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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/14890-8.txt b/14890-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e5cbf6 --- /dev/null +++ b/14890-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10762 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Hunters of the Hills, by Joseph Altsheler + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Hunters of the Hills + +Author: Joseph Altsheler + +Release Date: February 3, 2005 [eBook #14890] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUNTERS OF THE HILLS*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Graeme Mackreth, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE HUNTERS OF THE HILLS + +A Story of the Great French and Indian War + +by + +JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + +Author of _The Tree Of Appomattox_, _The Keepers Of The Trail_, _The +Forest Of Swords_, etc. + +Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. +New York + +1916 + + + + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Hunters of the Hills" is the first volume of a series dealing with +the great struggle of France and England and their colonies for dominion +in North America, culminating with the fall of Quebec. It is also +concerned to a large extent with the Iroquois, the mighty league known +in their own language as the Hodenosaunee, for the favor of which both +French and English were high bidders. In his treatment of the theme the +author has consulted many authorities, and he is not conscious of any +historical error. + + + + +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 + WILLIAM WILTON 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 + + I. THE THREE FRIENDS + + II. ST. LUC + + III. THE TOMAHAWK + + IV. THE INTELLIGENT CANOE + + V. THE MOHAWK CHIEF + + VI. THE TWO FRENCHMEN + + VII. NEW FRANCE + + VIII. GUESTS OF THE ENEMY + + IX. AT THE INN + + X. THE MEETING + + XI. BIGOT'S BALL + + XII. THE HUNTER AND THE BRAVO + + XIII. THE BOWMEN + + XIV. ON CHAMPLAIN + + XV. THE VALE OF ONONDAGA + + XVI. THE GREAT TEST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE THREE FRIENDS + + +A canoe containing two boys and a man was moving slowly on one of the +little lakes in the great northern wilderness of what is now the State +of New York. The water, a brilliant blue under skies of the same intense +sapphire tint, rippled away gently on either side of the prow, or rose +in heaps of glittering bubbles, as the paddles were lifted for a new +stroke. + +Vast masses of dense foliage in the tender green of early spring crowned +the high banks of the lake on every side. The eye found no break +anywhere. Only the pink or delicate red of a wild flower just bursting +into bloom varied the solid expanse of emerald walls; and save for the +canoe and a bird of prey, darting in a streak of silver for a fish, the +surface of the water was lone and silent. + +The three who used the paddles were individual and unlike, none of them +bearing any resemblance to the other two. The man sat in the stern. He +was of middle years, built very powerfully and with muscles and sinews +developed to an amazing degree. His face, in childhood quite fair, had +been burned almost as brown as that of an Indian by long exposure. He +was clothed wholly in tanned deerskin adorned with many little colored +beads. A hatchet and knife were in the broad belt at his waist, and a +long rifle lay at his feet. + +His face was fine and open and he would have been noticed anywhere. But +the eyes of the curious would surely have rested first upon the two +youths with him. + +One was back of the canoe's center on the right side and the other was +forward on the left. The weight of the three occupants was balanced so +nicely that their delicate craft floated on a perfectly even keel. The +lad near the prow was an Indian of a nobler type than is often seen in +these later days, when he has been deprived of the native surroundings +that fit him like the setting of a gem. + +The Indian, although several years short of full manhood, was tall, with +limbs slender as was usual in his kind; but his shoulders were broad and +his chest wide and deep. His color was a light copper, the tint verging +toward red, and his face was illumined wonderfully by black eyes that +often flashed with a lofty look of courage and pride. + +The young warrior, Tayoga, a coming chief of the clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the League of the Hodenosaunee, known to white +men as the Iroquois, was in all the wild splendor of full forest +attire. His headdress, _gustoweh_, was the product of long and careful +labor. It was a splint arch, curving over the head, and crossed by +another arch from side to side, the whole inclosed by a cap of fine +network, fastened with a silver band. From the crest, like the plume of +a Roman knight, a cluster of pure white feathers hung, and on the side +of it a white feather of uncommon size projected upward and backward, +the end of the feather set in a little tube which revolved with the +wind, the whole imparting a further air of distinction to his strong and +haughty countenance. + +The upper part of his body was clothed in the garment called by the +Hodenosaunee _gakaah_, a long tunic of deerskin tanned beautifully, +descending to the knees, belted at the waist, and decorated elaborately +with the quills of the porcupine, stained red, yellow and blue and +varied with the natural white. + +His leggings, called in his own language _giseha_, were fastened by +bands above the knees, and met his moccasins. They too were of deerskin +tanned with the same skill, and along the seams and around the bottom, +were adorned with the quills of the porcupine and rows of small, colored +beads. The moccasins, _ahtaquaoweh_, of deerskin, were also decorated +with quills and beads, but the broad belt, _gagehta_, holding in his +tunic at the waist, was of rich blue velvet, heavy with bead work. The +knife at his belt had a silver hilt, and the rifle in the bottom of the +canoe was silver-mounted. Nowhere in the world could one have found a +young forest warrior more splendid in figure, manner and dress. + +The white youth was the equal in age and height of his red comrade, but +was built a little more heavily. His face, tanned red instead of brown, +was of the blonde type and bore an aspect of refinement unusual in the +woods. The blue eyes were thoughtful and the chin, curving rather +delicately, indicated gentleness and a sense of humor, allied with +firmness of purpose and great courage. His dress was similar in fashion +to that of the older man, but was finer in quality. He was armed like +the others. + +"I suppose we're the only people on the lake," said the hunter and +scout, David Willet, "and I'm glad of it, lads. It's not a time, just +when the spring has come and the woods are so fine, to be shot at by +Huron warriors and their like down from Canada." + +"I don't want 'em to send their bullets at me in the spring or any other +time," said the white lad, Robert Lennox. "Hurons are not good marksmen, +but if they kept on firing they'd be likely to hit at last. I don't +think, though, that we'll find any of 'em here. What do you say, +Tayoga?" + +The Indian youth flashed a swift look along the green wall of forest, +and replied in pure Onondaga, which both Lennox and Willet understood: + +"I think they do not come. Nothing stirs in the woods on the high banks. +Yet Onontio (the Governor General of Canada) would send the Hurons and +the other nations allied with the French against the people of Corlear +(the Governor of the Province of New York). But they fear the +Hodenosaunee." + +"Well they may!" said Willet. "The Iroquois have stopped many a foray +of the French. More than one little settlement has thriven in the shade +of the Long House." + +The young warrior smiled and lifted his head a little. Nobody had more +pride of birth and race than an Onondaga or a Mohawk. The home of the +Hodenosaunee was in New York, but their hunting grounds and real domain, +over which they were lords, extended from the Hudson to the Ohio and +from the St. Lawrence to the Cumberland and the Tennessee, where the +land of the Cherokees began. No truer kings of the forest ever lived, +and for generations their warlike spirit fed upon the fact. + +"It is true," said Tayoga gravely, "but a shadow gathers in the north. +The children of Corlear wish to plow the land and raise corn, but the +sons of Onontio go into the forest and become hunters and warriors with +the Hurons. It is easy for the man in the woods to shoot down the man in +the field." + +"You put it well, Tayoga," exclaimed Willet. "That's the kernel in the +nut. The English settle upon the land, but the French take to the wild +life and would rather be rovers. When it comes to fighting it puts our +people at a great disadvantage. I know that some sort of a wicked broth +is brewing at Quebec, but none of us can tell just when it will boil +over." + +"Have you ever been to Quebec, Dave?" asked Robert. + +"Twice. It's a fortress on a rock high above the St. Lawrence, and it's +the seat of the French power in North America. We English in this +country rule our selves mostly, but the French in Canada don't have +much to say. It's the officials sent out from France who govern as they +please." + +"And you believe they'll attack us, Dave?" + +"When they're ready, yes, but they intend to choose time and place. I +think they've been sending war belts to the tribes in the north, but I +can't prove it." + +"The French in France are a brave and gallant race, Dave, and they are +brave and gallant here too, but I think they're often more cruel than we +are." + +It was in David Willet's mind to say it was because the French had +adapted themselves more readily than the English to the ways of the +Indian, but consideration for the feelings of Tayoga restrained him. The +wilderness ranger had an innate delicacy and to him Tayoga was always a +nobleman of the forest. + +"You've often told me, Dave," said Lennox, "that I've French blood in +me." + +"There's evidence pointing that way," said Willet, "and when I was in +Quebec I saw some of the men from Northern France. I suppose we mostly +think of the French as short and dark, but these were tall and fair. +Some of them had blue eyes and yellow hair, and they made me think a +little of you, Robert." + +Young Lennox sighed and became very thoughtful. The mystery of his +lineage puzzled and saddened him at times. It was a loss never to have +known a father or a mother, and for his kindest and best friends to be +of a blood not his own. The moments of depression, however, were brief, +as he had that greatest of all gifts from the gods, a cheerful and +hopeful temperament. + +The three began to paddle with renewed vigor. Gasna Gaowo, the canoe in +which they sat, was a noble example of Onondaga art. It was about +sixteen feet in length and was made of the bark of the red elm, the rim, +however, being of white ash, stitched thoroughly to the bark. The ribs +also were of white ash, strong and flexible, and fastened at each end +under the rim. The prow, where the ends of the bark came together, was +quite sharp, and the canoe, while very light and apparently frail, was +exceedingly strong, able to carry a weight of more than a thousand +pounds. The Indians surpassed all other people in an art so useful in a +land of many lakes and rivers and they lavished willing labor upon their +canoes, often decorating them with great beauty and taste. + +"We're now within the land of the Mohawks, are we not, Tayoga?" asked +Lennox. + +"Ganeagaono, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, rule here," replied the +young warrior, "but the Hurons dispute their claim." + +"I've heard that the Mohawks and the Hurons, who now fight one another, +were once of the same blood." + +"It is so. The old men have had it from those who were old men when they +were boys. The Mohawks in a far, far time were a clan of the Wanedote, +called in your language the Hurons, and lived where the French have +built their capital of Quebec. Thence their power spread, and becoming a +great nation themselves they separated from the Wanedote. But many +enemies attacked them and they moved to the south, where they joined the +Onondagas and Oneidas, and in time the League of the Hodenosaunee grew +up. That, though, was far, far back, eight or ten of what the white men +call generations." + +"But it's interesting, tremendously so," said Robert, reflectively. "I +find that the red races and the white don't differ much. The flux and +movement have been going on always among them just as it has among us. +Races disappear, and new ones appear." + +"It is so, Lennox," said Tayoga gravely, "but the League of the +Hodenosaunee is the chosen of Manitou. We, the Onundagaono, in your +language Onondagas, Keepers of the Council, the Brand and the Wampum, +know it. The power of the Long House cannot be broken. Onundagaono, +Ganeogaono, Nundawaono (Senecas), Gweugwehono (Cayugas), Onayotekaono +(Oneidas) and the new nation that we made our brethren, Dusgaowehono +(Tuscaroras), will defend it forever." + +Robert glanced at him. Tayoga's nostrils expanded as he spoke, the chin +was thrown up again and his eyes flashed with a look of immeasurable +pride. White youth understood red youth. The forest could be as truly a +kingdom as cities and fields, and within the limits of his horizon +Tayoga, a coming chief of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, +of the League of the Hodenosaunee, was as thoroughly of royal blood as +any sovereign on his throne. He and his father and his father's father +before him and others before them had heard the old men and the women +chant the prowess and invincibility of the Hodenosaunee, and of that +great league, the Onondagas, the Keepers of the Wampum, the Brand and +the Council Fire, were in Tayoga's belief first, its heart and soul. + +Robert had pride of race himself--it was a time when an ancient stock +was thought to count for much--and he was sure that the blood in his +veins was noble, but, white though he was, he did not feel any +superiority to Tayoga. Instead he paid him respect where respect was due +because, born to a great place in a great race, he was equal to it. He +understood, too, why the Hodenosaunee seemed immutable and eternal to +its people, as ancient Rome had once seemed unshakable and everlasting +to the Romans, and, understanding, he kept his peace. + +The lake, slender and long, now narrowed to a width of forty or fifty +yards and curved sharply toward the east. They slowed down with habitual +caution, until they could see what lay in front of them. Robert and +Tayoga rested their paddles, and Willet sent the canoe around the curve. +The fresh reach of water was peaceful too, unruffled by the craft of any +enemy, and on either side the same lofty banks of solid green stretched +ahead. Above and beyond the cliffs rose the distant peaks and ridges of +the high mountains. The whole was majestic and magnificent beyond +comparison. Robert and Tayoga, their paddles still idle, breathed it in +and felt that Manitou, who is the same as God, had lavished work upon +this region, making it good to the eye of all men for all time. + +"How far ahead is the cove, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"About a mile," replied the Onondaga. + +"Then we'd better put in there, and look for game. We've got mighty +little venison." + +"It is so," said Tayoga, using his favorite words of assent. Neither he +nor Robert resumed the paddle, leaving the work for the rest of the way +to the hunter, who was fully equal to the task. His powerful arms swept +the broad blade through the water, and the canoe shot forward at a +renewed pace. Long practice and training had made him so skillful at the +task that his breath was not quickened by the exertion. It was a +pleasure to Robert to watch the ease and power with which he did so +much. + +The lake widened as they advanced, and through a change in the color of +the sky the water here seemed silver rather than blue. A flock of wild +ducks swam near the edge and he saw two darting loons, but there was no +other presence. Silence, beauty and majesty were everywhere, and he was +content to go on, without speaking, infused with the spirit of the +wilderness. + +The cove showed after a while, at first a mere slit that only a wary eye +could have seen, and then a narrow opening through which a small creek +flowed into the lake. Willet, with swift and skillful strokes of the +paddle, turned the canoe into the stream and advanced some distance up +it, until he stopped at a point where it broadened into an expanse like +a pool, covered partly with water lilies, and fringed with tall reeds. +Behind the reeds were slanting banks clothed with dense, green foliage. +It was an ideal covert, and there were thousands like it in the +wonderful wilderness of the North Woods. + +"You find this a good place, don't you, Tayoga?" said Willet, with a +certain deference. + +"It suits us well," replied the young Onondaga in his measured tones. +"No man, Indian or white, has been here today. The lilies are +undisturbed. Not a reed has been bent. Ducks that have not yet seen us +are swimming quietly up the creek, and farther on a stag is drinking at +its edge. I can hear him lapping the water." + +"That was wonderful, Tayoga," said Willet with admiration. "I wouldn't +have noticed it, but since you've spoken of it I can hear the stag too. +Now he's gone away. Maybe he's heard us." + +"Like as not," said Robert, "and he'd have been a good prize, but he's +taken the alarm, and he's safe. We'll have to look for something else. +Just there on the right you can see an opening among the leaves, Dave, +and that's our place for landing." + +Willet sent the canoe through the open water between the tall reeds, +then slowed it down with his paddle, and the prow touched the bank +gently. + +The three stepped out and drew the canoe with great care upon the shore, +in order that it might dry. The bank at that point was not steep and the +presence of the deer at the water's edge farther up indicated a slope +yet easier there. + +"Appears to be a likely place for game," said Willet. "While the stag +has scented us and gone, there must be more deer in the woods. Maybe +they're full of 'em, since this is doubtful ground and warriors and +white men too are scarce." + +"But red scouts from the north may be abroad," said Robert, "and it +would be unwise to use our rifles. We don't want a brush with Hurons or +Tionontati." + +"The Tionontati went into the west some years ago," said Tayoga, "and +but few of their warriors are left with their kinsmen, the Hurons." + +"But those few would be too many, should they chance to be near. We must +not use our rifles. Instead we must resort to your bow and arrows, +Tayoga." + +"Perhaps _waano_ (the bow) will serve us," said the young chief, with +his confident smile. + +"That being the case, then," said Willet, "I'll stay here and mind the +canoe, while the pair of you boys go and find the deer. You're younger +than I am, an' I'm willing for you to do the work." + +The white teeth of Tayoga flashed into a deeper smile. + +"Does our friend, the Great Bear, who calls himself Willet, grow old?" +he asked. + +"Not by a long sight, Tayoga," replied Willet with energy. "I'm no +braggart, I hope, but you Iroquois don't call me Great Bear for nothing. +My muscles are as hard as ever, and my wind's as good. I can lift more +and carry more upon my shoulders than any other man in all this +wilderness." + +"I but jested with the Great Bear," said Tayoga, smiling. "Did I not see +last winter how quick he could be when I was about to be cut to pieces +under the sharp hoofs of the wounded and enraged moose, and he darted in +and slew the animal with his long knife?" + +"Don't speak of it, Tayoga. That was just a little matter between +friends. You'd do as much for me if the chance came." + +"But you've done it already, Great Bear." + +Willet said something more in deprecation, and picking up the canoe, put +it in a better place. Its weight was nothing to him, and Robert noticed +with admiration the play of the great arms and shoulders. Seen now upon +the land and standing at his full height Willet was a giant, +proportioned perfectly, a titanic figure fitted by nature to cope with +the hardships and dangers of the wilderness. + +"I'm thinking stronger than ever that this is good deer country," he +said. "It has all the looks of it, since they can find here the food +they like, and it hasn't been ranged over for a long time by white man +or red. Tayoga, you and Robert oughtn't to be long in finding the game +we want." + +"I think like the Great Bear that we'll not have to look far for deer," +said the Onondaga, "and I leave my rifle with you while I take my bow +and arrows." + +"I'll keep your rifle for you, Tayoga, and if I didn't have anything +else to do I'd go along with you two lads and see you use the bow. I +know that you're a regular king with it." + +Tayoga said nothing, although he was secretly pleased with the +compliment, and took from the canoe a long slender package, wrapped +carefully in white, tanned deerskin, which he unrolled, disclosing the +bow, _waano_. + +The young Onondaga's bow, like everything he wore or used, was of the +finest make, four feet in length, and of such powerful wood that only +one of great strength and equal skill could bend it. He brought it to +the proper curve with a sudden, swift effort, and strung it. There he +tested the string with a quick sweeping motion of his hand, making it +give back a sound like that of a violin, and seemed satisfied. + +He also took from the canoe the quiver, _gadasha_, which was made of +carefully dressed deerskin, elaborately decorated with the stained +quills of the porcupine. It was two feet in length and contained +twenty-five arrows, _gano_. + +The arrows were three feet long, pointed with deer's horn, each carrying +two feathers twisted about the shaft. They, like the bow and quiver, +were fine specimens of workmanship and would have compared favorably +with those used by the great English archers of the Middle Ages. + +Tayoga examined the sharp tips of the arrows, and, poising the quiver +over his left shoulder, fastened it on his back, securing the lower end +at his waist with the sinews of the deer, and the upper with the same +kind of cord, which he carried around the neck and then under his left +arm. The ends of the arrows were thus convenient to his right hand, and +with one sweeping circular motion he could draw them from the quiver and +fit them to the bowstring. + +The Iroquois had long since learned the use of the rifle and musket, but +on occasion they still relied upon the bow, with which they had won +their kingdom, the finest expanse of mountain and forest, lake and +river, ever ruled over by man. Tayoga, as he strung his bow and hung +his quiver, felt a great emotion, the spirit of his ancestors he would +have called it, descending upon him. _Waano_ and he fitted together and +for the time he cherished it more than his rifle, the weapon that the +white man had brought from another world. The feel of the wood in his +hand made him see visions of a vast green wilderness in which the Indian +alone roamed and knew no equal. + +"What are you dreaming about, Tayoga?" asked Robert, who also dreamed +dreams. + +The Onondaga shook himself and laughed a little. + +"Of nothing," he replied. "No, that was wrong. I was dreaming of the +deer that we'll soon find. Come, Lennox, we'll go seek him." + +"And while you're finding him," said Willet, "I'll be building the fire +on which we'll cook the best parts of him." + +Tayoga and Robert went together into the forest, the white youth taking +with him his rifle, which, however, he did not expect to use. It was +merely a precaution, as the Hurons, Abenakis, Caughnawagas and other +tribes in the north were beginning to stir and mutter under the French +influence. And for that reason, and because they did not wish to alarm +possible game, the two went on silent foot. + +No other human beings were present there, but the forest was filled with +inhabitants, and hundreds of eyes regarded the red youth with the bow, +and the white youth with the rifle, as they passed among the trees. +Rabbits looked at them from small red eyes. A muskrat, at a brook's +edge, gazed a moment and then dived from sight. A chipmunk cocked up +his ears, listened and scuttled away. + +But most of the population of the forest was in the trees. Squirrels +chattering with anger at the invaders, or with curiosity about them, ran +along the boughs, their bushy tails curving over their backs. A huge +wildcat crouched in a fork, swelled with anger, his eyes reddening and +his sharp claws thrusting forth as he looked at the two beings whom he +instinctively hated much and feared more. The leaves swarmed with birds, +robins and wrens and catbirds and all the feathered tribe keeping up an +incessant quivering and trilling, while a distant woodpecker drummed +portentously on the trunk of an old oak. They too saw the passing +youths, but since no hand was raised to hurt them they sang, in their +way, as they worked and played. + +The wilderness spell was strong upon Tayoga, whose ancestors had lived +unknown ages in the forest. The wind from the north as it rustled the +leaves filled his strong lungs and made the great pulses leap. The bow +in his hand fitted into the palm like a knife in its sheath. He heard +the animals and the birds, and the sounds were those to which his +ancestors had listened a thousand years and more. Once again he was +proud of his heritage. He was Tayoga, a coming chief of the Clan of the +Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the League of the Hodenosaunee, and he +would not exchange places with any man of whom he had heard in all the +world. + +The forest was the friend of Tayoga and he knew it. He could name the +trees, the elm and the maple, and the spruce and the cedar and all the +others. He knew the qualities of their wood and bark and the uses for +which every one was best fitted. He noticed particularly the great +maples, so precious to the Iroquois, from which they took sap and made +sugar, and which gave an occasion and name to one of their most sacred +festivals and dances. He also observed the trees from which the best +bows and arrows were made, and the red elms and butternut hickories, the +bark of which served the Iroquois for canoes. + +When Tayoga passed through a forest it was not merely a journey, it was +also an inspection. He had been trained from his baby frame, _gaoseha_, +always to observe everything that met the human eye, and now he not only +examined the trees, but also the brooks and the little ravines and the +swell of the hills and the summits of the mountains that towered high, +many miles away. If ever he came back there he would know the ground and +all its marks. + +His questing eye alighted presently upon the delicate traces of hoofs, +and, calling Robert's attention, the two examined them with the full +care demanded by their purpose. + +"New," said Tayoga; "scarce an hour old." + +"Less than that," said Robert. "The deer can't be far away." + +"He is near, because there has been nothing to make him run. Here go the +traces in almost a half circle. He is feeding and taking his time." + +"It's a good chase to follow. The wind is blowing toward us, and he can +take no alarm, unless he sees or hears us." + +"It would be shame to an Onondaga if a deer heard him coming." + +"You don't stand in any danger of being made ashamed, Tayoga. As you're +to be the hunter, lead and I'll follow." + +The Onondaga slipped through the undergrowth, and Robert, a skillful +young woodsman also, came after with such care and lightness of foot +that neither made a twig or leaf rustle. Tayoga always followed the +traces. The deer had nibbled tender young shoots, but he had not +remained long in one place. The forest was such an abundant garden to +him that, fastidious as an epicure, he required the most delicate food +to please his palate. + +Tayoga stopped suddenly in a few minutes and raised his hand. Robert, +following his gaze, saw a stag about a hundred yards away, a splendid +fellow with head upraised, not in alarm, but to nuzzle some tender young +leaves. + +"I will go to the right," whispered the young warrior, "and will you, my +friend, remain here?" + +Robert nodded, and Tayoga slid silently among the bushes to secure a +nearer and better position for aim. The Indian admired the stag which, +like himself, fitted into the forest. He would not have hunted him for +sport, nor at any other time would he have shot him, but food was needed +and Manitou had sent the deer for that purpose. He was not one to oppose +the will of Manitou. + +The greatest bowman in the Northern wilderness crouched in the thicket, +and reaching his right hand over his left shoulder, withdrew an arrow, +which he promptly fitted to the string. It was a perfect arrow, made by +the young chief himself, and the two feathers were curved in the right +manner to secure the utmost degree of speed and accuracy. He fitted it +to the string and drew the bow far back, almost to the head of the +shaft. Now he was the hunter only and the spirit of hunting ancestors +for many generations was poured into him. His eye followed the line of +coming flight and he chose the exact spot on the sleek body beneath +which the great heart lay. + +The stag, with his head upraised, still pulled at the tender top of a +bush, and the deceitful wind, which blew from him toward Tayoga, brought +no warning. Nor did the squirrel chattering in the tree or the bird +singing on the bough just over his head tell him that the hunter was +near. Tayoga looked again down the arrow at the chosen place on the +gleaming body of the deer, and with a sudden and powerful contraction of +the muscles, bending the bow a little further, loosed the shaft. + +The arrow flew singing through the air as swift and deadly as a steel +dart and was buried in the heart of the stag, which, leaping upward, +fell, writhed convulsively a moment or two, and died. The young Onondaga +regarded his work a moment with satisfaction, and then walked forward, +followed by his white comrade. + +"One arrow was enough, Tayoga," said Robert, "and I knew before you +shot that another would not be needed." + +"The distance was not great," said Tayoga modestly. "I should have been +a poor marksman had I missed." + +He pulled his arrow with a great effort from the body of the deer, wiped +it carefully upon the grass, and returned it to _gadasha_, the quiver. +Arrows required time and labor for the making, but unlike the powder and +bullet in a rifle, they could be used often, and hence at times the bow +had its advantage. + +Then the two worked rapidly and skillfully with their great hunting +knives, skinning and removing all the choicer portions of the deer, and +before they finished they heard the pattering of light feet in the +woods, accompanied now and then by an evil whine. + +"The wolves come early," said Tayoga. + +"And they're over hungry," said Robert, "or they wouldn't let us know so +soon that they're in the thickets." + +"It is told sometimes, among my people, that the soul of a wicked man +has gone into the wolf," said Tayoga, not ceasing in his work, his +shining blade flashing back and forth. "Then the wolf can understand +what we say, although he may not speak himself." + +"And suppose we kill such a wolf, Tayoga, what becomes of the wicked +soul?" + +"It goes at once into the body of another wolf, and passes on from wolf +to wolf, being condemned to live in that foul home forever. Such a +punishment is only for the most vile, and they are few. It is but the +hundredth among the wicked who suffers thus." + +"The other ninety-nine go after death to _Hanegoategeh_, the land of +perpetual darkness, where they suffer in proportion to the crimes they +committed on earth, but _Hawenneyu_, the Divine Being, takes pity on +them and gives them another chance. When they have suffered long enough +in _Hanegoategeh_ to be purified he calls them before him and looks into +their souls. Nothing can be hidden from him. He sees the evil thought, +Lennox, as you or I would see a leaf upon the water, and then he judges. +And he is merciful. He does not condemn and send to everlasting torture, +because evil may yet be left in the soul, but if the good outweighs the +bad the good shall prevail and the suffering soul is sent to +_Hawenneyugeh_, the home of the just, where it suffers no more. But if +the bad still outweighs the good then its chance is lost and it is sent +to _Hanishaonogeh_, the home of the wicked, where it is condemned to +torture forever." + +"A reasonable religion, Tayoga. Your _Hanegoategeh_ is like the +purgatory, in which the Catholic church believes. Your God like ours is +merciful, and the more I learn about your religion the more similar it +seems to ours." + +"I think your God and our Manitou are the same, Lennox, we only see him +through different glasses, but our religion is old, old, very old, +perhaps older than yours." + +Although Tayoga did not raise his voice or change the inflection Robert +knew that he spoke with great pride. The young Onondaga did not believe +his religion resembled the white man's but that the white man's +resembled his. Robert respected him though, and knowing the reasons for +his pride, said nothing in contradiction. + +"The whining wolf is hungry," said Tayoga, "and since the soul of a +warrior may dwell in his body I will feed him." + +He took a discarded piece of the deer and threw it far into the bushes. +A fearful growling, and the noise of struggling ensued at once. + +"The wolf with the wicked soul in him may be there," said Robert, "but +even so he has to fight with the other wolves for the meat you flung." + +"It is a part of his fate," said Tayoga gravely. "Seeing and thinking as +a man, he must yet bite and claw with beasts for his food. Now I think +we have all of the deer we wish." + +As they could not take it with them for tanning, they cut the skin in +half, and each wrapped in his piece a goodly portion of the body to be +carried to the canoe. Both were fastidious, wishing to get no stain upon +their clothing, and, their task completed, they carefully washed their +hands and knives at the edge of a brook. Then as they lifted up their +burdens the whining and growling in the bushes increased rapidly. + +"They see that we are going," said Tayoga. "The wolf even without the +soul of a warrior in it knows much. It is the wisest of all the animals, +unless the fox be its equal. The foolish bear and the mad panther fight +alone, but the wolf, who is too small to face either, bands with his +brothers into a league, even as the Hodenosaunee, and together they +pull down the deer and the moose, and in the lands of the Ohio they dare +to attack and slay the mighty bull buffalo." + +"They know the strength of union, Tayoga, and they know, too, just now +that they're safe from our weapons. I can see their noses poking already +in their eagerness through the bushes. They're so hungry and so +confident that they'll hardly wait until we get away." + +As they passed with their burdens into the bushes on the far side of the +little opening they heard a rush of light feet, and angry snarling. +Looking back, Robert saw that the carcass of the stag was already +covered with hungry wolves, every one fighting for a portion, and he +knew it was the way of the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ST. LUC + + +Willet hailed them joyfully when they returned. + +"I'll wager that only one arrow was shot," he said, smiling. + +"Just one," said Robert. "It struck the stag in the heart and he did not +move ten feet from where he stood." + +"And the Great Bear has the fire ready," said Tayoga. "I breathe the +smoke." + +"I knew you would notice it," said Willet, "although it's only a little +fire yet and I've built it in a hollow." + +Dry sticks were burning in a sunken place surrounded by great trees, and +they increased the fire, veiling the smoke as much as possible. Then +they broiled luscious steaks of the deer and ate abundantly, though +without the appearance of eagerness. Robert had been educated carefully +at Fort Orange, which men were now calling Albany, and Tayoga and the +hunter were equally fastidious. + +"The deer is the friend of both the red man and the white," said Willet, +appreciatively. "In the woods he feeds us and clothes us, and then his +horn tips the arrow with which you kill him, Tayoga." + +"It was so ordered by Manitou," said the young Onondaga, earnestly. +"The deer was given to us that we might live." + +"And that being the case," said Willet, "we'll cook all you and Robert +have brought and take it with us in the canoe. Since we keep on going +north the time will come when we won't have any chance for hunting." + +The fire had now formed a great bed of coals and the task was not hard. +It was all cooked by and by and they stowed it away wrapped in the two +pieces of skin. Then Willet and Tayoga decided to examine the country +together, leaving Robert on guard beside the canoe. + +Robert had no objection to remaining behind. Although circumstances had +made him a lad of action he was also contemplative by nature. Some +people think with effort, in others thoughts flow in a stream, and now +as he sat with his back to a tree, much that he had thought and heard +passed before him like a moving panorama and in this shifting belt of +color Indians, Frenchmen, Colonials and Englishmen appeared. + +He knew that he stood upon the edge of great events. Deeply sensitive to +impressions, he felt that a crisis in North America was at hand. England +and France were not yet at war, and so the British colonies and the +French colonies remained at peace too, but every breeze that blew from +one to the other was heavy with menace. The signs were unmistakable, but +one did not have to see. One breathed it in at every breath. He knew, +too, that intrigue was already going on all about him, and that the +Iroquois were the great pawn in the game. British and French were +already playing for the favor of the powerful Hodenosaunee, and Robert +understood even better than many of those in authority that as the +Hodenosaunee went so might go the war. It was certain that the Indians +of the St. Lawrence and the North would be with the French, but he was +confident that the Indians of the Long House would not swerve from their +ancient alliance with the British colonies. + +Two hours passed and Willet and Tayoga did not return, but he had not +expected them. He knew that when they decided to go on a scout they +would do the work thoroughly, and he waited with patience, sitting +beside the canoe, his rifle on his knees. Before him the creek flowed +with a pleasant, rippling noise and through the trees he caught a +glimpse of the lake, unruffled by any wind. + +The rest was so soothing, and his muscles and nerves relaxed so much +that he felt like closing his eyes and going to sleep, but he was roused +by the sound of a footstep. It was so distant that only an ear trained +to the forest would have heard it, but he knew that it was made by a +human being approaching, and that the man was neither Willet nor Tayoga. + +He put his ear to the earth and heard three men instead of one, and then +he rose, cocking his rifle. In the great wilderness in those surcharged +days a stranger was an enemy until he was proved to be otherwise, and +the lad was alert in every faculty. He saw them presently, three +figures walking in Indian file, and his heart leaped because the leader +was so obviously a Frenchman. + +His uniform was of the battalion Royal Roussillon, white faced with +blue, and his hat was black and three-cornered, but face and manner were +so unmistakably French that Robert did not think of his uniform, which +was neat and trim to a degree not to be expected in the forest. He bore +himself in the carelessly defiant manner peculiar to the French cadets +and younger sons of noble families in North America at the time, an +accentuation of the French at home, and to some extent a survival of the +spirit which Richelieu partially checked. Even in the forest he wore a +slender rapier at his belt, and his hand rested now upon its golden +hilt. + +He was about thirty years old, tall, slender, and with the light hair +and blue eyes seen so often in Northern France, telling, perhaps, of +Norman blood. His glance was apparently light, but Robert felt when it +rested upon him that it was sharp, penetrating and hard to endure. +Nevertheless he met it without lowering his own gaze. The man behind the +leader was swart, short, heavy and of middle years, a Canadian dressed +in deerskin and armed with rifle, hatchet and knife. The third man was +an Indian, one of the most extraordinary figures that Robert had ever +seen. He was of great stature and heavy build, his shoulders and chest +immense and covered with knotted muscles, disclosed to the eye, as he +was bare to the waist. All the upper part of his body was painted in +strange and hideous designs which Robert did not recognize, although he +knew the fashions of all the tribes in the New York and St. Lawrence +regions. His cheek bones were unusually high even for an Indian and his +gaze was heavy, keen and full of challenge. Robert judged that he +belonged to some western tribe, that he was a Pottawatomie, an Ojibway +or a Chippewa or that perhaps he came from the distant Sioux race. + +He was conscious that all three represented strength, each in a +different way, and he felt the gaze of three pairs of eyes resting upon +him in a manner that contained either secret or open hostility. But he +faced them boldly, a gallant and defiant young figure himself, instinct +with courage and an intellectual quality that is superior to courage +itself. The Frenchman who confronted him recognized at once the thinker. + +"I bid you good day," said Robert politely. "I did not expect to meet +travelers in these woods." + +The Frenchman smiled. + +"We are all travelers," he said, "but it is you who are our guest, since +these rivers and mountains and lakes and forests acknowledge the +suzerainty of my royal master, King Louis of France." + +His tone was light and bantering and Robert, seeing the advantage of it, +chose to speak in the same vein. + +"The wilderness itself is king," he said, "and it acknowledges no +master, save perhaps the Hodenosaunee. But I had thought that the law of +England ran here, at least where white men are concerned." + +He saw the eyes of the great savage flash when he mentioned the +Hodenosaunee, and he inferred at once that he was a bitter enemy of the +Iroquois. Some of the tribes had a hereditary hatred toward one another +more ferocious than that which they felt against the whites. + +The Frenchman smiled again, and swept his hand in a graceful curve +toward the green expanse. + +"It is true," he said, "that the forest is yet lord over these lands, +but in the future I think the lilies of France will wave here. You +perhaps have an equal faith that the shadow of the British flag will be +over the wilderness, but it would be most unfitting for you and me to +quarrel about it now. I infer from the canoe and the three paddles that +you did not come here alone." + +"Two friends are with me. They have gone into the forest on a brief +expedition. They should return soon. We have food in abundance, a deer +that we killed a few hours ago. Will you share it?" + +"Gladly. Courtesy, I see, is not lost in the woods. Permit me to +introduce ourselves. The chief is Tandakora of the Ojibways, from the +region about the great western lake that you call Superior. He is a +mighty warrior, and his fame is great, justly earned in many a battle. +My friend in deerskin is Armand Dubois, born a Canadian of good French +stock, and a most valiant and trustworthy man. As for me, I am Raymond +Louis de St. Luc, Chevalier of France and soldier of fortune in the New +World. And now you know the list of us. It's not so long as Homer's +catalogue of the ships, nor so interesting, but it's complete." + +His manner had remained light, almost jesting, and Robert judged that it +was habitual with him like a cloak in winter, and, like the cloak, it +would be laid away when it was not needed. The man's blue eyes, even +when he used the easy manner of the high-bred Frenchman, were questing +and resolute. But the youth still found it easier than he had thought to +meet him in like fashion. Now he replied to frankness with frankness. + +"Ours isn't and shouldn't be a hostile meeting in the forest, Chevalier +de St. Luc," he said. "To you and your good friends I offer my +greetings. As for myself, I am Robert Lennox, with two homes, one in +Albany, and the other in the wilderness, wherever I choose to make it." + +He paused a moment, because he felt the gaze of St. Luc upon him, very +intent and penetrating, but in an instant he resumed: + +"I came here with two friends whom you shall see if you stay with me +long enough. One is David Willet, a hunter and scout, well known from +the Hudson to the Great Lakes, a man to whom I owe much, one who has +stood to me almost in the place of a father. The other I can truly call +a brother. He is Tayoga, a young warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of the League of the Hodenosaunee. My catalogue, sir, +is just the same length as yours, and it also is complete." + +The Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc laughed, and the laugh was +genuine. + +"A youth of spirit, I see," he said. "Well, I am glad. It's a pleasure +to meet with wit and perception in the wilderness. One prefers to talk +with gentlemen. 