themain camp not far away. Lucky it was for them that Waraiyageh and hisofficers were men of experience. They had sent enough men to help thevanguard break from the trap, but they had retained the majority, andhad made them fortify with prodigious energy. A barricade of wagons, inverted boats, and trees hastily cut down had been built across thefront. Three cannon were planted in the center, where it was expectedthe main Indian and French force would appear, and another was draggedto the crest of a hill to rake their flank. 

The retreating force uttered a tremendous shout as they saw how theircomrades had prepared for them, and then, in good order, sought theshelter of the barricade, where they were welcomed by those who had notyet been in battle. 

"Get fresh breath while you may!" exclaimed Tayoga, as he threw himselfdown on the ground. "The delay will not be long. Sharp Sword will drivethe warriors forward, and the regulars and Canadians will charge. Itwill be a great battle, and a desperate one, nor does Tododaho yetwhisper to me which side will win. "

Robert and his comrades breathed heavily for a while, until they feltnew strength pouring back into their veins. Then they rose, looked totheir arms and took their place in the line of battle. The trumpets ofDieskau were sounding again in the forest in front of them, and the newattack was at hand. 

"Keep close, Grosvenor, " said Robert. "They'll fire the first volley andwe'll let it pass over our heads. "

"I know the wisdom of what you say, " replied the Englishman, "but it'shard to refrain from looking when you know a French army and a mass ofhowling savages are about to rush down upon you. "

"But one must, if he intends to live and fight. "

Clear and full sang the trumpets of Dieskau once more. Despite hisadvice to Grosvenor, Robert peeped over the log and saw the enemygathering in the forest. The French regulars were in front, behind themthe Canadians, and on the flanks hovered great masses of savages. Smokefloated over trees and bushes, and the forest was full of acrid odors. Far to the right he caught another glimpse of St. Luc in his splendidwhite and silver uniform, marshaling the Indians, a shining mark, butapparently untouched. 

"The attack will be fierce, " whispered Tayoga, who lay on his left. "They consider their check a matter of but a moment, and they think tosweep over us. "

"But we have hundreds and hundreds of good rifles that say them nay. IsTododaho still silent, Tayoga?"

The Onondaga looked up at the heavens, where the deep blue, beyond thesmoke, was unstained. There was the corner, where the star, on which hispatron saint lived, came out at night, but no light shone from thesilky void and no whisper reached his ear. So he said in reply:

"The great Onondaga chieftain who went away four hundred years ago issilent today, and we must await the event. "

"We won't have to wait long, because I hear a single trumpet now, and tome it sounds wonderfully like the call to charge. "

The silver note thrilled through the woods, the French regulars andCanadians uttered a shout, which was followed instantly by the terribleyell of the Indians, and then the thickets crashed beneath the tread ofthe attacking army. 

"Here they come!" shouted Grosvenor, and, laying his rifle across thelog, he fired almost at random into the charging mass. Robert and Tayogapicked their targets, and their bullets sped true. All along theAmerican line ran the fierce fire, the crest of the whole barricadeblazing with red, while the artillery, which the savages always dreaded, opened on them with showers of grape. 

The Indians, despite all the bravery and example of St. Luc, wavered, and, as their dead fell around them, they began to give forth laments, instead of triumphant yells. But the regulars in the center, led byDieskau, came on as steadily as ever, and the little group behind thelog, of which Tayoga and Robert were the leading spirits, turned theirrifles upon them. Robert presently heard a youthful shout of exultationat the far end of the log, and he saw the boy, Joseph Brant, reloadingthe rifle which he had fired in his first battle. The French regularssuddenly stopped, and Grosvenor cried:

"It will be no Duquesne! No Duquesne again!"

The French were not withdrawing. Upon that field, as well as every otherin North America, they showed that they were the bravest of the brave. Wheeling his regulars and Canadians to the right, Dieskau sought tocrush there the three American regiments of Titcomb, Ruggles andWilliams, and for an hour the battle at that point swayed to and fro, often almost hand to hand. Titcomb was slain and many of his officersfell, but when Dieskau himself came into view an American rifleman shothim through the leg. His adjutant, a gallant young officer namedMontreuil, although wounded himself, rushed from cover, seized hiswounded chief in his arms and bore him to the shelter of a tree. 

But he was not safe long even there. While they were washing his woundshe was struck again by two bullets, in the knee and in the thigh. TwoCanadians attempted to carry him to the rear. One was killed instantly, and Montreuil took his place, but Dieskau made them put him down anddirected the adjutant to lead the French again in a desperate charge toregain a day that had started so brilliantly, and that now seemed to bewavering in the balance. 

Colonel Johnson himself had been wounded severely, and had beencompelled to retire to his tent, but the American colonels, at leastthose who survived, conducted the battle with skill and valor. Thecannon, protected by the riflemen, still sent showers of grape shotamong the French and Indians. The huge Tandakora with St. Luc tried tolead the savages anew upon the American lines, but the hearts of the redmen failed them. 

The French regulars, urged on by Montreuil, charged once more, and oncemore were driven back, and the Americans, rising from their logs andcoverts, rushed forward in their turn. The regulars and Canadians weredriven back in a rout, and Dieskau himself lying among the bushes wastaken, being carried to the tent of Johnson, where the two woundedcommanders, captor and captive, talked politely of many things. 

The victory became more complete than the Americans had hoped. TheIndians who had stayed far in the rear to scalp those fallen in themorning were attacked suddenly by a band of frontiersmen, coming to joinJohnson's army, and, although they fought desperately and were superiorin numbers, they were routed as Dieskau had been, the survivors fleeinginto the forest. 

Thus, late in the afternoon, closed the momentous battle of Lake George. The French and Indian power had received a terrible blow, the wholecourse of the war, which before had been only a triumphant march for theenemy, was changed, and men took heart anew as the news spread throughall the British colonies. 

When Dieskau's regulars, the Canadians and the Indians, broke in thegreat defeat, Robert, Tayoga, Willet, Grosvenor, the Philadelphia troop, Black Rifle and Daganoweda, all fierce with exultation, followed inpursuit. But the enemy melted away before them, and then, from thecrest of a hill, Robert heard the distant note of a French song he knew:

 Hier, sur le pont d'Avignon J'ai oui chanter la belle Lon, la, J'ai oui chanter la belle, Elle chantait d'un ton si doux Comme une demoiselle Lon, la, Comme une demoiselle. 

"At least he has escaped, " said Robert. 

"The bullet that kills him is not molded and never will be, " saidTayoga. 

"How do you know?" asked Willet, startled. 

"Because Tododaho has whispered it to me. I heard his voice in thebreath of the wind as we pursued through the forest. "

Robert caught a glimpse of St. Luc, in his uniform of white and silver, still apparently unstained, erect and defiant. Then he disappeared andthey heard only the singing of the wind among the leaves.