'Tis said that the English are heavy, but I do not +always find them so. Perhaps it's merely a slur that one nation wishes +to cast upon another." + +"It's scarcely correct to call me English," said Robert, "since I am a +native of this country, and the term American applies more properly." + +The eyes of St. Luc glistened. + +"I note the spirit," he said. "The British colonies left to themselves +grow strong and proud, while ours, drawing their strength from the King +and the government, would resent being called anything but Frenchmen. +Now, I'll wager you a louis against any odds that you'll claim the +American to be as good as the Englishman anywhere and at any time." + +"Certainly!" said Robert, with emphasis. + +St. Luc laughed again and with real pleasure, his blue eyes dancing and +his white teeth flashing. + +"And some day that independence will cause trouble for the good British +mother," he said, "but we'll pass from the future to the present. Sit +down, Tandakora, and you too, Dubois. Monsieur Lennox is, for the +present, our host, and that too in the woods we claim to be our own. But +we are none the less grateful for his hospitality." + +Robert unwrapped the venison and cut off large slices as he surmised +that all three were hungry. St. Luc ate delicately but the other two did +not conceal their pleasure in food. Robert now and then glanced a little +anxiously at the woods, hoping his comrades would return. He did not +know exactly how to deal with the strangers and he would find comfort in +numbers. He was conscious, too, that St. Luc was watching him all the +time intently, reading his expression and looking into his thoughts. + +"How are the good Dutch burghers at Albany?" asked the chevalier. "I +don't seek to penetrate any of your secrets. I merely make +conversation." + +"I reveal nothing," replied Robert, "when I say they still barter with +success and enjoy the pleasant ways of commerce. I am not one to +underrate the merchant. More than the soldier they build up a nation." + +"It's a large spirit that can put the trade of another before one's own, +because I am a soldier, and you, I judge, will become one if you are not +such now. Peace, Tandakora, it is doubtless the friends of Monsieur +Lennox who come!" + +The gigantic Indian had risen suddenly and had thrust forward the good +French musket that he carried. Robert had never beheld a more sinister +figure. The lips were drawn back a little from his long white teeth and +his eyes were those of a hunter who sought to kill for the sake of +killing. But at the chiding words of St. Luc the tense muscles relaxed +and he lowered the weapon. Robert was compelled to notice anew the great +influence the French had acquired over the Indians, and he recognized it +with dread, knowing what it might portend. + +The footsteps which the savage had heard first were now audible to him, +and he stood up, knowing that Tayoga and Willet were returning, and he +was glad of it. + +"My friends are here," he said. + +The Chevalier de St. Luc, with his customary politeness, rose to his +feet and Dubois rose with him. The Ojibway remained sitting, a huge +piece of deer meat in his hand. Tayoga and Willet appeared through the +bushes, and whatever surprise they may have felt they concealed it well. +The faces of both were a blank. + +"Guests have come since your departure," said Robert, with the formal +politeness of the time. "These gentlemen are the Chevalier Raymond Louis +de St. Luc, from Quebec, Monsieur Armand Dubois, from the same place, I +presume, and Tandakora, a mighty Ojibway chief, who, it seems, has +wandered far from his own country, on what errand I know not. Chevalier +my friends of whom I spoke, Mr. David Willet, the great hunter, and +Tayoga of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the League of +the Hodenosaunee, my brother of the forest and a great chief." + +He spoke purposely with sonority, and also with a tinge of satire, +particularly when he alluded to the presence of Tandakora at such a +great distance from his tribe. But St. Luc, of course, though noticing +it, ignored it in manner. He extended his hand promptly to the great +hunter who grasped it in his mighty palm and shook it. + +"I have heard of you, Mr. Willet," he said. "Our brave Canadians are +expert in the forest and the chase, and the good Dubois here is one of +the best, but I know that none of them can excel you." + +Robert, watching him, could not say that he spoke without sincerity, +and Willet took the words as they were uttered. + +"I've had a long time for learning," he said modestly, "and I suppose +experience teaches the dullest of us." + +Robert saw that the Ojibway had now risen and that he and the Onondaga +were regarding each other with a gaze so intent and fierce, so compact +of hatred that he was startled and his great pulses began to beat hard. +But it was only for an instant or two that the two warriors looked thus +into hostile eyes. Then both sat down and their faces became blank and +expressionless. + +The gaze of St. Luc roved to the Onondaga and rested longest upon him. +Robert saw the blue eyes sparkle, and he knew that the mind of the +chevalier was arrested by some important thought. He could almost +surmise what it was, but for the present he preferred to keep silent and +watch, because his curiosity was great and natural, and he wondered what +St. Luc would say next. + +The Onondaga and the hunter sat down on a fallen tree trunk and +inspected the others with a quiet but observant gaze. Each in his own +way had the best of manners. Tayoga, as became a forest chief, was +dignified, saying little, while Willet cut more slices from the deer +meat and offered them to the guests. But it was the Onondaga and not St. +Luc who now spoke first. + +"The son of Onontio wanders far," he said. "It is a march of many days +from here to Quebec." + +"It is, Tayoga," replied St. Luc gravely, "but the dominions of the +King of France, whom Onontio serves, also extend far." + +It was a significant speech, and Robert glanced at Tayoga, but the eyes +of the young chief were veiled. If he resented the French claim to the +lands over which the Hodenosaunee hunted it was in silence. St. Luc +paused, as if for an answer, but none coming he continued: + +"Shadows gather over the great nations beyond the seas. The French king +and the English king begin to look upon each other with hostile eyes." + +Tayoga was silent. + +"But Onontio, who stands in the French king's place at Quebec, is the +friend of the Hodenosaunee. The French and the great Six Nations are +friends." + +"There was Frontenac," said Tayoga quietly. + +"It was long ago." + +"He came among us when the Six Nations were the Five, burned our houses +and slew our warriors! Our old men have told how they heard it from +their fathers. We did not have guns then, and our bows and arrows were +not a match for the muskets of the French. But we have muskets and +rifles now, plenty of them, the best that are made." + +Tayoga's eyes were still veiled, and his face was without expression, +but his words were full of meaning. Robert glanced at St. Luc, who could +not fail to understand. The chevalier was still smooth and smiling. + +"Frontenac was a great man," he said, "but he has been gathered long +since to his fathers. Great men themselves make mistakes. There was bad +blood between Onontio and the Hodenosaunee, but if the blood is bad must +it remain bad forever? The evil was gone before you and I were born, +Tayoga, and now the blood flows pure and clean in the veins of both the +French and the Hodenosaunee." + +"The Hodenosaunee and Corlear have no quarrel." + +"Nor have the Hodenosaunee and Onontio. Behold how the English spread +over the land, cut down the forests and drive away all the game! But the +children of Onontio hunt with the Indians, marry with their women, leave +the forests untouched, and the great hunting grounds swarm with game as +before. While Onontio abides at Quebec the lands of the Hodenosaunee are +safe." + +"There was Frontenac," repeated Tayoga. + +St. Luc frowned at the insistence of the Onondaga upon an old wound, but +the cloud passed swiftly. In an instant the blue eyes were smiling once +more. + +"The memory of Frontenac shall not come between us," he said. "The heart +of Onontio beats for the Hodenosaunee, and he has sent me to say so to +the valiant League. I bring you a belt, a great belt of peace." + +Dubois handed him a large knapsack and he took from it a beautiful belt +of pure white wampum, uncommon in size, a full five feet in length, five +inches wide, and covered with many thousands of beads, woven in symbolic +figures. He held it up and the eyes of the Onondaga glistened. + +"It is a great belt, a belt of peace," continued St. Luc. "There is +none nobler, and Onontio would send no other kind. I give it to you, +Tayoga." + +The young warrior drew back and his hands remained at his sides. + +"I am Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee," he said, "but I am not yet a chief. +My years are too few. It is a great matter of which you speak, St. Luc, +and it must be laid before the fifty sachems of the allied tribes in the +Long House. The belt may be offered to them. I cannot take it." + +The flitting cloud passed again over the face of St. Luc, but he did not +allow any change to show in his manner. He returned the splendid belt to +Dubois, who folded it carefully and put it back in the great knapsack. + +"Doubtless you are right, Tayoga," he said. "I shall go to the Long +House with the belt, but meantime we thank you for the courtesy of +yourself and your friends. You have given us food when we were hungry, +and a Frenchman does not forget." + +"The Onondagas keep the council fire in their valley, and the sachems +will gather there," said Tayoga. + +"Where they will receive the belt of peace that I shall offer them," +said St. Luc. + +The Onondaga was silent. St. Luc, who had centered his attention upon +Tayoga, now turned it to Robert. + +"Mr. Lennox," he said, "we dwell in a world of alarms, and I am French +and you are English, or rather American, but I wish that you and I could +remain friends." + +The frankness and obvious sincerity of his tone surprised Robert. He +knew now that he liked the man. He felt that there was steel in his +composition, and that upon occasion, and in the service to which he +belonged, he could be hard and merciless, but the spirit seemed bright +and gallant. + +"I know nothing that will keep us from being friends," replied the lad, +although he knew well what the Frenchman meant. + +"Nor do I," said St. Luc. "It was merely a casual reference to the +changes that affect us all. I shall come to Albany some day, Mr. Lennox. +It is an interesting town, though perhaps somewhat staid and sober." + +"If you come," said Robert sincerely, "I hope I shall be there, and it +would please me to have you as a guest." + +St. Luc gave him a sharp, examining look. + +"I believe you mean it," he said. "It's possible that you and I are +going to see much of each other. One can never tell what meetings time +will bring about. And now having accepted your hospitality and thanking +you for it, we must go." + +He rose. Dubois, who had not spoken at all, threw over his shoulder the +heavy knapsack, and the Ojibway also stood up, gigantic and sinister. + +"We go to the Vale of Onondaga," said St. Luc, turning his attention +back to Tayoga, "and as you advised I shall lay the peace belt before +the fifty sachems of the Hodenosaunee, assembled in council in the Long +House." + +"Go to the southwest," said Tayoga, "and you will find the great trail +that leads from the Hudson to the mighty lakes of the west. The warriors +of the Hodenosaunee have trod it for generations, and it is open to the +son of Onontio." + +The young Indian's face was a mask, but his words and their tone alike +were polite and dignified. St. Luc bowed, and then bowed to the others +in turn. + +"At Albany some day," he said to young Lennox, and his smile was very +winning. + +"At Albany some day," repeated Robert, and he hoped the prophecy would +come true. + +Then St. Luc turned away, followed by the Canadian, with the Indian in +the rear. None of the three looked back and the last Robert saw of them +was a fugitive gleam of the chevalier's white uniform through the green +leaves of the forest. Then the mighty wilderness swallowed them up, as a +pebble is lost in a lake. Robert looked awhile in the direction in which +they had gone, still seeing them in fancy. + +"How much does their presence here signify?" he asked thoughtfully. + +"They would have the Hodenosaunee to forget Frontenac," replied Tayoga. + +"And will the Six Nations forget him?" + +"The fifty sachems in council alone can tell." + +Robert saw that the young Onondaga would not commit himself, even to +him, and he did not ask anything more, but the hunter spoke plainly. + +"We must wake up those fat Indian commissioners at Albany," he said. +"Those Dutchmen think more of cheating the tribes than they do of the +good of either white man or red man, but I can tell you, Robert, and you +too, Tayoga, that I'm worried about that Frenchman coming down here +among the Six Nations. He's as sharp as a razor, and as quick as +lightning. I could see that, and there's mischief brewing. He's not +going to the Onondaga Valley for nothing." + +"Tandakora, the Ojibway, goes with a heavy foot," said the Onondaga. + +"What do you mean, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"He comes of a savage tribe, which is hostile to the Hodenosaunee and +all white men. He has seen three scalps which still grow on the heads of +their owners." + +"Which means that he might not keep on following St. Luc. Well, we'll be +on our guard and now I don't see any reason why we should stay here +longer." + +"Nor I," said Robert, and, Tayoga agreeing with them, they returned the +canoe to the stream, paddling back into the lake, and continuing their +course until they came to its end. There they carried the canoe across a +portage and launched it on a second lake as beautiful as the first. None +of the three spoke much now, their minds being filled with thoughts of +St. Luc and his companions. + +They were yet on the water when the day began to wane. The green forest +on the high western shore was touched with flame from the setting sun. +Then the surface of the lake blazed with red light, and in the east the +gray of twilight came. + +"It will be night in half an hour," said Robert, "and I think we'd +better make a landing, and camp." + +"Here's a cove on the right," said Willet. "We'll take the canoe up +among the trees, and wrap ourselves in our blankets. It's a good thing +we have them, as the darkness is going to bring a chill with it." + +They found good shelter among the trees and bushes, a small hollow +protected by great trees and undergrowth, into which they carried the +canoe. + +"Since it's not raining this is as good as a house for us," said Willet. + +"I think it's better," said Robert. "The odor of spruce and hemlock is +so wonderful I wouldn't like to have it shut away from me by walls." + +The Onondaga drew in deep inhalations of the pure, healing air, and as +his black eyes gleamed he walked to the edge of the little hollow and +looked out in the dusk over the vast tangled wilderness of mountain and +lake, forest and river. The twilight was still infused with the red from +the setting sun, and in the glow the whole world was luminous and +glorified. Now the eyes of Tayoga, which had flashed but lately, gave +back the glow in a steady flame. + +"Hawenneyu, the Divine Being whom all the red people worship, made many +great lands," he said, "but he spent his work and love upon that which +lies between the Hudson and the vast lakes of the west. Then he rested +and looking upon what he had done he was satisfied because he knew it to +be the best in all the world, created by him." + +"How do you know it to be the best, Tayoga?" asked Willet. "You haven't +seen all the countries. You haven't been across the sea." + +"Because none other can be so good," replied the Iroquois with simple +faith. "When Hawenneyu, in your language the Great Spirit, found the +land that he had made so good he did not know then to whom to give it, +but in the greatness of his wisdom he left it to those who were most +fitted to come and take it. And in time came the tribes which Tododaho, +helped by Hayowentha, often called by the English Hiawatha, formed into +the great League of the Hodenosaunee, and because they were brave and +far-seeing and abided by the laws of Tododaho and Hayowentha, they took +the land which they have kept ever since, and which they will keep +forever." + +"I like your good, strong beliefs, Tayoga," said the hunter heartily. +"The country does belong to the Iroquois, and if it was left to me to +decide about it they'd keep it till the crack of doom. Now you boys roll +in your blankets. I'll take the first watch, and when it's over I'll +call one of you." + +But Tayoga waited a little until the last glow of the sun died in the +west, looking intently where the great orb had shone. Into his religion +a reverence for the sun, Giver of Light and Warmth, entered, and not +until the last faint radiance from it was gone did he turn away. + +Then he took from the canoe and unfolded _eyose_, his blanket, which was +made of fine blue broadcloth, thick and warm but light, six feet long +and four feet wide. It was embroidered around the edges with another +cloth in darker blue, and the body of it bore many warlike or hunting +designs worked skillfully in thread. If the weather were cold Tayoga +would drape the blanket about his body much like a Roman toga, and if he +lay in the forest at night he would sleep in it. Now he raked dead +leaves together, spread the blanket on them, lay on one half of it and +used the other half as a cover. + +Robert imitated him, but his blanket was not so fine as Tayoga's, +although he found it soft and warm enough. Willet sat on a log higher +up, his rifle across his knees and gazed humorously at them. + +"You two lads look pretty snug down there," he said, "and after all +you're only lads. Tayoga may have a head plumb full of the wisdom of the +wilderness, and Robert may have a head stuffed with different kinds of +knowledge, but you're young, mighty young, anyhow. An' now, as I'm +watching over you, I'll give a prize to the one that goes to sleep +first." + +In three minutes deep regular breathing showed that both had gone to the +land of slumber, and Willet could not decide which had led the way. The +darkness increased so much that their figures looked dim in the hollow, +but he glanced at them occasionally. The big man had many friends, but +young Lennox and Tayoga were almost like sons to him, and he was glad to +be with them now. He felt that danger lurked in the northern wilderness, +and three were better than two. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TOMAHAWK + + +Willet awakened Robert about two o'clock in the morning--it was +characteristic of him to take more than his share of the work--and the +youth stood up, with his rifle in the hollow of his arm, ready at once. + +"Tayoga did more yesterday than either of us," said the hunter, "and so +we'll let him sleep." + +But the Onondago had awakened, though he did not move. Forest discipline +was perfect among them, and, knowing that it was Robert's time to watch, +he wasted no time in vain talk about it. His eyes closed again and he +returned to sleep as the white lad walked up the bank, while the hunter +was soon in the dreams that Tarenyawagon, who makes them, sent to him. + +Robert on the bank, although he expected no danger, was alert. He had +plenty of wilderness skill and his senses, naturally acute, had been +trained so highly that he could discern a hostile approach in the +darkness. The same lore of the forest told him to keep himself +concealed, and he sat on a fallen tree trunk between two bushes that hid +him completely, although his own good eyes, looking through the leaves, +could see a long distance, despite the night. + +It was inevitable as he sat there in the silence and darkness with his +sleeping comrades below that his thoughts should turn to St. Luc. He had +recognized in the first moment of their meeting that the young Frenchman +was a personality. He was a personality in the sense that Tayoga was, +one who radiated a spirit or light that others were compelled to notice. +He knew that there was no such thing as looking into the future, but he +felt with conviction that this man was going to impinge sharply upon his +life, whether as a friend or an enemy not even Tarenyawagon, who sent +the dreams, would tell, but he could not be insensible to the personal +charm of the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc. + +What reception would the fifty sachems give to the belt that the +chevalier would bring? Would they be proof against his lightness, his +ease, his fluency and his ability to paint a glowing picture of French +might and French gratitude? Robert knew far better than most of his own +race the immensity of the stake. He who roamed the forest with Tayoga +and the Great Bear understood to the full the power of the Hodenosaunee. +It was true, too, that the Indian commissioners at Albany had not done +their duty and had given the Indians just cause of complaint, at the +very moment when the great League should be propitiated. Yet the +friendship between the Iroquois and the English had been ancient and +strong, and he would not have feared so much had it been any other than +St. Luc who was going to meet the sachems in council. + +Robert shook his head as if the physical motion would dismiss his +apprehensions, and walked farther up the hill to a point where he could +see the lake. A light wind was blowing, and little waves of crumbling +silver pursued one another across its surface. On the far side the bank, +crowned with dense forest showing black in the dusk, rose to a great +height, but the lad's eyes came back to the water, his heart missing a +beat as he thought he saw a shadow on its surface, but so near the +opposite shore that it almost merged with a fringe of bushes there. + +Then he rebuked himself for easy alarm. It was merely the reflection +from a bough above in the water below. Yet it played tricks with him. +The shadow reappeared again and again, always close to the far bank, but +there were many boughs also to reproduce themselves in the mirror of the +lake. He convinced himself that his eyes and his mind were having sport +with him, and turning away, he made a little circle in the woods about +their camp. All was well. He heard a swish overhead, but he knew that it +was a night bird, a rustling came, and an ungainly form lumbered through +a thicket, but it was a small black bear, and coming back to the hollow, +he looked down at his comrades. + +Tayoga and Willet slept well. Neither had stirred, and wrapped in their +blankets lying on the soft leaves, they were true pictures of forest +comfort. They were fine and loyal comrades, as good as anybody ever had, +and he was glad they were so near, because he began to have a feeling +now that something unusual was going to occur. The shadows on the lake +troubled him again, and he went back for another look. He did not see +them now, and that, too, troubled him. It proved that they had been made +by some moving object, and not by the boughs and bushes still there. + +Robert examined the lake, his eyes following the line where the far bank +met the water, but he saw no trace of anything moving, and his attention +came back to the woods in which he stood. Presently, he crouched in +dense bush, and concentrated all his powers of hearing, knowing that he +must rely upon ear rather than eye. He could not say that he had really +seen or heard, but he had felt that something was moving in the forest, +something that threatened him. + +His first impulse was to go back to the little hollow and awaken his +comrades, but his second told him to stay where he was until the danger +came or should pass, and he crouched lower in the undergrowth with his +hand on the hammer and trigger of his rifle. He did not stir or make any +noise for a long time. The forest, too, was silent. The wind that had +ruffled the surface of the lake ceased, and the leaves over his head +were still. + +But he understood too well the ways of the wilderness to move yet. He +did not believe that his faculties, attuned to the slightest alarm, had +deceived him, and he had learned the patience of the Indian from the +Iroquois themselves. His eyes continually pierced the thickets for a +hostile object moving there, and his ears were ready to notice the sound +of a leaf should it fall. + +He heard, or thought he heard after a while, a slight sliding motion, +like that which a great serpent would make as it drew its glistening +coils through leaves or grass. But it was impossible for him to tell how +near it was to him or from what point it came, and his blood became +chill in his veins. He was not afraid of a danger seen, but when it came +intangible and invisible the boldest might shudder. + +The noise, real or imaginary, ceased, and as he waited he became +convinced that it was only his strained fancy. A man might mistake the +blood pounding in his ears or the beat of his own pulse for a sound +without, and after another five minutes, taking the rifle from the +hollow of his arm, he stood upright. Certainly nothing was moving in the +forest. The leaves hung lifeless. His fancies had been foolish. + +He stepped boldly from the undergrowth in which he had knelt, and a +glimpse of a flitting shadow made him kneel again. It was instinct that +caused him to drop down so quickly, but he knew that it had saved his +life. Something glittering whistled where his head had been, and then +struck with a sound like a sigh against the trunk of a tree. + +Robert sank from his knees, until he lay almost fiat, and brought his +rifle forward for instant use. But, for a minute or two, he would not +have been steady enough to aim at anything. His tongue was dry in his +mouth, and his hair lifted a little at his marvelous escape. + +He looked for the shadow, his eyes searching every thicket; but he did +not find it, and now he believed that the one who had sped the blow had +gone, biding his time for a second chance. Another wait to make sure, +and hurrying to the hollow he awoke Tayoga and the hunter, who returned +at once with him to the place where the ambush had miscarried. + +"Ah!" said the Onondaga, as they looked about. _"Osquesont_! Behold!" + +The blade of an Indian tomahawk, _osquesont_, was buried deep in the +trunk of a tree, and Robert knew that the same deadly weapon had +whistled where his head had been but a second before. He shuddered. Had +it not been for his glimpse of the flitting shadow his head would have +been cloven to the chin. Tayoga, with a mighty wrench, pulled out the +tomahawk and examined it. It was somewhat heavier than the usual weapon +of the type and he pronounced it of French make. + +"Did it come from Quebec, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"Perhaps," replied the young warrior, "but I saw it yesterday." + +"You did! Where?" + +"In the belt of Tandakora, the Ojibway." + +"I thought so," said Robert. + +"And he threw it with all the strength of a mighty arm," said the +Onondaga. "There is none near us in the forest except Tandakora who +could bury it so deep in the tree. It was all I could do to pull it out +again." + +"And seeing his throw miss he slipped away as fast as he could!" said +Willet. + +"Yes, Great Bear, the Ojibway is cunning. After hurling the tomahawk he +would not stay to risk a shot from Lennox. He was willing even to +abandon a weapon which he must have prized. Ah, here is his trail! It +leads through the forest toward the lake!" + +They were able to follow it a little distance but it was lost on the +hard ground, although it led toward the water. Robert told of the shadow +he had seen near the farther bank, and both Willet and Tayoga were quite +sure it had been a small canoe, and that its occupant was Tandakora. + +"It's not possible that St. Luc sent the Ojibway back to murder us!" +exclaimed Robert, his mind rebelling at the thought. + +"I don't think it likely," said Willet, but the Onondaga was much more +emphatic. + +"The Ojibway came of his own wish," he said. "While the sons of Onontio +slept he slipped away, and it was the lure of scalps that drew him. He +comes of a savage tribe far in the west. An Iroquois would have scorned +such treachery." + +Robert felt an immense relief. He had become almost as jealous of the +Frenchman's honor as of his own, and knowing that Tayoga understood his +race, he accepted his words as final. It was hideous to have the thought +in his mind, even for a moment, that a man who had appeared so gallant +and friendly as St. Luc had sent a savage back to murder them. + +"The French do not control the western tribes," continued Tayoga, +"though if war comes they will be on the side of Onontio, but as equals +they will come hither and go thither as they please." + +"Which means, I take it," said the hunter, "that if St. Luc discovers +what Tandakora has been trying to do here tonight he'll be afraid to +find much fault with it, because the Ojibway and all the other Ojibways +would go straight home?" + +"It is so," said the Onondaga. + +"Well, we're thankful that his foul blow went wrong. You've had a mighty +narrow escape, Robert, my lad, but we've gained one good tomahawk which, +you boys willing, I mean to take." + +Tayoga handed it to him, and with an air of satisfaction he put the +weapon in his belt. + +"I may have good use for it some day," he said. "The chance may come for +me to throw it back to the savage who left it here. And now, as our +sleep is broken up for the night, I think we'd better scout the woods a +bit, and then come back here for breakfast." + +They found nothing hostile in the forest, and when they returned to the +hollow the thin gray edge of dawn showed on the far side of the lake. +Having no fear of further attack, they lighted a small fire and warmed +their food. As they ate day came in all its splendor and Robert saw the +birds flashing back and forth in the thick leaves over his head. + +"Where did the Ojibway get his canoe?" he asked. + +"The Frenchmen like as not used it when they came down from Canada," +replied the hunter, "and left it hid to be used again when they went +back. It won't be worth our while to look for it. Besides, we've got to +be moving soon." + +After breakfast they carried their own canoe to the lake and paddled +northward to its end. Then they took their craft a long portage across a +range of hills and launched it anew on a swift stream flowing northward, +on the current of which they traveled until nightfall, seeing throughout +that time no sign of a human being. It was the primeval wilderness, and +since it lay between the British colonies on the south and the French on +the north it had been abandoned almost wholly in the last year or two, +letting the game, abundant at any time, increase greatly. They saw deer +in the thickets, they heard the splash of a beaver, and a black bear, +sitting on a tiny island in the river, watched them as they passed. + +On the second day after Robert's escape from the tomahawk they left the +river, made a long portage and entered another river, also flowing +northward, having in mind a double purpose, to throw off the trail +anyone who might be following them and to obtain a more direct course +toward their journey's end. Knowing the dangers of the wilderness, they +also increased their caution, traveling sometimes at night and lying in +camp by day. + +But they lived well. All three knew the importance of preserving their +strength, and to do so an abundance of food was the first requisite. +Tayoga shot another deer with the bow and arrow, and with the use of +fishing tackle which they had brought in the canoe they made the river +pay ample tribute. They lighted the cooking fires, however, in the most +sheltered places they could find, and invariably extinguished them as +soon as possible. + +"You can't be too careful in the woods," said Willet, "especially in +times like these. While the English and French are not yet fighting +there's always danger from the savages." + +"The warriors from the wild tribes in Canada and the west will take a +scalp wherever there's a chance," said the young Onondaga. + +Robert often noticed the manner in which Tayoga spoke of the tribes +outside the great League. To him those that did not belong to the +Hodenosaunee, while they might be of the same red race, were +nevertheless inferior. He looked upon them as an ancient Greek looked +upon those who were not Greeks. + +"The French are a brave people," said the hunter, "but the most warlike +among them if they knew our errand would be willing for some of their +painted allies to drop us in the wilderness, and no questions would be +asked. You can do things on the border that you can't in the towns. We +might be tomahawked in here and nobody would ever know what became of +us." + +"I think," said Tayoga, "that our danger increases. Tandakora after +leaving the son of Onontio, St. Luc, might not go back to him. He might +fear the anger of the Frenchman, and, too, he would still crave a scalp. +A warrior has followed an enemy for weeks to obtain such a trophy." + +"You believe then," said Robert, "that the Ojibway is still on our +trail?" + +Tayoga nodded. After a moment's silence he added: + +"We come, too, to a region in which the St. Regis, the Caughnawaga, the +Ottawa and the Micmac, all allies of Onontio, hunt. The Ojibway may +meet a band and tell the warriors we are in the woods." + +His look was full of significance and Robert understood thoroughly. + +"I shall be glad," he said, "when we reach the St. Lawrence. We'll then +be in real Canada, and, while the French are undoubtedly our enemies, +we'll not be exposed to treacherous attack." + +They were in the canoe as they talked and Tayoga was paddling, the +swiftness of the current now making the efforts of only one man +necessary. A few minutes later he turned the canoe to the shore and the +three got out upon the bank. Robert did not know why, but he was quite +sure the reason was good. + +"Falls below," said Tayoga, as they drew the canoe upon the land. "All +the river drops over a cliff. Much white water." + +They carried the canoe without difficulty through the woods, and when +they came to the falls they stopped a little while to look at the +descent, and listen to the roar of the tumbling water. + +"I was here once before, three years ago," said Willet. + +"Others have been here much later," said the Onondaga. + +"What do you mean, Tayoga?" + +"My white brother is not looking. Let him turn his eyes to the left. He +will see two wild flowers broken off at the stem, a feather which has +not fallen from the plumage of a bird, because the quill is painted, and +two traces of footsteps in the earth." + +"As surely as the sun shines, you're right, Tayoga! Warriors have +passed here, though we can't tell how many! But the traces are not +more'n a half day old." + +He picked up the feather and examined it carefully. + +"That fell from a warrior's scalplock," he said, "but we don't know to +what tribe the warrior belonged." + +"But it's likely to be a hostile trail," said Robert. + +Tayoga nodded, and then the three considered. It was only a fragment of +a trail they had seen, but it told them danger was near. Where they were +traveling strangers were enemies until they were proved to be friends, +and the proof had to be of the first class, also. They agreed finally to +turn aside into the woods with the canoe, and stop until night. Then +under cover of the friendly darkness they would resume their journey on +the river. + +They chose the heavily wooded crest of a low hill for the place in which +to wait, because they could see some distance from it and remain unseen. +They put the canoe down there and Robert and Tayoga sat beside it, while +Willet went into the woods to see if any further signs of a passing band +could be discovered, returning in an hour with the information that he +had discovered more footprints. + +"All led to the north," he said, "and they're well ahead of us. There's +no reason why we can't follow. We're three, used to the wilderness, +armed well and able to take care of ourselves. And I take it the night +will be dark, which ought to help us." + +The Onondaga looked up at the skies, which were of a salmon color, and +shook his head a little. + +"What's the matter?" asked Robert. + +"The night will bring much darkness," he replied, "but it will bring +something else with it--wind, rain." + +"You may be right, Tayoga, but we must be moving, just the same," said +Willet. + +At dusk they were again afloat on the river and, all three using the +paddles, they sent the canoe forward with great speed. But it soon +became apparent that Tayoga's prediction would be justified. Clouds +trailed up from the southwest and obscured all the heavens. A wind arose +and it was heavy and damp upon their faces. The water seemed black as +ink. Low thunder far away began to mutter. The wilderness became uncanny +and lonely. All save forest rovers would have been appalled, and of +these three one at least felt that the night was black and sinister. +Robert looked intently at the forest on either shore, rising now like +solid black walls, but his eyes, unable to penetrate them, found nothing +there. Then the lightning flamed in the west, and for a moment the +surface of the river was in a blaze. + +"What do you think of it, Tayoga?" asked Willet, anxiety showing in his +tone, "Ought we to make a landing now?" + +"Not yet," replied the Onondaga. "The storm merely growls and threatens +at present. It will not strike for perhaps an hour." + +"But when it does strike it's going to hit a mighty blow unless all +signs fail. I've seen 'em gather before, and this is going to be a king +of storms! Hear that thunder now! It doesn't growl any more, but goes +off like the cracking of big cannon." + +"But it's still far in the west," persisted Tayoga, as the three bent +over their paddles. + +The forest, however, was groaning with the wind, and little waves rose +on the river. Now the lightning flared again and again, so fierce and +bright that Robert, despite his control of himself, instinctively +recoiled from it as from the stroke of a saber. + +"Do you recall any shelter farther on, Tayoga?" asked the hunter. + +"The overhanging bank and the big hollow in the stone," replied the +Onondaga. "On the left! Don't you remember?" + +"Now I do, Tayoga, but I didn't know it was near. Do you think we can +make it before that sky over our heads splits wide open?" + +"It will be a race," replied the young Iroquois, "but we three are +strong, and we are skilled in the use of the paddle." + +"Then we'll bend to it," said Willet. And they did. The canoe shot +forward at amazing speed over the surface of the river, inky save when +the lightning flashed upon it. Robert paddled as he had never paddled +before, his muscles straining and the perspiration standing out on his +face. He was thoroughly inured to forest life, but he knew that even the +scouts and Indians fled for shelter from the great wilderness +hurricanes. + +There was every evidence that the storm would be of uncommon violence. +The moan of the wind rose to a shriek and they heard the crash of +breaking boughs and falling trees in the forest. The river, whipped +continually by the gusts, was broken with waves upon which the canoe +rocked with such force that the three, expert though they were, were +compelled to use all their skill, every moment, to keep it from being +overturned. If it had not been for the rapid and vivid strokes of +lightning under which the waters turned blood red their vessel would +have crashed more than once upon the rocks, leaving them to swim for +life. + +"That incessant flare makes me shiver," said Robert. "It seems every +time that I'm going to be struck by it, but I'm glad it comes, because +without it we'd never see our way on the river." + +"Manitou sends the good and evil together," said Tayoga gravely. + +"Anyhow," said Willet, "I hope we'll get to our shelter before the rain +comes. Look out for that rock on the right, Robert!" + +Young Lennox, with a swift and powerful motion of the paddle, shot the +canoe back toward the center of the river, and then the three tried to +hold it there as they sped on. + +"Three or four hundred yards more," said Tayoga, "and we can draw into +the smooth water we wish." + +"And not a minute too soon," said Willet. "It seems to me I can hear the +rain coming now in a deluge, and the waves on the river make me think of +some I've seen on one of the big lakes. Listen to that, will you!" + +A huge tree, blown down, fell directly across the stream, not more than +twenty yards behind them. But the fierce and swollen waters tearing at +it in torrents would soon bear it away on the current. + +"Manitou was watching over us then," said Tayoga with the same gravity. + +"As sure as the Hudson runs into the sea, he was," said Willet in a tone +of reverence. "If that tree had hit us we and the canoe would all have +been smashed together and a week later maybe the French would have +fished our pieces out of the St. Lawrence." + +Robert, who was farthest forward in the canoe, noticed that the cliff +ahead, hollowed out at the base by the perpetual eating of the waters, +seemed to project over the stream, and he concluded that it was the +place in Tayoga's mind. + +"Our shelter, isn't it?" he asked, pointing a finger by the lightning's +flare. + +Tayoga nodded, and the three, putting their last ounce of strength into +the sweep of the paddles, sent the canoe racing over the swift current +toward the haven now needed so badly. As they approached, Robert saw +that the hollow went far back into the stone, having in truth almost the +aspects of a cave. Beneath the mighty projection he saw also that the +water was smooth, unlashed by the wind and outside the sweep of the +current, and he felt immense relief when the canoe shot into its still +depths and he was able to lay the paddle beside him. + +"Back a little farther," said Tayoga, and he saw then, still by the +flare of lightning, that the water ended against a low shelf at least +six feet broad, upon which they stepped, lifting the canoe after them. + +"It's all that you claimed for it, and more, Tayoga," said the hunter. +"I fancy a ship in a storm would be glad enough to find a refuge as good +for it as this is for us." + +Tayoga smiled, and Robert knew that he felt deep satisfaction because he +had brought them so well to port. Looking about after they had lifted up +the canoe, he saw that in truth nature had made a good harbor here for +those who traveled on the river, its waters so far never having been +parted by anything but a canoe. The hollow went back thirty or forty +feet with a sloping roof of stone, and from the ledge, whenever the +lightning flashed, they saw the river flowing before them in a rushing +torrent, but inside the hollow the waters were a still pool. + +"Now the rain comes," said Tayoga. + +Then they heard its sweep and roar and it arrived in such mighty volume +that the surface of the river was beaten almost flat. But in their snug +and well-roofed harbor not a drop touched them. Robert on the ledge with +his back to the wall had a pervading sense of comfort. The lightning and +the thunder were both dying now, but the rain came in a steady and +mighty sweep. As the lightning ceased entirely it was so dark that they +saw the water in front of them but dimly, and they had to be very +careful in their movements on the ledge, lest they roll off and slip +into its depths. + +"Robert," said Willet in a whimsical tone, "one of the first things I +tried to teach you when you were a little boy was always to be calm, +and under no circumstances to let your calm be broken up when there was +nothing to break it up. Now, we've every reason to be calm. We've got a +good home here, and the storm can't touch us." + +"I was already calm, Dave," replied Robert lightly. "I took your first +lesson to heart, learned it, and I've never forgotten it. I'm so calm +that I've unfolded my blanket and put it under me to soften the stone." + +"To think of your blanket is proof enough that you're not excited. I'll +do the same. Tayoga, in whose country is this new home of ours?" + +"It is the land of no man, because it lies between the tribes from the +north and the tribes from the south. Yet the Iroquois dare to come here +when they choose. It's the fourth time I have been on this ledge, but +before I was always with my brethren of the clan of the Bear of the +nation Onondaga." + +"Well, Tayoga," said Willet, in his humorous tone, "the company has +grown no worse." + +"No," said Tayoga, and his smile was invisible to them in the darkness. +"The time is coming when the sachems of the Onondagas will be glad they +adopted Lennox and the Great Bear into our nation." + +Willet's laugh came at once, not loud, but with an inflection of intense +enjoyment. + +"You Onondagas are a bit proud, Tayoga," he said. + +"Not without cause, Great Bear." + +"Oh, I admit it! I admit it! I suppose we're all proud of our race--it's +one of nature's happy ways of keeping us satisfied--and I'm free to +say, Tayoga, that I've no quarrel at having been born white, because I'm +so used to being white that I'd hardly know how to be anything else. But +if I wasn't white--a thing that I had nothing to do with--and your +Manitou who is my God was to say to me, 'Choose what else you'll be,' +I'd say, and I'd say it with all the respect and reverence I could bring +into the words, 'O Lord, All Wise and All Powerful, make me a strong +young warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +League of the Hodenosaunee, hunting for my clan and fighting to protect +its women and children, and keeping my word with everybody and trying to +be just to the red races and tribes that are not as good as mine, and +even to be the same to the poor white men around the towns that get +drunk, and steal, and rob one another,' and maybe your Manitou who is my +God would give to me my wish." + +"The Great Bear has a silver tongue, and the words drop from his lips +like honey," said Tayoga. But Robert knew that the young Onondaga was +intensely gratified and he knew, too, that Willet meant every word he +said. + +"You'd better make yourself comfortable on the blanket, as we're doing, +Tayoga," the youth said. + +But the Onondaga did not intend to rest just yet. The wildness of the +place and the spirit of the storm stirred him. He stood upon the shelf +and the others dimly saw his tall and erect young figure. Slowly he +began to chant in his own tongue, and his song ran thus in English: + +"The lightning cleaves the sky, + The Brave Soul fears not; + The thunder rolls and threatens, + Manitou alone speeds the bolt; + The waters are deep and swift, + They carry the just man unhurt." + +"O Spirit of Good, hear me, + Watch now over our path, + Lead us in the way of the right, + And, our great labors finished, + Bring us back, safe and well, + To the happy vale of Onondaga." + +"A good hymn, Tayoga, for such I take it to be," said Willet. "I haven't +heard my people sing any better. And now, since you've done more'n your +share of the work you'd better take Robert's advice and lie down on your +blanket." + +Tayoga obeyed, and the three in silence listened to the rushing of the +storm. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE INTELLIGENT CANOE + + +Lennox, Willet and Tayoga fell asleep, one by one, and the Onondaga was +the last to close his eyes. Then the three, wrapped in their blankets, +lay in complete darkness on the stone shelf, with the canoe beside them. +They were no more than the point of a pin in the vast wilderness that +stretched unknown thousands of miles from the Hudson to the Pacific, +apparently as lost to the world as the sleepers in a cave ages earlier, +when the whole earth was dark with forest and desert. + +Although the storm could not reach them it beat heavily for long hours +while they slept. The sweep of the rain maintained a continuous driving +sound. Boughs cracked and broke beneath it. The waters of the river, +swollen by the floods of tributary creeks and brooks, rose fast, bearing +upon their angry surface the wreckage of trees, but they did not reach +the stone shelf upon which the travelers lay. + +Tayoga awoke before the morning, while it was yet so dark that his +trained eyes could see but dimly the figures of his comrades. He sat up +and listened, knowing that he must depend for warning upon his hearing, +which had been trained to extreme acuteness by the needs of forest +life. All three of them were great wilderness trailers and scouts, but +Tayoga was the first of the three. Back of him lay untold generations +that had been compelled to depend upon the physical senses and the +intuition that comes from their uttermost development and co-ordination. +Now, Tayoga, the product of all those who had gone before, was also +their finest flower. + +He had listened at first, resting on his elbow, but after a minute or +two he sat up. He heard the rushing of the rain, the crack of +splintering boughs, the flowing of the rising river, and the gurgling of +its waters as they lapped against the stone shelf. They would not enter +it he knew, as he had observed that the highest marks of the floods lay +below them. + +The sounds made by the rain and the river were steady and unchanged. But +the intuition that came from the harmonious working of senses, developed +to a marvelous degree, sounded a warning note. A danger threatened. He +did not know what the danger was nor whence it would come, but the soul +of the Onondaga was alive and every nerve and muscle in his body was +attuned for any task that might lie before him. He looked at his +sleeping comrades. They did not stir, and their long, regular breathing +told him that no sinister threat was coming to them. + +But Tayoga never doubted. The silent and invisible warning, like a +modern wireless current, reached him again. Now, he knelt at the very +edge of the shelf, and drew his long hunting knife. He tried to pierce +the darkness with his eyes, and always he looked up the stream in the +direction in which they had come. He strained his ears too to the +utmost, concentrating the full powers of his hearing upon the river, but +the only sounds that reached him were the flowing of the current, the +bubbling of the water at the edges, and its lapping against a tree or +bush torn up by the storm and floating on the surface of the stream. + +The Onondaga stepped from the shelf, finding a place for his feet in +crevices below, the water rising almost to his knees, and leaned farther +forward to listen. One hand held firmly to a projection of stone above +and the other clasped the knife. + +Tayoga maintained the intense concentration of his faculties, as if he +had drawn them together in an actual physical way, until they bore upon +one point, and he poured so much strength and vitality into them that he +made the darkness thin away before his eyes and he heard noises of the +water that had not come to him before. + +A broken bough, a bush and a sapling washed past. Then came a tree, and +deflecting somewhat from the current it floated toward the shelf. +Leaning far over and extending the hand that held the knife, Tayoga +struck. When the blade came back it was red and the young Onondaga +uttered a tremendous war whoop that rang and echoed in the confines of +the stony hollow. + +Lennox and Willet sprang to their feet, all sleep driven away at once, +and instinctively grasped their rifles. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" exclaimed the startled Willet. + +"The attack of the savage warriors," replied the Onondaga. "One came +floating on a tree. He thought to slay us as we slept and take away our +scalps, but the river that brought him living has borne him away dead." + +"And so they know we're here," said the hunter, "and your watchfulness +has saved us. Well, Tayoga, it's one more deed for which we have to +thank you, but I think you'd better get back on the shelf. They can fire +from the other side, farther up, and although it would be at random, a +bullet or two might strike here." + +The Onondaga swung himself back and all three flattened themselves +against the rock. After Tayoga's triumphant shout there was no sound +save those of the river and the rain. But Robert expected it. He knew +the horde would be quiet for a while, hoping for a surprise the second +time after the first one had failed. + +"It was bold," he said, "for a single warrior to come floating down the +stream in search of us." + +"But it would have succeeded if Tayoga hadn't been awake," said the +hunter. "One warrior could have knifed us all at his leisure." + +"Where do you think they are now?" + +"They must be crouched in the shelter of rocks. If they had nothing over +them the storm would take the fighting spirit for the time out of +savages, even wild for scalps. I'm mighty glad we have the canoe. It +holds the food we need for a siege, and if the chance for escape comes +it will bear us away. I think, Tayoga, I can see a figure stirring +among the boulders on the other side farther up." + +"I see two," said the Onondaga, "and doubtless there are others whom we +cannot see. Keep close, my friends, I think they are going to fire." + +A dozen rifles were discharged from a point about a hundred yards away, +the exploding powder making red dots in the darkness, the bullets +rattling on the stone cliff or sending up little spurts of water from +the river. The volley was followed by a shrill, fierce war whoop, and +then nothing was heard but the flowing of the river and the rushing of +the rain. + +"You are not touched?" said Tayoga, and Robert and Willet quickly +answered in the negative. + +"They don't know just which way to aim their guns," said Willet, "and so +long as we keep quiet now they won't learn. That shout of yours, Tayoga, +was not enough to tell them." + +"But they must remember about where the hollow is, although they can't +pull trigger directly upon it, owing to the darkness and storm," said +Robert. + +"That about sums it up, my boy," said the hunter. "If they do a lot of +random firing the chances are about a hundred to one they won't hit us, +and the Indians don't have enough ammunition to waste that way." + +"I don't suppose we can launch the canoe and slip away in it?" + +"No, it would be swamped by the rain and the flood. It's likely, too, +that they're on watch for us farther down the stream." + +"Then this is our home and fortress for an indefinite time, and, that +being the case, I'm going to make myself as easy as I can." + +He drew the blanket under his body again and lay on his elbow, but he +held his rifle before him, ready for battle at an instant's notice. His +feeling of comfort returned and with it the sense of safety. The bullets +of the savages had gone so wild and the darkness was so deep that their +shelter appeared to him truly as a fortress which no numbers of +besiegers could storm. + +"Do you think they'll try floating down the stream on trees or logs +again, Tayoga?" he asked. + +"No, the danger is too great," replied the Onondaga. "They know now that +we're watching." + +An hour passed without any further sign from the foe. The rain decreased +somewhat in violence, but, as the wind rose, its rush and sweep made as +much sound as ever. Then the waiting was broken by scattering shots, +accompanied by detached war whoops, as if different bands were near. +From their shelter they watched the red dots that marked the discharges +from the rifles, but only one bullet came near them, and after chipping +a piece of stone over their heads it dropped harmlessly to the floor. + +"That was the one chance out of a hundred," said Willet, "and now we're +safe from the next ninety-nine bullets." + +"I trust the rule will work," said Robert. + +"I wish you'd hold my left hand in a firm grip," said Willet. + +"I will, but why?" returned the youth. + +"If I get a chance I'm going to drag up some of that dead and floating +wood and lay it along the edge of the shelf. In the dark the savages +can't pick us off, but we'll need a barrier in the morning." + +"You're right, Dave, of course. I'm sorry I didn't think of it myself." + +"One of us thought of it, and that's enough. Hold my hand hard, Robert. +Don't let your grip slip." + +By patient waiting and help from the others Willet was able to draw up +two logs of fair size, and some smaller pieces which they placed +carefully on the edge of the stone shelf. Lying flat behind them, they +would be almost hidden, and now they could await the coming of daylight +with more serenity. + +A long time passed. The three ate strips of the deer meat, and Robert +even slept for a short while. He awoke to find a further decrease in the +rain, although the river was still rising, and Tayoga and Willet were of +the opinion that it would stop soon, a belief that was justified in an +hour. Robert soon afterward saw the clouds move away, and disclose a +strip of dark blue sky, into which the stars began to come one by one. + +"The night will grow light soon," said Tayoga, "then it will darken +again for a little time before the coming of the day." + +"And we've built our breastwork none too soon," said Willet. "There'll +be so many stars by and by that those fellows can pick out our place and +send their bullets to it. What do you think, Tayoga? Is it just a band +taking the chance to get some scalps, or are they sent out by the +Governor General of Canada to do wicked work in the forest and then be +disowned if need be?" + +"I cannot tell," replied the Onondaga. "Much goes on in the land of +Onontio at Stadacona (Quebec). He talks long in whispers with the +northern chiefs, and often he does not let his left ear know what the +right ear hears. Onontio moves in the night, while Corlear sleeps." + +"That may be so, Tayoga, but whether it's so or not I like our +straightforward English and American way best. We may blunder along for +a while and lose at first, but to be open and honest is to be strong." + +"I did not say the ways of Corlear would prevail. It is not the talk of +Corlear that will keep the Hodenosaunee faithful to the English side, +but it is the knowledge of the fifty sachems that when Onontio is +speaking in a voice of honey he is to be trusted the least." + +Willet laughed. + +"I understand, Tayoga," he said. "You're for us not because you have so +much faith in Corlear, but because you have less in Onontio. Well, it's +a good enough reason, I suppose. But all Frenchmen are not tricksters. +Most of 'em are brave, and when they're friends they're good and true. +About all I've got to say against 'em is that they're willing to shut +their eyes to the terrible things their allies do in their name. But +I've had a lot to do with 'em on the border, and you can get to like +'em. Now, that St. Luc we met was a fine upstanding man." + +"But if an enemy, an enemy to be dreaded," said Tayoga with his usual +gravity. + +"I wouldn't mind that if it came to war. In such cases the best men make +the best enemies, I suppose. He had a sharp eye. I could see how he +measured us, and reckoned us up, but he looked most at Robert here." + +"His sharp eye recognized that I was the most important of the three," +said Robert lightly. + +"Every fellow is mighty important to himself," said Willet, "and he +can't get away from it. Tayoga, do you think you see figures moving on +the other bank there, up the stream?" + +"Two certainly, others perhaps, Great Bear," replied the Onondaga. "I +might reach one with my rifle." + +"Don't try it, Tayoga. We're on the defense, and we'll let 'em make all +the beginnings. The sooner they shoot away their ammunition the better +it will be for us. I think they'll open fire pretty soon now, because +the night is growing uncommon bright. The stars are so big and shining, +and there are so many of them they all look as if they had come to a +party. Flatten yourselves down, boys! I can see a figure kneeling by a +bowlder and that means one shot, if not more." + +They lay close and Robert was very thankful now for the logs they had +dragged up from the water, as they afforded almost complete shelter. The +crouching warrior farther up the stream fired, and his bullet struck the +hollow above their heads. + +"A better aim than they often show," said Willet. + +More shots were fired, and one buried itself in the log in front of +Robert. He heard the thud made by the bullet as it entered, and once +more he was thankful for their rude breastwork. But it was the only one +that struck so close and presently the savages ceased their fire, +although the besieged three were still able to see them in the brilliant +moonlight among the bowlders. + +"They're getting a bit too insolent," said the hunter. "Maybe they think +it's a shorter distance from them to us than it is from us to them, and +that our bullets would drop before they got to 'em. I think, Tayoga, +I'll prove that it's not so." + +"Choose the man at the edge of the water," said Tayoga. "He has fired +three shots at us, and we should give him at least one in return." + +"I'll pay the debt, Tayoga." + +Robert saw the warrior, his head and shoulders and painted chest +appearing above the stone. The distance was great for accuracy, but the +light was brilliant, and the rifle of the hunter rose to his shoulder. +The muzzle bore directly upon the naked chest, and when Willet pulled +the trigger a stream of fire spurted from the weapon. + +The savage uttered a cry, shot forward and fell into the stream. His +lifeless body tossed like dead wood on the swift current, reappeared and +floated by the little fortress of the three. Robert shuddered as he saw +the savage face again, and then he saw it no more. + +The savages uttered a shout of grief and rage over the loss of the +warrior, but the besieged were silent. Willet, as he reloaded his rifle, +gave it an affectionate little pat or two. + +"It's a good weapon," he said, "and with a fair light I was sure I +wouldn't miss. We've given 'em fair warning that they've got a nest of +panthers here to deal with, and that when they attack they're taking +risks. Can you see any of 'em now, Tayoga?" + +"All have taken to cover. There is not one among them who is willing to +face again the rifle of the Great Bear." + +Willet smiled with satisfaction at the compliment. He was proud of his +sharp-shooting, and justly so, but he said modestly: + +"I had a fair target, and it will do for a warning. I think we can look +for another long rest now." + +The dark period that precedes the dawn came, and then the morning +flashed over the woods. Robert, from the hollow, looking across the far +shore, saw lofty, wooded hills and back of them blue mountains. Beads of +rain stood on the leaves, and the wilderness seemed to emerge, fresh and +dripping, from a glorious bath. Pleasant odors of the wild came to him, +and now he felt the sting of imprisonment there among the rocks. He +wished they could go at once on their errand. It was a most unfortunate +chance to have been found there by the Indians and to be held +indefinitely in siege. The flooded river would have borne them swiftly +in their canoe toward the St. Lawrence. + +"Mourning, Robert?" said Willet who noticed his face. + +"For the moment, yes," admitted young Lennox, "but it has passed. I +wanted to be going on this lively river and through the green wood, but +since I have to wait I can do it." + +"I feel the same way about it, and we're lucky to have such a fort as +the one we are in. I think the savages will hang on here for a long +while. Indians always have plenty of time. That's why they're more +patient than white men. Like as not we won't get a peep out of them all +the morning." + +"Lennox feels the beauty of the day," said Tayoga, "and that's why he +wants to leave the hollow and go into the woods. But if Lennox will only +think he'll know that other days as fine will come." + +The eye of the young Onondaga twinkled as he delivered his jesting +advice. + +"I'll be as patient as I can," replied Robert in the same tone, "but +tomorrow is never as good as today. I wait like you and Dave only +because I have to do so." + +"In the woods you must do as the people who live there do," said the +hunter philosophically. "They learn how to wait when they're young. We +don't know how long we'll be here. A little more of the deer, Tayoga. +It's close to the middle of the day now and we must keep our strength. I +wish we had better water than that of a flooded and muddy river to +drink, but it's water, anyhow." + +They ate, drank and refreshed themselves and another long period of +inaction followed. The warriors--at intervals--fired a few shots but +they did no damage. Only one entered the hollow, and it buried itself +harmlessly in their wooden barrier. They suffered from nothing except +the soreness and stiffness that came from lying almost flat and so long +in one position. The afternoon, cloudless and brilliant, waned, and the +air in the recess grew warm and heavy. Had it not been for the necessity +of keeping guard Robert could have gone to sleep again. The flood in the +river passed its zenith and was now sinking visibly. No more trees or +bushes came floating on the water. Willet showed disappointment over the +failure of the besiegers to make any decided movement. + +"I was telling you, Robert, a while ago," he said, "that Indians mostly +have a lot of time, but I'm afraid the band that's cornered us here has +got too much. They may send out a warrior or two to hunt, and the others +may sit at a distance and wait a week for us to come out. At least it +looks that way to a 'possum up a tree. What do you think of it, Tayoga?" + +"The Great Bear is right," replied the Onondaga. "He is always right +when he is not wrong." + +"Come now, Tayoga, are you making game of me?" + +"Not so, my brother, because the Great Bear is nearly always right and +very seldom wrong. It is given only to Manitou never to be wrong." + +"That's better, Tayoga. If I can keep up a high average of accuracy I'm +satisfied." + +Tayoga's English was always precise and a trifle bookish, like that of a +man speaking a language he has learned in a school, which in truth was +the case with the Onondaga. Like the celebrated Thayendanegea, the +Mohawk, otherwise known as Joseph Brant, he had been sent to a white +school and he had learned the English of the grammarian. Willet too +spoke in a manner much superior to that of the usual scout and hunter. + +"If the Indians post lines out of range and merely maintain a watch what +will we do?" asked Robert. "I, for one, don't want to stay here +indefinitely." + +"Nor do any of us," replied Willet. "We ought to be moving. A long delay +here won't help us. We've got to think of something." + +The two, actuated by the same impulse, looked at Tayoga. He was very +thoughtful and presently glanced up at the heavens. + +"What does the Great Bear think of the sky?" he asked. + +"I think it's a fine sky, Tayoga," Willet replied with a humorous +inflection. "But I've always admired it, whether it's blue or gray or +just black, spangled with stars." + +Tayoga smiled. + +"What does the Great Bear think of the sky?" he repeated. "Do the signs +say to him that the coming night will be dark like the one that has just +gone before?" + +"They say it will be dark, Tayoga, but I don't believe we'll have the +rain again." + +"We do not want the rain, but we do want the dark. Tonight when the moon +and stars fail to come we must leave the hollow." + +"By what way, Tayoga?" + +The Onondaga pointed to the river. + +"We have the canoe," he said. + +"But if they should hear or see us we'd make a fine target in it," said +Robert. + +"We won't be in it," said the Onondaga, "although our weapons and +clothes will." + +"Ah, I understand! We're to launch the canoe, put in it everything +including our clothes, except ourselves, and swim by the side of it. +Three good swimmers are we, Tayoga, and I believe we can do it." + +The Onondaga looked at Willet, who nodded his approval. + +"The chances will favor us, and we'd better try it," he said, "that is, +if the night is dark, as I think it will be." + +"Then it is agreed," said Robert. + +"It is so," said Tayoga. + +No more words were needed, and they strengthened their hearts for the +daring attempt, waiting patiently for the afternoon to wane and die into +the night, which, arrived moonless and starless and heavy with dark, as +they had hoped and predicted. Just before, a little spasmodic firing +came from the besiegers, but they did not deign to answer. Instead they +waited patiently until the night was far advanced and then they prepared +quickly for running the gauntlet, a task that would require the greatest +skill, courage and presence of mind. Robert's heart beat hard. Like the +others he was weary of the friendly hollow that had served them so well, +and the murmuring of the river, as it flowed, invited them to come on +and use it as the road of escape. + +The three took off all their clothing and disposed everything carefully +in the canoe, laying the rifles on top where they could be reached with +a single swift movement of the arm. Then they stared up and down the +stream, and listened with all their powers of hearing. No savage was to +be seen nor did anyone make a sound that reached the three, although +Robert knew they lay behind the rocks not so very far away. + +"They're not stirring, Tayoga," whispered the hunter. "Perhaps they +think we don't dare try the river, and in this case as in most others +the boldest way is the best. Take the other end of the canoe, and we'll +lift it down gently." + +He and the Onondaga lowered the canoe so slowly that it made no splash +when it took the water, and then the three lowered themselves in turn, +sinking into the stream to their throats. + +"Keep close to the bank," whispered the hunter, "and whatever you do +don't make any splash as you swim." + +The three were on the side of the craft next to the cliff and their +heads did not appear above its side. Then the canoe moved down the +stream at just about the speed of the current, and no human hands +appeared, nor was any human agency visible. It was just a wandering +little boat, set adrift upon the wilderness waters, a light shell, but +with an explorer's soul. It moved casually along, keeping nearest to the +cliff, the safest place for so frail a structure, hesitating two or +three times at points of rocks, but always making up its mind to go on +once more, and see where this fine but strange river led. + +Luckily it was very dark by the cliff. The shadows fell there like black +blankets, and no eye yet rested upon the questing canoe which kept its +way, idly exploring the reaches of the river. Gasna Gaowo, this bark +canoe of red elm, was not large, but it was a noble specimen of its +kind, a forest product of Onondaga patience and skill. On either side +near the prow was painted in scarlet a great eagle's eye, and now the +two large red eyes of the canoe gazed ahead into the darkness, seeking +to pierce the unknown. + +The canoe went on with a gentle, rocking motion made by the current, +strayed now and then a little way from the cliff, but always came back +to it. The pair of great red eyes stared at the cliff so close and at +the other cliff farther away and at the middle of the stream, which was +now tranquil and unruffled by the wreckage of the forest blown into the +water by the storm. The canoe also looked into one or two little coves, +and seeing nothing there but the river edge bubbling against the stone, +went on, came to a curve, rounded it in an easy, sauntering but skillful +fashion, and entered a straight reach of the stream. + +So far the canoe was having a lone and untroubled journey. The river +widening now and flowing between descending banks was wholly its own, +but clinging to the habit it had formed when it started it still hung to +the western bank. The night grew more and more favorable to the +undiscovered voyage it wished to make. Masses of clouds gathered and +hovered over that particular river, as if they had some especial object +in doing so, and they made the night so dark that the red eyes of the +canoe, great in size though they were, could see but a little way down +the stream. Yet it kept on boldly and there was a purpose in its course. +Often it seemed to be on the point of recklessly running against the +rocky shore, but always it sheered off in time, and though its advance +was apparently casual it was moving down the stream at a great rate. + +The canoe had gone fully four hundred yards when an Abenaki warrior on +the far side of the river caught a glimpse of a shadow moving in the +shadow of the bank, and a sustained gaze soon showed to him that it was +a canoe, and, in his opinion, a derelict, washed by the flood from some +camp a long distance up the stream. He watched it for a little while, +and was then confirmed in his opinion by its motion as it floated lazily +with the current. + +The darkness was not too great to keep the Abenaki from seeing that it +was a good canoe, a fine shell of Iroquois make, and canoes were +valuable. He had not been able to secure any scalp, which was a sad +disappointment, and now Manitou had sent this stray craft to him as a +consolation prize. He was not one to decline the gifts of the gods, and +he ran along the edge of the cliff until he came to a low point well +ahead of the canoe. Then he put his rifle on the ground, dropped lightly +into the stream, and swam with swift sure strokes for the derelict. + +As the warrior approached he saw that his opinion of the canoe was more +than justified. It had been made with uncommon skill and he admired its +strong, graceful lines. It was not often that such a valuable prize came +to a man and asked to be taken. He reached it and put one hand upon the +side. Then a heavy fist stretched entirely over the canoe and struck him +such a mighty blow upon the jaw that he sank senseless, and when he +revived two minutes later on a low bank where the current had cast him, +he did not know what had happened to him. + +Meanwhile the uncaptured canoe sailed on in lonely majesty down the +stream. + +"That was a shrewd blow of yours, Dave," said Robert. "You struck fairly +upon his jaw bone." + +"It's not often that I fight an Indian with my fists, and the chance +having come I made the most of it," said the hunter. "He may have been a +sentinel set to watch for just such an attempt as we are making, but +it's likely they thought if we made a dash for it we'd be in the canoe." + +"It was great wisdom for us to swim," said Tayoga. "Another sentinel +seeing the canoe may also think it was washed away somewhere and is +merely floating on the waters. I can see a heap of underbrush that has +gathered against a projecting point, and the current would naturally +bring the canoe into it. Suppose we let it rest there until it seems to +work free by the action of the water, and then go on down the river." + +"It's a good idea, Tayoga, but it's a pretty severe test to remain under +fire, so to speak, in order to deceive your enemy, when the road is open +for you to run away." + +"But we can do it, all three of us," said Tayoga, confidently. + +A spit of high ground projected into the river and in the course of time +enough driftwood brought by the stream and lodged there had made a raft +of considerable width and depth, against which the canoe in its +wandering course lodged. But it was evident that its stay in such a port +would be but temporary, as the current continually pushed and sucked at +it, and the light craft quivered and swayed continually under the action +of the current. + +The three behind the canoe thrust themselves back into the mass of +vegetation, reckless of scratches, and were hidden completely for the +time. Since he was no longer kept warm by the act of swimming Robert +felt the chill of the water entering his bones. His physical desire to +shiver he controlled by a powerful effort of the will, and, standing on +the bottom with his head among the boughs, he remained quiet. + +None of the three spoke and in a few minutes a warrior on the other side +of the stream, watching in the bushes, saw the dim outline of the canoe +in the darkness. He came to the edge of the water and looked at it +attentively. It was apparent to him, as it had been to the other savage, +that it was a stray canoe, and valuable, a fine prize for the taking. +But he was less impulsive than the first man had been and at that point +the river spread out to a much greater width. He did not know that his +comrade was lying on the bank farther up in a half stunned condition, +but he was naturally cautious and he stared at the canoe a long time. +He saw that the action of the current would eventually work it loose +from the raft, but he believed it would yet hang there for at least ten +minutes. So he would have time to go back to his nearest comrade and +return with him. Then one could enter the water and salvage the canoe, +while the other stayed on the bank and watched. Having reached this wise +conclusion he disappeared in the woods, seeking the second Indian, but +before the two could come together the canoe had worked loose and was +gone. + +The three hidden in the bushes had watched the Indian as well as the +dusk would permit and they read his mind. They knew that when he turned +away he had gone for help and they knew equally well that it was time +for the full power of the current to take effect. + +"Shove it off, Tayoga," whispered Willet, "and I think we'd better help +along with some strokes of our own." + +"It is so," said Tayoga. + +Now the wandering canoe was suddenly endowed with more life and purpose, +or else the current grew much swifter. After an uneasy stay with the +boughs, it left them quickly, sailed out toward the middle of the +stream, and floated at great speed between banks that were growing high +again. The friendly dark was also an increasing protection to the three +who were steering it. The heavy but rainless clouds continued to gather +over them, and the canoe sped on at accelerated speed in an opaque +atmosphere. A mile farther and Willet suggested that they get into the +canoe and paddle with all their might. The embarkation, a matter of +delicacy and difficulty, was made with success, and then they used the +paddles furiously. + +The canoe, suddenly becoming a live thing, leaped forward in the water, +and sped down the stream, as if it were the leader in a race. Far behind +them rose a sudden war cry, and the three laughed. + +"I suppose they've discovered in some way that we've fled," said Robert. + +"That is so," said Tayoga. + +"And they'll come down the river as fast as they can," said Willet, "but +they'll do no more business with us. I don't want to brag, but you can't +find three better paddlers in the wilderness than we are, and with a +mile start we ought soon to leave behind any number of warriors who have +to run through the woods and follow the windings of the stream." + +"They cannot catch us now," said Tayoga, "and I will tell them so." + +He uttered a war whoop so piercing and fierce that Robert was startled. +It cut the air like the slash of a sword, but it was a long cry, full of +varied meaning. It expressed satisfaction, triumph, a taunt for the foe, +and then it died away in a sinister note like a threat for any who tried +to follow. Willet laughed under his breath. + +"That'll stir 'em, Tayoga," he said. "You put a little dart squarely in +their hearts, and they don't like it. But they can squirm as much as +they please, we're out of their reach now. Hark, they're answering!" + +They heard a cry from the savage who had besieged them, but it was +followed by a long silence. The three paddled with their utmost +strength, the great muscles on their arms rising and falling with their +exertions, and beads of perspiration standing out on their foreheads. + +Hours passed. Mile after mile fell behind them. The darkness began to +thin, and then the air was shot with golden beams from the rising sun. +Willet, heaving an immense sigh of relief, laid his paddle across the +canoe. + +"The danger has passed," he said. "Now we'll land, put on our clothes +and become respectable." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MOHAWK CHIEF + + +The canoe was passing between low shores, and they landed on the left +bank, lifting out of the water the little vessel that had served them so +well, and carrying it to a point some distance in the bushes. There they +sat down beside it a while and drew long, deep and panting breaths. + +"I don't want to repeat that experience soon," said Robert. "I think +every muscle and bone in me is aching." + +"So do mine," said Willet, "but they ache in a good cause, and what's of +more importance just now a successful one too. Having left no trail the +Indians won't be able to follow us, and we can rest here a long time, +which compels me to tell you again to put on your clothes and become +respectable." + +They were quite dry now, and they dressed. They also saw that their arms +and ammunition were in order, and after Willet had scouted the country a +bit, seeing that no human-being was near, they ate breakfast of the deer +meat and felt thankful. + +"The aches are leaving me," said Willet, "and in another half-hour I'll +be the man I was yesterday. Not I'll be a better man. I've been in +danger lots of times and always there's a wonderful feeling of +happiness when I get out of it." + +"That is, risk goes before real rest," said Robert. + +"That's about the way to put it, and escaping as we've just done from a +siege, this dawn is about the finest I've ever seen. Isn't that a big +and glorious sun over there? I suppose it's the same sun I've been +looking at for years, but it seems to me that it has a new and +uncommonly splendid coat of gilding this morning." + +"I think it was put on to celebrate our successful flight," said Robert. +"It's not only a splendid sun, Dave, but it's an uncommonly friendly one +too. I can look it squarely in the eye for just a second and it fairly +beams on me." + +"My brothers are right," said Tayoga gravely. "If it had not been the +will of Manitou for us to escape from the trap that had been set for us +the sun rising newly behind the mountains would not smile upon us." + +"I take that as allegorical," said Robert. "We see with our souls, and +our eyes are merely the mirrors through which we look. Seeing, or at +least the color of it, is a state of mind." + +Tayoga followed him perfectly and nodded. + +"You are getting too deep," interrupted the hunter. "Let's be satisfied +with our escape. Here, each of you take another piece of venison. I'm +glad you still have your bow and arrows, Tayoga, because it won't be +long before we'll have to begin looking for another deer." + +"The woods swarm with game. It will not be difficult to find one," said +Tayoga. + +"But for the present I think we'd better lie close. Of course the chief +danger of attack from those savages has passed, but we're some distance +from Canada, and it's still doubtful ground. Another wandering band may +run upon us and that Ojibway, Tandakora, will never quit hunting us, +until a bullet stops him. He has a terrible attack of the scalp fever. +We want to make good time on our journey, but we mustn't spoil +everything by trying to go too fast." + +"It might be wise for us to remain the entire day in the forest," +replied the Onondaga. "After the great and long trial of our strength +last night, we need much rest. And tonight we can make speed on the +river again. What says Lennox?" + +"I'm for it," replied Robert, "but I suggest that we go deeper into the +forest, taking the canoe with us, and hide our trail. I think I see the +gleam of water to our right and if I'm correct it means a brook, up +which we can walk carrying the canoe with us." + +"A good idea, Robert," said Willet. "Suppose you look first and see if +it's really a brook." + +The lad returned in a moment or two with a verification. The water of +the little stream was clear, but it had a fine sandy bottom on which +footprints were effaced in a few seconds. They waded up it nearly a mile +until they came to stony ground, when they left the brook and walked on +the outcrop or detached stones a considerable distance, passing at last +through dense thickets into a tiny open space. They put the canoe down +in the center of the opening, which was circular, and stretched their +own bodies on the grass close to the bushes, through which they could +see without being seen. + +"That trail is well hidden," said Willet, "or rather it's no trail at +all. It's just about as much trace as a bird leaves, flying through the +air." + +"Do you know where we are, Dave?" asked Robert. + +"We're not so far from the edge of the wilderness. Before long the land +will begin to slope down toward the St. Lawrence. But it's all wild +enough. The French settlements themselves don't go very far back from +the big river. And the St. Lawrence is a mighty stream, Robert. I reckon +there's not another such river on the globe. The Mississippi I suppose +is longer, and carries more volume to the sea, but the St. Lawrence is +full of clear water, Robert, think of that! Most all the other big +rivers of the world, I hear, are muddy and yellow, but the St. Lawrence, +being the overflow of the big lakes, is pure. Sometimes it's blue and +sometimes it's green, according to the sunlight or the lack of it, and +sometimes it's another color, but always it's good, fresh water, flowing +between mighty banks to the sea, the stream getting deeper and deeper +and broader and broader the farther it goes, till beyond Quebec it's +five and then ten miles across, and near the ocean it's nigh as wide as +Erie or Ontario. I'm always betting on the St. Lawrence, Robert. I +haven't been on all the other continents, but I don't believe they can +show anything to beat it." + +"Have you seen much of the big lakes, Dave?" + +"A lot of Erie and Ontario, but not so much of those farther west, +Michigan, Huron and Superior, although they're far bigger and grander. +Nothing like 'em in the lake line in this world. We don't know much +about Superior, but I gather from the Indians that it's nigh to four +hundred miles long, and maybe a hundred and fifty miles across in the +middle. What a power of water! That's not a lake! It's a fresh-water +sea. I've seen Niagara, too, Robert, where the river comes tumbling over +two mighty cliffs, and the foam rises up to the sky, and the rainbow is +always arching over the chasm below. It's a tremendous sight and it +keeps growing on you the longer you look at it. The Indians, who like +myths and allegories, have a fine story about it. They say that Heno, to +whom Manitou gave charge of the thunderbolt, once lived in the great +cave or hollow behind the falls, liking the damp and the eternal roar of +the waters. And Manitou to help him keep a watch over all the +thunderbolts gave him three assistants who have never been named. Now, +the nations of the Hodenosaunee call themselves the grandchildren of +Heno, and when they make invocation to him they call him grandfather. +But they hold that Heno is always under the direction of Hawenneyu, the +Great Spirit, who I take it is the same in their minds as Manitou. The +more you learn of the Indians, and especially of the Hodenosaunee, +Robert, the more you admire the beauty and power of their minds." + +Willet spoke with great earnestness, his own mind through the +experiences of many years being steeped in forest lore and imagery. +Robert, although he knew less of Indian mythology, nevertheless knew +enough to feel for it a great admiration. + +"I studied the myths of the Greeks and Romans at Albany," he said, "and +I don't see that they were very much superior to those of the Indians." + +"Maybe they weren't superior at all," said Willet, "and I don't believe +the Greeks and Romans ever had a country like the one in which we are +roaming. The Book says God made the world in six days, and I think He +must have spent one whole day, and His best day, too, on the country in +here. Think of the St Lawrence, and all the big lakes and middle-sized +lakes and little lakes, and the Hudson and the other splendid rivers, +and the fine mountains east of the Hudson and west of it, and all the +grand valleys, and the great country of the Hodenosaunee, and the +gorgeous green forest running hundreds and hundreds of miles, every way! +I tell you, Robert--and it's no sacrilege either--after He did such a +splendid and well-nigh perfect job He could stop for the night and call +it a good and full day's work. I reckon that nowhere else on the earth's +surface are so many fine and wonderful things crowded into one region." + +He took a deep breath and gazed with responsive eyes at the dim blue +crests of the mountains. + +"It's all that you call it," said Robert, whose soul was filled with the +same love and admiration, "and I'm glad I was born within its limits. +I've noticed, Dave, that the people of old lands think they alone have +love of country. New people may love a new land just as much, and I love +all this country about us, the lakes, and the rivers, and the mountains +and the valleys and the forests." + +He flung out his arms in a wide, embracing gesture, and he, too, took +deep long breaths of the crisp air that came over the clean forest. +Tayoga smiled, and the smile was fathomless. + +"I, Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee, can rejoice more than either of you, +my white friends," he said, "because I and my fathers for ages before me +were born into this wonderful country of which you speak so well, but +not too well, and much of it belongs to the Hodenosaunee. The English +and the French are but of yesterday. Tododaho lighted the first council +fire in the vale of Onondaga many generations before either came across +the sea." + +"It's true, Tayoga," said Willet, "and I don't forget it for a moment. +All of us white people, English, French, Dutch, Germans and all other +breeds, are mere newcomers, and I'm not one ever to deny the rights of +the Hodenosaunee." + +"I know that the Great Bear is always our friend," said the young +Onondaga, "and Lennox too, no less." + +"I am, Tayoga," said Robert fervently. + +The white lad went to sleep by and by, the others to follow in their +turn, and when he woke it was afternoon. About midway of his comrade's +nap Tayoga had gone to sleep also, and now Willet followed him, leaving +Robert alone on guard. + +His eyes could pierce the bushes, and for some distance beyond, and he +saw that no intruder had drawn near. Nor had he expected any. The place +was too remote and well hidden, and the keenest warriors in the world +could not follow a vanished trail. + +He ate two or three strips of the deer meat, walked around the complete +circle of the opening, examining the approaches from every side, and +having satisfied himself once more that no stranger was near, returned +to his place on the grass near his comrades, full of the great peace +that can come only to those of sensitive mind and lofty imagination. His +sleep had rested him thoroughly. The overtaxed muscles were easy again, +and with the vast green forest about him and the dim blue mountains +showing on the horizon, he felt all the keen zest of living. + +He was glad to be there. He was glad to be with Tayoga. He was glad to +be with Willet and he was glad to be going on the important mission +which the three hoped to carry out, according to promise, no matter what +dangers surrounded them, and that there would be many they already had +proof. But, for the present, at least, there was nothing but peace. + +He lay on his back and stared up at the blue sky, in which clouds fleecy +and tiny were drifting. All were going toward the northeast and that way +the course of himself and his comrades lay. If Manitou prospered them, +they would come to the Quebec of the French, which beforetime had been +the Stadacona of old Indian tribes. That name, Quebec, was full of +significance to him. Standing upon its mighty rock, it was another +Gibraltar. It told him of the French power in North America, and he +associated it vaguely with young officers in brilliant uniforms, +powdered ladies, and all the splendor of an Old World court reproduced +in the New World. St. Luc had come from there, and with his handsome +face and figure and his gay and graceful manner he had typified the +Quebec of the chevaliers, which the grave and solid burghers of Albany +regarded with dread and aversion and yet with a strange sort of +attraction. + +He did not deny to himself that he too felt the attraction. An unknown +kinship with Quebec, either in blood or imagination, was calling. He +wondered if he would see St. Luc there, but on reflection he decided +that it was impossible. The mission of the chevalier to the Hodenosaunee +would require a long absence. He might arrive in the vale of Onondaga +and have to wait many days before the fifty sachems should decide to +meet in council and hear him. + +But Robert believed that if St. Luc should appear before the fifty he +would prove to be eloquent, and he would neglect no artifice of word and +manner to make the Hodenosaunee think the French power at Quebec +invincible. He would describe the great deeds of the French officers and +soldiers. He would tell them of that glittering court of Versailles, and +perhaps he would make them think their salvation depended upon an +alliance with France. + +Robert was sorry for the moment that his mission was taking him to +Quebec and not to the vale of Onondaga, where Willet and he--and Tayoga +too--could appear before the sachems as friends true and tested, and +prove to them that the English were their good and natural allies. They +would recall again what Frontenac had done. They would dwell upon the +manner in which he had carried sword and fire among the Six Nations, +then the Five, and they would keep open the old wound that yet rankled. + +It was a passing wish. The Iroquois would remain faithful to their +ancient allies, the English. The blood that Frontenac had shed would be +forever a barrier between the Long House and the Stadacona that was. +Once more Quebec filled his eye, and he gazed into the northeast where +the French capital lay upon its mighty and frowning rock. His curiosity +concerning it increased. He wanted to see what kind of city it was, and +he wanted to see what kind of a man the Marquis Duquesne, the +Governor-General of Canada, was. Well, he would be there before many +days and he would see for himself. He and his comrades already had been +triumphant over a danger so great that nothing could stop them now. He +felt all the elation and certainty that came from a victory over odds. + +He rose, parted the bushes and made another tour of the region about +their covert. When he was at a point about a hundred yards away he +fancied that he heard a sound in a thicket a considerable distance +ahead. Promptly taking shelter behind a large tree, he used both eyes +and ears, watching the thicket closely, and listening for any other +sound that might come. + +He heard nothing else but his keen eyes noted a bush swaying directly +into the teeth of the wind, a movement that could not occur unless +something alive in the thicket caused it. He slid his rifle forward and +still watched. Now the bush shook violently, and an awkward black +figure, shooting out, ran across the open. It was only a bear, and he +was about to resume his circling walk, but second thought told him that +the bear was running as if he ran away from an object of which he was +afraid, and there was nothing in the northern forests except human +beings to scare a bear. + +He settled back in his shelter and resumed his watch in the thicket, +leaving the bear to run where he pleased, which he did, disappearing +with a snort in another thicket. A full ten minutes passed. Robert had +not stirred. He was crouched behind the tree, blending with the grass, +and he held his rifle ready to be fired in an instant, should the need +arise. + +The bush that had moved against the wind had ceased stirring long since, +but now he saw another shaking and it, too, paid no attention to the +laws of nature, defying the wind as the first had done. Robert +concentrated his gaze upon it, thankful that he had not made the black +bear the original cause of things, and presently he saw the feathered +head of an Indian appear among the leaves. It was only a glimpse, he did +not see the body or even the face of the warrior, but it was enough. +Where one warrior was another was likely to be in those northern +marches, the most dangerous kind of neutral ground. + +He began to slide away, keeping the big tree trunk between him and the +thicket, using all the arts of the forest trailer that he had learned by +natural aptitude and long practice. He went back slowly, but the grass +stems moved only a little as he went, and he was confident that he not +only had not been seen, but would not be seen. Yet he scarcely dared to +breathe--until he reached the bushes inclosing the opening in which his +comrades lay. + +He paused a few moments before waking the others and filled his lungs +with air. He was surprised to find that the hands holding his rifle were +damp with perspiration, and he realized then how great the brief strain +had been. Suppose he had not seen the Indian in the bush, and had been +ambushed while on his scouting round! Or suppose he had stayed with his +comrades and had been ambushed there! But neither had happened, and, +taking Willet by the shoulder, he shook him, at the same time whispering +in his ear to make no noise. The hunter, his trained faculties at once +awake and on guard, sat up quietly, and Tayoga, who seemed to awake +instinctively at the same time, also, sat up. + +"What is it, Robert?" whispered Willet. + +"An Indian in the bush about two hundred yards away," replied the youth. +"I merely saw his hair and the feather in it, but it's safe to assume +that he's not the only one." + +"That is so," said Tayoga. "A warrior does not come here alone." + +"It can't be the band we beat off when we were in the hollow," said +Willet confidently. "They must be far south of us, even if they haven't +given up the chase." + +"It is so, Great Bear," said Tayoga. "Was the warrior's head bare, +Lennox, or did he have the headdress, gustoweh, like mine?" + +"I think," replied Robert, "that the feather projected something like +yours, perhaps from a cross-splint." + +"Could you tell from what bird the feather came?" + +"Yes, I saw that much. It was the plume of an eagle." + +Tayoga mused a moment or two. Then he put two fingers to his mouth and +blew between them a mellow, peculiar whistle, much like the notes of a +deep-throated forest bird. He waited half a minute and a reply exactly +similar came. + +"These," said Tayoga, "are our people," and rising and parting the +bushes, he walked, upright and fearless, toward the thicket in which +Robert had seen the warrior. Robert and Willet, influenced by boldness +as people always are, followed him with confidence, their rifles not +thrust forward, but lying in the hollows of their arms. + +A dozen warriors issued from the thicket, at their head a tall man of +middle age, open and noble in countenance and dignified in bearing. + +"These be Mohawks, Ganeagaono, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate," said +Tayoga, "and the sachem Dayohogo, which in English means, At the Forks, +leads them. He is a great man, valiant in battle and wise in council. +His words have great weight when the fifty sachems meet in the vale of +Onondaga to decide the questions of life and death." + +He paused and bent his head respectfully before the man of superior +age, and, as yet, of superior rank. A look of pleasure appeared upon the +face of the Mohawk chief when he saw the young Onondaga. + +"It is Tayoga of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onundagaono +(Onondaga)," he said. + +"It is so, Dayohogo of the clan of the Wolf, of the nation Ganeagaono +(Mohawk)," replied Tayoga. "Thou of the Keepers of the Eastern Gate and +my father, Daatgadose, of the Keepers of the Council Fire, have been +friends since they stood at the knees of their mothers, and we too are +friends, Dayohogo." + +"You speak true words, Tayoga," said the chief, looking with an +appraising eye upon the handsome face and athletic figure of the young +Onondaga. "And the white people with you? One I know to be the Great +Bear who calls himself Willet, but the boy I know not." + +"His name is Lennox, O Dayohogo. He is the true friend of the Great +Bear, of Tayoga and of the Hodenosaunee. He has within the last two +days, standing beside us, fought a valiant battle against the Abenakis, +the Hurons, the St. Regis and warriors of the other savage tribes that +call themselves the allies of Onontio." + +Robert felt the penetrating eye of the Mohawk chief upon him. But the +gaze of the Indian was friendly, and while he felt admiration for Tayoga +he felt equal approval of Lennox. + +"You have fought against odds and you have come away safe," he said. + +"None of us received any hurt," replied Tayoga, modestly, "but we slew +more than one of those who attacked. It was in a gorge of the river far +back, and we escaped in the night, swimming with our canoe. Now we rest +here, and truly, Dayohogo, we are glad to see you and your warriors. The +forest has become safe for us. We have part of a deer left, and we ask +you to share it with us." + +"Gladly," said Dayohogo. "We bring venison and corn meal, and we will +have food together." + +His warriors were stalwart men, armed well, and they had no fear of any +foe, lighting a fire in the open, warming their deer meat and making +bread of their corn meal. The three ate with them, and Robert felt that +they were among friends. The Mohawks not only had Frontenac to remember, +but further back Champlain, the French soldier and explorer, who had +defeated them before they knew the use of firearms. He felt that +Duquesne at Quebec would have great difficulty in overcoming the enmity +of this warlike and powerful red nation, and he resolved to do what he +could to keep them attached to the British cause. It might be only a +little, but a little many times amounted to much. + +Dayohogo and his warriors had been on a scout toward the north to the +very borders of the French settlements, and the chief told the three +that an unusual movement was going on there. Regular soldiers were +expected soon from France. War belts and splendid presents had been sent +to the tribes about the Great Lakes, both to the north and to the south, +and Onontio was addressing messages of uncommon politeness to his +brethren, the valiant Ganeagaono, otherwise the Mohawks, the Keepers of +the Eastern Gate. + +"And do the Mohawk chiefs listen to the words of Onontio?" asked Robert +anxiously. + +Dayohogo did not reply at once. He looked at the green woods. Birds, +blue or gray or brown, were darting here and there in the foliage, and +his eye rested for a moment on a tiny wren. + +"The voice of Onontio is the voice of a bird chattering in a tree," he +said. "In the day of my father's father's father the children of +Onontio, under Champlain, came with guns, which were strange to us, and +with presents they induced the Adirondack warriors to help them. They +came up the great lake which the white people call Champlain, then they +crossed to Ticonderoga, near the outlet of the lake, Saint Sacrement, +and fell upon two hundred warriors of the Ganeagaono, who then knew only +the bow and arrow and the war club, and slew many of them. It was four +generations ago, but we do not forget. Then when my father was a young +warrior Frontenac came with a host of white soldiers and the Canadian +Indians and killed the warriors and laid waste with fire the lands of +the Five Nations, now the Six. Can the Hodenosaunee forget?" + +The chief gloomed into the fire, and his eyes flashed with the memory of +ancient wrongs. + +"Onontio has sent belts to the Ganeagaono also, has he not?" asked +Robert. + +The eyes of the chief flashed again. + +"He has tried to do so," he replied, "but the Ganeagaono are loyal to +their brethren of the Hodenosaunee since Tododahoe first found the +sacred wampum on the shore of the lake, Chautauqua. Our three clans, the +Turtle, the Wolf and the Bear, met in our largest village south of the +river, Ganeagaono (Mohawk), and listened to the bearers of the belts. +Then we sent them back to Onontio, telling them if they wished to be +heard further they must bring the belt to the council of all the sachems +of the Hodenosaunee in the vale of Onondaga." + +"The other nations of the Hodenosaunee," said Tayoga, "have always known +that the Ganeagaono would do no less. The Keepers of the Eastern Gate +have never departed by the width of a single hair from their +obligations." + +Dayohogo turned his gloomy face upon the Onondaga youth, and it was +lighted up suddenly by a smile of appreciation and pleasure. + +"Tayoga of the Onundagaono," he said in measured tones, "you have spoken +well. The Onundagaono, the Keepers of the Council Fire, and the +Ganeagaono, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, be the first tribes of the +Hodenosaunee, and better it be for a warrior of either to burn two days +and two nights in the fire than to violate in the least the ancient +customs and laws of the Hodenosaunee." + +"Before we had the fight with the savage band," said Robert, "we met a +Frenchman, the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc, who was going to the +vale of Onondaga with belts from Onontio. St. Luc is a brave man, a +great orator, and his words will fall, golden and sweet like honey, on +the ears of the fifty chiefs. He will say that Champlain and Frontenac +belonged to an ancient day, that the forests have turned green and then +turned red a hundred and fifty times since Champlain and sixty times +since Frontenac. He will say that what they did was due to a false wind +that blew between the French and the Hodenosaunee, hiding the truth, and +making friends see in the faces of friends the faces of enemies. He will +say that a true wind blows now, and that it has blown away all the +falsehoods. He will say that Onontio is a better friend than Corlear to +the Hodenosaunee, and far more powerful." + +The veteran Mohawk chief looked at young Lennox, and again his gaze was +one of approval, also of comprehension. + +"My young white friend is already a great warrior," he said. "What he +did with Tayoga and the Great Bear proves it, but great as he is he is +even greater in the council. The words of the son of Onontio, St. Luc, +may drip from his lips like honey, but the speech of Lennox is the voice +of the south wind singing among the reeds. Lennox will be a great orator +among his people." + +Robert blushed, and yet his heart was beating at the praise of Dayohogo, +obviously so sincere. He felt with a sudden instinctive rush of +conviction that the Mohawk was telling him the truth. It was an early +and partial display of the liquid and powerful speech, which afterward +gave him renown in New York and far beyond, and which caused people +everywhere to call him the "Golden Mouthed." And he was always eager to +acknowledge that much of its strength came from the lofty thought and +brilliant imagery shown by many of the orators of the nations of the +Hodenosaunee, with whom so much of his youth was spent. + +"I only spoke the thought that was in my mind, Dayohogo," he said +modestly. + +"Wherein is the beginning of great speech," said the sachem sagely. +"When Lennox returns from the journey on which he is now going it would +be fit for him to go to the vale of Onondaga and meet St. Luc in debate +before the fifty sachems." + +Robert's heart leaped again. It was like a call to battle, and now he +knew what his great aim in life should be. He would strive with study +and practice to make himself first in it, but, for the present, he had +other thoughts and purpose. Willet, however, took fire too from the +words of the Mohawk chief. + +"I've noticed before, Robert," he said, "that you had the gift of +tongues, and we'll make a great orator of you. In times such as ours a +man of that kind is needed bad. Maybe what Dayohogo thinks ought to be, +will be, and you will yet oppose St. Luc before the fifty sachems in the +vale of Onondaga." + +"It would be well," said Dayohogo thoughtfully, "because the men at +Albany still give the Hodenosaunee trouble, making a promise seem one +thing when it is given, and another when the time to keep it comes." + +"I know, Dayohogo!" exclaimed Willet, vehemently. "I know how those +sleek traders who are appointed to deal with you cheat you out of your +furs and try to cheat you out of your lands! But be patient a little +longer, you who have been patient so long. Word has come from England +that the King will remove his commissioners, and make Sir William +Johnson his Indian agent for all North America." + +The eyes of Dayohogo and his warriors glistened. + +"Is it true?" he asked. "Is Waraiyageh (Johnson) to be the one who will +talk with us and make the treaties with us?" + +"I know it to be a fact, Dayohogo." + +"Then it is well. We can trust Waraiyageh, and he knows that he can +trust us. Where our trail runs to Kolaneha (Johnstown) on a hill not far +from our tower castle he has built a great house, and I and my brother +chiefs of all the three clans the Wolf, the Bear and the Turtle, have +been there and have received presents from him. He is the friend of the +Ganeagaono, and he knew that he could build a house among us and live +there in peace, with our warriors to guard him." + +The news that Johnson would be the King's Indian agent had an electric +effect upon the Mohawks. Whether he talked English or Iroquois he talked +a language they understood, and his acts were comprehensible by them. He +had their faith and he never lost it. + +Some of the hunters went out, and, the woods being full of game, they +quickly shot another deer. Then the warriors still feeling in their +strength that they had nothing to dread from enemies, built high the +fire, cut up the deer, cooked it and made a great feast. The good +feeling that existed between the Mohawks and the two whites increased. +Robert unconsciously began to exercise his gift of golden speech. He +dwelt upon the coming appointment of Waraiyageh, their best friend, to +deal in behalf of the King with the Hodenosaunee, and he harped +continually upon Champlain and Frontenac. He made them seem to be of +yesterday, instead of long ago. He opened the old wounds the Mohawks had +received at the hands of the French and made them sting and burn again. +He dwelt upon the faith of the English, their respect for the lands of +the Hodenosaunee and the ancient friendship with the Six Nations. He had +forgotten the words of Dayohogo that he would be a great orator, but +five minutes after they were spoken he was justifying them. + +Tayoga and Willet glanced at each other, but remained silent. Young +Lennox was saying enough for all three. Dayohogo did not take his eyes +from the speaker, following all his words, and the warriors, lying on +their elbows, watched him and believed what he said. When he stopped the +chief and all the warriors together uttered a deep exclamation of +approval. + +"You are called Lennox," said Dayohogo, "and after the white custom it +is the only name that you have ever had, but we have a better way. When +a warrior distinguishes himself greatly we give him a new name, which +tells what he has done. Hereafter, Lennox, you will be known to the +Ganeagaono as Dagaeoga, which is the name of a great chief of the clan +of the Turtle, of our nation." + +"I thank you much, Dahoyogo," said Robert, earnestly, knowing that a +high honor was conferred upon him. "I shall try to deserve in some small +way the great name you have conferred upon me." + +"One can but do his best," said the Mohawk gravely. + +But Willet rejoiced openly in the distinction that had been bestowed +upon his young comrade, saying that some day it might be carried out +with formal ceremonies by the Mohawk nation, and was a fact of great +value. To be by adoption a son of any nation of the Hodenosaunee would +be of enormous assistance to him, if he negotiated with the League in +behalf of the English colonists. But to be adopted by both Onondagas and +Mohawks gave him a double power. + +Robert had already been influenced powerfully by Tayoga, the young +Onondaga, and now the words of Dayohogo, the Mohawk, carried that +influence yet further. He understood as few white men did the power of +the Hodenosaunee and how its nations might be a deciding factor in the +coming war between French and English, just as he understood long after +that war was over their enormous weight in the new war between the +Americans and English, and he formed a resolution as firm as tempered +steel that his main effort for many years to come should be devoted to +strengthening the ties that connected the people of New York and the +great League. + +The afternoon went on in pleasant talk. The Indians, among themselves or +with those whom they knew from long experience to be good friends, were +not taciturn. Robert told the Mohawks that they were going to Quebec, +and Dayohogo expressed curiosity. + +"It is the story in our nation, and it is true," he said, "that +generations ago we held the great rock of Stadacona, and that the first +Frenchman, Cartier, who came to Canada, found us there, and drove us +away with firearms, which we had never seen before, and which we did not +know how to meet. It is said also by our old men that we had a town with +palisades around it at Hochelaga (Montreal), but whether it is true or +not I do not know. It may be that it was a town of the Wanedote +(Hurons), our enemies. And yet the Wanedote are of our blood, though far +back in the past we split asunder, and now they take the peace belts of +the French, while we take those of the English." + +"And the capital of the French, which they call Quebec, and which you +call Stadacona, stands on land which really belongs to the Mohawks," +said Robert meaningly. + +Dayohogo made no answer, but gloomed into the fire again. After a while +he said that his warriors and he must depart. They were going toward +Ticonderoga, where the French had built the fort, Carillon, within the +territory of the Mohawks. He had been glad to meet Tayoga, the Great +Bear, and the new young white chief, Dagaeoga, whose speech was like the +flowing of pleasant waters. It was a favoring wind that had brought them +together, because they had enjoyed good talk, and had exchanged wise +counsel with one another. Robert agreed with him in flowery allegory and +took from the canoe where it had been stored among their other goods a +present for the chief--envoys seldom traveled through the Indian +country without some such article for some such occasion. + +It was _gajewa_, a war club, beautifully carved and polished, made of +ironwood about three feet long, and with tufts of brilliant feathers at +either end. Inserted at one end was a deer's horn, about five inches in +length, and as sharp as a razor. While it was called a war club, it was +thus more of a battle ax, and at close range and wielded by a powerful +arm it was a deadly weapon. It had been made at Albany, and in order to +render it more attractive three silver bands had been placed about it at +equal intervals. + +It was at once a weapon and a decoration, and the eyes of Dayohogo +glistened as he received it. + +"I take the gift, Dagaeoga," he said, "and I will not forget." + +Then they exchanged salutations, and the Mohawks disappeared silently in +the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE TWO FRENCHMEN + + +When the three were left alone in the glade the hunter turned to young +Lennox. + +"You've done good work today, Robert," he said. "I didn't know you had +in you the makings of an orator and diplomatist. The governor of New +York did better than he knew when he chose you for one of this mission." + +Robert blushed again at praise and modestly protested. + +"Lennox has found that for which he is best fitted," said Tayoga, slyly. + +"If I'm to talk without end I'll do my best," said Robert, laughing, +"and I suggest that we resume our journey now. There doesn't appear to +be any further danger from the Indians who besieged us." + +"You're right about it, Robert," said the hunter. "The coming of the +Mohawks has put a barrier between us and them. I've an idea that +Dayohogo and his warriors won't go far toward Ticonderoga, but will soon +turn south to meet those savages and acquire a few scalps if they can, +and if they do meet 'em I hope they'll remove that Ojibway, Tandakora, +who I think is likely to make us a lot of trouble." + +Willet never spoke of the Iroquois as "savages," but he often applied +the term to the Canadian and Western Indians. Like Robert, he regarded +those who had built up the great political and military power of the +Hodenosaunee as advanced, and, in a sense, civilized nations. + +"I think my friend, the Great Bear, is right," said Tayoga. "Unless +Tandakora and his band have gone toward the west it is likely that +Dayohogo will meet them, and they cannot stand before the Mohawks." + +"I think it more probable," said Robert, "that after the failure to +destroy us Tandakora went back to St. Luc, giving a false explanation of +his absence or none at all, just as he pleased." + +"It may be so," said Tayoga, "but I have another opinion." + +While they talked they were taking the canoe from its shelter, and then +they bore it down to the river again, putting it back into the stream +and listening with pleasure to the gurgle of the water by its sides. + +"Paddling isn't the easiest work in the world," said Willet with +satisfaction, "but when you're used to it your muscles can stand it a +long time, and it's far ahead of walking. Now, ho for Canada!" + +"Ho for Canada!" said Robert, and the three paddles flashed again in the +clear water. The canoe once more became a live thing and shot down the +stream. They were still in the wilderness, racing between solid banks of +green forest, and they frequently saw deer and bear drinking at the edge +of the river, while the foliage was vivid with color, and musical with +the voices of singing birds. + +Robert had a great elation and he had reason to be satisfied with +himself. They had triumphed over the dangers of the gorge and savage +siege, and he had sowed fruitful seed in the mind of Dayohogo, the +powerful Mohawk chief. He had also come to a realization of himself, +knowing for the first time that he had a great gift which might carry +him far, and which might be of vast service to his people. + +Therefore, the world was magnificent and beautiful. The air of forest +and mountain was keen with life. His lungs expanded, all his faculties +increased in power, and his figure seemed to grow. Swelling confidence +bore him on. He was anxious to reach Quebec and fulfill his mission. +Then he would go back to the vale of Onondaga and match himself against +the clever St. Luc or any other spokesman whom the Marquis Duquesne +might choose to send. + +But his golden dreams were of Quebec, which was a continuous beacon and +lure to him. Despite a life spent chiefly in the woods, which he loved, +he always felt the distant spell of great capitals and a gorgeous +civilization. In the New World Quebec came nearer than any other city to +fulfilling this idea. There the nobles of France, then the most +glittering country in the world, came in silks and laces and with gold +hilted swords by their sides. The young French officers fought with a +jest on their lips, but always with skill and courage, as none knew +better than the British colonials themselves. There was a glow and +glamor about Quebec which the sober English capitals farther south did +not have. It might be the glow and glamor of decay, but people did not +know it then, although they did know that the Frenchman, with his love +of the forest and skill in handling the Indians, was a formidable foe. + +"When do you think we'll reach the St. Lawrence, Dave?" he asked. + +"In two or three days if we're not attacked again," replied the hunter, +"and then we'll get a bigger boat and row down the river to Quebec." + +"Will they let us pass?" + +"Why shouldn't they? There's no war, at least not yet." + +"That battle back there in the gorge may not have been war, but it +looked precisely like it." + +The hunter laughed deep in his throat, and it was a satisfied laugh. + +"It did look like it," he said, "and it was war, red war, but nobody was +responsible for it. The Marquis Duquesne, the Governor General of +Canada, who is Onontio to our Iroquois, will raise his jeweled hand, and +protest that he knew nothing about those Indians, that they were wild +warriors from the west, that none of his good, pious Indians of Canada +could possibly have been among them. And the Intendant, François Bigot, +the most corrupt and ambitious man in North America, will say that they +obtained no rifles, no muskets, no powder, no lead from him or his +agents. Oh, no, these fine French gentlemen will disown the attack upon +us, as they would have disavowed it, just the same, if we had been +killed. I want to warn you, Robert, and you, Tayoga, that when you reach +Quebec you'll breathe an air that's not that of the woods, nor yet of +Albany or New York. It's a bit of old Europe, it's a reproduction on a +small scale of the gorgeous Versailles over there that's eating the +heart out of France. The Canadian Frenchman is a good man, brave and +enduring, as I ought to know, but he's plundered and fooled by those +people who come from France to make fame or quick fortunes here." + +He spoke with earnestness, but not as a hunter. Rather he seemed now to +Robert, despite his forest dress, to be a man of the world, one who +understood cities as well as the wilderness. + +"I don't know all your life, Dave," said young Lennox, "but I'm quite +sure you know a great deal more than you would have people to think. +Sometimes I believe you've been across the great water." + +"Then you believe right, Robert. I never told you in so many words +before, but I've been in Europe. I'll talk to you about it another time, +not now, and I'll choose where and when." + +He spoke so positively that Robert did not pursue the topic, knowing +that if the hunter wished to avoid it he had good reasons. Yet he felt +anew that David Willet, called the Great Bear by the Iroquois, had not +spent his whole life in the woods and that when the time came he could +tell a tale. There was always the fact that Willet spoke excellent +English, so unlike the vernacular of the hunters. + +The afternoon was waning fast. The sun was setting in an ocean of fire +that turned the blue line of the mountains in the east to red. The slope +of the land made the current of the river much swifter, and Robert and +Willet drew in their paddles, leaving the work to Tayoga alone, who sat +in the prow and guided their light craft with occasional strokes, +letting the stream do the rest. + +There was no more expert canoeman than Tayoga in the whole northern +wilderness. A single sweep of his paddle would send the canoe to any +point he wished, and apparently it was made without effort. There was no +shortening of the breath nor any sudden and violent movement of his +figure. It was all as smooth and easy as the flowing of the water +itself. It seemed that Tayoga was doing nothing, and that the canoe once +more was alive, the master of its own course. + +The ocean of fire faded into a sea of gray, and then black night came, +but the canoe sped on in the swift current toward the St. Lawrence. It +was still the wilderness. The green forest on either side of the stream +was unbroken. No smoke from a settler's chimney trailed across the sky. +It was the forest as the Indian had known it for centuries. Robert, +sitting in the center of the canoe, quit dreaming of great cities and +came back to his own time and place. He felt the majesty of all that +surrounded him, but he was not lonely, nor was he oppressed. Instead, +the night, the great forest, the swift river and the gliding canoe +appealed to his sensitive and highly imaginative mind. He was uplifted +and he felt the confidence and elation that contribute so much to +success. + +It was characteristic of the three, so diverse in type, and yet knitted +so closely together in friendship, that they would talk much at times +and at other times have silence long and complete. Now, neither spoke +for at least three hours. Tayoga, in the prow, made occasional strokes +of his paddle, but the current remained swift and the speed of the canoe +was not slackened. The young Onondaga devoted most of his time to +watching. Much wreckage from storms or the suction of flood water often +floated on the surface of these wild rivers, and his keen eyes searched +for trunk or bough or snag. They also scanned at intervals the green +walls speeding by on either side, lest they might pass some camp fire +and not notice it, but finding no lighter note in the darkness he felt +sure that no hostile bands were near. + +About midnight the force of the current began to abate and Robert and +Willet used the paddles. The darkness also thinned. The rainless clouds +drifted away and disclosed a full moon, which turned the dusk of the +water to silver. The stars came out in cluster after cluster and the +skies became a shining blue. The wilderness revealed itself in another +and splendid phase, and Robert saw and admired. + +"How long will we go on, Dave?" The words were his and they were the +first to break the long silence. + +"Until nearly daylight," replied Willet. "Then we can land, take the +canoe into the bushes and rest. What do you say, Tayoga?" + +"It is good," replied the Onondaga. "We are not weary, because the +river, of its own accord, has borne us on its bosom, but we must sleep. +We would not wish to appear heavy of eye and mind before the children of +Onontio." + +"Well spoken, Tayoga," said the hunter. "An Iroquois chief knows that +appearance and dignity count, and you were right to remind us of it. I +think that by the next sunset we'll be meeting French, not the Canadian +French that they call _habitants_, but outposts made up mostly of +officers and soldiers from France. They'll be very curious about us, +naturally so, and since your new friend Dayohogo has announced that you +are a great orator, you can do most of the talking and explaining, +Robert." + +"I'll talk my best," replied young Lennox. "Nobody can do more." + +As agreed, they drew the canoe into the bushes shortly before daylight, +and slept several hours. Then they returned to the river and resumed +their journey. By the middle of the afternoon they saw signs of +habitation, or at least of the presence of human beings. They beheld two +smokes on the right bank, and one on the left, trailing black lines +against the blue of the sky, but they were all far away, and they did +not care to stop and determine their origin. + +Shortly before sunset they saw a camp fire, very close on the eastern +shore, and as they drew near the figures of men in uniform were visible +against the red glow. + +"I think we'd better draw in here," said Robert. "This is undoubtedly an +outpost, and, likely, an officer of some importance is in charge. Ours +is a mission of peace, and we want to placate as many people as we can, +as we go." + +"It is so," said Tayoga, making a sweep or two of the paddle, and +sending the canoe in a diagonal line toward the designated shore. + +Two men in blue uniforms with white facings walked to the edge of the +water and looked at them with curiosity. Robert gave them a gaze as +inquiring as their own, and after the habit of the forest, noted them +carefully. He took them to be French of France. One was about forty +years of age, rather tall, built well, his face browned by forest life. +He had black, piercing eyes and a strong hooked nose. A man of +resolution but cold of heart, Robert said to himself. The other, a +little smaller, and a little younger, was of much the same type. The +uniforms of both were fine and neat, and they bore themselves as +officers of importance. Like St. Luc, they fortified Robert's opinion of +what he was going to find at Quebec. + +Neither of the men spoke until the canoe touched the shore, and its +three occupants sprang out. Then they bowed politely, though Robert +fancied that he saw a trace of irony in their manner, and the elder said +in good English: + +"Good evening, gentlemen." + +"Good evening, Messieurs," said Robert, remembering that he was to be +spokesman. "We are English." + +"I can see readily that two of you are." + +"The third, Tayoga, the son of a great Onondaga chief, is English also +at heart." + +The lips of the Frenchman curled ever so little. Robert saw at once +that he challenged his assertion about Tayoga, but he did not seem to +notice it, as he expected that his comrades and himself would be guests +in the French camp. + +"I have mentioned Tayoga," he said, "but I will introduce him again. He +is of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League +of the Hodenosaunee. I also present Mr. David Willet, a famous scout and +hunter, known to the Indians, and perhaps to some of the French, too, as +the Great Bear. My own name is Robert Lennox, of Albany and New York, +and I have done nothing that is descriptive of me, but I bear important +letters from the Governor of New York to Quebec, to be delivered to the +Marquis Duquesne, the Governor General of Canada." + +"That, young sir, is no slight mission," said the elder man, "and it is +our good fortune to speed you on your way. My friend is the Chevalier +François de Jumonville, one of France's most gallant officers, and I am +Auguste de Courcelles, a colonel by fortune's favor, in the service of +His Majesty, King Louis." + +"I am sure," said Robert, "that it is not chance or the favor of fortune +that has given you such important rank. Your manner and presence are +sufficient assurance to me that you have won your rank with your own +merits." + +De Courcelles laughed a little, but it was a pleased laugh. + +"You have a more graceful tongue than most of the English," he said, +"and I could almost believe you had been at court." + +"No nearer a court than Albany or New York." + +"Then, sir, your credit is all the greater, because you have acquired so +much with so little opportunity." + +Robert bowed formally and Colonel de Courcelles bowed back in the same +manner. + +"The roads from Albany to Quebec are but trails," said de Courcelles, +"but I hope your journey has been easy and pleasant." + +Willet gave Robert a warning glance, and the lad replied: + +"Fairly pleasant. We have met a slight obstacle or two, but it was not +hard to remove them." + +De Courcelles lifted his eyebrows a little. + +"'Tis reported," he said, "that the savages are restless, that your +English governors have been making them presents, and, as they interpret +them, 'tis an inducement for them to take up the tomahawk against our +good Canadians. Oh, don't be offended, Mr. Lennox! I have not said I +believe such tales. Perhaps 'tis but the tongue of scandal wagging in +this way, because it must wag in some way." + +Robert believed much meaning underlay the man's words, and he made rapid +surmises. Was de Courcelles trying to draw him out? Did he know of the +attack made upon them at the hollow beside the river? Did he seek to +forestall by saying the English were corrupting the Indians and sending +them forth with the tomahawk? All these questions passed swiftly in his +mind, but the gift discovered so newly came to his aid. His face +expressed nothing, and smiling a little, he replied: + +"The tongue of scandal, sir, does indeed wag wildly. The Governor of New +York seeks at all times to keep peace among the Indians, and the fact +that I am bearing letters from him to the Marquis Duquesne is proof of +his good intentions." + +"I accept your professions," said de Courcelles, "as I trust you will +accept my own assurances of amity and good faith. Why should we discuss +politics, when we are well met here in the woods? We have a fairly good +camp, and it's at your service. If I may judge by appearances your +journey has been attended by some hardships." + +"You infer correctly," replied Robert, "and we shall be glad indeed to +share your fire and food with you." + +De Courcelles and Jumonville led the way to a large camp fire around +which at least fifty French, Canadians and Indians were seated. All the +French and Canadians were in uniform, and the Canadians, although living +in a colder climate, had become much darker than the parent stock. In +truth, many of them were quite as dark as the Indians. + +These Canadians of the French stock were, for the present, silent men, +and Robert regarded them with the deepest interest. Those who were not +in uniform wore long frock coats of dark gray or dark brown, belted at +the waist with a woolen sash of bright colors, decorated heavily with +beads. Trousers and waistcoats were of the same material as the coats, +but their feet were inclosed in Indian moccasins, also adorned +profusely with beads. They wore long hair in a queue, incased in an +eel-skin, and with their swarthy complexions and high cheek bones they +looked like wild sons of the forest to Robert. Tayoga, the Onondaga, was +to him a more civilized being. All the Canadians were smoking short +pipes, and, while they did not speak, their black eyes, restless with +eager curiosity, inspected the strangers. + +The Indians in de Courcelles' party were of two types, the converted +Indians of Canada, partly in white man's costume, and utterly savage +Indians of the far west, in very little costume at all, one or two of +them wearing only the breech cloth. The looks they bestowed upon Robert +and his comrades were far from friendly, and he wondered if any Ojibway, +a warrior who perhaps owned Tandakora as a chief, was among them. They +were sitting about the fire and none of them spoke. + +"We cannot offer you a banquet," said de Courcelles, "but we can give +you variety, none the less. This portion of His Majesty's territory is a +wilderness, but it provides an abundance of fish and game." + +Robert believed that he had alluded purposely to the territory as "His +Majesty's," and, his mind challenging it instantly, he was about to +reply that in reality it was the northern part of the Province of New +York, but his second and wiser thought caused him to refrain. He would +enter upon no controversy with the older man, especially when he saw +that the latter wished to draw him into one. De Courcelles, seeing that +his lead was not followed, devoted himself to hospitality. + +"We have venison, beaver tail, quail, good light bread and some thin +red wine," he said. "You Americans or English--which shall I call you?" + +"Either," replied Robert, "because we are both." + +"Then English it shall be for the present, because you are under that +flag. I was going to say that you are somewhat hostile to wine, which we +French love, and which we know how to drink in moderation. In some +respects we are a people of more restraint than you are. The slow, cold +English mind starts with an effort, but when it is started it is stopped +with equal difficulty. You either do too little or too much. You lack +the logic and precision of the Frenchman." + +Robert smiled and replied lightly. Having avoided controversy upon one +point, he was of no mind to enter it upon another, and de Courcelles, +not pressing a third attack, entered with Jumonville upon his duties as +host. Both were graceful, easy, assured, and they fulfilled Robert's +conception of French officers, as men of the world who knew courts and +manners. It was a time when courts were more important than they are +today, and they were recognized universally as the chief fountains from +which flowed honor and advancement. + +Robert did not like them as well as St. Luc, but he found a certain +charm in their company. They could talk of things that interested him, +and they exerted themselves, telling indirectly of the glories of Quebec +and alluding now and then to the greater splendors of Paris and +Versailles. It was a time when the French monarchy loomed as the +greatest power in the world. The hollowness and decay of the House of +Bourbon were not yet disclosed, even to the shrewdest observers, and a +spell was cast upon all the civilized nations by the gorgeous and +glittering world of fashion and the world of arms. The influence reached +even into the depths of the vast North American wilderness and was felt +by Robert as he sat beside the camp fire in the savage woods with the +Frenchmen. + +He drank a little of the red wine, but only a very little, and Tayoga +would not touch it at all. Willet took a small leather cup of it, but +declined a second. The food was good, better cooked than it usually was +among the English colonists, where the table was regarded as a +necessity, and in no particular as a rite. Robert, despite his habitual +caution, found his heart warming toward his French hosts. It could not +be possible that the Indians had been set upon his comrades and himself +by the French! The warmth of his heart increased when one of the +Canadians took a violin from a cloth cover and began to play wailing old +airs. Like so many others, Robert was not made melancholy by melancholy +music. Instead, he saw through a pleasing glow and the world grew poetic +and tender. The fire sank and Americans, French, Canadians and Indians +listened with the same silent interest. Presently the violinist played a +livelier tune and the _habitants_ sang to the music: + + "Malbrouck, s'en va t-en guerre + Mironton, mironton, mirontaine; + Malbrouck s'en va t-en guerre + Ne sait quand reviendra." + +Then he left Malbrouck, and it was: + + "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." + +The Canadians sang well, particularly in "The Bridge of Avignon," and +the dying fire, the black woods around them and the sighing wind created +an effect that no stage scenery could ever have given it. When the last +note melted with the wind de Courcelles sighed a little and stared into +the sinking fire. + +"It is a fair country, sweet France," he said; "I myself have stood upon +the bridge of Avignon, and I have watched the pretty girls. It may be +that I have had a kiss or two, but all that is far away now. This is a +bolder country than France, Mr. Lennox, larger, more majestic, but it is +wild and savage, and will be so for many years to come. Nor can the +rules that apply to old and civilized Europe apply here, where the deeds +of men, like the land, are wilder, too." + +Robert was conscious of some meaning in his words, perhaps a trace of +apology for a deed that he had done or would do, but in the mind of +young Lennox men's standards should be the same, whether in the +wilderness of New York and Canada or in the open fields of France and +England. De Courcelles, thoughtful for a moment, turned suddenly to the +man with the violin and cried: + +"Play! Play again!" + +The man played quaint old airs, folk songs that had been brought from +Normandy and Brittany, and the _habitants_ sang them in low voices or +rather hummed them in the subdued manner that seemed fitting to the +night, since the black shadows were creeping up closer, leaving only the +fire, as a core of light with the dusky figures around it. During all +the talk the Indians had been silent. They had eaten their food and +remained now, sitting in Turkish fashion, the flickering flames that +played across their faces giving to them a look sinister and menacing to +the last degree. + +The Frenchmen, too, fell silent, as if their courtesy was exhausted and +conversation had become an effort. The last of the old French airs was +finished, and the player put his violin away. Jumonville, who had spoken +but little, threw a fresh stick on the fire and looked at the black wall +of circling forest. + +"I can never get quite used to it," he said. "The wilderness is so +immense, so menacing that when I am in it at night a little shiver will +come now and then. I suppose our remote ancestors who lived in caves +must have had fear at their elbows all their lives." + +"Very likely," said de Courcelles, thoughtfully, staring into the coals. +"It isn't strange that many people have worshiped fire as God. Why +shouldn't they when it brings light in the dark, and lifts up our souls, +when it warms us and makes us feel strong, when it cooks our food and +when in the earlier day it drove away the great wild animals, with +which man was not able to fight on equal terms?" + +"I am not one to undervalue fire," said Robert. + +"Few of us do in the forest. The night grows chill, but two of our good +Canadians will keep the coals alive until morning. And now I suppose you +are weary with your day's travels and wish sleep. I see that you have +blankets of your own or I should offer you some of ours." + +Tayoga had been sitting before the fire, as silent as the Canadian +Indians, his rifle across his knees, his eyes turned toward the blaze. +The glow of the flames fell upon him, disclosing his lofty countenance, +his splendidly molded figure, and his superiority to the other Indians, +who were not of the Hodenosaunee and who to him were, therefore, as much +barbarians as all people who were not Greeks were barbarians to the +ancient Greeks. Not a word of kinship or friendship had passed between +him and them. For him, haughty and uncompromising, they did not exist. +For a long time his deep unfathomable eyes had never turned from the +fire, but now he rose suddenly and said: + +"Someone comes in the forest!" + +De Courcelles looked up in surprise. + +"I hear nothing," he said. + +"Someone comes in the forest!" repeated Tayoga with emphasis. + +De Courcelles glanced at his own Indians. They had not yet moved, but in +a moment or two they too rose to their feet, and then he knew that the +Onondaga was right. Now Robert also heard a moccasined and light +footstep approaching. A darker shadow appeared against the darkness, and +the figure of an Indian, gigantic and sinister, stepped within the +circle of the firelight. + +It was Tandakora, the Ojibway. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +NEW FRANCE + + +The huge and savage warrior had never looked more malignant. His face +and his bare chest were painted with the most hideous devices, and his +eyes, in the single glance that he cast upon Robert and his comrades, +showed full of black and evil passions. Then, as if they were no longer +present, he stalked to the fire, took up some cooked deer meat that lay +beside it, and, sitting down Turkish fashion like the other Indians, +began to eat, not saying a word to the Frenchmen. + +It was the action of a savage of the savages, but Robert, startled at +first by the unexpected appearance of such an enemy, called to his aid +the forest stoicism that he had learned and sat down, calm, outwardly at +least. The initiative was not his now, nor that of his comrades, and he +glanced anxiously at de Courcelles to see how he would take this rude +invasion of his camp. The French colonel looked at Tandakora, then at +Jumonville, and Jumonville looked at him. The two shrugged their +shoulders, and in a flash of intuition he was convinced that they knew +the Ojibway well. + +Whatever anger de Courcelles may have felt at the manners of the savage +he showed none at all. All the tact and forbearance which the French +used with such wonderful effect in their dealings with the North +American Indians were summoned to his aid. He spoke courteously to +Tandakora, but, as his words were in the Ojibway dialect, Robert did not +understand them. The Indian made a guttural reply and continued to gnaw +fiercely at the bone of the deer. De Courcelles still took no offense, +and spoke again, his words smooth and his face smiling. Then Tandakora, +in his deep guttural, spoke rapidly and with heat. When he had finished +de Courcelles turned to his guests, and with a deprecatory gesture, +said: + +"Tandakora's heart burns with wrath. He says that you attacked him and +his party in the forest and have slain some of his warriors." + +"Tandakora lies!" + +It was the Onondaga who spoke. His voice was not raised, but every +syllable was articulated clearly, and the statement came with the impact +of a bullet. The tan of de Courcelles' face could not keep a momentary +flush from breaking through, but he kept his presence of mind. + +"It is easy enough to call a man a liar," he said, "but it is another +thing to prove it." + +"Since when," said Tayoga, haughtily, "has the word of an Ojibway, a +barbarian who knows not the law, been worth more than that of one who is +a member of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee?" + +He spoke in English, which Robert knew the Ojibway understood and which +both Frenchmen spoke fluently. The great hand of Tandakora drifted down +toward the handle of his tomahawk, but Tayoga apparently did not see +him, his fathomless eyes again staring into the fire. Robert looked at +Willet, and he saw the hunter's eye also fall upon the handle of his +tomahawk, a weapon which he knew the Great Bear could hurl with a +swiftness and precision equal to those of any Indian. He understood at +once that Tayoga was protected by the hunter from any sudden movement by +the Ojibway and his great strain relaxed. + +De Courcelles frowned, but his face cleared in an instant. Robert, +watching him now, believed he was not at all averse to a quarrel between +the Onondaga and the Ojibway. + +"It is not a question for me to decide," he replied. "The differences of +the Hodenosaunee and the western tribes are not mine, though His +Majesty, King Louis of France, wishes all his red brethren to dwell +together in peace. Yet I but tell to you, Tayoga, what Tandakora has +told to me. He says that you three attacked him and peaceful warriors +back there in a gorge of the river, and slew some of his comrades." + +"Tandakora lies," repeated Tayoga in calm and measured tones. "It is +true that warriors who were with them fell beneath our bullets, but they +came swimming in the night, seeking to murder us while we slept, and +while there is yet no war between us. An Onondaga or a Mohawk or any +warrior of the Hodenosaunee hates and despises a snake." + +The words, quiet though they were, were fairly filled with concentrated +loathing. The eyes of the huge Ojibway flashed and his clutch on the +handle of his tomahawk tightened convulsively, but the fixed gaze of the +hunter seemed to draw him at that moment. He saw that Willet's eyes were +upon him, that every muscle was attuned and that the tomahawk would leap +from his belt like a flash of lightning, and seeing, Tandakora paused. + +The two Frenchmen looked at Tayoga, at Tandakora and at Willet. Then +they looked at each other, and being acute men with a full experience of +forest life, they understood the silent drama. + +"I don't undertake to pass any judgment here," said de Courcelles, after +a pause. "It is the word of one warrior against another, and I cannot +say which is the better. But since you are going to the Marquis Duquesne +at Quebec, Mr. Lennox, the matter may be laid before him, and it is for +those who make charges to bring proof." + +The words were silky, but Robert saw that they were intended to weave a +net. + +"We are on an official mission from the Governor of the Province of New +York to the Governor General of Canada," he said. "We cannot be tried at +Quebec for an offense that we have never committed, and for our +commission of which you have only the word of a barbarian who twice +tried to murder us." + +The hand of Tandakora on the handle of his tomahawk again made a +convulsive movement, but the gaze of the hunter was fixed upon him with +deadly menace, and another hand equally as powerful and perhaps quicker +than his own was clutched around the handle of another tomahawk. Again +the Ojibway paused and chose the way of peace. + +"Patience, Tandakora," said Jumonville, taking the initiative for the +first time. "If you have suffered wrongs Onontio will avenge them. His +eye sees everything, and he does not forget his children of the western +forests." + +"When we first saw him," said Robert, "he was with the Chevalier Raymond +Louis de St. Luc, who was going with belts from the Marquis Duquesne to +the council of the fifty chiefs in the vale of Onondaga. Now he has come +on another course, and is here far from the vale of Onondaga." + +"We will dismiss the matter," said de Courcelles, who evidently was for +peace also. "Since you and your friends are our guests, Mr. Lennox, we +cannot treat you except as such. Take to your blankets and you rest as +safely with us as if you were sleeping in your own town of Albany." + +Willet removed his hand from the handle of his tomahawk, and, rising to +his full height, stretched himself and yawned. + +"We accept your pledge in the spirit in which it is given, Colonel de +Courcelles," he said, "and being worn from a long day and long toil I, +for one, shall find sweet slumber here on the leaves with a kindly sky +above me." + +"Then, sir, I bid you a happy good night," said Colonel de Courcelles. + +Without further ado the three folded their blankets them and fell asleep +on the leaves. + +Robert, before closing his eyes, had felt assured that no harm would +befall them while they were in the camp of de Courcelles, knowing that +the French colonel could not permit any attack in his own camp upon +those who bore an important message from the Governor of New York to the +Governor General of Canada. Hence his heart was light as he was wafted +away to the land of slumber, and it was light again when he awoke the +next morning at the first rays of dawn. + +Tayoga and Willet still slept, and he knew that they shared his +confidence, else these wary rovers of the woods would have been watching +rather than sleeping. Jumonville also was still rolled in his blankets, +but de Courcelles was up, fully dressed, and alert. Several of the +Canadians and Indians were building a fire. Robert's questing eye sought +at once for the Ojibway, but he was gone, and the youth was not +surprised. His departure in the night was a relief to everybody, even to +the French, and Robert felt that an evil influence was removed. The air +that for a space the night before had been poisonous to the lungs was +now pure and bracing. He took deep breaths, and his eyes sparkled as he +looked at the vast green forest curving about them. Once more he felt to +the full the beauty and majesty of the wilderness. Habit and use could +never dull it for him. + +De Courcelles turned upon him a frank and appreciative eye. Robert saw +that he intended to be pleasant, even genial that morning, having no +reason for not showing his better side, and the lad, who was learning +not only to fence and parry with words, but also to take an +intellectual pleasure in their use, was willing to meet him half way. + +"I see, Mr. Lennox," said de Courcelles gayly, "that you are in a fine +humor this morning. Your experience with the Ojibway has left no ill +results. He departed in the night. One can never tell what strange ideas +these savages will take into their heads." + +"I have forgotten it," said Robert lightly. "I knew that a French +gentleman could not take the word of a wild Ojibway against ours." + +De Courcelles gave him a sharp glance, but the youth's face was a mask. + +"At least," he said, "the matter is not one of which I could dispose. +Nor can any government take note of everything that passes in a vast +wilderness. I, too, shall forget it. Nor is it likely that it will ever +be taken before the Marquis Duquesne. Come, our breakfast will soon be +ready and your comrades are awakening." + +Robert walked down to a small brook, bathed his face, and returned to +find the food ready. He did not wholly trust either de Courcelles or +Jumonville, but their manners were good, and it was quite evident that +they no longer wished to interfere with the progress of the mission. +Tayoga and Willet also seemed to have forgotten the episode of the night +before, and asked no questions about Tandakora. After breakfast, the +three put their canoe back in the river, and thanking their hosts for +the courtesy of a night in their camp, shot out into the stream. De +Courcelles and Jumonville, standing on the bank, waved them farewell, +and they held their paddles aloft a moment or two in salute. Then a bend +shut them from view. + +"I don't trust them," said Robert, after a long silence. "This is our +soil, but they march over it and calmly assume that it's their own." + +"King George claims it, and King Louis claims it, too," said Willet in a +whimsical tone, "but I'm thinking it belongs to neither. The ownership, +I dare say, will not be decided for many a year. Now, Tayoga, what do +you think has become of that demon, Tandakora?" + +The Onondaga looked at the walls of foliage on either side of the stream +before answering. + +"One cannot tell," he said in his precise language of the schools. "The +mind of the Ojibway is a fitful thing, but always it is wild and +lawless. He longs, night and day, for scalps, and he covets ours most. +It is because we have defeated the attempts he has made already." + +"Do you think he has gone ahead with the intention of ambushing us? +Would he dare?" + +"Yes, he would dare. If he were to succeed he would have little to fear. +A bullet in one of our hearts, fired from cover on the bank, and then +the wilderness would swallow him up and hide him from pursuit. He could +go to the country around the last and greatest of the lakes, where only +the white trapper or explorer has been." + +"It gives me a tremendously uncomfortable feeling, Tayoga, to think that +bloodthirsty wretch may be waiting for a shot at us. How are we to +guard against him?" + +"We must go fast and watch as we go. Our eyes are keen, and we may see +him moving among the trees. The Ojibway is no marksman, and unless we +sit still it is not likely that he can hit us." + +Tayoga spoke very calmly, but his words set Robert's heart to beating, +understanding what an advantage Tandakora had if he sought to lie in +ambush. He knew that the soul of the Ojibway was full of malice and that +his craving for scalps was as strong as the Onondaga had said it was. +Had it been anyone else he would not follow them, but Robert foresaw in +Tandakora a bitter and persistent enemy. Both he and Willet, feeling the +wisdom of Tayoga's advice, began to paddle faster. But the hunter +presently slowed down a little. + +"No use to take so much out of ourselves now that we'll just creep along +later on," he said. + +"The temptation to go fast is very strong," said Robert. "You feel then +that you're really dodging bullets." + +Tayoga was looking far ahead toward a point where the stream became much +narrower and both banks were densely wooded, as usual. + +"If Tandakora really means to ambush us," he said, "he will be there, +because it offers the best opportunity, and it is a place that the heart +of a murderer would love. Suppose that Dagaeoga and I paddle, and that +the Great Bear rests with his rifle across his knees ready to fire at +the first flash. We know what a wonderful marksman the Great Bear is, +and it may be Tandakora who will fall." + +"The plan, like most of yours, is good, Tayoga," said Willet. "The Lord +has given me some skill with the rifle, and I have improved it with +diligent practice. I think I can watch both sides of the stream pretty +well, and if the Ojibway fires I can fire back at the flash. We'll rely +upon our speed to make his bullet miss, and anyway we must take the +chance. You lads needn't exert yourselves until we come to the narrow +part of the stream. Then use the paddles for your lives." + +Robert found it hard to be slow, but his will took command of his +muscles and he imitated the long easy strokes of Tayoga. As the current +helped much, their speed was considerable, nevertheless. The river +flowed, a silver torrent, in the clear light of the morning, a fish +leaping up now and then in the waters so seldom stirred by any strange +presence. The whole scene was saturated with the beauty and the majesty +of the wilderness, and to the eye that did not know it suggested only +peace. But Robert often lifted his gaze from the paddle and the river to +search the green thickets on either side. They were only casual glances, +Willet being at once their sentinel and guard. + +The great hunter was never more keenly alert. His thick, powerful figure +was poised evenly in the canoe, and the long-barreled rifle lay in the +hollow of his arm, his hand on the lock and his finger on the trigger. +Eyes, trained by many years in the forest, searched continually among +the trees for a figure that did not belong there, and, at the same +time, he listened for the sound of any movement not natural to the +wilderness. He felt his full responsibility as the rifleman of the fleet +of one canoe, and he accepted it. + +"Lads," he said, "we're approaching the narrowest part of the river. It +runs straight, I can see a full mile ahead, and for all that distance +it's not more than thirty yards from shore to shore. Now use the +strength that you've been saving, and send the canoe forward like an +arrow. Those are grand strokes, Tayoga! And yours too, Robert! Now, our +speed is increasing! We fairly fly! Good lads! I knew you were both +wonderful with the paddle, but I did not know you were such marvels! +Never mind the woods, Robert, I'm watching 'em! Faster! A little faster, +if you can! I think I see something moving in a thicket on our right! +Bang, there goes his rifle! Just as I expected, his bullet hit the water +twenty feet from us! And bang goes my own rifle! How do you like that, +my good friend Tandakora?" + +"Did you make an end of him?" asked Robert breathlessly. + +"No," replied the hunter, although his tone was one of satisfaction. "I +had to shoot when I saw the flash of his rifle, and I had only a glimpse +of him. But I saw enough to know that my bullet took him in the +shoulder. His rifle fell from his hand, and then he dropped down in the +underbrush, thinking one of you might snatch up a weapon and fire. No, I +didn't make an end of him, Robert, but I did make an end of his warfare +upon us for a while. That bullet must have gone clean through his +shoulder, and for the present at least he'll have to quit scalp hunting. +But how he must hate us!" + +"Let him hate," said Robert. "I don't care how much his hate increases, +so long as he can't lie in ambush for us. It's pretty oppressive to have +an invisible death lurking around you, unable to fend it off, and never +knowing when or where it will strike." + +"But we did fend it off," said the big hunter, as he reloaded the rifle +of which he had made such good use. "And now I can see the stream +widening ahead of us, with natural meadows on either side, where no +enemy can lay an ambush. Easy now, lads! The danger has passed. That +fiend is lying in the thicket binding up his wounded shoulder as best he +can, and tomorrow we'll be in Canada. Draw in your paddles, and I'll +take mine. You're entitled to a rest. You couldn't have done better if +you had been in a race, and, after all, it was a race for life." + +Robert lifted his paddle and watched the silver bubbles fall from it +into the stream. Then he sank back in his seat, relaxing after his great +effort, his breath coming at first in painful gasps, but gradually +becoming long and easy. + +"I'm glad we'll be in Canada tomorrow, Dave," he said, "because the +journey has surely been most difficult." + +"Pretty thick with dangers, that's true," laughed the hunter, "but we've +run past most of 'em. The rest of the day will be easy, safe and +pleasant." + +His prediction came true, their journey on the river continuing without +interruption. Two or three times they saw distant smoke rising above the +forest, but they judged that it came from the camp fires of hunters, and +they paid no further attention to it. That night they took the canoe +from the river once more, carrying it into the woods and sleeping beside +it, and the next day they entered the mighty St. Lawrence. + +"This is Canada," said Willet. "Farther west we claim that our territory +comes to the river and that we have a share in it. But here it's surely +French by right of long occupation. We can reach Montreal by night, +where we'll get a bigger boat, and then we'll go on to Quebec. It's a +fine river, isn't it, Robert?" + +"So it is," replied Robert, looking at the vast sheet of water, blue +then under a perfectly blue sky, flowing in a mighty mass toward the +sea. Tayoga's eyes sparkled also. The young warrior could feel to the +full the splendors of the great forests, rivers and lakes of his native +land. + +"I too shall be glad to see Stadacona," he said, "the mighty rock that +once belonged to a nation of the Hodenosaunee, the Mohawks, the Keepers +of the Eastern Gate." + +"It is the French who have pressed upon you and who have driven you from +some of your old homes, but it is the English who have respected all +your rights," said Robert, not wishing Tayoga to forget who were the +friends of the Hodenosaunee. + +"It is so," said the Onondaga. + +Taking full advantage of the current, and sparing the paddles as much as +they could, they went down the stream, which was not bare of life. They +saw two great canoes, each containing a dozen Indians, who looked +curiously at them, but who showed no hostility. + +"It's likely they take us for French," said Willet. "Of what tribe are +these men, Tayoga?" + +"I cannot tell precisely," replied the Onondaga, "but they belong to the +wild tribes that live in the regions north of the Great Lakes. They +bring furs either to Montreal or Quebec, and they will carry back +blankets and beads and guns and ammunition. Above the Great Lakes and +running on, no man knows how far, are many other vast lakes. It is said +that some in the distant north are as large as Erie or Ontario or +larger, but I cannot vouch for it, as we warriors of the Hodenosaunee +have never been there, hearing the tales from warriors of other tribes +that have come down to trade." + +"It's true, Tayoga," said Willet. "I've roamed north of the Great Lakes +myself, and I've met Indians of the tribes called Cree and Assiniboine, +and they've told me about those lakes, worlds and worlds of 'em, and +some of 'em so big that you can paddle days without reaching the end. I +suppose there are chains and chains of lakes running up and down a +hollow in the middle of this continent of ours, though it's only a guess +of mine about the middle. Nobody knows how far it is across from sea to +sea." + +"We better go in closer to the shore," said Tayoga. "A wind is coming +and on so big a river big waves will rise." + +"That's so, Tayoga," said Willet. "A little bark canoe like ours wasn't +made to fight with billows." + +They paddled near to the southern shore, and, being protected by the +high banks, the chief force of the wind passed over their heads. In the +center of the stream the water rose in long combers like those of the +sea, and a distant boat with oarsmen rocked violently. + +"Hugging the land will be good for us until the wind passes," said +Willet. "Suppose we draw in among those bushes growing in the edge of +the water and stop entirely." + +"A good idea," said Robert, who did not relish a swamping of the canoe +in the cold St. Lawrence. + +A few strokes of the paddle and they were in the haven, but the three +still watched the distant boat, which seemed to be of large size, and +which still kept in the middle of the stream. + +"It has a mast and can carry a sail when it wishes," said Willet, after +a long examination. + +"French officers are in it," said Tayoga. + +"I believe you are right, boy. I think I caught the glitter of a +uniform." + +"And the boat has steered about and is coming this way, Great Bear. The +French officers no doubt have the glasses that magnify, and, having seen +us, are coming to discover what we are." + +"Correct again, Tayoga. They've turned their prow toward us, and, as we +don't want to have even the appearance of hiding, I think we'd better +paddle out of the bushes and make way slowly again close to the shore." + +A few sweeps of the paddle and the canoe was proceeding once more down +the St. Lawrence, keeping in comparatively quiet waters near the +southern side. The large boat was approaching them fast, but they +pretended not to have seen it. + +"Probably it comes from Hochelaga," said Tayoga. + +"And your Hochelaga, which is the French Montreal, was Iroquois once, +also," said Robert. + +"Our fathers and grandfathers are not sure," replied Tayoga. "Cartier +found there a great village surrounded by a palisade, and many of our +people think that a nation of the Hodenosaunee, perhaps the Mohawks, +lived in it, but other of our old men say it was a Huron town. It is +certain though that the Hodenosaunee lived at Stadacona." + +"In any event, most of this country was yours or races kindred to yours +owned it. So, Tayoga, you are traveling on lands and waters that once +belonged to your people. But we're right in believing that boat has come +to spy us out. I can see an officer standing up and watching us with +glasses." + +"Let 'em come," said Willet. "There's no war--at least, not yet--and +there's plenty of water in the St. Lawrence for all the canoes, boats +and ships that England and France have." + +"If they hail us," said Robert, "and demand, as they probably will, what +we're about, I shall tell them that we're going to the Marquis Duquesne +at Quebec and show our credentials." + +The large boat rapidly came nearer, and as men on board furled the sail +others at the oars drew it alongside the little canoe, which seemed a +mere cork on the waves of the mighty St. Lawrence. But Robert, Tayoga +and Willet paddled calmly on, as if boats, barges and ships were +everyday matters to them, and were not to be noticed unduly. A tall +young man standing up in the boat hailed them in French and then in +English. Robert, watching out of the corner of his eye, saw that he was +fair, like so many of the northern French, that he was dressed in a +uniform of white with violet facings, and that his hat was black and +three-cornered. He learned afterward that it was the uniform of a +battalion of Languedoc. He saw also that the boat carried sixteen men, +all except the oarsmen being in uniform. + +"Who are you?" demanded the officer imperiously. + +Robert, to whom the others conceded the position of spokesman, had +decided already that his course should be one of apparent indifference. + +"Travelers," he replied briefly, and the three bent to their paddles. + +"What travelers are you and where are you going?" demanded the officer, +in the same imperious manner. + +The wash of the heavy boat made the frail canoe rock perilously, but its +three occupants appeared not to notice it. Using wonderful skill, they +always brought it back to the true level and maintained a steady course +ahead. On board the larger boat the oarsmen, rowing hard, kept near, and +for the third time the officer demanded: + +"Who are you? I represent the authority of His Majesty, King Louis of +France, upon this river, and unless you answer explicitly I shall order +my men to run you down." + +"But we are messengers," said Robert calmly. "We bear letters of great +importance to the Marquis Duquesne at Quebec. If you sink us it's likely +the letters will go down with us." + +"It's another matter if you are on such a mission, but I must demand +once more your names." + +"The highest in rank among us is the young chief, or coming chief, +Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee. Next comes David Willet, a famous hunter and +scout, well known throughout the provinces of New York and Massachusetts +and even in Canada, and often called by his friends, the Iroquois, the +Great Bear. As for me, I am Robert Lennox, of Albany and sometimes of +New York, without rank or office." + +The officer abated his haughty manner. The answer seemed to please him. + +"That surely is explicit enough," he said. "I am Louis de Galisonnière, +a captain of the battalion Languedoc, stationed for the present at +Montreal and charged with the duty of watching the river for all +doubtful characters, in which class I was compelled to put the three of +you, if you gave no explanations." + +"Galisonnière! That is a distinguished name. Was there not a Governor +General of Canada who bore it?" + +"A predecessor of the present Governor General, the Marquis Duquesne. It +gives me pride to say that the Count de Galisonnière was my uncle." + +Robert saw that he had found the way to young Galisonnière's good +graces through his family and he added with the utmost sincerity, too: + +"New France has had many a great Governor General, as we of the English +colonies ought to know, from the Sieur de Roberval, through Champlain, +Frontenac, de Beauharnais and on to your uncle, the Count de +Galisonnière." + +Willet and the Onondaga gave Robert approving looks, and the young +Frenchman flushed with pleasure. + +"You have more courtesy and appreciation for us than most of the +Bostonnais," he said. "I would talk further with you, but conversation +is carried on with difficulty under such circumstances. Suppose we run +into the first cove, lift your canoe aboard, and we'll take you to +Montreal, since that's our own port of destination." + +Robert agreed promptly. He wished to make a good impression upon de +Galisonnière, and, since the big boat was now far safer and more +comfortable than the canoe, two ends would be served at the same time. +Willet and the Onondaga also nodded in acquiescence, and a mile or two +farther on they and the canoe too went aboard de Galisonnière's stout +craft. Then the sail was set again, they steered to the center of the +stream and made speed for Montreal. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +GUESTS OF THE ENEMY + + +Captain Louis de Galisonnière proved to be a genial host, pleased with +his guests, pleased with himself, and pleased with the situation. Brave +and alert, he had also a certain amount of vanity which Robert had +tickled. It was not for nothing that he was a nephew of Count de +Galisonnière, once Governor General of Canada, rank and birth counting +for so much then with the French nation, and it was not for nothing, +either, that he had won his captaincy by valiant and diligent service of +his own. So it afforded him great satisfaction to be hospitable now, and +also to patronize slightly these men from the south, with whom in all +probability New France would be at war before another year had passed. +It was well also to impress the Onondaga, whom his vigilant mind +recognized at once as a youth of station. None knew better than de +Galisonnière the power and importance of the Iroquois, and how they +might tip the scale in a great war between the French and British +colonies. + +His boat, which he proudly called the _Frontenac_, after the early and +great Governor General of Canada, was equipped with supplies needed on +trips between ports on the St. Lawrence. After providing stools for his +guests, he offered them the light wine of France, even as de Courcelles +had done, but Robert and Tayoga declined, although Willet accepted a +glass. + +"We appreciate your courtesy," said Robert, "but we descendants of the +English in America do not take much to wine. I find that my head is much +better without it." + +"The intoxicating drinks of the white men are not good for the red +race," said Tayoga gravely. "The warriors of the Hodenosaunee are able +to fight anything else, but strong liquors take away their brains and +make them like little children who fly into passions over trifles." + +De Galisonnière looked with great interest at the young Onondaga, being +impressed by the dignity of his manner and the soberness of his speech. + +"You speak perfect English," he observed. + +"I learned it in a white man's school at Albany," said Tayoga. "Lennox +was my comrade there, just as he has been in the woods." + +"You will see a much greater town than Albany when you arrive at Quebec. +You will see a noble city, on a noble site, an impregnable fortress, +guarded by the most valiant troops in the world. For its like you would +have to cross the sea to our old land of France." + +"I have heard much of Stadacona, which you call Quebec," said Tayoga, +without any alteration of tone. "Our old men speak often of it, when it +belonged to our brethren, the Ganeagaono, known to you as the Mohawks, +who never sold or ceded it to anybody." + +De Galisonnière's face fell a little, but he recovered himself quickly. + +"That was generations ago," he said, "and time makes many shifts and +changes. There is a flux and efflux of all people, including the white, +like the ceaseless movement of sand upon a beach." + +The Onondaga was silent, but Robert saw that he did not unbend, and de +Galisonnière, feeling that it was unwise to pursue the topic, turned his +attention to the mighty river and its lofty wooded banks. + +"I don't believe there's another river in the world the equal of this +giant French stream of ours," he said. + +"Our noble British river, the Hudson, has much to say for itself," said +Robert. + +"A grand river, in truth. I have seen it, but large and splendid as it +is it lacks the length and size of the St. Lawrence." + +"It is beyond question a noble stream to travel on. One makes greater +speed here and suffers less hardship than in the forest." + +"I am glad that I can take you to Montreal." + +"Your hospitality to us, Captain de Galisonnière, is appreciated. I have +found French officers courteous and ready to share with us all they had. +You are not the first whom we have met on this journey. We encountered +far down in our province of New York the Chevalier Raymond de St. Luc." + +"St. Luc! St. Luc! The very flower of French chivalry! He is a relative +of the famous La Corne de St. Luc, of whom you have doubtless heard, and +at Quebec he is considered a model of all the qualities that make a +soldier and a gentleman." + +"He made a like impression upon me. Farther north we were so fortunate +as to meet more of your countrymen, Colonel de Courcelles and Captain de +Jumonville." + +"I know them both! Brave officers!" said de Galisonnière. + +But he turned away the conversation from the Frenchmen who had gone down +into territory that Robert considered a portion of the Province of New +York, and the lad surmised that, knowing a good deal about the nature of +their errands, he feared lest he might reveal something through chance +allusions. Instead, he talked of the St. Lawrence, Montreal, and the +glories of Quebec to which he hoped he might return soon. He addressed +most of his talk to Robert, but he spoke at times to Willet and Tayoga, +both of whom responded briefly. The wind meanwhile remained strong, and +it was not necessary to use the oars, the large sail carrying them +swiftly toward Montreal. Robert, while talking with de Galisonnière, +watched eagerly the two shores, seeing the smoke rise from the stout log +houses of the Canadians, and once the tall steeple of a church +dominating a little village, and seeming out of all proportion to the +congregation that surrounded it. + +"Yes, the church is very powerful with us," said de Galisonnière, +following his eyes and noting his expression. "It suits our people, +particularly our good Canadian French. Our priests are patriotic, brave, +self-sacrificing, and are a power in our dealings with the Indians." + +"I know it," said Robert. + +At night they reached Montreal, then much inferior in size and +importance to Quebec, the canoe was lifted from the _Frontenac_, and +after many exchanges of courtesies, the three went to an inn. + +"If chance offers," said Robert, "we shall be glad to help you as you +have helped us." + +"One never knows," said de Galisonnière. "You and I need not conceal +from each other that there is much talk of war between England and +France, which, of course, would mean war also between the English and +French colonies. If it comes, and come it will, I think, I trust that no +ill luck will befall you upon the battlefield." + +"And I wish you as well," said Robert, sincerely. + +The canoe was left in trustworthy hands, it being their purpose to sell +it on the morrow and buy a larger boat, and they walked through the +streets of this town of Hochelaga toward their inn. There were other +Indians on the street--French Indians they were called to distinguish +them from those who formed a British alliance--but none could be +compared with Tayoga, arrayed in the full splendor of a coming chief of +the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the League of the +Hodenosaunee. Never had he borne himself more haughtily, never had his +height appeared greater or his presence grander. Robert, looking at him, +felt that if St. Luc was the very flower of French chivalry, this young +comrade of his was to an even greater degree the very spirit and +essence of all that was best in the great League of the Hodenosaunee. + +The Indians--Hurons, Abenakis, St. Regis, Ottawas, and warriors from +farther west--watched Tayoga with fascinated eyes. They knew perfectly +well who the tall youth was, that he belonged to the great Iroquois +league, and they knew, too, in their secret hearts that he had the +superiority which Onondaga, Mohawk and their allied nations claimed. +Hence, while their looks sometimes expressed an unwilling admiration, +they were also charged always with hostility and hate. But Tayoga +apparently took no notice. Once more he was the Greek to whom all outer +peoples were barbarians. + +"I don't think the French can make much progress with him," whispered +Willet to Robert. "As the Indian has no written language, his memory is +long. When we reach Quebec he'll never forget for an instant that it was +once Stadacona, a village of the Mohawks, the Keepers of the Eastern +Gate, and one of the great nations of the Hodenosaunee." + +"No, he will not," said Robert, "and look who is waiting to meet us!" + +Standing before a low house, which was crowded with the goods of a fur +trader, were a half-dozen Indians, wild and savage in looks to the last +degree, and in the center was one whose shoulder was bound tightly with +a great roll of deerskin. In stature he rose far above the other +warriors, and he had a thickness in proportion. The hate that the rest +had shown when they looked upon Tayoga was nothing to his, which was +the very concentrated essence of all malice. + +"Our good friend, Tandakora, despite his wound seems to have arrived +ahead of us," said Willet to Robert. + +"Yes, and he shows very clearly that he would like to give Tayoga to the +torture with himself as torturer, and yet he must know that it was you +who put the bullet through his shoulder." + +"Quite true, Robert, but he resents the Onondaga more than he does us. +We are strangers, aliens to him, and he makes no comparisons with us, +but Tayoga is an Indian like himself, whom he has fought against, and +against whom he has failed. Watch us pass. For Tayoga, Tandakora will +not exist, and it will instill more poison into the heart of the +Ojibway." + +Willet was a good prophet. The Onondaga walked within five feet of the +Ojibway, but he did not show by the slightest sign that he was aware of +the existence of Tandakora. The entire little drama, played by the +children of the forest, was perfectly clear. Tandakora was dirt under +the feet of Tayoga, and Tandakora felt that it was so. His heart burned +within him and a twinge through his shoulder added to his anger. Yet he +was powerless there in Montreal with the French troops about, and he +could merely glare impotently while the three walked by ignoring his +existence. But they did not forget him, and each in his heart resolved +to be on watch against treacherous attack. + +They found on the slope of a high hill the inn to which de Galisonnière +had recommended them, and obtained quarters for the night. Monsieur +Jolivet, the proprietor, had lodged Indians before, great chiefs +treating with the French Government, and he did not think it strange +that Tayoga should come there. In truth, Monsieur Jolivet was a thrifty +man who despised no patronage for which the pay was assured, and since +peace still existed between France and Great Britain he was quite +willing to entertain any number of Bostonnais at his most excellent inn +on the slope of a high hill overlooking the St. Lawrence. Willet had +shown him the color of gold, and from natural ability and long +experience as an innkeeper being a shrewd reader of faces he was sure +that his three unusual guests could be trusted. + +Willet knew Canada better than Robert, and now he acted as spokesman. + +"We will sleep here only one night," he said, "because early tomorrow +morning we take boat for Quebec. We three will occupy one large room. +You have such a room with three beds, have you not?" + +"I have the room," responded Monsieur Jolivet promptly, "and the beds +can be put in it at once. Then all will be arranged quickly by Lizette +and Marie, the maids. Will you permit my man, François, to carry your +weapons to the chamber now?" + +"I think not," replied Willet, giving his rifle an affectionate look. +"I've lived so long with this good old rifle of mine that we hate to be +parted even for an hour. Tayoga and Mr. Lennox are younger than I am, +but they're beginning to feel the same way about their arms. If you +don't mind, Monsieur Jolivet, we'll keep our weapons with us." + +"Ah, I see, sir, that you're a man of sentiment," said Monsieur Jolivet, +laughing and rubbing his hands. "It is well that one can feel it in this +rough world of ours. But will Monsieur see a young officer who has come +from the commandant? Merely a little inquiry about your identity and an +examination of your papers, if you have any. It's according to our +custom, and it's just a formality, nothing more." + +Robert knew that it was far from being a formality, but his comrades and +he had nothing to fear, as their mission was duly accredited and they +carried the letters to the Marquis Duquesne. The young officer, a +Frenchman of Canadian birth, entered presently, and with the courtesy +characteristic of the French race, a trait that Robert liked, asked for +an account of themselves, which was given readily. As usual the effect +of the letters addressed to the Marquis Duquesne was magical, and, as +the officer withdrew, he tendered them all the help he could give for a +speedy and pleasant voyage to Quebec. + +Monsieur Jolivet gave them a supper in his best style. Although a native +of New France he was of Provençal blood, and he had a poetic strain. He +offered to his guests not an excellent inn alone, but a magnificent view +also, of which he made full use. The evening being warm with a soft and +soothing wind, Marie and Lizette set the table in a little garden, in +which early flowers were blooming already, offering delicate colors of +pink and rose and pale blue. The table was spread with a white cloth, +and silver and china were not lacking. The eyes of Robert, who had a +fastidious taste, glistened. + +"Monsieur Jolivet may be our enemy or not," he said, "but I like him. It +is not often that one can dine at such an inn, with such a view of +mountain, forest and magnificent river. In truth, the French do some +things well." + +"They surpass us in the matter of inns," said Willet. "They think more +about it--and take more trouble. I'm sorry we have to quarrel with the +French. They're good people, though they haven't been oversqueamish in +the use of savages against us, and they're really responsible for the +cruelties done by the painted demons." + +He spoke freely of red "savages" before Tayoga, knowing that the young +Onondaga would never think of applying the word to himself. Willet had +shown too often that he considered the people of the Hodenosaunee the +equals of anybody. Then he took their three rifles, laid them together +on the grass by the side of a graveled walk and, looking at the vast +expanse of mountain, forest and river, drew a deep breath. + +"It's not much like fighting for our lives back there in the gorge, is +it, Robert?" he asked. "It's a strange world here in America. We're +lying in a rocky hollow one day, shooting at people who are shooting at +us, and both sides shooting to kill, and two or three days later we're +sitting at an inn in a town, eating off silver and china." + +"It's a quick and pleasant transformation," said Robert, +appreciatively. + +He would have called it supper, but in Montreal it was dinner, and it +was served by Lizette and Marie. There was fish from the St. Lawrence, +chicken, beef, many vegetables, good white bread and coffee, all +prepared in the excellent manner characteristic of Monsieur Jolivet's +famous inn. Tayoga ate abundantly but delicately. He had learned the use +of knife and fork at the school in Albany, and, like Robert, he was +fastidious at the table. + +Monsieur Jolivet, after his manner, gave them much of his own presence. +One must be polite to the Bostonnais at such a time. He discoursed quite +freely of Montreal, and of its advantages as a great trading post with +the Indians, who already brought there vast quantities of furs. It would +become one of the greatest and most brilliant jewels in the French +crown, second perhaps only to Paris. But for the present, the chief +glory of New France could be seen only at Quebec Ah, when the Bostonnais +arrived there they would behold great lords and great ladies! + +The three listened, each interested in his own way. Robert's fancy saw +the silken splendor of a vice-regal court, and, anxious to know the +larger world, he was more glad than ever that he had come upon this +errand, dangerous though it had proved to be. + +They sat a while after the dinner was over, looking down at the town and +the great view beyond, a clear moon and brilliant stars casting a silver +light which illuminated almost like the day. They saw lights gleaming +in houses, and now and then shadowy figures passing. Out in the river a +boat with a mast rocked in the current, and Robert believed it was the +_Frontenac_ of Louis de Galisonnière. + +As the dusk thickened over the great river, the island, the hills and +the forest, Hochelaga seemed very small, and the inn of the excellent +Monsieur Jolivet was just a tiny point of light in all that vast +darkness. It shone, nevertheless, by contrast, and was a little island +of warmth and comfort in the sea of the wilderness. Monsieur Jolivet, +who was deeply interested in the Bostonnais and the proud young +Iroquois, talked freely. Under his light and chattering manner lay great +powers of perception, and he saw that he had guests of quality, each in +his own way. The hunter even was not an ordinary hunter, but, as +Monsieur Jolivet judged, a man of uncommon intellectual power, and also +of education. He would discover as much about them as he could, for his +own personal gratification, because he might give valuable information +to the commandant at Montreal, who was his friend, and because later on +he might speak a useful word or two in the ear of Louis de Galisonnière, +whom he knew well and whose good opinion he valued. + +Robert, who was in a cheerful mood and who wished to exercise his gift +of golden speech, met him half way, and enlarged upon the splendor and +power of Britain, the great kingdom that bestrode the Atlantic, seated +immovable in Europe, and yet spreading through her colonies in America, +increasing and growing mightier all the time. It was soon a test of +eloquence between him and Monsieur Jolivet, in which each was seeking +to obtain from the other an expression of the opinion that swayed his +country. The Onondaga was silent, and the hunter spoke only a word or +two, but each listened intently to the dialogue, which, however earnest +it might be, never went beyond the bounds of good humor. + +"I cannot make you see the truth," said Monsieur Jolivet, at last, +smiling and spreading his hands. "I cannot convince you that France is +the first of nations, the nation of light and learning and humanity, and +yet it is so. And seated here upon the St. Lawrence we shall build up +another France, the New France of America, which will shed light upon +you English or Bostonnais down below, and teach you the grace and beauty +of civilization." + +"We should be willing to learn from any who can teach us," said Robert, +"and such a willingness I claim is a chief merit of us English who are +born in America, or Bostonnais, as you would call us." + +Monsieur Jolivet once more spread out his hands in deprecation. + +"We argue in vain," he said. "But now Lizette comes with the coffee, +which is one of the most glorious triumphs of my inn. Does the young +chief drink coffee?" + +"Yes," replied Robert, "he learned at Albany all the white man's +habits." + +After the coffee they rose from the table and mine host prepared to show +them to their room. The darkness had thickened meanwhile and glimpses of +the river and the hills were faint. The little garden was enclosed by +three walls of darkness, being lighted on the side where it joined the +inn. Yet Robert thought he saw a shifting figure blacker than the +shadows in which it moved. + +Marie and Lizette took away the silver and china and Monsieur Jolivet +went ahead to show them to their room. Then something whistled in the +darkness, and an arrow buried to the head of the barb stood out in the +rear wall of the inn. The three seized their rifles, but the darker +shadow in the shadows was gone. Tayoga broke off the arrow level with +the wall, and threw the shaft into the garden. + +"It was Tandakora," he said, "seeking revenge. But since the arrow has +sped wrong he will not loose another shaft tonight. If it had not been +for his wounded shoulder the arrow might have gone true. It was a +treacherous deed, worthy of the savage Ojibway." + +"I hope the time will come," said Willet, "when I shall send a bullet +not through Tandakora's shoulder, but through his heart. I don't love +the shedding of blood, but the forest will be a better forest without +him. Meanwhile, say nothing, lads. Monsieur Jolivet is coming back, but +don't mention the arrow to him. He may find the head of it later on in +the wall, and then he can wonder about it as much as he pleases." + +Mine host bustled back. The foul and treacherous attempt, the breaking +off of the arrow, and the comment upon it had taken less than a minute, +and, good observer though he was, he noticed nothing unusual in the +appearance of his guests. They carried their rifles in their hands, but +many visitors to Montreal did the same, and as they were beautiful +weapons they might well guard against their loss. + +"Follow me, my Bostonnais," he said lightly. "I have the great room with +three beds for you, and I trust that you have enjoyed the dinner." + +"We have enjoyed it greatly, all of it, Monsieur Jolivet, and especially +the dessert," replied Robert with meaning. + +"Ah, the pastry," said Monsieur Jolivet, clasping his hands. "It is +Marie who made it. It is the gift that she has, and I shall tell her of +your praise." + +But Robert was not thinking of the pastry. It was of the arrow that he +spoke as dessert, although the excellent Monsieur Jolivet was destined +never to know the hidden significance of his words. The room which he +showed them with so much pride was a large apartment worthy of their +praise, having a polished, shining floor of oak, with furs spread here +and there upon it, and a low ceiling crossed with mighty beams also of +oak. Robert looked at the windows, three in number, and he saw with +satisfaction that they had heavy shutters. Monsieur Jolivet's glance +followed his own, and he said: + +"The shutters are for use in the winter, when the great colds come, and +the fierce winds rage. But you, messieurs, who live so much in the +forest, will, of course, prefer to keep them wide open tonight." + +Robert murmured assent, but when Monsieur Jolivet departed, wishing +them a polite good night, he looked at his comrades. + +"We are used to air," said Willet, "and lots of it, but those shutters +will be closed until morning. As Tayoga truly said, he will hardly dare +another arrow, but we mustn't take any risk, however small." + +Tayoga nodded approval, and drawing the shutters close, they fastened +them. Then they undressed and lay down upon their beds, but each +prepared to sleep with his rifle beside him. + +"The catches on those shutters are good and strong," said Willet, "and +Tandakora, even if he should come again, won't try to break them. It +wouldn't suit the purposes of the French for a warrior of a tribe allied +with them to be caught trying to murder English visitors, and, that +being the case, I expect to go to sleep soon and sleep well." + +He was as good as his word. Robert, who blew out the candle, soon heard +his regular breathing. Tayoga, who was used to rooms, the Iroquois +themselves having strong log houses, quickly followed him in slumber, +but young Lennox was not able to compose his nerves for a little while. +He was perhaps more sensitive and imaginative than his comrades, or the +close air may have kept him awake. He could not help feeling that +Tandakora was outside trying the fastenings of the shutters, and at last +rising, he walked on tiptoe and listened at every window in turn. He +heard nothing without but the breathing of the gentle wind, and then, +knowing that it had been only his vivid fancy, he went back to bed and +slept soundly. + +"Wake up, Robert, and breathe this air! After our having been sealed up +in a room all night the breeze is heavenly." + +The shutters were thrown back, and the hunter and Tayoga, fully dressed, +stood by the windows. The air, fresh, life-giving, coming over the great +forests and the mighty river, was pouring into the room in streams, and +Tayoga and Willet were facing it, in order that they might receive it +straight upon their foreheads. Robert joined them, and soon felt as if +he had been created anew and stronger. + +"I'll never again sleep in a room closed tight and hard," said Willet, +"not even to protect my life. I've roamed the free woods for so many +years that I think another such experience would make me choke to +death." + +"I'm not in love with it myself," said Robert, "but it makes the world +outside look all the grander and all the more beautiful." + +At their wish breakfast was served for them by Monsieur Jolivet in the +garden, Willet insisting that for the present he could not stay any +longer in a house. Robert from his seat could see the end of the broken +barb embedded in the wall, but neither mine host nor any of his +assistants had yet noticed it. + +Monsieur Jolivet was pleased that they should have such a brilliant day +to begin their journey to Quebec, and he was telling them where they +could sell their canoe and buy a good boat when Louis de Galisonnière +appeared in the garden and presented them the compliments of the +morning. He looked so trim and so gay that he brought with him a +cheerful breeze, and the three felt the effect of it, although they +wondered at the nature of his errand there. Robert invited him to join +them at breakfast and he accepted their invitation, taking a roll and +butter and a cup of coffee after the French custom which even then +prevailed. + +"I see that you've slept well," he said, "and that the inn of Monsieur +Jolivet is as kind to the Bostonnais as it is to the French and the +Canadians." + +"Its hospitality to us could be no finer if we came from Paris itself, +instead of the Province of New York," said Robert. "Our stay in Canada +has been short, but most interesting." + +Monsieur Jolivet had gone into the inn, and de Galisonnière said: + +"Montreal is a fine town and I would not depreciate it in the presence +of our host, but as I have told you before, our Quebec to which you are +going is the true glory of New France. My knowledge that you're going +there is the reason why I've come here this morning." + +"How is that?" asked Robert + +"Because I received orders last night to depart in the _Frontenac_ for +Quebec, a journey that I undertake with great willingness, since it +takes me where I wish to go. I have also the authority of the commandant +to ask your presence as guests for the voyage on board my vessel. Until +we French and you English actually go to war we might as well be +friends." + +Robert glanced at Tayoga and Willet and they nodded slightly. Then he +replied warmly that they accepted the invitation and would go with much +pleasure in the _Frontenac_. After breakfast they sold the canoe and +embarked presently, having first said goodby to Monsieur Jolivet, who +with his best napkin, waved them farewell. + +Robert was more than pleased at their good luck. The _Frontenac_ offered +them a better passage than any boat they could buy and have to row +perhaps with their own strength. Moreover, they were already on +excellent terms with de Galisonnière, and it would be a good thing for +them to arrive at Quebec in his company. + +A strong wind was blowing, and the _Frontenac_ moved swiftly over the +surface of the great stream which was like liquid green glass that +morning. The three had put their weapons, including Tayoga's bow and +arrows, in the cabin, and they sat on deck with de Galisonnière, who +looked with pride at the magnificent river which was the very artery of +life in the New France of the chevaliers. Robert's own heart throbbed as +he knew that this last stage of their journey would take them to famous +Quebec. + +"If the St. Lawrence didn't freeze over for such a long period," said de +Galisonnière, "this region would become in time the greatest empire in +the world." + +"But isn't that a huge 'if'?" asked Robert, laughing. + +De Galisonnière smiled. + +"It is," he said, "but New France is the chief jewel in the French +crown, nevertheless. In time the vice-regal court at Quebec will rule an +empire greater than that of France itself. Think of the huge lakes, the +great rivers, the illimitable forests, beyond them the plains over which +the buffalo herds roam in millions, and beyond them, so they say, range +on range of mountains and forests without end." + +"I have been thinking of them," said Robert, "but I've been thinking of +them in a British way." + +De Galisonnière laughed again and then grew serious. + +"It's natural," he said, "that you should think of them in a British +way, while I think of them in a French way. I suppose we shall have war, +Mr. Lennox, but doesn't it seem strange that England and France should +fight about American territory, when there's so much of it? Here's a +continent that civilized man cannot occupy for many generations. Both +England and France could be hidden away in its forests, and it would +take explorers to find them, and yet we must fight over a claim to +regions that we cannot occupy." + +Robert decided then that he liked young de Galisonnière very much. Some +such thoughts had been passing through his own mind, and he was glad +that he could talk frankly about the coming war with one who would be on +the other side, one who would be an official but not a personal enemy. +As the _Frontenac_ slid on through the tumbling green current they +talked earnestly. Willet, sitting near, glanced at them occasionally, +but he too had plenty of thoughts of his own, while Tayoga, saying +nothing, gazed at the high green southern shore. This, so the old men +said, had once been the land of the Mohawks, one of the great nations +of the Hodenosaunee, and now the children of Onontio, who had come with +firearms against bows and arrows, spoke of it as theirs since Manitou +first made the land rise from the deep. Tayoga was silent but he had +many thoughts, and they were thoughts that came to him often and stayed +long. + +"De Courcelles and Jumonville, whom you met in the forest," said de +Galisonnière, at length, "arrived in Montreal early last night, and +after a stay of only two or three hours sailed in a schooner for +Quebec." + +"Did you see them at all while they were in Montreal?" asked Robert, who +seemed to detect significance in the young Frenchman's tone. + +"Only for a few moments," replied de Galisonnière, and Robert, judging +that he wished to avoid more talk on the subject, made no further +reference to de Courcelles. But the knowledge that he had gone on ahead +to Quebec troubled him. De Courcelles was not so young and frank as de +Galisonnière, nor did he seem to have the fine soul and chivalric spirit +of St. Luc. Robert felt the three had cause to fear him. + +But the journey down the St. Lawrence continued without serious delay, +although the wind failed now and then and they took to the oars. It was +a voyage full of variety and interest to Robert. He slept that night +with his comrades on the deck of the _Frontenac_, and the next morning +he found a strong wind again blowing. + +In time they approached Quebec, and saw the increasing signs of +population that betokened proximity to what was then in the eyes of +North Americans a great capital. On either shore they saw the manor +houses of the seigneurs, solid stone structures, low, steep of roof and +gabled, with clustering outhouses, and often a stone mill near by. The +churches also increased in numbers, and at one point the _Frontenac_ +stopped and took on a priest, a tall strongly built man of middle years, +with a firm face. De Galisonnière introduced him as Father Philibert +Drouillard, and Robert felt his penetrating gaze upon his face. Then it +shifted to Willet and Tayoga, resting long upon the Onondaga. + +Robert, knowing the great power of the church in Canada, was curious +about Father Drouillard, whom he knew at once to be no ordinary man. His +lean ascetic face seemed to show the spirit that had marked Jogues and +Goupil and those other early priests whom no danger nor Indian torture +could daunt. But he was too polite to ask questions, feeling that time +would bring him all the information he wanted, in which he was right, as +de Galisonnière said later in the day when Father Drouillard was sitting +in the little cabin out of hearing: + +"A man of influence at Quebec. He has no parish, nor seems to wish any, +but he is deep in the councils of the Church. It is known, too, that he +corresponds with Rome, with the Holy Father himself, 'tis said, and +there are men high in office at Quebec who wish that he might be called +from New France back to the old land. François Bigot, the Intendant, +does not love him, nor does anyone of the group about Bigot, neither his +commissary general, Cadet, nor Pean, the Town Mayor of Quebec, nor +Descheneaux, nor the others of that group. It's a gorgeous life that our +own court circle leads at Quebec, and at the great Chateau Bigot, in the +midst of its walks and flowers and gardens. I don't know why I'm telling +you these things, Mr. Lennox! It seems they should be the very last to +say to one's official enemy, but I can't feel that I'm doing anything +wrong when I do tell them to you." + +His bright face was in gloom for a few moments, and Robert, quick in +perception, had a sudden feeling that this brilliant Quebec, enveloped +in so much color and glamour, might not be so sound within as the +English towns to the south, despite their wrangling. But it merely +increased his anxiety to see Quebec. Life would be all the more complex +there. + +The great river spread before them, blue now under a dazzling blue sky, +and the stout _Frontenac_ left a long white trailing wake. A stone +house, larger than usual, showed through the green foliage on the south +bank. Father Drouillard gazed at it, and his face darkened. Presently he +arose and shook his hand towards the house, as if he were delivering a +curse. + +"The chateau that you see belongs to the young Count Jean de Mézy, a +friend of the Intendant, Bigot. Sometimes they come from their revels at +Beaumanoir to the Chateau de Mézy, and continue them there. Now you can +see why Father Drouillard, who sympathizes with our _honnêtes gens_, +delivers his malediction." + +The priest returned to his seat, and averted his face. An hour later the +mighty rock of Quebec rose before them. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +AT THE INN + + +When Quebec came into view Robert stood up and looked long at the great +rock and the town that crowned it, hung on its slopes and nestled at the +foot of the cliffs below. Brilliant sunshine gilded its buildings of +stone and gray wood, and played like burnished gold on the steeples of +its many churches. In the distance the streets leading up the steep +cliffs looked like mere threads, but in the upper town the great public +buildings, the Intendant's Palace, the Cathedral, Notre Dame de la +Victoire, the convents of the Ursuline Nuns and the Recollet Friars, the +Bishop's Palace, and others raised for the glory and might of France, +were plainly visible. + +In more than one place he saw the Bourbon lilies floating and from the +little boat on which he stood in the stream it looked like a grim and +impregnable fortress of the Old World. The wonderful glow of the air, +and the vast river flowing at its feet, magnified and colored +everything. It was a city ten times its real size and the distance +turned gray wood to gray stone. Everything was solid, immovable, and it +seemed fit to defy the world. + +Robert felt a catch in his breath. He had often seen Quebec, great and +beautiful, in his dreams, but the reality was equal to it and more. To +the American of that day Quebec was one of the vital facts of life. From +that fortress issued the daring young French soldiers of fortune who led +the forays against New York and New England. It was the seat of the +power that threatened them continually. Many of the Bostonnais, seized +in their fields, had been brought here as prisoners to be returned home +only after years, or never. From this citadel, too, poured the stream of +arms and presents for the Indians who were to lie in ambush along the +English border, or to make murderous incursions upon the villages. From +it flowed the countless dangers that had threatened the northern +provinces almost continually for a century and a half. The Bostonnais +themselves, mark of the initiative and energy that were to distinguish +them so greatly later on, made a mighty effort against it, and doubtless +would have succeeded, had they been allowed to carry the fight to a +finish. + +No man from New York or New England could look upon it without a +mingling of powerful emotions. It was the Carthage to their Rome. He +admired and yet he wished to conquer. He felt that permanent safety +could never come to the northern border until the Bourbon lilies ceased +to float over the great fortress that looked down on the St. Lawrence. +Robert was not the only one who felt strong emotion. Tayoga stood beside +him, his nostrils expanding and his gaze fierce: + +"Stadacona!" he said under his breath, "Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, +our great brother nation!" + +But the emotion of de Galisonnière was of pleasure only. His eyes +sparkled with joy and admiration. He was delighted to come back to +Quebec, the gay city that he beheld through the eyes of youth and +glowing recollections. He knew the corruption and wickedness of Bigot +and of Cadet and of Pean and of the whole reckless circle about the +Intendant, but Quebec, with its gallant men and its beautiful women; its +manners of an Old World aristocracy and its air of a royal court, had +many pleasures, and why should youth look too far into the future? + +And yet another stood up and looked at Quebec, with emotions all his +own, and unlike those of the three who were so young. Father Drouillard, +tall in his black robe, gazed fixedly at the rock, and raised his hand +in a gesture much like that with which he had cursed the chateau of +Count Jean de Mézy. His eyes were set and stern, but, as the sun fell in +floods of burnished gold on the cathedral and the convents, his accusing +look softened, became sad, then pitying, then hopeful. + +"A wonderful sight, Father Drouillard," said Willet, who stood at his +elbow and who also gazed at Quebec with feelings quite his own. "I've +seen it before, but I can never see it too often." + +"Mr. Willet," said the priest, "you and I are greater in years than +these youths, and perhaps for that reason we can look farther into the +future. Youth fears nothing, but age fears everything. You come to +Quebec now in peace, and I trust that you may never come in war. I can +feel, nay I can see the clouds gathering over our two lands. Why should +we fight? On a continent so vast is there not room enough for all?" + +"Room and to spare," replied the hunter, "but as you say, Father +Drouillard, you and I have lived longer than these youths, and age has +to think. If left to themselves I've no doubt that New France and the +English colonies could make a lasting peace, but the intrigues, the +jealousies and the hates of the courts at London and Paris keep our +forests, four thousand miles away, astir. When the Huron buries his +arrow in the heart of a foe the motive that sent him to the deed may +have had its start in Europe, but the poor savage never knows it." + +The priest sighed, and looked at Willet with an awakened curiosity. + +"I see that you're a man of education," he said, "and that you think. +What you say is true, but the time will come when other minds than those +of vain and jealous courtiers will sway the fortunes of all these vast +regions. I have asked you nothing of your mission in Quebec, Mr. Willet, +but I hope that I will see you again before you return." + +"I hope so too," said the hunter sincerely. + +The _Frontenac_ now drew in to a wharf between the Royal Battery and the +Dauphin's Battery, and Robert was still all eyes for the picturesque +sights that awaited him in the greatest French town of the New World. De +Galisonnière was hailed joyously by young officers and he made joyous +replies. Robert, as they landed, saw anew and in greater detail the +immense strength of Quebec. + +He beheld the line of huge earthworks that Frontenac had built from the +river St. Charles to Cape Diamond, and he saw the massive redoubts lined +with heavy cannon. Now, he wondered at the boldness of the New +Englanders who had assailed the town with so much vigor, and who might +have taken it. + +"I recommend to you," said de Galisonnière, "that you go to the Inn of +the Eagle in the Upper Town. It is kept by Monsieur Berryer, who as a +host is fully equal to Monsieur Jolivet of Montreal, and the merits of +Monsieur Jolivet are not unknown to you." + +"They are not," said Robert heartily, "and we may thank you, Captain de +Galisonnière, for your great courtesy in bringing us from Montreal. We +can only hope for a time in which we shall be able to repay your +kindness." + +After they had slipped some silver pieces to the boatmen and had said +farewell to Captain de Galisonnière, they took their way up a steep +street, a swarthy French-Canadian porter carrying their baggage. Here, +as at Montreal, the most attention was attracted by Tayoga, and, if +possible, the young Onondaga grew more haughty in appearance and manner. +His moccasined feet spurned the ground, and he gazed about with a fierce +and defiant eye. + +Robert knew well what was stirring the spirit of the Onondaga. This was +not the Quebec of the French, it was the Stadacona of the Mohawks, the +great brother nation of the Onondagas, and the French here were but +interlopers and robbers. + +But Robert soon lost thought of Tayoga as he looked at the crowded city, +and its mingling of the splendid and the squalid, its French and +French-Canadians, its soldiers and priests and civilians and Indians, +its great stone houses, and its wooden huts, its young officers in fine +white uniforms and its swarthy _habitants_ in brown homespun. Albany had +its Dutch, and New York had its Dutch, too, and people from many parts +of Europe, but Quebec was different, something altogether new, without a +trace of English or Dutch about it, and, for that reason, it made a +great appeal to his curiosity. + +A light open carriage drawn by two stout ponies passed them at an +amazing pace considering the steepness of the street, and they saw in it +a florid young man in a splendid costume, his powdered hair tied in a +queue. + +"De Mézy," said the priest, who was just behind them. + +Then they knew that it was the young man, the companion of Bigot in his +revels, against whose chateau Father Drouillard had raised his +threatening hands. Now the priest spoke the name with the most intense +scorn and contempt, and Robert, feeling that he might encounter de Mézy +again in this pent-up Quebec, gazed at his vanishing figure with +curiosity. They had their gay blades in New York and Albany and even a +few in Boston of the Puritans, but he had not seen anybody like de Mézy. + +"It is such as he who are pulling down New France," murmured Father +Drouillard. + +A moment or two later the priest said farewell and departed in the +direction of the cathedral. + +"There goes a man," said Willet, as he looked after the tall figure in +the black robe. "I don't share in the feeling of church against church. +I don't see any reason why Protestant should hate Catholic and Catholic +should hate Protestant. I've lived long enough and seen enough to know +that each church holds good men, and unless I make a big mistake, and I +don't think I make any mistake at all, Father Drouillard is not only a +good man, but he has a head full of sense and he's as brave as a lion, +too." + +"Lots of priests are," said Robert. "Nobody ever endured the Indian +tortures better than they. And what's the figure over the doorway, +Dave?" + +"That, Robert, is Le Chien d'Or, The Golden Dog. It's the sign put up by +Nicholas Jaquin, whom they often called Philibert. This is his warehouse +and he was one of the _honnêtes gens_ that we've been talking about. He +fought the corrupt officials, he tried to make lower prices for the +people, and beneath his Golden Dog he wrote:" + + "Je suis un chien qui ronge l'os, + En le rongeant je prends mon repos; + Un jour viendra qui n'est pas venu, + Que je mordrai qui m'aura mordu." + +"That is, some day the dog will bite those who have bitten him?" + +"That's about it, Robert, and I suppose it generally comes true. If you +keep on striking people some of them in time will strike you and strike +you pretty hard." + +"And does Philibert still run his warehouse beneath his sign of the +Golden Dog?" + +"No, Robert. He was too brave, or not cautious enough, and they +assassinated him, but there are plenty of others like him. The French +are a brave and honest people, none braver or more honest. I tell you +so, because I know them, but their government is corrupt through and +through. The House of Bourbon is dying of its own poison. It may seem +strange to you, hearing me say it here in the Western world, so far from +Versailles, but I'm not the only one who says so." + +"But I like Quebec," said Robert. "I haven't seen another city that +speaks to the eye so much." + +They were now well into the Upper Town, and the porter guided them to +the Inn of the Eagle, where Monsieur Paul Berryer, the host, gave them a +welcome, and from whom they learned that the Governor General, the +Marquis Duquesne, was absent in the east, but would return in two or +three days. Robert was not sorry for the delay, as it would give them a +chance to see the city, and perhaps, through de Galisonnière, make +acquaintances among the French officers. + +They were able to secure a large room with three beds, and both Robert +and Willet drew from their small store of baggage suits quite in the +fashion, three-cornered hats, fine coats and waistcoats, knee breeches, +stockings and buckled shoes, and as a last and crowning triumph they +produced handsome small swords or rapiers that they buckled to their +belts. + +"That canoe of ours wasn't large, but it brought a lot in it," said the +hunter. + +Robert surveyed himself in a small glass, and his clothes brought great +pride. A chord in his nature responded to splendor of raiment, and the +surroundings of the great world. Quebec might be corrupt but he could +not hide from himself his immense interest in it. He noticed, too, that +Willet wore his fine costume naturally. + +"It's not the first time that you've been in such clothes, Dave," he +said, "and it's not the first time that you've been in a society like +that which makes its home in Quebec." + +"No, it is not," replied Willet, "and some time, Robert, I'll tell you +about those days, but not now." + +Tayoga remained in his dress of a young Indian chief. Even if he had had +any other he would not have put it on, and the fine deerskin and the +lofty headdress became him and stamped him for what he was, a prince of +the forest. He held in his heart, too, a deeper feeling against the +French than any that animated either Robert or Willet. He could not +forget that this was not Quebec, but Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, whose +rights were also the rights of the other nations of the Hodenosaunee, +and it was here that Frontenac, who had slaughtered the Iroquois, had +made his home and fortress. The heart of Tayoga of the clan of the Bear +of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, burned +within him and the blood in his veins would not grow cool. + +"I suppose, Dave," said Robert, "since we have to wait two days for the +Marquis Duquesne, that we might go forth at once and begin seeing the +town." + +"Food first," said the hunter. "We've come a long journey on the river +and we'll test the quality of the, inn." + +It was too cool for the little terrace that adjoined the Inn of the +Eagle, and Monsieur Berryer had a table set for them in the great +dining-room, which had an oaken floor, oaken beams and much china and +glass on shelves about the walls, the whole forming an apartment in +which the host took a just pride. It was gayer and brighter than the +inns of Albany and New York, and again Robert found his spirit +responding to it. + +A fire of light wood that blazed and sparkled merrily burned in a huge +stone fireplace at the end of the room, and its grateful warmth entered +into Robert's blood. He suddenly felt a great exaltation. He was glad to +be there. He was glad that Tayoga and Willet were with him. He was glad +that they had encountered dangers on their journey because they had won +a triumph in overcoming them, and by the very act of victory they had +increased their own strength and confidence. His sensitive, imaginative +nature, easily kindled to supreme efforts, thrilled with the thoughts of +the great deeds they might do. + +His pleasure in the company and the atmosphere increased. Everything +about him made a strong appeal to good taste. At the end of the room, +opposite the fireplace, stood a vast sideboard, upon which china and +glass, arranged in harmonious groups, shone and glittered. The broad +shelves or niches in the walls held much cut glass, which now and then +threw back from many facets the ruddy light of the fire. Before sitting +down, they had dipped their hands in a basin of white china filled with +water, and standing beside the door, and that too had pleased Robert's +fastidious taste. + +At their table each of the three found an immaculate white napkin, a +large white china plate and goblet, knife, fork and spoon, all of +silver, polished to the last degree. Again Robert's nature responded and +he looked at himself in his fine dress in the glittering silver of the +goblet. Then his right hand stole down and caressed the hilt of his +rapier. He felt himself very much of a gentleman, very much of a +chevalier, fit to talk on equal terms with St. Luc, de Galisonnière or +the best French officer of them all. And Willet, wearing his costly +costume with ease, was very much of a gentleman too, and Tayoga, dressed +as the forest prince, was in his own way, and quite as good a way, as +much of a gentleman as either. + +At least a dozen others were in the great room, and many curious eyes +were upon the three visitors from the south. It was likely that the +presence of such marked figures as theirs would become known quickly in +Quebec. They had shown the papers bearing their names at the gate by +which they had entered, and doubtless the news of their arrival had been +spread at once by the officer in command there. Well, they would prove +to the proud chevaliers of Quebec how the Bostonnais could bear +themselves, and Robert's pulses leaped. + +They were served by an attentive and quiet waiter, and the three, each +in his own way, watched everything that was going on. They were aware +that not all would be as friendly as de Galisonnière or Father +Drouillard, but they were fully prepared to meet a challenge of any kind +and uphold the honor of their own people. Robert was hoping that de +Galisonnière might come, as he had recommended the inn to them. He did +not appear, but the others who did so lingered and young Lennox knew +that it was because of the three, who received many hostile glances, +although most were intended for the Onondaga. Robert was aware, too, +that if the Iroquois had lost this Stadacona of the Mohawks and had been +ravaged by Frontenac, they had taken a terrible revenge upon the French +and their chief allies, the Hurons. For generations the Hodenosaunee had +swept the villages along the St. Lawrence with fire and tomahawk, +slaying and capturing their hundreds. But to Tayoga it was and always +would be the French who had struck first, and the vital fact remained +that they lived upon land upon which the Iroquois themselves had once +lived, no man knew how long. + +Robert saw that the looks were growing more menacing, although the good +Monsieur Berryer glided among his guests, and counseled caution. + +"Take no notice," said Willet in a low tone. "The French are polite, +and although they may not like us they will not molest us." + +Robert followed his advice. Apparently he had no thought except for his +food, which was delicate, but his ears did not miss any sound that could +reach them. He understood French well, and he caught several whispers +that made the red come to his cheeks. Doubtless they thought he could +not speak their language or they would have been more careful. + +Half way through the dinner and the door was thrown open, admitting a +gorgeous figure and a great gust of words. It was a young man in a +brilliant uniform, his hair long, perfumed, powdered and curled, and his +face flushed. Robert recognized him at once as that same Count Jean de +Mézy who had passed them in the flying carriage. Behind came two +officers of about the same age, but of lower rank, seeking his favor and +giving him adulation. + +His roving eye traveled around the room, and, resting upon the three +guests, became inflamed. + +"Ah, Nemours, and you, Le Moyne," he said, "look there and behold the +two Bostonnais and the Iroquois of whom we have heard, sitting here in +our own Inn of the Eagle!" + +"But there is no war, not as yet," said Nemours, although he spoke in an +obsequious tone. + +"But it will come," said de Mézy loudly, "and then, gentlemen, this +lordly Quebec of ours, which has known many English captives, will hold +multitudes of them." + +There were cries of "Silence!" "Not so loud!" + +"Don't insult guests!" but de Mézy merely laughed and said: "They don't +understand! The slow-witted English never know any tongue but their +own." + +The red flush in Robert's face deepened and he moved angrily. + +"Quiet, boy! Quiet!" whispered the hunter. "He wants a quarrel, and he +is surrounded by his friends, while we're strangers in a strange land +and a hostile city. Take a trifle of the light white wine that Monsieur +Berryer is pouring for you. It won't hurt you." + +Robert steadied himself and sipped a little. De Mézy and his satellites, +Nemours and Le Moyne, sat down noisily at a table and ordered claret. De +Mézy gave the cue. They talked of the Bostonnais, not only of the two +Bostonnais who were present, but of the Bostonnais in all the English +colonies, applying the word to them whether they came from Massachusetts +or New York or Virginia. Robert felt his pulses leaping and the hunter +whispered his warning once more. + +De Mézy evidently was sincere in his belief that the three understood no +French, as he continued to talk freely about the English colonies, the +prospect of war, and the superiority of French troops to British or +American. Meanwhile he and his two satellites drank freely of the claret +and their faces grew more flushed. Robert could stand it no longer. + +"Tayoga," he said clearly and in perfect French, "it seems that in +Quebec there are people of loose speech, even as there are in Albany and +New York." + +"Our sachems tell us that such is the way of man," said the Onondaga, +also in pure French. "Vain boasters dwell too in our own villages. For +reasons that I do not know, Manitou has put the foolish as well as the +wise into the world." + +"To travel, Tayoga, is to find wisdom. We learn what other people know, +and we learn to value also the good that we have at home." + +"It is so, my friend Lennox. It is only when we go into strange +countries and listen to the tongues of the idle and the foolish that we +learn the full worth of our own." + + +"It is not wise, Tayoga, to give a full rein to a loose tongue in a +public place." + +"Our mothers teach us so, Lennox, as soon as we leave our birch bark +cradles." + +Willet had raised his hand in warning, but he saw that it was too late. +The young blood in the veins of both Tayoga and Robert was hot, and the +Iroquois was stirred not less deeply than the white man. + +"The sachems tell us," he said, "that sometimes a man speaks foolish +words because he is born foolish, again he says them at times because +his temper or drink makes him foolish, or he may say them because it is +his wish to be foolish and he has cultivated foolish ways all his life. +This last class is the worst of all, Lennox, my friend, but there is a +certain number of them in all lands, as one finds when one travels." + +The Onondaga spoke with great clearness and precision in his measured +school French and a moment of dead silence followed. Then Robert said: + +"It is true, Tayoga. The chiefs of the Hodenosaunee are great and wise +men. They have lived and seen much, and seeing they have remembered. +They know that speech was given to man in order that he might convey his +thoughts to another, and not that he might make a fool of himself." + +An angry exclamation came from the table at which de Mézy sat, and his +satellites, Nemours and Le Moyne, swept the three with looks meant to be +contemptuous. Monsieur Berryer raised deprecating hands and was about to +speak, but, probably seeing that both hands and words would be of no +avail, moved quietly to one side. He did not like to have quarrels in +his excellent Inn of the Eagle, but they were no new thing there, for +the gilded youth of Quebec was hot and intemperate. + +"But when a man is foolish in our village," resumed Tayoga, "and the +words issue from his mouth in a stream like the cackling of a jay bird, +the chiefs do not send warriors to punish him, but give him into the +hands of the old women, who bind him and beat him with sticks until they +can beat sense back into him." + +"A good way, Tayoga, a most excellent way," said Robert. "People who +have reached the years of maturity pay no attention to the vaporings and +madness of the foolish." + +He did not look around, but he heard a gusty exclamation, the scrape of +a chair on the floor, and a hasty step. Then he felt a hot breath, and, +although he did not look up, he knew that de Mézy, flushed with drink +and anger, was standing over him. The temperament that nature had given +to him, the full strength of which he was only discovering, asserted +itself. He too felt wrath inside, but he retained all the presence of +mind for which he afterward became famous. + +"Shall we go out and see more of the city, Tayoga?" he asked. + +"Not until I have had a word with you, young sprig of a Bostonnais," +said de Mézy, his florid face now almost a flaming red. + +"Your pardon, sir," said Robert, with his uncommon fluency of speech, "I +have not the advantage of your acquaintance, which, no doubt, is my +loss, as I admit that there are many good and brave men whom I do not +know." + +"I am Jean de Mézy, a count of France, a captain in the army of King +Louis, and one of the most valued friends of our able Intendant, +François Bigot." + +"I have heard of France, of course, I have heard, equally of course, of +His Majesty, King Louis, I have even heard of the Intendant, François +Bigot, but, and sorry I am to say it, I have never heard of the Count +Jean de Mézy." + +A low laugh came from a distant corner of the room, and the red of de +Mézy's face turned to purple. His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, +but Le Moyne whispered to him and he became more collected. + +"In Quebec," he said, throwing back his shoulders and raising his chin, +"an officer of His Majesty, King Louis, does not accept an insult. We +preserve our honor with the edge of our swords, and for that reason I +intend to let a good quantity of the hot blood out of you with mine. +There is a good place near the St. Louis gate, and the hour may be as +early as you wish." + +"He is but a boy," interposed Willet. + +"But I know the sword," said Robert, who had made up his mind, and who +was measuring his antagonist. "I will meet you tomorrow morning just +after sunrise with the small sword, and my seconds will confer with +yours tonight." + +He stood up that they might see his size. Although only a boy in years, +he was as large and strong as de Mézy, and his eyes were clearer and his +muscles much firmer. A hum of approval came from the spectators, who now +numbered more than a score, but the approval was given for different +reasons. Some, and they belonged to the _honnêtes gens_, were glad to +see de Mézy rebuked and hoped that he would be punished; others, the +following of Bigot, Cadet, Pean and their corrupt crowd, were eager to +see the Bostonnais suffer for his insolence to one of their number. But +most of them, both the French of old France and the French of Canada, +chivalric of heart, were resolved to see fair play. + +Monsieur Berryer shrugged his shoulders, but made no protest. The affair +to his mind managed itself very well. There had been none of the +violence that he had apprehended. The quarrel evidently was one of +gentlemen, carried out in due fashion, and the shedding of blood would +occur in the proper place and not in his inn. And yet it would be an +advertisement. Men would come to point out where de Mézy had sat, and +where the young Bostonnais had sat, and to recount the words that each +had said. And then the red wine and the white wine would flow freely. +Oh, yes, the affair was managing itself very well indeed, and the +thrifty Monsieur Berryer rubbed his hands together with satisfaction. + +"We have beds here at the Inn of the Eagle," said Robert coolly--he was +growing more and more the master of speech; "you can send your seconds +this evening to see mine, and they will arrange everything, although I +tell you now that I choose small swords. I hope my choice suits you." + +"It is what I would have selected myself," said de Mézy, giving his +antagonist a stare of curiosity. Such coolness, such effrontery, as he +would have called it, was not customary in one so young, and in an +American too, because Americans did not give much attention to the study +of the sword. New thoughts raced through his head. Could it be possible +that here, where one least expected it, was some marvelous swordsman, a +phenomenon? Did that account for his indifference? A slight shudder +passed over the frame of Jean de Mézy, who loved his dissolute life. But +such thoughts vanished quickly. It could not be possible. The confidence +of the young Bostonnais came from ignorance. + +Robert had seen de Mézy's face fall, and he was confirmed in the course +that he had chosen already. + +"_Gusgaesata_," he said to Tayoga in Iroquois. + +"Ah, the deer buttons!" the Onondaga said in English, then repeating it +in French. + +"You will pardon us," said Robert carelessly to de Mézy, "but Tayoga, +who by the way is of the most ancient blood of the Onondagas, and I +often play a game of ours after dinner." + +His manner was that of dismissal, and the red in de Mézy's cheeks again +turned to purple. Worst of all, the little dart of terror stabbed once +more at his heart. The youth might really be the dreaded marvel with the +sword. Such coolness in one so young at such a time could come only from +abnormal causes. Although he felt himself dismissed he refused to go +away and his satellites remained with him. They would see what the two +youths meant to do. + +Tayoga took from a pocket in his deerskin tunic eight buttons about +three quarters of an inch in diameter and made of polished and shining +elk's horn, except one side which had been burned to a darker color. +From another pocket he drew a handful of beans and laid them in one +heap. Then he shook the buttons in the palm of his hand, and put them +down in the center of the table. Six white sides were turned up and +taking two beans from the common heap he started a pile of his own. He +threw again and obtained seven whites. Then he took four beans. A third +throw and all coming up white twenty beans were subtracted from the heap +and added to his own pile. But on the next throw only five of the whites +appeared, and as at least six of the buttons had to be matched in order +to continue his right of throwing he resigned his place to Robert, who +threw with varying fortune until he lost in his turn to Tayoga. + +"A crude Indian game," said de Mézy in a sneering tone, and the two +satellites, Nemours and Le Moyne, laughed once more. Robert and Tayoga +did not pay the slightest attention to them, concentrating their whole +attention upon the sport, but Willet said quietly: + +"I've seen wise chiefs play it for hours, and the great men of the +Hodenosaunee would be great men anywhere." + +Angry words gathered on the lips of de Mézy, but they were not spoken. +He saw that he was at a disadvantage, and that he would lose prestige if +he kept himself in a position to be snubbed before his own people by two +strange youths. At length he said: "Farewell until morning," and stalked +out, followed by his satellites. Others soon followed but Robert and +Tayoga went on with their game of the deer buttons. They were not +interrupted until Monsieur Berryer bowed before them and asked if they +would have any more refreshment. + +"No, thank you," said Robert, and then he added, as if by afterthought, +although he did not take his eyes from the buttons: "What sort of a man +at sword play is this de Mézy?" + +"Very good! Very good, sir," replied the innkeeper, "that is if his eyes +and head are clear." + +"Then if he is in good condition it looks as if I ought to be careful." + +"Careful, sir! Careful! One ought always to be careful in a duel!" + +"In a way I suppose so. Monsieur Berryer. But I fancy it depends a good +deal upon one's opponent. There are some who are not worth much +trouble." + +Monsieur Berryer's eyes stood out. Robert had spoken with calculated +effect. He knew that his words uttered now would soon reach the ears of +Jean de Mézy, and it was worth while to be considered a miraculous +swordsman. He had read the count's mind when he stood at his elbow, +shuddering a little at the thought that a prodigy with the blade might +be sitting there, and he was resolved to make the thought return once +more and stay. + +"And, sir, you distinguish between swordsmen, and find it necessary to +make preparation only for the very best? And you so young too!" said the +wondering innkeeper. + +"Youth in such times as ours does not mean inexperience, Monsieur +Berryer," said Willet. + +"It is true, alas!" said the innkeeper, soberly. "The world grows old, +and there are seas of trouble. I wish no annoyance to any guests of +mine. I know the courtesy due to visitors in our Quebec, and I would +have stopped the quarrel had I been able, but the Count Jean de Mézy is +a powerful man, the friend and associate of the Intendant, Monsieur +Bigot." + +"I understand, Monsieur Berryer," said Robert, with calculated +lightness; "your courtesy is, in truth, great, but don't trouble +yourself on our account. We are fully able to take care of ourselves. +Come, Tayoga, we're both tired of the game and so let's to bed." + +Tayoga carefully put away the deer buttons and the beans, and the three +rose. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE MEETING + + +Only four or five men, besides themselves, were left in the great room +of the Inn of the Eagle. The looks they gave the three were not hostile, +and Robert judged that they belonged to the party known in Quebec as +honnêtes gens and described to him already by de Galisonnière. He +thought once of speaking to them, but he decided not to put any strain +upon their friendliness. They might have very bitter feelings against +Bigot and his corrupt following, but the fact would not of necessity +induce them to help the Bostonnais. + +"I thought it would be best to go to bed," he said, "but I've changed my +mind. A little walk first in the open air would be good for all of us. +Besides we must stay up long enough to receive the seconds of de Mézy." + +"A walk would be a good thing for you," said Willet--it was noteworthy +that despite his great affection for the lad, he did not show any +anxiety about him. + +"Your wrist feels as strong as ever, doesn't it, Robert?" he asked. + +Young Lennox took his right wrist in his left hand and looked at it +thoughtfully. He was a tall youth, built powerfully, but his wrists were +of uncommon size and strength. + +"I suppose that paddling canoes during one's formative period over our +lakes and rivers develops the wrists and arms better than anything else +can," he said. + +"It makes them strong and supple, too," said the hunter. "It gives to +you a wonderful knack which with training can be applied with equal +ability to something else." + +"As we know." + +"As we know." + +They went out and walked a little while in the streets, curious eyes +still following them, a fact of which they were well aware, although +they apparently took no notice of it. Willet observed Robert closely, +but he could not see any sign of unsteadiness or excitement. Young +Lennox himself seemed to have forgotten the serious business that would +be on hand in the morning. His heart again beat a response to Quebec +which in the dusk was magnificent and glorified. The stone buildings +rose to the size of castles, the great river showed like silver through +the darkness and on the far shore a single light burned. + +A figure appeared before them. It was de Galisonnière, his ruddy face +anxious. + +"I was hoping that we might meet you," said Robert. + +"What's this I hear about a quarrel between you and de Mézy and a duel +in the morning?" + +"You hear the truth." + +"But de Mézy, though he is no friend of mine, is a swordsman, and has +had plenty of experience. You English, or at least you English in your +colonies, know nothing about the sword, except to wear it as a +decoration!" + +Robert laughed. + +"I appreciate your anxiety for me," he said. "It's the feeling of a +friend, but don't worry. A few of us in the English colonies do know the +use of the sword, and at the very head of them I should place David +Willet, whom you know and who is with us." + +"But de Mézy is not going to fight Willet, he is going to fight you." + +"David Willet has been a father to me, more, in truth, than most fathers +are to their sons. I've been with him for years, Captain de +Galisonnière, and all the useful arts he knows he has tried long and +continuously to teach to me." + +"Then you mean that the sword you now wear at your thigh is a weapon and +not an ornament?" + +"Primarily, yes, but before we go further into the matter of the sword, +I wish to ask you a favor." + +"Ask a dozen, Lennox. We've been companions of the voyage and your +quarrel with de Mézy does not arouse any hostility in me." + +"I felt that it was so, and for that reason I ask the favor. We are +strangers in Quebec. We did not come here to seek trouble with anybody, +and so I ask you to be a second for me in this affair with de Mézy. Dave +and Tayoga, of course, would act, but at the present juncture, ours +being an errand of peace and not of war, I'd prefer Frenchmen." + +"Gladly I'll serve you, Lennox, since you indicate that you're a +swordsman and are not going to certain death, and I'll bring with me in +the morning a trusty friend, Armand Glandelet, one of our _honnêtes +gens_ who likes de Mézy as little as I do." + +"I thank you much, my good friend. I knew you would accept, and if all +are willing I suggest that we go back now to the Inn of the Eagle." + +"A little trial of the sword in your room would not hurt," said de +Galisonnière. + +"That's a good suggestion," said Willet. "A few turns will show whether +your wrists and your arms and your back are all right. You come with us, +of course, Captain de Galisonnière." + +They went to their large room, Captain de Galisonnière procuring on the +way two buttons for rapiers from Monsieur Berryer--it seemed that duels +were not uncommon in Quebec--and Willet and Robert, taking off their +coats and waistcoats, faced each other in the light of two large +candles. The young Frenchman watched them critically. He had assisted at +many affairs of honor in both Quebec and Montreal and he knew the build +of a swordsman when he saw one. When Robert stood in his shirt sleeves +he noted his powerful chest and shoulders and arms, and then his eyes +traveling to the marvelous wrists were arrested there. He drew in his +breath as he saw, from the way in which Robert flexed them for a moment +or two that they were like wrought steel. + +"If this lad has been taught as they indicate he has, our ruffling +bully, Jean de Mézy, is in for a bad half hour," he said to himself. +Then he looked at Willet, built heavily, with great shoulders and chest, +but with all the spring and activity of a young man. His glance passed +on to Tayoga, the young Onondaga, in all the splendor of his forest +attire, standing by the wall, his eyes calm and fathomless. It occurred +all at once to Captain de Galisonnière that he was in the presence of an +extraordinary three, each remarkable in his own way, and, liking the +unusual, his interest in them deepened. It did not matter that they were +his official enemies, because on the other hand they were his personal +friends. + +"Now, Robert," said Willet, "watch my eye, because I'm going to put you +to a severe test. Ready?" + +"Aye, ready, sir!" replied Robert, speaking like a pupil to his master. +Then the two advanced toward the center of the room and faced each +other, raising their slim swords which flashed in the flame of the +candles like thin lines of light. Then Willet thrust like lightning, but +his blade slipped off Robert's, and young Lennox thrust back only to +have his own weapon caught on the other. + +"Ah," exclaimed the gallant Frenchman. "Well done! Well done for both!" + +Then he held his breath as the play of the swords became so fast that +the eye could scarcely follow. They made vivid lines, and steel flashed +upon steel with such speed that at times the ringing sound seemed +continuous. Willet's agility was amazing. Despite his size and weight +he was as swift and graceful as a dancing master, and the power of his +wrist was wonderful. The amazement of young de Galisonnière increased. +He had seen the best swordsmanship in Quebec, and he had seen the best +swordsmanship in Paris, but he had never seen better swordsmanship than +that shown in a room of the Inn of the Eagle by a man whom he had taken +to be a mere hunter in the American wilderness. + +De Galisonnière was an artist with the sword himself, and he knew +swordsmanship when he saw it. He knew, too, that Lennox was but little +inferior to Willet. He saw that the older man was not sparing the youth, +that he was incessantly beating against the strongest parts of his +defense, and that he was continually seeking out his weakest. Robert was +driven around and around the room, and yet Willet did not once break +through his guard. + +"Ah, beautiful! beautiful!" exclaimed the Frenchman. "I did not know +that such swordsmen could come out of the woods!" + +His eyes met those of the Onondaga and for the first time he saw a gleam +in their dark depths. + +"Their swords are alive," said Tayoga. "They are living streaks of +flame." + +"That describes it, my friend," said de Galisonnière. "I shall be proud +to be one of the seconds of Mr. Lennox in the morning." + +Willet suddenly dropped the buttoned point of his rapier and raised his +left hand. + +"Enough, Robert," he said, "I can't allow you to tire yourself tonight, +and run the risk of stiffening in the wrist tomorrow. In strength you +are superior to de Mézy, and in wind far better. You should have no +trouble with him. Watch his eye and stand for a while on the defensive. +One of his habits, will soon wear himself down, and then he will be at +your mercy." + +"You are a wonderful swordsman, Mr. Willet," said de Galisonnière, frank +in his admiration. "I did not think such skill, such power and such a +variety in attack and defense could be learned outside of Paris." + +"Perhaps not!" said Willet, smiling. "The greatest masters of the sword +in the world teach in Paris, and it was there that I learned what I +know." + +"What, you have been in Paris?" + +"Aye, Captain de Galisonnière, I know my Paris well." + +But he volunteered nothing further and Louis de Galisonnière's delicacy +kept him from asking any more questions. Nevertheless he had an +intensified conviction that three most extraordinary people had come to +Quebec, and he was glad to know them. Jean de Mézy, count of France, and +powerful man though he might be, was going to receive a punishment +richly deserved. He detested Bigot, Cadet, Pean and all their corrupt +crowd, while recognizing the fact that they were almost supreme in +Quebec. It would be pleasing to the gods for de Mézy to be humiliated, +and it did not matter if the humiliation came from the hands of a +Bostonnais. + +"Would you mind trying a round or two at the foils with me?" he said to +Willet. "Since you don't have to fight in the morning you needn't fear +any stiffening of the wrist, and I should like to learn something about +that low thrust of yours, the one well beneath your opponent's guard, +and which only a movement like lightning can reach. You used it five +times, unless my eye missed a sixth." + +"And so you noticed it!" said Willet, looking pleased. "I made six such +thrusts, but Robert met them every time. I've trained him to be on the +watch for it, because in a real combat it's sure to be fatal, unless +it's parried with the swiftness of thought." + +"Then teach me," said de Galisonnière eagerly. "We're a fighting lot +here in Quebec, and it may save my life some day." + +Willet was not at all averse, and for nearly an hour he taught the young +Frenchman. Then de Galisonnière departed, cautioning Robert to sleep +well, and saying that he would come early in the morning with his +friend, Glandelet. + +"His advice about sleeping was good, Robert," said Willet. "Now roll +into bed and off with you to slumberland at once." + +Robert obeyed and his nerves were so steady and his mind so thoroughly +at peace that in fifteen minutes he slept. The hunter watched his steady +breathing with satisfaction and said to Tayoga: + +"If our bibulous friend, Count Jean de Mézy, doesn't have a surprise in +the morning, then I'll go back to the woods, and stay there as long as I +live." + +"Will Lennox kill him?" asked Tayoga. + +"I hadn't thought much about it, Tayoga, but he won't kill him. Robert +isn't sanguinary. He doesn't want anybody's blood on his hands, and it +wouldn't help our mission to take a life in Quebec." + +"The man de Mézy does not deserve to live." + +Willet laughed. + +"That's so, Tayoga," he said, "but it's no part of our business to go +around taking the lives away from all those who don't make good use of +'em. Why, if we undertook such a job we'd have to work hard for the next +thousand years. I think we'd better fall on, ourselves, and snatch about +eight good hours of slumber." + +In a few minutes three instead of one slept, and when the first ray of +sunlight entered the room in the morning Tayoga awoke. He opened the +window, letting the fresh air pour in, and he raised his nostrils to it +like a hound that has caught the scent. It brought to him the aromatic +odors of his beloved wilderness, and, for a time, he was back in the +great land of the Hodenosaunee among the blue lakes and the silver +streams. He had been educated in the white man's schools, and his +friendship for Robert and Willet was strong and enduring, but his heart +was in the forest. Enlightened and humane, he had nevertheless asked +seriously the night before the question: "Will Lennox kill him?" He had +discovered something fetid in Quebec and to him de Mézy was a noxious +animal that should be destroyed. He wished, for an instant, that he knew +the sword and that he was going to stand in Lennox's place. + +Then he woke Robert and Willet, and they dressed quickly, but by the +time they had finished Monsieur Berryer knocked on the door and told +them breakfast was ready. The innkeeper's manner was flurried. He was +one of the _honnêtes gens_ who liked peace and an upright life. He too +wished the insolent pride of de Mézy to be humbled, but he had scarcely +come to the point where he wanted to see a Bostonnais do it. Nor did he +believe that it could be done. De Mézy was a good swordsman, and his +friends would see that he was in proper condition. Weighing the matter +well, Monsieur Berryer was, on the whole, sorry for the young stranger. + +But Robert himself showed no apprehensions. He ate his excellent +breakfast with an equally excellent appetite, and Monsieur Berryer +noticed that his hand did not tremble. He observed, too, that he had +spirit enough to talk and laugh with his friends, and when Captain de +Galisonnière and another young Frenchman, Lieutenant Armand Glandelet, +arrived, he welcomed them warmly. + +The captain carried under his arm a long thin case, in which Monsieur +Berryer knew that the swords lay. Lieutenant Armand Glandelet was +presented duly and Robert liked his appearance, his age apparently +twenty-three or four, his complexion fair and his figure slender. His +experience in affairs of honor was not as great as de Galisonnière's, +and he showed some excitement, but he was one of the _honnêtes gens_ and +he too wished, the punishment of de Mézy. Perhaps he had suffered from +him some insult or snub which he was not in a position to resent fully. + +"Is your wrist strong and steady and without soreness, Mr. Lennox?" +asked Captain de Galisonnière. + +"It was never more flexible," replied Robert confidently. "Shall we go +to the field? I should like to be there first." + +"A praiseworthy attitude," said Captain de Galisonnière. "The sun is +just rising and the light is good. Come." + +Keeping the long, thin case under his arm, he went forth, and the rest +followed. Monsieur Berryer also came at a respectful distance, and +others fell into line with him. Robert walked by the side of Willet. + +"Don't forget that low thrust," said the hunter, "and watch his eye. You +feel no apprehensions?" + +"None at all, thanks to you. I'm quite sure I'm his master." + +"Then it's a good morning for a fight, and the setting is perfect. +You'll remember this day, Robert. What a wonderful situation has the +Quebec of the French that was the Stadacona of the Mohawks! A fine town, +a great rock and the king of rivers! The St. Lawrence looks golden in +the early sunlight, and what a lot of it there is!" + +"Yes, it's a great stream," said Robert, looking at the golden river and +the far shores, green and high. + +"Here we are," said de Galisonnière, passing beyond some outlying +houses. "It's a good, clear opening, pretty well surrounded by trees, +with plenty of sunlight at all points, and as you wished, Mr. Lennox, +we're the first to arrive." + +They stood together, talking with apparent unconcern, while the morning +unfolded, and the golden sunlight over the river deepened. Although he +had been trained with the sword for years, it would be Robert's first +duel, and, while he approached it with supreme confidence, he knew that +he could find no joy in the shedding of another's blood. He felt it a +strange chance that such an affair should be forced upon him, and yet +this was a dueling city. The hot young spirits of France had brought +their customs with them into the North American wilderness, and perhaps +the unsought chance, if he used it as he thought he could, would not +serve him so ill after all. + +De Mézy, with his seconds, Nemours and Le Moyne, was approaching among +the trees. It appeared that the seconds for both had arranged everything +at a meeting the night before, and nothing was left for the two +principals but to fight. Robert saw at a single glance that de Mézy's +head was clear. Some of the mottled color had left his cheeks, but the +effect was an improvement, and he bore himself like a man who was strong +and confident. He and his seconds wore dark blue cloaks over their +uniforms, which they laid aside when they saw that Robert and his +friends were present. + +Nemours stepped forward and asked to speak with Captain de Galisonnière. + +"Count Jean de Mézy," he said, "is an experienced swordsman, a victor in +a dozen duels, a man of great skill, and he does not wish to take an +advantage that might seem unfair to others. He considers the extreme +youth of his opponent, and if by chance his friend, Mr. Willet, should +know the sword, he will meet him instead." + +It was, on the whole, a handsome offer, better than they had expected +from de Mézy, and Galisonnière looked with inquiry, first at young +Lennox and then at Willet. But Robert shook his head. + +"No," he said, "Captain de Mézy's offer does him credit, but I decline +it. I am his inferior in years, but his equal in stature and strength, +and I have had some experience with the sword. Mr. Willet would gladly +take my place, but I can support the combat myself." + +Nemours stepped back, and Robert resolved that de Mézy's offer should +not have been made wholly in vain. It would save the Frenchman some of +his blood, but Nemours and de Galisonnière were now choosing the +positions in such a manner that neither would have the sun in his eyes +but merely his shoulder against the disc. Robert took off his coat and +waistcoat and Willet folded them over his own arm. De Mézy prepared in +like manner. Nemours gazed at young Lennox's shoulders and arms, and the +muscles swelling beneath his thin shirt, and he was not quite so sure of +his principal's victory as he had been. + +Then the two faced each other and Robert looked straight into his +opponent's eyes, reading there the proof that while outwardly de Mézy +might now show no signs of dissipation, yet drink and lost hours had +struck a blow at the vital organism of the human machine. He was more +confident than ever, and he repeated to himself Willet's advice to be +cautious and slow at first. + +"Your positions, gentlemen!" said de Galisonnière, and they stood face +to face. The turf was short and firm, and the place was ideal for their +purpose. Among the trees the eager eyes of Monsieur Berryer and a score +of others watched. + +"Ready!" said de Galisonnière, and then, after a pause of two or three +moments, he added: + +"Proceed!" + +Robert had not looked straight into his opponent's eye so long for +nothing. He knew now that de Mézy was choleric and impatient, that he +would attack at once with a vigorous arm and a furious heart, expecting +a quick and easy victory. His reading of the mind through the eye was +vindicated as de Mézy immediately forced the combat, cutting and +thrusting with a fire and power that would have overwhelmed an ordinary +opponent. + +Robert smiled. He knew now beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was de +Mézy's master. Not in vain did he have those large and powerful wrists, +firm and strong as wrought steel, and not in vain had he been taught for +years by the best swordsman in America. He contented himself with +parrying the savage cuts and thrusts, and gave ground slowly, retreating +in a circle. De Mézy's eyes blazed at first with triumph. He had +resented Robert's refusal of his offer to substitute Willet, and now, +the victory which he had regarded as easy seemed to be even easier than +he had hoped. He pushed the combat harder. His sword flashed in a +continuous line of light, and the whirring of steel upon steel was +unceasing. But the face of Nemours, as he watched with an understanding +eye, fell a little. He saw that the breathing of young Lennox was long +and regular, and that his eye was still smiling. + +Robert continued to give ground, but he never took his eye from that of +de Mézy, and at last the count began to feel that something lay behind +that calm, smiling gaze. The drink and the multitude of lost hours came +back to demand their price. Something bit into his bone. Was it physical +weakness or a sudden decay of confidence? He did not see any sign of +weariness in his young opponent, and putting forth every effort of his +muscles and every trick and device he knew he could not break through +that shining guard of circling steel. + +The strange apprehension that had suddenly found a place in de Mézy's +mind began to grow. The slow retreat of his young antagonist was +becoming slower and then it ceased entirely. Now the leaping sword +before him began to drive him back, and always the calm smiling eyes +probed into his, reading what he would keep hidden deep in his heart. +They saw the terror that was growing there. The disbelief in his +antagonist's prowess was now fast turning into a hideous contradiction, +and all the while drink and the lost hours that had clamored for their +price were taking it. + +De Mézy began to give back. His breath grew shorter and he gasped. The +deep mottled red returned to his cheeks, and terror took whole +possession of him. He had struck down his man before and he had laughed, +but he had never faced such a swordsman as this strange youth of the +woods, with his smiling eyes and his face which was a mask despite the +smile. + +Nemours and Le Moyne turned pale. They saw that their leader had never +once passed the bar of steel before him, and that while he panted and +grew weary Lennox seemed stronger than ever. They saw, too, that the +youth was a swordsman far surpassing de Mézy and that now he was playing +with his enemy. He struck down his opponent's guard at will, and his +blade whistled about his body and face. Nemours' hand fell to his own +hilt, but the watchful Willet saw. + +"Be careful," the hunter said in a menacing tone. "Obey the rules or +I'll know the reason why." + +Nemours' hand fell away from the hilt, and he and Le Moyne exchanged +glances, but stood helpless. De Mézy had been driven backward in an +almost complete circle. His wrist and arm ached to the shoulder, and +always he saw before him the leaping steel and the smiling mask of a +face. He caught a glimpse of the blue sky and the shining river, and +then his eyes came back to the one that held his fate. Well for de Mézy +that he had made the offer that morning to substitute Willet for Lennox, +since youth, with the hot blood of battle pulsing in its veins, may +think too late of mercy. But Robert remembered. His revenge was already +complete. All had seen the pallid face of de Mézy, and all, whether +they knew anything of the sword or not, knew that he lay at the mercy of +his foe. + +"Strike and make an end!" gasped de Mézy. + +The sword flashed before his eyes again, but the blade did not touch +him. Instead his own sword was torn from his weakening grasp, and was +flung far upon the grass. Young Lennox, turning away, sheathed his +weapon. + +"Well done, Robert!" said Willet. + +De Mézy put his hand to his face, which was wet with perspiration, and +steadied himself. He had grown quite dizzy in the last few moments, and +the pulses in his head beat so heavily that he could neither see nor +think well. He was conscious that he stood unarmed before a victorious +foe, but he did not know Robert had put away his sword. + +"Why don't you strike?" he muttered. + +"Mr. Lennox is satisfied," said Nemours. "He does not wish the combat to +go further." + +"Unless Captain de Mézy insists on another trial," said de Galisonnière, +smiling a little, "but if he will take the advice of a countryman of his +he will let the matter rest where it is. Enough has been done to satisfy +the honor of everybody." + +He and Nemours exchanged significant glances. It was quite evident to de +Mézy's seconds that he was no match for Robert, and that another trial +would probably result in greater disaster, so Nemours and Le Moyne, in +behalf of their principal, promptly announced that they were satisfied, +and de Galisonnière and Glandelet said as much for theirs. Meanwhile +Monsieur Berryer and the other spectators, who had now risen to the +number of two score, continued to watch from the shelter of the trees. +They had seen the result with protruding eyes, but they had not +understood when the young victor thrust his sword back in its sheath. +They could not hear the talk, but it was quite clear that the duel was +over, and they turned away, somewhat disappointed that one of their own +had lost the combat, but somewhat pleased, too, that he had not lost his +own life at the same time. + +"Shake hands, gentlemen," said de Galisonnière blithely. "Although no +blood was shed it was a hot battle and I hope when you two meet again it +will be in friendship and not in enmity. You are a fine swordsman, +Lennox, and it was honorable of you, de Mézy, when you didn't know his +caliber, to offer to take on, because of his youth, the older man, Mr. +Willet." + +Robert came back and offered his hand frankly. De Mézy, whose head was +still ringing from his uncommon exertions and chagrin, took it. It was +bitter to have lost, but he still lived. In a manner as he saw it, he +had been disgraced, but time and the red wine and the white would take +away the sting. He still lived. That was the grand and beautiful fact. +Many more joyous days and nights awaited him in the company of Bigot and +Cadet and Pean, powerful men who knew how to exercise their power and +how to live at the same time. He should be grateful for a little while, +at least, to the young Bostonnais, and he shook the proffered hand as +heartily as his own damp, limp fingers would admit. + +"May your stay in Quebec be as pleasant as you wish," he said, a bit +thickly. + +"Thanks," said Robert, who read the man's mind thoroughly. + +De Galisonnière put away the unstained swords, quite satisfied with the +affair, himself and everybody. An important follower of Bigot had been +humbled, and yet he had not suffered in such a manner that he could call +for the punishment of the one who had humbled him. The very youth of the +Bostonnais would disarm resentment against him. + +De Mézy's party with formal bows drew away, and Robert and his friends +returned to the Inn of the Eagle. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BIGOT'S BALL + + +"You needn't expect any trouble from the authorities," said de +Galisonnière, when they sat once more in the great room at the inn. +"Dueling is of course frowned upon theoretically, but it's a common +practice, and since no life has been lost, not even any wound inflicted, +you'll hear nothing of it from the government. And de Mézy, I imagine, +will say as little about it as possible. He rather fancies himself as a +swordsman, and he will not want everybody in Quebec to know that he was +defeated and disarmed by a boy. Still, it will spread." + +He and Glandelet took a courteous leave, and Robert thanked them for +their services. He liked them both, especially de Galisonnière, and he +was sorry that fate should put them on opposing sides in the war that +all of them felt was surely coming. + +"The French count gave you the hand of friendship, but not the spirit of +it," said Tayoga, who had not spoken at all while they were at the +dueling ground. "He was grateful to you for sparing his life, but his +gratitude will go like the wind, and then he will hate you. And he will +have the powerful friends, of whom the captain spoke, to plot against +you and us." + +"That's so, Tayoga," said the hunter, gravely, "I'm sorry the Governor +General wasn't here when we arrived. It was an unlucky chance, because +it would have been better for us to have given him our letters and have +departed at once." + +Robert, in his heart, knew that it was true, and that dangers would soon +cluster about them, but he was willing to linger. The spell of Quebec +had grown stronger, and he had made an entrance into its world in most +gallant fashion, sword in hand, like a young knight, and that would +appeal to the warlike French. + +They deemed it wise to stay in the inn for a while, but two or three +hours later Willet went out, returning soon, and showing some +excitement. + +"An old friend has come," he said. + +"A friend!" said Robert. "I know of no friend to expect." + +"I used the word 'friend' in exactly the opposite sense. It's an enemy. +I'm quite sure nobody in the world hates us more." + +"Tandakora!" + +"None other. It's the sanguinary Ojibway, his very self. I saw him +stalking along the streets of Quebec in the most hideous paint that man +ever mixed, a walking monument of savage pride, and I've no doubt in my +mind either why he came here." + +"To get some sort of revenge upon us." + +"That's it. He'll go before the Governor General, and charge that we +attacked him in the gorge and slew good, innocent men of his." + +"Tandakora is cunning," said Tayoga. "The Great Bear is right. He will +lie many times against us, and it is likely that the Frenchmen, de +Courcelles and Jumonville, will come also and tell that they met us in +the woods, although they said smooth words to us when we left them." + +"And we don't know what kind of a net they'll try to weave around us," +said Willet. "I say again I wish we'd delivered our letters and were out +of Quebec." + +But Robert could not agree with the hunter and Tayoga. He was still glad +of the lucky chance that had taken away the Governor General. There was +also a certain keen delight in speculating what their enemies would do +next. Conscious of right and strength he believed they could foil all +attempts upon them, and while the question was still fresh in his mind +Father Philibert Drouillard came in. Wrapped closely in his black robe +he looked taller, leaner, and more ascetic than ever, and his gaze was +even stronger and more penetrating. Now it rested upon Robert. + +"I had a fair opinion of you," he said. "Coming with you in the +_Frontenac_ down the river I judged you, despite your weapons and the +fact that you belong to another race than mine, a gentle youth and full +of the virtues. Now I find that you have been fighting and fighting with +intent to kill." + +"Hold hard, Father," said Willet in a good-humored tone. "Only half of +that is true. Your information is not full. He has been fighting, but +not with intent to kill. He held the life of Count Jean de Mézy on the +point of his sword, but gave it back to him, such as it was." + +The deep eyes of the priest smoldered. Perhaps there was a distant and +fiery youth of his own that the morning's deed recalled, but his +menacing gaze relaxed. + +"If you gave him back his life when you could have taken it, you have +done well," he said. "As the hunter intimates, it is a life of little +value, perhaps none at all, but you did not on that account have any +right to take it. And I say more, that if the misadventure had to happen +to any Frenchman here in Quebec I am glad it happened to one of the +wicked tribe of Bigot." + +"Your man Bigot, powerful though he may be, seems to have plenty of +enemies," said the hunter. + +"He has many, but not enough, I fear," said the priest gloomily. "He and +his horde are a terrible weight upon the shoulders of New France. But I +should not talk of these things to you who are our enemies, and who may +soon be fighting us." + +He quit the subject abruptly, and talked in a desultory manner on +irrelevant matters. But Robert saw that Quebec itself and the struggle +between the powerful Bigot ring and the _honnêtes gens_ was a much +greater weight on his mind than the approaching war with the English +colonies. + +After a stay of a half hour he departed, saying that he was going to +visit a parish farther down the river, and might not see them again, but +he wished them well. He also bade them once more to beware of Tandakora. + +"A good man and a strong one," said Willet, when, he left. "I seem to +feel a kindred spirit in him, but I don't think his prevision about not +seeing us again is right, though his advice to look out for Tandakora is +certainly worth following." + +They saw the Ojibway warrior twice that afternoon. Either he concealed +the effects of the wound in his shoulder or it had healed rapidly, since +he was apparently as vigorous as ever and gave them murderous glances. +Tayoga shrugged his shoulders. + +"Tandakora has followed us far," he said, "but this is not the ground +that suits him. The forest is better than a city for the laying of an +ambush." + +"Still, we'll watch him," said Willet. + +The evening witnessed the arrival at the Inn of the Eagle of two new +guests to whom Monsieur Berryer paid much deference, Colonel de +Courcelles and Captain de Jumonville, who had been on an expedition in +behalf of His Majesty, King Louis, into the forests of the south and +west, and who, to the great surprise of the innkeeper, seemed to be well +acquainted with the three. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were having their dinner, or supper as it +would have been called in the Province of New York, when the two +Frenchmen dressed in their neat, close-fitting uniforms and with all the +marks of travel removed, came into the large room. They rose at once and +exchanged greetings. Robert, although he did not trust them, felt that +they had no cause of quarrel with the two, and it was no part of his +character to be brusque or seek trouble. + +De Courcelles gave them a swift, comprehensive glance, and then said, +as if they were chance visitors to Quebec: + +"You've arrived ahead of us, I see, and as I learn, you find the Marquis +Duquesne away. Perhaps, if your letters are urgent, you would care to +present them to the Intendant, Monsieur Bigot, a man of great perception +and judgment." + +Robert turned his examining look with interest. Was he also one of +Bigot's men, or did he incline to the cause of the _honnêtes gens?_ Or, +even if he were not one of Bigot's followers, did he prefer that +Robert's mission should fail through a delivery of his letters to the +wrong man? Bigot certainly was not one with whom the English could deal +easily, since so far as Robert could learn he was wrapped in the folds +of a huge conceit. + +"We might do that," the youth replied, "but I don't think it's quite +proper. I make no secret of the fact that I bear letters for the +Governor General of Canada, and it would not be pleasing to the Governor +of the Province of New York for me to deliver them to someone else." + +"It was merely a suggestion. Let us dismiss it." + +He did not speak again of the immediate affairs that concerned them so +vitally, but talked of Paris, where he had spent a gay youth. He saw the +response in the glowing eyes of Robert, and exerted himself to please. +Moreover his heart was in his subject. Quebec was a brilliant city for +the New World, but Paris was the center of the whole world, the flower +of all the centuries, the city of light, of greatness and of genius. +The throne of the Bourbons was the most powerful in modern times, and +they were a consecrated family. + +Robert followed him eagerly. Both he and de Courcelles saw the Bourbons +as they appeared to be before the fall, and not as the world has seen +them since, in the light of revelation. The picture of Paris and its +splendors, painted by one who loved it, flung over him a powerful spell, +and only the warning words Willet had spoken recalled to him that the +Bourbon throne might not really be made for all time. + +De Courcelles and Jumonville, who had no permanent quarters in Quebec, +would remain two days at the inn, and, on the whole, Robert was glad. He +felt that the three could protect themselves from possible wiles and +stratagems of the two Frenchmen, and that they meant to attempt them he +believed he had proof later, as de Courcelles suggested they might call +in the course of the evening upon the Intendant, Bigot, who was then at +his palace. They need not say anything about their mission, but good +company could be found there, and they might be sure of a welcome from +the Intendant. Again Robert declined, and de Courcelles did not press +the matter. He and Jumonville withdrew presently, saying they had a +report to make to the commandant of the garrison, and the three went to +bed soon afterward. + +Tayoga, who slept lightly, awoke after midnight and went to a window. +The Onondaga, most of the three, distrusted Quebec. It was never Quebec +to him. It was Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, the great warrior nation of +the Hodenosaunee who stood beside the Onondagas, their lost Stadacona, +but their Stadacona still. In his heart too burned the story of +Frontenac and how he had ravaged the country of the Hodenosaunee with +fire and sword. He was here in the very shrine and fortress of the +ancient enemies of the great Iroquois. He had taken the education of the +white man, he had read in his books and he knew much of the story of the +human race, but nothing had ever disturbed his faith that a coming chief +of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the mighty League of +the Hodenosaunee was, by right, and in fact, a prince among men. + +But while Tayoga learned what civilization, as the European races called +it, had to offer, it did not make him value any the less the arts and +lore of his own forest. Rather, they increased in size and importance by +comparison. He had seen how the talk of de Courcelles had lighted a fire +in the soul of Lennox, he had seen how even Willett, the wary, had been +stirred, but he, Tayoga, had been left cold. He had read the purpose +behind it all, and never for an instant did he let himself put any faith +in de Courcelles or Jumonville. + +The air of the room was heavy and fetid to Tayoga. His free spirit +detected poison in the atmosphere of Quebec, and, for the moment, he +longed to be in the great, pure wilderness, pure at least to one of his +race. He opened the window more widely and inhaled the breeze which was +coming from the north, out of vast clean forests, that no white man +save the trapper had ever entered. + +He looked upward, at first toward the blue sky and its clustering stars, +and then, turning his eyes to the open space near the inn, caught sight +of two shadowy figures. The Onondaga was alert upon the instant, because +he knew those figures, thin though they seemed in the dusk. One was +Tandakora, the Ojibway, and the other was Auguste de Courcelles, Colonel +in the French army, a pair most unlike, yet talking together earnestly +now. + +Tayoga was not at all surprised. He had pierced the mind of de +Courcelles and he had expected him to seek Tandakora. He watched them a +full five minutes, until the Ojibway slipped away in the darkness, and +de Courcelles turned back toward the inn, walking slowly, and apparently +very thoughtful. + +Tayoga thought once of going outside to follow Tandakora, but he decided +that no good object would be served by it and remained at the window, +where the wind out of the cold north could continue to blow upon him. He +knew that the Indian and de Courcelles had entered into some conspiracy, +but he believed they could guard against it, and in good time it would +disclose itself. + +There might be many hidden trails in a city like Quebec, but he meant to +discover the one that Tandakora followed. He remained an hour at the +window, and then without awaking his comrades to tell what he had seen +went back to his bed. Nor did he say anything about it when they awoke +in the morning. He preferred to keep Tandakora as his especial charge. +A coming chief of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee, would know how to deal with a savage +Ojibway out of the western forests. + +At breakfast, Robert wondered what they would do during the coming day, +as it was not advisable to go much about Quebec owing to the notoriety +the duel had brought to them. Monsieur Berryer, suave, deferential and +full of gossip, informed them that the fame of young Mr. Lennox as a +master of the sword had spread through the city in a few hours. Brave +and skillful young Frenchmen were anxious to meet him and prove that +where Count Jean de Mézy had failed they might succeed. + +"The young gentleman will not lack opportunities for honor and glory in +Quebec," said Monsieur Berryer, rubbing his fat, white hands. + +"In view of our errand here you must let all these opportunities go, +Robert," said Willet. "If we show ourselves too much some of these hot +young French knights will force a fight upon you, not because they hate +you, but from sporting motives. But it would be just as bad for you to +lose your life in a friendly duel as in one full of hate." + +Robert chafed, nevertheless. The Inn of the Eagle was a good inn, but he +did not wish to spend an entire day within its walls. Young Captain +Louis de Galisonnière solved the problem, arriving just after breakfast +with a note addressed to Mr. Robert Lennox, which proved to be an +invitation for all three of them from Monsieur François Bigot, +Intendant of Canada, to attend a dinner given by him that evening at his +palace. The letter was full of polite phrases. The Intendant had heard +of young Mr. Lennox's surpassing skill with the sword, and of his +success with Count Jean de Mézy, who wielded a good blade himself. But +neither the Intendant nor those associated with him bore any ill will. +It was well known that Mr. Lennox was accredited with letters to the +Marquis Duquesne, but in the absence of the Governor General it would be +the pleasure of the Intendant to show courtesy to the messenger of the +Governor of the Province of New York and his comrades. + +It was a full and abounding letter, swarming with polite phrases, and it +appealed to Robert. Bigot might be corrupt, but he belonged to the great +world, and Robert felt that since he had come to Quebec he ought to see +the Intendant, his palace and what was done within its walls. It was +true that they had evaded suggestions to meet him, but a formal +invitation was different. He passed the letter to Willet, who read it +and handed it to Tayoga. + +"We'll have to go, Robert," said the hunter. "It's evident that Bigot +wants us, and if we don't accept he may make trouble for us. Yes, it's +wiser to go." + +Robert's eyes shone and Willet noticed it. + +"You'd have been disappointed if I had counseled a negative," he said. + +"I would," said Robert frankly. "I'm looking forward to the dinner with +the Intendant. Will you be there, Captain de Galisonnière?" + +"Yes, and I'm glad you've accepted. Mr. Willet was right when he said +it was wisdom to go. The Intendant is the most powerful man in Canada. +'Tis said that the Governor General, the Marquis Duquesne, will return +to France before long, and hence he lets a part of his authority slip +into the hands of Monsieur Bigot. You understand the dual nature of our +government in Canada. The Governor General is the immediate personal +representative of the King, but the Intendant is supreme over the +courts, finance, commerce and all the civil affairs of the country. So a +mighty power is lodged in his hands and it's also true here, as well as +elsewhere, that he who holds the purse holds more than the sword." + +"Will Colonel de Courcelles and Captain de Jumonville be there?" +continued Robert. + +"Undoubtedly. They belong to the military arm, of course, but they are +both favorites of Bigot, and they neglect no opportunity to strengthen +their position with him. Be careful what you say before them." + +Robert thanked him for his caution, although it was not needed, as he +had already resolved to be very wary in the presence of de Courcelles +and Jumonville, and the Onondaga also made a mental note of it, knowing +that de Courcelles was willing to plot in the dusk with a savage +Ojibway. + +De Galisonnière did not stay long, and after his departure Robert and +his friends reconsidered their determination, deciding that it was best +to brave Quebec and whatever it should have to offer in the full light +of day. The hunter's apprehensions that a quarrel might be forced upon +them were not justified, as Canadian and French politeness held true, +and they were received only with curiosity and interest. + +They gazed again at the great stone buildings and also took a brief view +of the Intendant's palace, where they expected to dine in the evening. +It was a palace in extent, but not in beauty, a great rambling building +of both timber and masonry, with a green lawn and flower gardens near +by. It was said that Bigot and his predecessors had spent huge sums on +the interior decoration, but that Robert expected soon to see for +himself. + +Returning to the Inn of the Eagle late in the afternoon, they began to +array themselves for Bigot's dinner, not wishing the Bostonnais to +appear at a disadvantage before the _noblesse_ of Quebec. Monsieur +Berryer sent them a barber, Gaston, who not only shaved the two white +faces, but who powdered and arranged their queues, and also manicured +their nails and gave their coats and waistcoats a rakish set, which he +assured them was quite the latest mode in Paris. Robert took all his +advice. He was very particular about his attire, knowing that however +much the jealous might criticize fine dress it always had its effect. + +The hunter watched Robert as he and Gaston arranged the new Paris styles +with a look that was almost paternal. The fine youth had exceeded +Willet's best hopes. Tall, straight, frank and open, he had the sound +mind in the sound body which is the sum of excellence, and the hunter +was glad to see him particular. It was a part of his heritage, and +became him. + +They were not to leave the Inn of the Eagle until after dusk, and Willet +suggested that they should not start until late, as they could walk to +the palace in a few minutes. But Robert said boldly that they would not +walk. It was fitting for the messengers of the Governor of New York to +ride and he would have Monsieur Berryer to call a caleche. Willet +assented with a laugh. + +"You're right, Robert," he said, "but I ride so little in carriages that +I didn't think of it." + +The night was rather dark, but when the three in the caleche approached +the palace they saw many men holding torches, and many people back of +them watching. The entertainments of François Bigot were famous in +Quebec for lavish splendor, and the uninvited usually came in numbers to +see the guests go in. + +"Be on your guard tonight, Robert," whispered Willet. "This is a society +to which you're not used, although I'll not deny that you could soon +learn it. But the French think we English, whether English English or +American English, are inferior in wit and quickness to themselves, and +there may be some attempts at baiting the bear before we leave." + +Robert felt his breath coming a little more quickly, and in the dusk, +Willet did not see the glow that appeared in his eyes. They might try to +"bait the bear" but he would be ready. The new powers that he had found +in himself not only accepted the challenge, but craved it. He was +conscious that he was not deficient in wit and quickness himself, and +if any follower of François Bigot, or if the great Bigot himself tried +to make sport of him he might find instead that the ruffler was +furnishing sport for the Bostonnais. So it was with a beating heart but +no apprehension that he alighted from the caleche with his friends, and +went into the palace to meet the Intendant. + +The interior of the great building was a singular mixture of barbaric +and civilized splendor, the American forests and the factories of France +alike being drawn upon for its furnishings. The finest of silken +tapestries and the rarest of furs often hung close together. Beyond the +anterooms was a large hall in which the chosen guests danced while the +people might look on from galleries that surrounded it. These people, +who were not so good as the guests, could dance as much as they pleased +in a second hall set aside exclusively for their use. In another and +more secluded but large room all kinds of games of chance to which Bigot +and his followers were devoted were in progress. In the huge dining-room +the table was set for forty persons, the usual number, until the war +came, when it was reduced to twenty, and Bigot gave a dinner there +nearly every evening, unless he was absent from Quebec. + +Robert felt as soon as he entered the palace that he had come into a +strange, new, exotic atmosphere, likely to prove intoxicating to the +young, and he remembered the hunter's words of warning. Yet his spirit +responded at once to the splendor and the call of a gayer and more +gorgeous society than any he had ever known. Wealth and great houses +existed even then in New York and upon occasion their owners made full +use of both, but there was a restraint about the Americans, the English +and the Dutch. Their display was often heavy and always decorous, and in +Quebec he felt for the first time the heedless gayety of the French, +when the Bourbon monarchy had passed its full bloom, and already was in +its brilliant decay. Truly, they could have carved over the doorway, +"Leave all fear and sorrow behind, ye who enter here." + +There were lights everywhere, flaming from tall silver candlesticks, and +uniforms, mostly in white and silver, or white with black or violet +facings, were thick in the rooms. Ladies, too, were present, in silk or +satin billowing in many a fold, their powdered hair rolled high in the +style made fashionable by Madame Jeanne Poisson de Pompadour. From an +inner room came the music of a band softly playing French songs or airs +from the Florentine opera. The air was charged with odors of perfume. + +It _was_ intoxicating, and yet it was pleasant. No, "pleasant" was not +the word, it was alluring, it played upon the senses, it threw a glow +over the rooms and the people, and the youth saw everything through a +tawny mist that heightened and deepened the colors. He was glad that he +had come. Nor was "glad" the word either. Seeing what he now saw and +knowing what he now knew, he would have blamed himself bitterly had he +stayed away. + +"Welcome, Mr. Lennox, my brave and generous opponent of the morning," +said a voice, and, looking through the tawny mist, he saw the man whom +he had fought and spared, Count Jean de Mézy, in a wonderful coat, +waistcoat and knee breeches of white satin, heavily embroidered, white +silk stockings, and low white shoes with great silver buckles, and a +small gold-hilted sword hanging at his thigh. The cheeks, a trifle too +fat, were mottled again, but his manner like his costume was silken. One +would have thought that he and not Robert was the victor in that trial +of skill by the St. Louis gate. + +"Welcome, Mr. Lennox," he said again in a tone that showed no malice. +"The Intendant's ball will be all the more brilliant for the presence of +yourself and your friends. What a splendid figure the young Onondaga +chief makes!" + +Tayoga bowed to the compliment, which was rather broad but true, and de +Mézy ran on: + +"We are accustomed here to the presence of Indian chiefs. We French have +known how to win the trust and friendship of the warriors and we ask +them to our parlors and our tables as you English do not do, although I +will confess that the Iroquois hitherto have come into Canada as enemies +and not as friends." + +"Quebec was once the Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, known to you as the +Mohawks," said Tayoga in his deep musical voice, "and there is no record +that they ever gave or sold it to Onontio." + +De Mézy was embarrassed for a moment, but he recovered himself quickly +and laughed. + +"You have us there!" he cried, "but it was long, long ago, when Cartier +came to Quebec. Times change and ownerships change with them. We can't +roll back the past." + +Tayoga said no more, content to remind the French at intervals that a +brother nation of the Hodenosaunee still asserted its title to Quebec. + +"You are not the only member of the great red race present," said de +Mézy to Tayoga. "We have a chief from the far west, a splendid type of +the forest man. What size! What strength! What a mien! By my faith, he +would make a stir in Paris!" + +"Tandakora, the Ojibway!" said Robert. + +"Yes, but how did you know?" + +"We have met him--more than once. We have had dealings with him, and we +may have more. He seems to be interested in what we're doing, and hence +we're never surprised when we see him." + +De Mézy looked puzzled, but at that moment de Courcelles and de +Jumonville, wearing uniforms of white and silver, came forward to add +their greeting to those of the count. They were all courtesy and the +words dropped from their lips like honey, but Robert felt that their +souls were not like the soul of de Galisonnière, and that they could not +be counted among the _honnêtes gens_. But the three Frenchmen were ready +now to present the three travelers to Monsieur François Bigot, Intendant +of Canada, great and nearly all powerful, and Robert judged too that +they had made no complaint against his friends and himself. + +Bigot was standing near the entrance to the private dancing room, and +about him was a numerous company, including ladies, among them the wife +of Pean, to whom the gossip of the time gave great influence with him, +and a certain Madame Marin and her sister, Madame de Rigaud, and others. +As the three approached under the conduct of the three Frenchmen the +group opened out, and they were presented in order, Robert first. + +The youth was still under the influence of the lights, the gorgeous +rooms and the brilliant company, but he gazed with clear eyes and the +most eager interest at Bigot, whose reputation had spread far, even in +the British colonies. He saw a man of middle years, portly, his red face +sprinkled with many pimples, probably from high living, not handsome and +perhaps at first repellent, but with an expression of vigor and ease, +and an open, frank manner that, at length, attracted. His dress was much +like de Mézy's, but finer perhaps. + +Such was the singular man who had so much to do with the wrecking of New +France, a strange compound of energy and the love of luxury, lavish with +hospitality, an untiring worker, a gambler, a profligate, a thief of +public funds, he was also kindly, gracious and devoted to his friends. A +strange bundle of contradictions and disjointed morals, he represented +in the New World the glittering decadence that marked the French +monarchy at home. Now he was smiling as de Mèzy introduced Robert with +smooth words. + +"Mr. Robert Lennox of Albany and New York," he said, "the brilliant +young swordsman of whom I spoke to you, the one who disarmed me this +morning, but who was too generous to take my life." + +Bigot's smiling gaze rested upon Robert, who was conscious, however, +that there was much penetration behind the smile. The Intendant would +seek to read his mind, and perhaps to learn the nature of the letters he +brought, before they were delivered to their rightful owner, the Marquis +Duquesne. Quebec was the home of intrigue, and the Intendant's palace +was the heart of it, but if Robert's pulse beat fast it was with +anticipation and not with fear. + +"It was fortune more than skill," he said. "The Count de Mézy credits me +with too much knowledge of the sword." + +"No," said Bigot, laughing, "Jean wouldn't do that. He'd credit you with +all you have, and no more. Jean, like the rest of us, doesn't relish a +defeat, do you, Jean?" + +De Mézy reddened, but he forced a laugh. + +"I suppose that nobody does!" he replied, "but when I suffer one I try +to make the best of it." + +"That's an honest confession, Jean," said Bigot, "and you'll feel better +for making it." + +He seemed now to Robert bluff, genial, all good nature, and the youth +stood on one side, while Willet and Tayoga were presented in their turn. +Bigot looked very keenly at the Onondaga, and the answering gaze was +fierce and challenging. Robert saw that Tayoga was not moved by the +splendor, the music and the perfumed air, and that he did not forget for +an instant that this gay Quebec of the French was the Stadacona of the +Mohawks, a great brother nation of the Hodenosaunee. + +Bigot's countenance fell a little as he met the intensely hostile gaze, +but in a moment he recovered himself and began to pay compliments to +Willet and the Iroquois. Robert felt the charm of his manner and saw why +he was so strong with a great body of the French in New France. Then his +eyes wandered to the others who stood near like courtiers around a king, +and he noticed that foremost among them was a man of mean appearance and +presuming manner, none other, he soon learned, than the notorious Joseph +Cadet, confederate of Bigot, in time to become Commissary General of New +France, the son of a Quebec butcher, who had begun life as a pilot boy, +and who was now one of the most powerful men in those regions of the New +World that paid allegiance to the House of Bourbon. Near him stood Pean, +the Town Mayor of Quebec, a soldier of energy, but deep in corrupt +bargains with Cadet, and just beyond Pean was his partner, Penisseault, +and near them were their wives, of whom scandal spoke many a true word, +and beyond them were the Commissary of Marine, Varin, a Frenchman, small +and insignificant of appearance, the Intendant's secretary, Deschenaux, +the son of a shoemaker at Quebec, Cadet's trusted clerk, Corpron and +Maurin, a humpback. + +A strange and varied company, one of the strangest ever gathered in any +outlying capital of a diseased and dying monarchy. Robert, although he +knew that it was corrupt and made a mockery of many things that he had +been taught to reverence, did not yet understand how deadly was the +poison that flowed in the veins of this society. At present, he saw only +the glow and the glitter. All these people were connected closely. The +Canadians intermarrying extensively were a great family, and the +Frenchmen were bound together by the powerful tie, a common interest. + +"Don't believe all you see, Robert," whispered Willet. "You're seeing +the surface, and it's hollow, hollow! I tell you!" + +"But we have nothing like it at home," said Robert. "We're lucky to +come." + +De Mézy had left them, but de Courcelles was near, and he saw that they +were not neglected. Robert was introduced to officers and powerful +civilians and the youngest and handsomest of the ladies, whose freedom +of language surprised him, but whose wit, which played about everything, +pleased a mind peculiarly sensitive to the charm of light and brilliant +talk. + +He had never before been in such an assembly, one that contained so much +of rank and experience in the great world. Surrounded by all that he +loved best, the people, the lights, the colors, and the anticipation of +what was to come, the Intendant shone. One forgot his pimply face and +portly figure in the geniality that was not assumed, and the ease of his +manners. He spoke to Robert more than once, asked him many questions +about Albany and New York, and referred incidentally, too, to the +Iroquois, but it was all light, as if he were asking them because of +interest in his guest, or merely to make conversation. + +The hues of everything gradually grew brighter and more brilliant to +Robert. The music from the next room steeped his senses, and he began to +feel the intoxication of which Willet had warned him. Many of the guests +were of the noblest families of France, young officers who had come to +Quebec, where it was reported promotion was rapid and sure, or where +younger sons, with the aid of such powerful men as Bigot and Cadet, +could make fortunes out of the customs or in the furnishing of supplies +to the government. Robert found himself talking much, his gift of speech +responding readily to the call. He answered their jests with a jest, +their quips with a quip, and when they were serious so was he. He felt +that while there may have been an undercurrent of hostility when he +entered the palace it had all disappeared now, and he was a favorite, or +at least they took a friendly interest in him, because he was a new type +and they did not think him brusque and rude, as the French believed all +Bostonnais to be. + +And through this picturesque throng stalked the two Indians, Tayoga and +Tandakora. The Ojibway wore a feather headdress, and a scarlet blanket +of richest texture was draped around his body, its hem meeting his +finely tanned deerskin leggings, while his feet were encased in beaded +moccasins. Nevertheless he looked, in those surroundings, which belonged +so thoroughly to an exotic civilization, more gigantic and savage than +ever. Robert was well aware that Bigot had brought him there for a +political purpose, to placate and win the western tribes, and to impress +him with the power and dignity of France. But whatever he may have +felt, the Ojibway, towering half a head above the tallest white man, +save Willet, was grim and lowering. His left arm lay in a fold of his +blanket, and, as he held it stiffly, Robert knew that his wound was yet +far from healed. He and Tayoga were careful to keep away from each +other, the Onondaga because he was a guest and was aware of the white +man's amenities, and the Ojibway because he knew it was not the time and +place for his purpose. + +They went in to dinner presently and the table of François Bigot was +splendid as became the powerful Intendant of New France, who had plenty +of money, who was lavish with it and who, when it was spent, knew where +to obtain more with ease and in abundance. Forty guests sat down, and +the linen, the silver and the china were worthy of the King's palace at +Versailles. A lady was on Robert's right and Colonel de Courcelles was +on his left. Willet and Tayoga were farther down on his own side of the +table, and he could not see them, unless he leaned forward, which he was +too well mannered to do. Bigot sat at the foot of the table and at its +head was Madame Pean, a native of Canada, born Mademoiselle Desméloizes, +young, handsome and uncommonly vivacious, dressed gorgeously in the +latest Parisian style, and, as Robert put it to himself, coruscating +with talk and smiles. + +The dinner progressed amid a great loosening of tongues and much wit. +The perfume from the flowers on the table and the continuous playing of +the band made the air heavier and more intoxicating. It seemed to +Robert that if these people had any cares they had dismissed them all +for the time. Their capacity for pleasure, for snatching at the incense +of the fleeting moment, amazed him. War might be coming, but tonight +there was no thought of it. + +Bigot toasted the two Bostonnais and the young Iroquois chief who were +his guests in a flowery speech and Robert responded. When he rose to his +feet he felt a moment of dizziness, because he was so young, and because +he felt so many eyes upon him. But the gift of speech came to his +aid--he was not the golden-mouthed for nothing. The heavy sweet odor of +the roses was in his nostrils, inspiring him to liquid words, and +everything glittered before him. + +He had the most friendly feeling for all in the room except Tandakora, +and a new thought coming into his mind he spoke it aloud. He was, +perhaps, in advance of his time, but he told them that New France and +the British colonies could dwell in peace, side by side. Why should they +quarrel? America was vast. British and French were almost lost in its +forests. France and England together could be stowed away in the region +about the Great Lakes and the shades of the wilderness would encompass +them both. The French and British were great races, it was useless to +compare them and undertake to say which was the greater, because each +was great in its own way, and each excelled in its own particulars, but +the two combined were the sum of manly virtues and strength. What the +British lacked the French supplied, and what the French lacked the +British supplied. Together they could rule the world and spread +enlightenment. + +He sat down and the applause was great and hearty, because he had spoken +with fervor and well. His head was singing, and he was confused a +little, after an effort that had induced emotion. Moreover, the band had +begun to play again some swaying, lilting dance tune, and his pulses +beat to its measure. But he did lean forward, in spite of his manners, +and caught Willet's approving look, for which he was very glad. He +received the compliments of the lady on his right and of de Courcelles, +then the band ceased presently and he became conscious that Tayoga was +speaking. He had not heard Bigot call upon him, but that he had called +was evident. + +Tayoga stood up, tall, calm and dignified. He too had the oratorical +power which was afterward displayed so signally by the Seneca who was +first called by his own people Otetiani and was later known as +Sagoyewatha, but who was known to the white men as Red Jacket. + +"I speak to you not as a Frenchman nor as an Englishman," said Tayoga, +"but as a warrior of the clan of the Bear of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee. Most of this land belonged to our +fathers before ever Englishmen or Frenchmen crossed the great water and +put foot upon these shores. Where you sit now was Stadacona, the village +of our brother race, the Mohawks. Frenchmen or Englishmen may make war +upon one another, or they may make peace with one another, but the +Hodenosaunee cannot be forgotten. There are many beautiful rivers and +lakes and forests to the south and west, but they do not belong to +either Onontio or Corlear. The laws of the fifty sachems who sit in +council in the vale of Onondaga run there, and those who leave them out, +be they French or English, reckon ill. There was a time when Frontenac +came raiding their villages, burning and slaying, but we did not know +the use of firearms then. Now we do know their use and have them, and in +battle we can meet the white man on equal terms, be he English or +French. I have been to the white man's school and I have learned that +there are other great continents beyond the sea. I do not know what may +happen in them, nor does it matter, but in this vast continent which you +call America the wars and treaties of the English and the French are +alike unavailing, unless they consider the wishes of the Hodenosaunee." + +He spoke in a manner inexpressibly haughty, and when he had finished he +swept the table from end to end with his challenging glance, then he sat +down amid a deep silence. But they were French. They understood that he +had tossed a glove among them, their quick minds saw that the challenge +was intended not alone for them, but for the English as well, unless the +rights of the Hodenosaunee were respected, and such a speech at such a +time appealed to their gallant instincts. After a moment or two of +silence the applause burst forth in a storm. + +"'Twas a fair warning," said de Courcelles in Robert's ear, "and 'twas +meant for us both." + +It was on Robert's tongue to reply that the English were included for +the sake of courtesy, as they were the friends of the Hodenosaunee and +always kept faith with them, but second thought stopped the words on his +lips. Then the band began again, playing a warm song of the south from +the Florentine opera, and the talk increased. It seemed to Robert that +everybody spoke at once, and his senses were again steeped in the music +and the perfumed air, and the sound of so many voices. Presently he +realized that some one across the table was speaking to him. + +"The Onondaga said bold words in behalf of his league, but can he prove +them true?" the voice was saying. + +There was something provocative in his tone, and Robert looked closely +at the speaker. He saw a tall man of at least forty-five, thin but +obviously very powerful and agile. Robert noticed that his wrists were +thick like his own and that his fingers were long and flexible. His face +was freckled, his nose large and curved, giving to his face an +uncommonly fierce appearance, and his eyes were black and set close +together. It was a strong countenance and, when Robert looked at him, +the black brows were drawn together in a frown. His words undoubtedly +had a challenge in them, and the youth replied: + +"When Tayoga speaks he speaks from his head as well as his heart, and I +who am his sworn brother, although we are of different races, know that +he doesn't boast when he refers to the power of the Hodenosaunee." + +"And may it not be possible, sir, that you have been deceived by your +friendship?" + +Robert looked at him in surprise. The man's manner was pointed as if he +were making an issue, and so he did not answer just then, but de +Courcelles by his side leaned forward a little and said: + +"Perhaps, Mr. Lennox, you have not yet been introduced formally to the +chevalier, Chevalier Pierre Boucher, who has been only a year from +Paris, but who is already a comrade good and true." + +"No, I don't think I've been deceived," replied Robert, keeping his +temper, and bowing to the introduction. "The Hodenosaunee, better known +to you as the Iroquois, are a very powerful league, as many of the +villages of Canada can tell." + +The man's face darkened. + +"Is it wise," he asked, "to remind us of the ferocious deeds the +Iroquois have done upon us," + +But de Courcelles intervened. + +"Peace! Peace, chevalier!" he said in a good-humored tone. "Mr. Lennox +meant no innuendo. He merely stated a fact to prove a contention." + +The chevalier subsided into silence, but Robert saw a significant look +pass between them, and instantly he became keen and watchful. What did +it mean? Willet's warning words came back to him. The more he studied +Boucher the less he liked him. With his thin face, and great hooked +nose, and long, bony fingers like talons, he reminded him of some great +bird of prey. He noticed also that while the others were drinking wine, +although he himself did not, the chevalier was the only one within his +view who also abstained. + +The dinner was long. One or two of the ladies sang to the music, another +danced, and then de Galisonniére, in a full, round tenor voice, sang +"The Bridge of Avignon." + + "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." + +It was singularly appealing, and for a moment tears came to the eyes of +all those who were born in France. They saw open fields, stone fences, +and the heavy grapes hanging in the vineyards, instead of the huge +rivers, the vast lakes and the mighty wilderness that curved almost to +their feet. But it was only for a moment. This was Quebec, the seat of +the French power in America, and they were in the Intendant's palace, +the very core and heart of it. The laughter that had been hushed for a +thoughtful instant or two came back in full tide, and once more the +Chevalier Pierre Boucher spoke to Robert. + +"The songs of our France are beautiful," he said. "None other have in +them so much of poetry and haunting lament." + +The youth detected as before the challenging under note in a remark that +otherwise would have seemed irrelevant, and an angry contradiction +leaped swiftly to his lips, but with the recollection of Willet's +warning look he restrained himself again. + +"France has many beautiful things," he replied quietly. + +"Well spoken, Mr. Lennox! A compliment to us from one of another race is +worth having," said de Courcelles. But Robert thought he saw that +significant look pass for a second time between de Courcelles and +Boucher. The long dinner drew to its close and the invited guests passed +into the private ballroom, where the band began to play dance music. In +the other ballroom, the one intended for the general public, the people +were dancing already, and another band was playing. + +Now Bigot was in his element, swelling with importance and good humor, +easy, graceful, jesting with men and women, wishing the world well, +knowing that he could milk from the royal treasury the money he was +spending tonight, and troubled by no twinges of conscience. Cadet +hovered near his powerful partner and Pean, Maurin, Penisseault and +Corpron were not far away. Robert looked with interest at the ballroom +which was decorated gorgeously. The balcony was filled already with +spectators who would watch the lords and ladies dance. There was no +restraint. No Father Drouillard was present to give rebuke and all the +_honnêtes gens_ were absent, unless a few young officers like de +Galisonnière, who sympathized with them, be excepted. + +They began to dance to light, tripping music, and to Robert all the +women seemed beautiful and graceful now, and all the men gay and +gallant. He could dance the latest dances himself, and meant to do so +soon, but for the present he would wait, standing by the wall and +looking on. Willet came to him, and evidently intended to whisper +something, but de Courcelles, by the youth's side, intervened +laughingly. + +"No secrets, Mr. Willet," he said. "No grave and serious matters can be +discussed at the Intendant's ball. It is one of our rules that when we +work we work and when we play we play. It is a useful lesson which you +Bostonnais should learn." + +Then Jumonville came and began to talk to the hunter in such direct +fashion that he was compelled to respond, and presently he was drawn +away, leaving Robert with de Courcelles. + +"You at least dance, do you not?" asked de Courcelles. + +"Yes," replied Robert, "I learned it at Albany." + +"Shall I get you a partner?" + +"In a little while, if you will be so good, Colonel de Courcelles, but +just now I'd rather see the others dancing. A most brilliant assemblage. +I never beheld its like before." + +"Brilliant for Quebec," said a voice at his elbow, "but you should go to +Paris, the very heart and center of the world, to see great pleasure and +great splendor in the happiest combination." + +It was the grim and freckle-faced Boucher, and again Robert detected +that challenging under note in his voice. In spite of himself his blood +grew hot. + +"I don't know much about Paris," he said. "I've never been there, +although I hope to go some day, but Quebec affords both pleasure and +splendor in high degree tonight." + +"You don't mean to say that Quebec, much as we French have labored to +build it up here in the New World, can compare with Paris?" + +Robert stared at him in astonishment. Both manner and tone were now +certainly aggressive, and as far as he could see aggressive about +nothing. Why should anyone raise an issue between Quebec and Paris, and +above all at such a time, there at Bigot's ball? He refused to be drawn +into a controversy, and shrugging his shoulders a little, he turned away +without an answer. He heard Boucher's voice raised again, but de +Courcelles laughingly waved him down. + +"Come! come, my Pierre," he said. "You're too ready to suspect that +someone is casting aspersions upon that beloved Paris of ours. Perhaps +you and I shall have the pleasure of showing the great city to Mr. +Lennox some day." + +He hooked his hand in Robert's arm and drew him away. + +"Don't mind Boucher," he said. "He has a certain brusqueness of manner +at times, although he is a good soul. He can't bear for anyone to +suggest that another city, even one of our own, could possibly rival +Paris in any particular. It's his pet devotion, and we won't disturb him +in it. There's your friend, Tayoga, standing by the wall with his arms +folded across his chest. What a splendid savage!" + +"He's not a savage. Tayoga was educated in our schools and he has both +the white man's learning and the red man's. He has the virtues, too, of +both races, and few, very few of their vices." + +"You're an enthusiast about your friend." + +"And so would you be if you knew him as well as I do. That little speech +he made showed his courage and the greatness of his soul." + +"Spoken at such a time, its appeal was strong. I don't want to boast of +my race, Mr. Lennox, but the French always respond to a gallant act." + +"I know it, and I know, too, that if we English, and Americans or +Bostonnais, as you call us, do go to war with you we could not possibly +have a more enterprising or dangerous foe." + +Colonel de Courcelles bowed to the compliment, and then with a nod +indicated Tandakora, also standing against the wall, huge, sullen and +looking like a splash of red flame, wrapped in his long scarlet blanket. + +"He, at least, is a savage," he said. + +"That I readily admit," said Robert. + +"And as you know by the charges that he made against you to me, he +wishes you and your comrades no good." + +"I know by those charges and by events that have occurred since. +Tandakora is a savage through and through, and as such my comrades and I +must guard against him." + +"But the Ojibway is a devoted friend of ours," said a harsh voice over +his shoulders. + +He turned and saw the lowering face of Boucher, and once more he was +amazed. De Courcelles did not give the youth time to answer. Again he +laughingly waved Boucher away. + +"Pierre, my friend," he said, "you seem to be seeking points of issue +tonight. Now, I refuse to let you and Mr. Lennox quarrel over the +manners, habits and personal characteristics of Tandakora. Come, Mr. +Lennox, I'm about to present you to a lady with whom you are going to +dance." + +Robert went away with him and he saw that Boucher, who was left behind, +was frowning, but he danced with the lady and others, and as the +excitement of the moment mounted again to his head he forgot all about +Boucher. He saw too that de Galisonnière had abandoned his restraint, +and had plunged into the gayety with all the enthusiasm and delight of +one to whom pleasure was natural. After a while de Courcelles hooked his +arm again in Robert's and said: "Come, I'll show you something." + +He led the way down a narrow passage, and then into a large apartment, +well lighted, though not so brilliantly as the ballroom. A clicking +sound had preceded their entrance, and Robert was aware that he was in +the famous gambling room of Monsieur Bigot. Nearly twenty men, including +the Intendant himself, Cadet and Pean, were there, gambling eagerly with +cards or dice. + +And standing by one of the tables, a frown on his freckled face, Robert +also saw the man, Boucher. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE HUNTER AND THE BRAVO + + +Robert turned away, not wishing to meet Boucher again, as he felt that +the man would say something provocative, and, standing on one side with +de Courcelles, he watched the players. The air was heated, and the faces +of the men were strained and eager. It was all unwholesome to the last +degree, and he felt repulsion, yet it held him for the time with a +fascination due to curiosity. He saw Boucher begin to play and as the +latter held his cards, noticed again his thick and strong, but supple +wrists. Uncommon wrists they were, and Robert knew that an uncommon +amount of power was stored in them. + +Bigot presently observed Robert, and asked him to play, but the lad +declined, and he was brave enough to say that he never played. Bigot +laughed and shook his head. + +"Ah, you Puritan Bostonnais!" he said; "you'll never learn how to live." + +Then he went back to his game. + +"I think," said Robert, upon whom the heat and thick air were beginning +to tell, "that I'd like to go outside and breathe a little fresh air." + +"It is like a hothouse in here," said de Courcelles. + +"It's but a step from this room to a little garden, where we can find +all the cool air we want." + +"Then show the way," said Robert quickly. He was eager to escape from +the room, not alone for the sake of air, but because the place choked +him. After a period of excitement and mental intoxication the reaction +had come. The colors were growing dimmer, the perfume in the air turned +to poison, and he longed for the clean out-of-doors. + +De Courcelles opened a small door and they stepped out. Robert did not +notice that Boucher instantly put down his cards and followed. Before +them was a grassy lawn with borders of rose bushes, and beyond, the vast +sweep of the hills, the river and the far shore showed dimly through the +dusk. The air, moved by a light wind, was crisp, fresh and pure, and, as +Robert breathed it deeply, he felt his head grow clear and cool. Several +men were walking in the garden. One of them was Jumonville, and the +others he did not know. + +"A wonderful site and a wonderful view," said Robert. + +"But from Montmartre in Paris one may see a far greater city," said +Boucher at his elbow. + +Robert turned angrily upon him. He felt that the man, in some manner, +was pursuing him, and that he had stood enough. + +"I did not speak to you, Monsieur Boucher," he said. + +"But I spoke to you, my young sprig of a Bostonnais." + +He spoke with truculence, and now de Courcelles did not interfere. The +others, hearing loud and harsh words, drew near. Jumonville came very +close and regarded Robert with great intentness, evidently curious to +see what he would do. The youth stared at Boucher in amazement, but he +exercised his utmost self-control. + +"I know that you spoke to me, Monsieur Boucher," he said, "but as I do +not see any relevancy in your remarks I will ask you to excuse me. I +came here merely for the air with Colonel de Courcelles." + +He turned away, expecting de Courcelles to resume the walk with him, but +the figure of the Frenchman stiffened and he did not move. All at once a +wind of hostility seemed to be blowing. Somewhere in the dusk, somebody +laughed lightly. Robert's face blazed, but he was still master of +himself. + +"And so you would leave after speaking to me in a manner that is an +insult," sneered Boucher. + +"You were the first to give an insult." + +"If you think so I am ready to return satisfaction." + +Boucher folded his arms across his chest, his powerful wrists crossed, +and stared at Robert, his lips wrinkling in ugly fashion. It was a look +like that which Tandakora had given him, and there in the background was +the huge and sinister figure of the Indian, wrapped in his blanket of +flame. He also saw de Mézy and he too was sneering in insolent triumph. +De Courcelles, from whom he had a right at that time to expect +friendship, or at least support, had drawn farther away. + +"I am a guest here," said Robert, "and I seek no trouble. I don't wish +to mar the hospitality of Monsieur Bigot by being a party to a quarrel +in his garden." + +Again that light laugh came from a point somewhere in the dusk and again +Robert's face blazed, but he still held himself under firm control. + +"You were ready enough to fight Count Jean de Mézy this morning," said +Boucher, "knowing that he was not in condition and that you had a skill +with the sword not suspected by him." + +The truth of it all flashed upon Robert with the certainty of +conviction. The entire situation had been arranged and de Courcelles was +one of its principals. He had been brought into the garden that a fight +might be forced upon him there. Boucher was a bravo and undoubtedly a +great swordsman. He understood now the secret of those thick flexible +wrists and of the man's insulting manner. His blood became ice in his +veins for a moment or two, but it was good for him, cooling his head and +quickening his mind. His heart beat with regularity and steadiness. + +"I thank you, Monsieur de Courcelles," he said, "for your action in this +matter, which I now understand. It's true that it departs in some +respects from what I have understood to be the code and practice of a +French gentleman, but doubtless, sir, it's your right to amend those +standards as you choose." + +De Courcelles flushed, bit his lip and was silent. + +"Very pretty! Very pretty!" sneered Boucher, "but French gentlemen are +the best judges of their own manners and morals. You have your sword, +sir, and I have mine. Here is a fine open space, well lighted by the +moon, and no time is better than the present. Will you draw, sir?" + +"He will not," said a voice over Robert's shoulder, which he instantly +recognized as that of the hunter. He felt suddenly as if a great wall +had been raised for his support. He was no longer alone among plotting +enemies. + +"And why will he not, and what affair is it of yours?" asked Boucher, +his manner threatening. + +Willet took a step forward, his figure towering and full of menace. Just +behind him was Tayoga. Robert had never seen the hunter look taller or +more charged with righteous wrath. But it was an anger that burned like +a white hot flame, and it was alive with deadly menace. + +"He will not draw because he was brought here to be assassinated by you, +bully and bravo that you are," replied Willet, plumbing the very depths +of Boucher's eyes with his stern gaze. "I like the French, and I know +them to be a brave and honest people. I did not think that in a +gathering of French gentlemen enough could be found to form a +treacherous and murderous conspiracy like this." + +Nobody laughed in the dusk. The silence was intense. A cool wind blew +across Robert's face, and he felt anew that an invincible champion stood +by his side. Boucher broke the silence with a contemptuous laugh. + +"Out of the way, sir," he said. "The affair does not concern you. If he +does not draw and defend himself I will chastise him with the flat of my +sword." + +"You will not," said the hunter, in his cool, measured tones. "You will +fight me, instead." + +"My quarrel is not with you." + +"But it soon will be." + +Near Willet was a rose bush with fresh earth heaped over its roots. +Stooping suddenly he picked up a handful and flung it with force into +the bravo's face. Boucher swore under his breath, stepped back, and +wiped away the earth. + +"You've earned the precedence, sir," he said, "though I reserve the +right to attend to Mr. Lennox afterward. 'Tis a pity that I should have +to waste my steel on a common hunter. I call all of you to witness that +this quarrel was forced upon me." + +"Your pity does you credit," said the hunter, "but it's not needed. +'Twere better, sir, if you have such a large supply of that commodity +that you save a little of it for yourself. And as for your attending to +Mr. Lennox afterward, that meeting, I think, will not occur." + +A long breath came from the crowd. This strange hunter spoke in a +confident tone, and so he must know more than a little of the sword. De +Galisonnière had just come into the garden, and was about to speak, but +when he saw that Willet was face to face with Boucher he remained +silent. + +"Robert," said the hunter, "do you give me full title to this quarrel of +yours?" + +"Yes, it is yours," replied the youth, knowing that the hunter would +not be denied, and having supreme confidence in him. + +"And now, Monsieur Boucher," continued Willet, "the quicker the better. +Mr. Lennox will be my second and I recommend that you choose for yours +one of three gentlemen, Colonel de Courcelles, Count de Mézy or the +Captain de Jumonville, all of whom conspired to lead a boy into this +garden and to his death." + +The faces of the three became livid. + +"And," said the hunter, "if any one of the three gentlemen whom I have +mentioned should feel the need of satisfaction after I have attended to +Monsieur Pierre Boucher, I shall be very glad to satisfy him." + +De Mézy recovering himself, and assuming a defiant manner, took the part +of Boucher's second. Willet removed his coat and waistcoat and handed +them to Robert, beside whom Tayoga was now standing. Then he drew his +sword and balanced it a moment in his hand, before he clasped it lightly +but firmly by the hilt. + +Another long breath came from the crowd which had increased. Every man +there was aware that something uncommon was afoot. Who and what Boucher +was most of them knew, but the hunter was an unknown quantity, all the +more interesting because of the mystery that enshrouded him. And the +interest was deepened when they saw his swift, easy motion, his +wonderful lightness for so large a man, and the manner in which the hilt +of his sword fitted into his hand, as if they had long been brothers. + +"I call you all to witness once again," said Boucher, "that this quarrel +was forced upon me, and that I had no wish to slay a wandering hunter +of the Bostonnais." + +Willet made no reply for the present. He took his position and Boucher +took his. The seconds gave the word, their swords clashed together, and +they stepped back, each looking for an opening in the other's guard. +Then it dawned upon the bravo that a swordsman stood before him. But he +had not the slightest fear. He knew his own skill and strength. + +"It's strange that a hunter should know anything about the sword," he +said, "but it seems that you do and the fact pleases me much. I would +not have it said that I cut down an ignorant man." + +"And yet it might be said," replied the hunter. "Do you remember the +boy, Gaston Lafitte, whom you fought behind the Luxembourg near twenty +years ago?" + +The face of Boucher suddenly went deathly white, and, for a moment, he +trembled. + +"Who are you, you mumming hunter?" he cried. "I know no Gaston Lafitte." + +"There you lie, Boucher. You knew him well enough and you can't forget +him if you would. Your face has shown it. It was well that you had +powerful friends then, or you would soon be completing your twentieth +year in the galleys." + +The blood rushed back into Boucher's face until it was a blazing red, +and he attacked savagely. Few men could have stood before that powerful +and cunning offense, but Willet met him at every point. Always the +flashing steel was turned aside, and the hunter, cool, patient and +wary, looked like one who, in absolute faith, bided his time. + +A gasp came from the spectators. The omens had foretold something +unusual, but here was more than they had expected or had hoped. The +greatest swordsman whom France could send forth had been checked and +held by an unknown hunter, by a Bostonnais, among whom one would not +look for swordsmanship. They stopped for breath and Boucher from under +his dark brows stared at the hunter. + +"Mummer," he said. "You claim to know something of me. What other lie +about me can you tell?" + +"It's not necessary to tell lies, Pierre Boucher. There was Raoul de +Bassempierre whom you compelled to fight you before he was fairly +recovered of a sickness. His blood is still on your hands. Time has not +dried it away. Look! Look! See the red bubbles standing on your wrists!" + +Boucher, again as white as death, looked down hastily, and then uttered +a fierce oath. The hunter laughed. + +"It's true, Boucher," he said, "and everyone here knows it's true. Why +speak of lies? I don't carry them in my stock, and I've proved that I +don't need them. Come, you wish my death, attack again, but remember +that I'm neither the untrained boy, Gaston Lafitte, nor Raoul de +Bassempierre, wasted from illness." + +Boucher rushed at him, and Robert thought he could hear the angry breath +whistling through his teeth. Then he grew cooler, steadied himself and +pushed the offense. His second attack was even more dangerous than the +first, and he showed all the power and cunning of the great swordsman +that he was. Willet slowly gave ground and the spectators began to +applaud. After all, Boucher was a Frenchman and one of themselves, +although it was not the best of the French who were gathered there in +the garden that night--except de Galisonnière and one or two others. + +Robert watched the hunter and saw that his breathing was still regular +and easy, and that his eye was as calm and confident as ever. Then his +own faith, shaken for a moment, returned. Boucher was still unable to +break through that guard of living steel, and when they paused a second +time for breath each was still untouched. + +"You are a swordsman, I'll admit that," said Boucher. + +"Yes, a better than the raw lad, Gaston Lafitte, or Raoul de +Bassempierre who was ill, and a better than a third whom I recall." + +"What do you mean, mummer?" + +"There was a certain Raymond de Neville who played at dice with another +whom I could name. Neville said that the other cheated, but he was a +great swordsman while Neville was but an indifferent fencer, and the +other slew him. Yet, they say Neville's charges were true. Shall I name +that man, Boucher?" + +Boucher, livid with rage, sprang at him. + +"Mummer!" he cried. "You know too much. I'll close your mouth forever!" + +Now it seemed to Boucher that a very demon of the sword stood before +him. His own fierce rush was met and he was driven back. The ghosts of +the boy, Gaston Lafitte, of the sick man Raoul de Bassempierre, and of +the indifferent swordsman, Raymond de Neville who had been cheated at +cards, came back, and they helped Willet wield his weapon. His figure +broadened and grew. His blade was no longer of steel, it was a strip of +lightning that played around the body and face of the dazzled bravo. It +was verily true that the hands of four men grasped the hilt, the ghosts +of the three whom he had murdered long ago, and Willet who stood there +in the flesh before him. + +A reluctant buzz of admiration ran through the crowd. Many of them had +come from Paris, but they had never seen such swordsmanship before. +Whoever the hunter might be they saw that he was the master swordsman of +them all. They addressed low cries of warning to Boucher: "Have a care!" +"Have a care!" "Save your strength!" they said. But de Galisonnière +stood, tight-lipped and silent. Nor did Robert and Tayoga feel the need +of saying anything to their champion. + +Now Boucher felt for the first time in his life that he had met the +better man. The great duelist who had ruffled it so grandly through the +inns and streets of Paris looked with growing terror into the stern, +accusing eyes that confronted him. But he did not always see Willet. It +was the ghosts of the boy, Gaston Lafitte, of the sick man Raoul de +Bassempierre and of the indifferent swordsman, Raymond de Neville, that +guided the hunter's blade, and his forehead became cold and wet with +perspiration. + +De Galisonnière had moved in the crowd, until he stood with Robert and +Tayoga. He was perhaps the only one of the _honnêtes gens_ in the +garden, and while he was a Frenchman, first, last and all the time, he +knew who Boucher was and what he represented, he understood the reason +why Robert had been drawn into the garden and he was willing to see the +punishment of the man who was to have been the sanguinary instrument of +the plot. + +"A miracle will defeat the best of plans," he said to de Courcelles. + +"What do you mean, de Galisonnière?" asked de Courcelles with a show of +effrontery. + +"That an unknown hunter should prove himself a better swordsman than +your great duelist and bravo, Boucher." + +"Why do you call him my duelist and bravo, de Galisonnière?" + +"I understand that you brought young Lennox into the garden, apparently +his warm friend on the way, and then when he was here, stood aside." + +"You must answer for such insinuations, Captain de Galisonnière." + +"But not to you, my friend. My sword will be needed in the coming war, +and I'm not called upon to dull it now against one who was a principal +in a murderous conspiracy. I may be over particular about those with +whom I fight, de Courcelles, but I am what I am." + +"You mean you will not fight me?" + +"Certainly not. A meeting would cause the reasons for it to be threshed +out, and we are not so many here in Canada that those reasons would not +become known to all, and you, I fancy, would not relish the spread of +such knowledge. The Intendant is a powerful man, but the Marquis +Duquesne is the head of our military life, and he would not be pleased +to hear what one of his officers so high in rank has done here tonight." + +All the blood left de Courcelles' face, and he shook with anger, but he +knew in his heart that de Galisonnière spoke the deadly truth. Besides, +the whole plan had gone horribly wrong. And it had been so well laid. +Who could have thought that a wandering hunter would appear at such a +time, take the whole affair into his hands, and prove himself a better +swordsman than Boucher, who was reputed not to have had his equal in +France. It was the one unlucky chance, in a million! Nay, it was worse! +It was a miracle that had appeared against them, and in that de +Galisonnière had told the truth. Rage and terror stabbed at his heart, +rage that the plan laid so smoothly had failed, and terror for himself. +No, he would not challenge de Galisonnière. + +"You will notice, de Courcelles," said the young Captain, "that Boucher +is approaching exhaustion. Perhaps not another man in the world could +have withstood his tremendous offense so well, but the singular hunter +seems to be one man in a world, at least with the sword. Now, the +seconds will give them a little rest before they close once more, and, +I think, for the last time." + +"For God's sake, de Galisonnière, cease! It's bad enough without your +unholy glee!" + +"'Bad enough' and 'unholy glee,' de Courcelles! Not at all! It's very +well, and my pleasure is justified. I fear that villany is not always +punished as it should be, and seldom in the dramatic manner that leaps +to the eye and that has the powerful force of example. Ah, a foul blow +before the seconds gave the word! Boucher has gone mad! But you and I +won't trouble ourselves about him, since he will soon pay for it. I +think I see a change in the hunter's eye. It has grown uncommonly stern +and fierce. He has the look of an executioner." + +De Galisonnière had read aright. When the treacherous blow was dealt and +turned aside barely in time, Willet's heart hardened. If Boucher lived +he would live to add more victims to those who had gone before. The +man's whole fiber, body and mind, was poison, nothing but poison, and +the murdered three whom Willet had known cried upon him to take +vengeance. He began to press the bravo and Boucher's followers were +silent. De Galisonnière was not the only one who had marked the change +in the hunter's eye. + +"You will note, de Courcelles," said he, "that your man, Boucher, has +thrown his life away." + +"He's not my man, de Galisonnière!" + +"You compel me to repeat, de Courcelles, that your man, Boucher, has +thrown away his own life. It's not well to deal a foul blow at a +consummate swordsman. But I suppose it's hard for a murderer to change +his instincts. Ah, what a stroke! What a stroke! It was so swift that I +saw only a flash of light! And so, our friend, Boucher, has sped! And +when you seek the kernel of the matter, de Courcelles, it was you who +helped to speed him!" + +De Courcelles, unable to bear more, strode away. Boucher was lying upon +his back, and the bravo had fought his last fight. Willet looked down at +him, shook his head a little, but he did not feel remorse. The ghosts of +the untrained boy, Gaston Lafitte, of the sick man, Raoul de +Bassempierre, and of Raymond de Neville, who had been murdered at dice, +guided his hand, and it was they who had struck the blow. Robert helped +him to put on the waistcoat and coat, as a group of men, Bigot, Cadet, +and Pean at their head, invaded the garden. + +"What's this! What's this!" exclaimed Bigot, staring at the motionless +prostrate figure with the closed eyes. + +Then de Galisonnière spoke up, and Robert was very grateful to him. + +"It was done by Mr. Willet, as you see, sir, and if ever a man had +justification he has it. The quarrel was forced upon him, and, during a +pause, Boucher struck a foul blow, which, had it not been for Mr. +Willet's surpassing skill, would have proved mortal and would have +stained the honor of all Frenchmen in Quebec. Colonel de Courcelles will +bear witness to the truth of all that I have said, will you not, de +Courcelles?" + +"Yes," said de Courcelles, though he shook in his uniform with anger. + +"And so will Count Jean de Mézy. He too is eager to give testimony and +support me in what I say. Is it not so, de Mézy?" + +"Yes," said de Mézy, the purple spots in his face deepening. + +"Then," said the Intendant, "I see nothing left to do but bury Boucher. +He was but a quarrelsome fellow with none too good a record in France. +And keep it from the ladies at present." + +He returned with his courtiers to the house, and the dancing continued, +but Robert felt that he could not stay any longer. Such cynicism shocked +him, and paying his respects to Bigot and his friends, he left with +Tayoga and the hunter for the Inn of the Eagle. + +"It was a great fight," said Tayoga, as they stood outside and breathed +the cool, welcome air again. "What Hayowentha was with the bow and arrow +the Great Bear is with the sword." + +"I don't like to take human life," said the hunter, "and it scarcely +seems to me that I've done it now. I feel as if I had been an instrument +in the hands of others, giving to Boucher the punishment deferred so +long." + +"There will be no trouble about it," said Tayoga. "I read the face of +Bigot and no anger was there. It may be that he was glad to get rid of +the man Boucher. The assassin becomes at times a burden." + +But Willet remained silent and thoughtful. + +"I've a feeling, Robert," he said, "that our mission to Quebec will +fail. We've passed through too much, and all the signs are against us. +As for me, I'm going to get ready for war." + +"Maybe the Governor General will arrive tomorrow," said Robert, "and if +so we can give him our letters and go. I was glad to come to Quebec, and +I'll be equally glad to leave." + +"And we can see the lodges of the Hodenosaunee again," said Tayoga, his +eyes glistening. + +"Yes, Tayoga, and glad I'll be to be once more among your great people, +the hunters of the hills." + +It was about two o'clock in the morning, when Robert went to bed, and he +slept very late. Willet awoke shortly after dawn, dressed himself and +went to the window, where he stood, gazing absently at the deepening +sunlight on the green hills, although he saw the incidents of the heated +night before far more vividly. He was a man who did not favor bloodshed, +though it was a hard and stern age, and the slaying of Boucher, who +would have added another to his victims, did not trouble him even the +morning after. In his mind was the thought, expressed so powerfully, +that the mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small. +However, his anxiety to be away from Quebec had grown with the hours. +The dangers were too thick, and they also had a bad habit of increasing +continually. + +When Robert awoke he found the hunter and Tayoga awaiting him. + +"I've ordered breakfast," said Willet, "and it will be ready for us as +soon as you dress. After that I'll have to comply with some +formalities, owing to last night's affair, and then if the Governor +General arrives this afternoon, we can deliver our letters and depart. +It seems strange, Robert, that we should be here such a little while and +that both you and I should fight duels. Perhaps it will be Tayoga's turn +today, and he too will have to fight." + +"Not unless Tandakora seeks me," said the young Onondaga. + +"Did you see what became of him last night, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"I watched him all the time you and the Frenchman were fighting, and I +watched also when we came back to the inn. He would willingly have +thrown a tomahawk in the dark at the head of any one of us, but he knew +I watched and he did not dare." + +"And that Ojibway savage is another of our troubles. He's gone clean mad +with his hate of us." + +Their late breakfast was served by Monsieur Berryer himself with much +deference and some awe. The large room also held many more guests than +usual at such an hour, but most of them ate little, only an egg or a +roll, perhaps, or they dallied over a cup of coffee, reserving most of +their attention for Willet, whom they regarded covertly, but with +extraordinary interest. The youth with him had shown himself to be a +fine swordsman, as Count Jean de Mézy could testify, but the elder man, +who had appeared to be a hunter, and who claimed to be one, was such a +master of the weapon as had never before appeared in New France. And it +was said by the French officers that his equal could not be found in +old France either. The interest aroused by his fame was increased by the +mystery that enshrouded him, and they gave him an attention that was not +at all hostile. In truth, it was strongly compounded with admiration. A +man who had removed Pierre Boucher as he had done, was to be regarded +with respect. Boucher had given every promise of becoming a public +danger in Quebec, and perhaps they owed gratitude to the hunter, +Bostonnais though he was. + +Late in the afternoon they had word that the Marquis Duquesne had come +and would receive them. Again they arrayed themselves with the greatest +care, and took their way to the Castle of St. Louis. They found a man +very different in appearance and manner from the Intendant, Bigot. Tall, +austere, belonging to a race that was reckoned very noble in France, the +Marquis Duquesne was not popular in New France. He had none of the +geniality and easy generosity of Bigot, as he spent his own money, but +he had shown a military energy and foresight which the British governors +to the south were far from imitating. While Canada did not love him, it +respected him and his boldness, and his daring and foresight had deeply +impressed the powerful Indian tribes whose friendship and alliance were +so important in the coming war. + +The manner of the Marquis was high, when he received the three in his +chamber of audience, but it was not deficient in courtesy. He looked +intently at each of them in turn. + +"You come, so I am told, from the Governor of New York," he said, "and +judging from what I have heard he has chosen messengers who are able to +make a stir. Two days in Quebec and already you have fought two duels, +one of them ending fatally." + +"My lord," said Willet, gravely, "they were not of our seeking." + +"That also, I hear. They tell me, too, Mr. Willet, that you are an +incomparable swordsman, and it must be true, or you would not have been +able to defeat Boucher. But that matter is adjusted. You will not be +held here because of his death. It seems that the Intendant, Monsieur +Bigot himself, does not wish to carry it further. But the letters from +the Governor of New York?" + +"Mr. Lennox has them," said Willet. + +Robert bowed and took from an inner pocket of his waistcoat the letters +he had carried through so many dangers. They were contained in a small +deerskin pouch, and were only two in number. Bowing again, he handed +them to the Governor General, who said: + +"Pray be seated, and excuse me for a few minutes while I read them." + +He read slowly, stopping at times to consider, and when he had finished +he read them over again. + +"Do you and Mr. Willet know the contents of these letters?" he said to +Robert. + +"We do," replied the youth. "They were read to us by the Governor of New +York before he sealed them. If we were robbed of them on the way to +Quebec, and he knew the way was dangerous, we were to continue our +journey and deliver the message to you verbally." + +"Their nature does credit to both the heart and head of the Governor of +New York. He makes a personal appeal to me to use all my influence +against the war seemingly at hand. He says that England and France have +nothing to gain by attacking each other in the American woods, which are +large enough to hide whole European kingdoms. But he wishes the letters +to be a secret with him and me and you three who have brought them. You +understand that?" + +Robert bowed once more. + +"The second letter explains and amplifies the first, contains, I should +say, his afterthoughts. As I said, 'tis a noble act, but what can I do? +A war may look to many men like a sudden outburst, but it is nearly +always the result of conditions that have been a long time in the +growth. Your hunters, your traders and your surveyors pressed forward +into the Ohio country, which is ours." + +He looked at them as if he expected them to challenge the French claim +to the Ohio regions, but they were wisely silent. + +"The letters do not demand an immediate reply," he continued. "His +Excellency prays me to consider. Perhaps I shall send one later through +a trusted messenger by sloop or schooner to New York, and naturally, I +shall choose one of my own officers." + +"Naturally, my lord," said Robert. "We did not expect to take back the +answer." + +The Marquis Duquesne looked at him very keenly. + +"You speak as if you were relieved at not having the errand," he said. +"Perhaps there is something else on your mind which you wish to do and +with which such a mission would interfere." + +Robert was silent and the Marquis laughed. + +"I will not press the question, because I've no right to do so," he +said. "But I will let it remain an inference." + +Then his eye rested upon Tayoga, at whom he looked long and searchingly, +and the eye of the Onondaga met him with an answering gaze, fixed and +unfaltering. + +"Captain de Galisonnière has told me," said the Marquis, "that you are a +young chief, or coming chief, of the Iroquois, that despite your youth +you have thought much and have influence with your people. How do the +Iroquois feel toward the French who wish them so well?" + +"They do not forget that this Quebec is the Stadacona of one of their +great warrior nations, the Mohawks," replied Tayoga. + +The Marquis started and flushed. + +"Quebec is ours," he said slowly, after taking due thought. "You cannot +undo what was done two centuries ago." + +"The nations of the Hodenosaunee do not forget, what are two centuries +to them?" + +"When you return to the Long House in the vale of Onondaga, and the +fifty sachems meet in council, tell them Onontio has only kindness in +his heart for them. The war clouds that hang over England and France +grow many and thick, and my children are brave and vigilant. They know +the ways of the forest. They travel by day and by night, and they strike +hard. The English are not a match for them." + +"If I should tell them what Onontio tells to me they would say: 'Go back +to Quebec, which is by right the Stadacona of our great warrior nation, +the Mohawks, and say to Onontio that his words are like the songs of +birds, but we, the Hodenosaunee, do not forget. We remember Frontenac, +and we remember Champlain, the first of the white men to come among us +with guns, the use of which we did not know, killing our warriors.'" + +"Time makes changes, Tayoga, and the Iroquois must change too." + +Tayoga, was silent, but his haughty face did not relax a particle. The +Marquis was about to say more upon the subject, but he had a penetrating +mind and he saw that his words would be wasted. + +"We shall see what we shall see," he said. "My master, His Majesty King +Louis, keeps his promises. Mr. Lennox, as I take it, still clinging to +my inference, it will be some time before you see the Governor of New +York again. But, when you do see him, and if my letter has not then +reached him, tell him it is coming by ship to New York. As for you and +your comrades, I wish you a safe journey whithersoever you go. An +aide-de-camp will give the three of you, as you go out, passports which +will be your safe conduct until you reach the borders of Canada. Of +course, I cannot speak with certainty concerning anything that will +happen to you beyond that point. Mr. Willet, I am sorry that a sword +such as yours is not French." + +Willet bowed, and so did Robert. Then the three withdrew, receiving +their safe conducts as they went. At the inn they made hurried +preparations for departure, deciding that they would cross at once to +the south side of the St. Lawrence and travel on foot through the woods +until they reached the Richelieu, where in a secret cove a canoe +belonging to Willet lay hidden. The canoe would take them into Lake +Champlain and then they could proceed by water to the point they wished. + +Robert wrote a note of thanks to the Intendant for his courtesy, +expressing their united regrets that the brevity of time would not +permit them to pay a formal call, and as it departed in the hands of a +messenger, de Galisonnière came to say farewell. + +"It's likely," he said, "that if we meet again it will be on the +battlefield. I see nothing for it but a war, but if we do meet, Mr. +Willet, you must promise that you will not use that sword against me." + +"I promise, Captain de Galisonnière," said Willet, smiling, "but if the +war does come, and I hope it may not, it will be fought chiefly in the +woods, and there will be little need for swords. And now we wish to +thank you for your great kindness and help." + +He shook hands with them all, showing some emotion, and then left +hastily. The three deferred their departure, concluding to spend the +night at the inn, but before dawn the next morning they crossed the St. +Lawrence and began their journey. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE BOWMEN + + +Robert looked back and saw the roofs and spires of Quebec sitting on its +mighty rock, and he remembered how much had happened during their short +stay there. He could recall the whole time, hour by hour, and he knew +that he would never forget any part of it. The town was intense, +glowing, vivid in the clear northern sunlight, and he had seen it, as he +so often had longed to do. A quality in his nature had responded to it, +but at the last his heart had turned against it. The splendor of that +city into which he had enjoyed such a remarkable introduction had in it +something hot and feverish. + +"You're thinking a farewell to Quebec, Robert," said the hunter. "It +looks grand and strong up there, but I've an idea there'll be a day when +we'll come again." + +"Americans and English have besieged it before," said Robert, "but +they've never taken it." + +"Which proves nothing, but we'll turn our minds now to our journey into +the south. It's good to breathe this clean air again, and the sooner we +reach the deep woods the better I'll like it. What say you, Tayoga?" + +The nostrils of the Onondaga expanded, as he inhaled the odors of leaf +and grass, borne on the gentle wind. + +"I have lived in the white man's house in Albany," he said, "and in our +own log house in the vale of Onondaga, and I know the English and the +French have many things that the nations of the Hodenosaunee have not, +but we can do without most of them. If the great chiefs were to drink +and dance all night as Bigot and his friends do, then indeed would we +cease to be the mighty League of the Hodenosaunee." + +They traveled all that day on foot, but at a great pace, showing their +safe conduct twice to French soldiers, and so thin was the line of +settlements along the St. Lawrence that when night came they were beyond +the cultivated fields and had entered the deep woods. The three, in +addition to their weapons, carried on their backs packs containing +blankets and food, and as Willet and Tayoga put them down they drew long +breaths of relief like those of prisoners escaped. + +"Home, Tayoga! Home!" said the hunter, joyfully. "I've nothing against +cities in general, but I breathed some pretty foul air in Quebec, and +it's sweet and clean here. There comes a time when you are glad no house +crosses your view and you are with the world as it was made in the +beginning. Don't these trees look splendid! Did you ever see a finer lot +of tender young leaves? And the night sky you see up there has been +washed and scrubbed until it's nothing but clean blue!" + +"Why, you're only a boy, Dave, the youngest of us three," laughed +Robert. "Here you are singing songs about leaves and trees just as if +you were not the most terrible swordsman in the world." + +A shadow crossed Willet's face, but it was quick in passing. + +"Let's not talk about Boucher, Robert," he said. "I don't regret what I +did, knowing that it saved the lives of others, but I won't recall it +any oftener than I can help. You're right when you term me a boy, and I +believe you're right, too, when you say I'm the youngest of the three. +I'm so glad to be here that just now I'm not more'n fifteen years old. I +could run, jump, laugh and sing. And I think the woods are a deal safer +and friendlier than Quebec. There's nobody, at least not here, lying +around seeking a chance to stick a rapier in your back." + +He unbuckled his sword and laid it upon the grass. Robert put his beside +it. + +"I don't think we'll need to use 'em again for a long time," said the +hunter, "but they're mighty fine as decorations, and sometimes a +decoration is worth while. It impresses. Now, Tayoga, you kindle the +fire, and Robert, you find a spring. It's pleasant to feel that you're +again on land that belongs to nobody, and can do as you please." + +Robert found a spring less than a hundred yards away, and Tayoga soon +kindled a fire near it with his flint and steel, on which the hunter +warmed their food. Each had a small tin cup from which he drank clear +water as they ate, and Robert, elastic of temperament, rejoiced with the +hunter. + +"You are right, Dave," he said. "These are splendid trees, and every +leaf on 'em is splendid, too, and the little spring I found is just +about as fine a spring as the forest holds. I slept in a good bed at the +Inn of the Eagle, but when I scrape up the dead leaves here, roll myself +in my blanket and lie on 'em I think I'll sleep better than I did +between four walls. What did you think of the Marquis Duquesne, Dave?" + +"A man of parts, Robert. He has more military authority than any of our +Governors have, and if war comes he'll be a dangerous opponent." + +"And it will come, Dave?" + +"Looks like a certainty. You see, Robert, the King of France and the +King of England sitting on their golden thrones, only three or four +hundred miles apart, but three or four thousand miles from us, have a +dyspeptic fit, make faces at each other, and here in the woods we must +fall to fighting. Even Tayoga's people--and the King of France and the +King of England are nothing to them--must be drawn into it." + +"Both Kings claim the Ohio country, which they will never see, and of +which they know nothing," said Tayoga, with a faint touch of sarcasm, +"but perhaps it belongs to the people who live in it." + +"Maybe so, Tayoga! Maybe!" said Willet briskly, "but we'll not look for +trouble or unpleasant thoughts now. We three are too glad to be in the +woods again. Tayoga, suppose you scout about and see that no enemy's +near. Then we'll build up the fire, till it's burning bright, and +rejoice." + +"It is well!" said Tayoga, as he slipped away among the trees, making +no sound as he went. Robert meanwhile gathered dead wood which lay +everywhere in abundance, and heaped it beside the fire ready for use. +But as Tayoga was gone some time he sat down again with his back to a +tree, taking long deep breaths of the cool fresh air, and feeling his +pulses leap. The hunter sat in a similar position, gazing meditatively +into the fire. Robert heard a rattling of bark over his head, but he +knew that it was a squirrel scuttling up the trunk of the tree, and +pausing now and then to examine the strange invaders of his forest. + +"Do you see the squirrel, Dave?" he asked. + +"Yes, he's about twenty feet above you now, sitting in a fork. He's a +fine big fellow with a bushy tail curved so far over his back that it +nearly touches his head. He has little red eyes and he's just burning up +with curiosity. The firelight falls on him in such a way that I can see. +Perhaps he has never seen a man before. Now he's looking at you, Robert, +trying to decide what kind of an animal you are, and forming an estimate +of your character and disposition." + +"You're developing your imagination, Dave, but since I saw what you said +and did in Quebec I'm not surprised." + +"Encouraged by your motionless state he's left the fork, and come a half +dozen feet down the trunk in order to get a better look at you. I think +he likes you, Robert. He lies flattened against the bark, and if I had +not seen him descending I would not notice him now, but the glow of the +coals still enables me to make out his blazing little red eyes like +sparks of fire. Now he is looking at me, and I don't think he has as +much confidence in my harmlessness as he has in yours. Perhaps it's +because he sees my eyes are upon him and he doesn't like to be watched. +He's a saucy little fellow. Sit still, Robert! I see a black shadow over +your head, and I think our little friend, the squirrel, should look out. +Ah, there he goes! Missed! And our handsome young friend, the gray +squirrel, is safe! He has scuttled into his hole higher up the tree!" + +Robert had heard a rush of wings and he had seen a long black shadow +pass. + +"What was it, Dave?" he asked. + +"A great horned owl. His iron beak missed our little squirrel friend +just about three inches. Those three inches were enough, but I don't +think that squirrel will very soon again stay out at night so late. The +woods are beautiful, Robert, but you see they're not always safe even +for those who can't live anywhere else." + +"I know, Dave, but I'm not going to think about it tonight, because I've +made up my mind to be happy. Here comes Tayoga. Is any enemy near, +Tayoga?" + +"None," replied the Onondaga, sitting down by the fire. "But the forest +is full of its own people, and they are all very curious about us." + +"That's true," said Willet, "a squirrel over Robert's head was so +inquisitive that he forgot his vigilance for a few moments and came near +losing his life as the price of his carelessness. I'm not surprised to +hear you say, Tayoga, they're all looking at us. I've felt for some time +that we're being watched, admired and perhaps a little feared. It's a +tribute to the enormously interesting qualities of us three." + +"That is, Dave, because we're human beings we're kings in the forest +among the animals." + +"You put it right, Robert. They look up to us. Is anything watching us +among the leaves near by, Tayoga?" + +"A huge bald-headed eagle, Great Bear, is sitting on a bough in the +center of a mass of green leaves. He is looking at us, and while he is +full of curiosity and some admiration he fears and hates us more." + +"What is he saying to himself, Tayoga?" + +"You can read his words to himself by the look in his eyes. He is saying +that he does not like our appearance, that we are too large, that we +have created here something hot and flaming, that we behave with too +much assurance, going about just as if the forest was ours, and paying +no attention to its rightful owners." + +"He has got a grievance, and perhaps it's a just one," laughed Robert. + +"No, it is not," said Tayoga, "because there is plenty of room in the +forest for him and for us, too. I can read his eyes quite well. There is +much malice and anger in his heart, and I will give him some cause for +rage." + +He picked up a live coal between the ends of two sticks, and holding it +firmly in that manner, walked a little distance among the trees. Then +swinging the sticks he hurled the coal far up among the boughs. There +was an angry screech and whirr and Robert saw a swift shadow passing +between his eyes and the sky. + +"His heart can burn more than ever now," laughed Tayoga, as he returned +to the fire. + +"You've hurt his dignity, Tayoga," said Robert. + +"So I have, but why should he not suffer a loss of pride? He is ruthless +and cruel and when he has his way he makes desolation about him." + +"What else is watching us, Tayoga?" + +"A beast upon the ground, and his heart is much like that of the eagle +in the air. He is crouched in a thicket about twenty yards away, and his +lips are drawn back from his sharp fangs. His nostrils twitch with the +odor of our food, and his yellow eyes are staring at us. Oh, he hates us +because he hates everything except his own kind and very often he hates +that. He wants our food because he's hungry--he's always hungry--and he +would try to eat us too if he were not so much afraid of us." + +"Tayoga, one needs only a single glance to tell that this animal you're +talking about is a wolf." + +"It is so, Dagaeoga. A very hungry and a very angry wolf. He is cunning, +but he does not know everything. He thinks we do not see him, that we do +not know he is there and that maybe, after awhile, when we go to sleep, +he can slip up and steal our food, or perhaps he can bring many of his +brothers, and they can eat us before we awake. Now, I will tell him in a +language he can understand that it's time for him to go away." + +He picked up a heavy stick and threw it with all his might into the +bushes on their right. It sped straighter to the target than he had +hoped, as there was a thud, a snarling yelp, and then the swift pad of +flying feet. Tayoga lay back and laughed. + +"The Spirit of Jest guided my hand," he said, "and the stick struck him +upon the nose. He will run far and his wrath and fear will grow as he +runs. Then he will lie down again in some thicket, and he will not dare +to come back. Now, we will wait a little." + +"Anything more looking at us?" asked Robert after awhile. + +"Yes, we have a new visitor," replied Tayoga in a low tone. "Speak only +in a whisper and do not move, because the animal that is looking at us +has no malice in its heart, and does not wish us harm. It has come very +softly and, while its eyes are larger, they are mild and have only +curiosity." + +"A deer, I should say, Tayoga." + +"Yes, a deer, Lennox, a very beautiful deer. It has been drawn by the +fire, and having come as near as it dares it stands there, shivering a +little, but wondering and admiring." + +"We won't trouble it, Tayoga. We'll need the meat of a deer before long, +but we'll spare our guest of tonight." + +"He is staring very straight at us," said Tayoga, "but something has +stirred in the brushwood--perhaps it's another wolf--and now he has +gone." + +"We seem to be an attraction," said Willet, "and so I suppose we'd +better give 'em as good a look as we can." + +He cast a great quantity of the dry wood on the fire, and it blazed up +gayly, throwing the red glow in a wide circle, and lighting up the +pleasant glade. The figures of the three, as they leaned in luxurious +attitudes, were outlined clearly and sharply, a view they would not have +allowed had not Tayoga been sure no enemy was near. + +"Now let the spectators come on," said Willet genially, "because we +won't be on display forever. After a while we'll get sleepy, and then it +will be best to put out the fire." + +The flames leaped higher and the glowing circle widened. Robert, leaning +against a tree, with his blanket wrapped around him and the cushion of +dead leaves beneath him, felt the grateful warmth upon his face, and it +rejoiced body and mind alike. Tayoga and the hunter were in a similar +state of content, and they were silent for a while. Then Robert said: + +"Who's looking at us now, Tayoga?" + +"Two creatures, Dagaeoga, that belong upon the ground, but that are not +now upon it." + +"Your answer sounds like a puzzle. If they're not now upon the ground +they're probably in the air, but they're not birds, because birds don't +belong on the ground. Then they're animals that have climbed trees." + +"Dagaeoga's mind is becoming wondrous wise. In time he may be a sachem +among his adopted people." + +"Don't you have sport with me, Tayoga, because bear in mind that if you +do I will pay you back some day. Have these creatures a mean, vicious +look?" + +"I could not claim, Dagaeoga, that they are as beautiful as the deer +that came to look at us but lately." + +"Then I make so bold as to say, Tayoga, that they have tufted ear tips, +spotted fur, and short tails, in brief a gentleman lynx and a lady lynx, +his wife. They are gazing at us with respect and fear as the wolf did, +and also with just as much malice and hate. They're wondering who and +what we are, and why we come into their woods, the pair of bloodthirsty +rabbit slayers." + +"Did I not say you would be a sachem some day, Dagaeoga? You have read +aright. An Onondaga warrior could not have done better. The two lynxes +are on a bough ten feet from the ground, and perhaps in their foolish +hearts they think because they are so high above the earth that we +cannot reach them." + +"You're not going to shoot at 'em, Tayoga? We don't want to waste good +bullets on a lynx." + +"Not I, Dagaeoga, but I will make them acquainted with something they +will dread as much as bullets. It's right that those who come to look at +us should be made to pay the price of it." + +"So you think that Monsieur and Madame Lynx have looked long enough at +the illustrious three?" + +"Yes, Dagaeoga. It is time for them to go. And since they do not go of +their own will I must make them go." + +He snatched a long brand from the fire, and whirling it around his head, +and shouting at the same time, he dashed toward an old dead tree some +distance away. Two stump-tailed, tuft-eared animals, uttering loud +ferocious screams, leaped from the boughs and tore away through the +thickets, terror stabbing at their hearts, as the circling flame of red +pursued them. Tayoga returned laughing. + +"They will run and they will run," he said, throwing down his brand. + +"You don't give 'em much chance to see us, Tayoga," said the hunter. +"Since we're on exhibition tonight you might have let 'em look and +admire a while longer." + +"So I could, Great Bear, but I do not like the lynx. Its habits are +unpleasant, and its scream is harsh. Hence, I drove the two of them +away." + +"I suppose you're right. I don't dare care much about 'em either. Now +we'll rest and see what other visitors come to admire." + +Tayoga sat down again. Their packs were put in a neat heap near the +three, Robert's and Willet's swords, and Tayoga's bow and arrows in +their case resting on the top. Robert threw more wood on the fire, and +contentedly watched the great, glowing circle of light extend its +circumference. + +"We knew we'd find peace and rest here," said Willet, "but we didn't +know we'd be watched and admired like people on the stage at a theater." + +"Have you seen many plays, Dave?" asked Robert. + +"A lot, especially in London at Drury Lane and other theaters." + +"And so you know London, as well as Paris?" + +"Well, yes, I've been there. Some day, Robert, I'll tell you more about +both Paris and London and why I happened to be in such great cities, +but not now. We'll keep our minds on the forest, which is worth our +attention. Don't you hear a tread approaching, Tayoga?" + +"Yes, Great Bear, and it's very heavy. A lord of the forest is coming." + +"A moose, think you, Tayoga?" + +"Yes, Great Bear, a mighty bull, one far beyond the common size. I can +tell by his tread, and I think he is angry, or he would not march so +boldly toward the fire." + +"Then," said the hunter, "we'd better stand up, and be ready with our +weapons. I've no wish to be trodden to death by a mad bull moose, just +when I'm feeling so happy and so contented with the world." + +"The Great Bear's advice is good," said Tayoga, and the three took it. +The approaching tread grew heavier, and the largest moose that Robert +had ever seen, pushing his way through the bushes, stood looking at the +fire, and those who had built it. He was a truly magnificent specimen, +and Tayoga had been right in calling him a lord of the forest, but his +eyes were red and inflamed and his look was menacing. + +"Mad! Quite mad!" whispered the hunter. "He sees us, but he doesn't +admire us. He hates us, and he isn't afraid of us." + +The three moved softly and discreetly into a place where both trees and +bushes were so dense that the moose could not get at them. + +"What troubles him?" asked Robert. + +"I don't know," said the hunter. "He may be suffering yet from a wound +by an Indian arrow, or he may have a spell of some kind. We can be +certain only that he's raging mad, every inch of him. Look at those +great sharp hoofs of his, Robert. I'd as soon be struck with an axe." + +The moose, after some hesitation, rushed into the glade, leaped toward +the fire, leaped back again, pawed and trampled the earth in a terrible +convulsion of rage, and then sprang away, crashing through the forest. +They heard the beat of his hoofs a long time, and when the sound ceased +they returned and resumed their seats by the fire. + +"That moose was a great animal," said Tayoga with irony, "but his mind +was the mind of a little child. He did nothing with his strength and +agility but tear the earth and tire himself. Now he runs away among the +trees, scratching his body with bushes and briars." + +"At any rate, he was an important visitor, Tayoga," said the hunter, +"and since we've had a good look at him we're glad he's gone away. I +think it likely now that all who wanted to look at us have had their +look, and we might go to sleep. How are your leaves, Robert?" + +"Fine and soft. They make a splendid bed, and I'm off to slumberland." + +He pushed up the leaves at one end of his couch high enough to form a +pillow, and stretched himself luxuriously. The night was turning cold, +but he had his blanket, and there was the fire. He felt as comfortable +as at the Inn of the Eagle in Quebec, and freer from plots and danger. + +They were allowing the fire to die now, but the coals would glow for a +long time, and Robert looked at them sleepily. His feeling of coziness +and content increased, and presently he slept. The hunter soon followed +him, but Tayoga slept not at all. His subtle Indian instinct warned him +not to do so. For the Onondaga the forest was not free now from danger, +and he would watch while his white friends slept. + +Tayoga arose, after a while, and taking a stick, scattered the coals of +the fire. But he did it in such a manner that he made no noise, the +hunter and young Lennox continuing to sleep soundly. Then he watched the +embers, having lost that union which is strength, die one by one. The +conquered darkness came back, recovering its lost ground, slowly +invading the glade, until it was one in the dusk with the rest of the +forest. Then Tayoga felt better satisfied, and he looked at the +sleepers, whose faces he could still discern, despite the absence of the +fire, a fair moonlight falling. + +Robert and the hunter slept peacefully, but their sleep was deep. The +youth was weary from the long march in the woods, but as he slept his +strong healthy tissues rapidly regained their vitality. The Onondaga +looked at the two longer than usual. These comrades of his were knitted +to him by innumerable labors and dangers shared. In him dwelled the soul +of a great Indian chief, the spirit that has animated Pontiac, and +Little Turtle, and Tecumseh and Red Cloud and other dauntless leaders of +his race, but it had been refined though not weakened by his white +education. Gratitude and truth were as frequent Indian traits as the +memory of injuries, and while he was surcharged with pride because he +was born a warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of +the great League of the Hodenosaunee, he felt as truly as any knight +ever felt that he must accept and fulfill all the duties of his place. + +Standing in a dusk made luminous by a silvery moonlight he was a fitting +son of the forest, one of its finest products. He belonged to it, and it +belonged to him, each being the perfect complement of the other. His +face cut in bronze was lofty, not without a spiritual cast, and his +black eyes flamed with his resolve. He looked up at the heavens, fleecy +with white vapors, and shot with a million stars, the same sky that had +bent over his race for generations no man could count, and his soul was +filled with admiration. Then he made his voiceless prayer: + +"O, Tododaho, first and greatest sachem of the Onondagas, greatest and +noblest sachem of the League, look down from your home on another star, +and watch over your people, for whom the storms gather! Let the serpents +in your hair whisper to you of wisdom that you in turn may whisper it to +us through the winds! Direct our footsteps in the great war that is +coming between the white nations and save to us our green forests, our +blue lakes and our silver rivers! Remember, O, Tododaho, that although +the centuries have passed since Manitou took you from us, your name +still stands among us for all that is great, noble and wise! I beseech +you that you give sparks of your own lofty and strong spirit to your +children, to the Hodenosaunee in this, their hour of need, and I ask +too, that you help one who is scarcely yet a warrior in years, one who +invokes thee humbly, even, Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of thy own great League of the Hodenosaunee!" + +He bent his head a little to listen. All the legends and beliefs of his +race, passed from generation to generation, crowded upon him. Tododaho +leaning down from his star surely heard his prayer. Tayoga shivered a +little, not from cold or fear, but from emotion. The mystic spell was +upon him. Far above him in the limitless void little wreaths of vapor +united about a great shining star, taking the shape of a man, the shape +of a great chief, wise beyond all other chiefs that had ever lived, and +he distinctly saw the wise serpents, coil on coil, in Tododaho's hair. +They were whispering in his ear, and bending his head a little farther +he heard the words of the serpents which the rising wind brought, +repeated, from the lips of Tododaho: + +"Fear not, O young warrior of the Onondagas! Tododaho leaning down from +his star hears thy pious appeal! Tododaho, for more than four hundred +years, has watched over the great League, night and day! Let the fifty +sachems, old in years and wisdom, walk in the straight path of truth, +and let the warriors follow! Let them be keepers of the faith, friends +to those who have been their friends, sage in council, brave in battle, +and they shall hold their green forests, their blue lakes and their +silver rivers! And to thee, Tayoga, I say, thou shalt encounter many +dangers, but because thy soul is pure, thou shalt have great rewards!" + +Then the wind died suddenly. The leaves hung motionless. The vapors +about the great shining star dissolved, the face of Tododaho, with the +wise serpents, coil on coil in his hair, disappeared, and the luminous +heavens were without a sign. But they had spoken. + +Tayoga trembled, but again it was from emotion. Tododaho had sent his +words of promise on the wind, and they had been whispered in his ear. +Great would be his dangers but great would be his rewards. He was +uplifted. His heart exulted. His deeds would be all the mightier because +of the dangers, and he would never forget that he had the promise of +Tododaho, greatest, wisest and noblest of the chiefs of the +Hodenosaunee, who had gone to a shining star more than four hundred +years ago. + +He sat down under one of the trees and sleep remained far from him. He +still listened with all the power of his sensitive hearing for any sound +that might come in the forest, and after awhile he took his bow and +quiver from their case, putting his quiver over his shoulder. He covered +his rifle with the leaves, and holding the bow in his hand stole away +among the trees. + +The faintest of sounds had come to him, and Tayoga did not doubt its +nature. It was strange to the forest and it was hostile. The mystic +spell was still upon him, and it heightened his faculties to an +extraordinary degree. He had almost the power of divination. A hundred +yards, and he crouched low behind the trunk of a great oak. Then as the +moonlight fell upon a small opening just ahead he saw them, Tandakora +and two warriors. + +The Ojibway was in full war paint, and the luminous quality of the +moon's rays enlarged his huge form. He towered like Hanegoategeh, the +Evil Spirit, and the figures upon his shoulders and chest stood out like +carving. He and the two warriors also carried bows and arrows, and +Tayoga surmised that they had meant to slay in silence. His heart burned +with rage and he felt, too, an unlimited daring. Did he not have the +promise of Tododaho that he should pass through all dangers and receive +great rewards? He felt himself a match for the three, and he did not +need secrecy and silence. He raised his voice and cried: + +"Stand forth, Tandakora, and fight. I too have only _waano_ (the bow) +and _gano_ (the arrow), but I meet the three of you!" + +Tandakora and the two warriors sprang back and in an instant were hidden +by the trees, but Tayoga had expected them to do so, and he dropped +down, moving silently to another and hidden point, where he waited, an +arrow on the string. He knew that Tandakora had recognized his voice, +and would make every effort, his shoulder healed enough for use, to +secure such a prize. The Ojibway would believe, too, that three must +prevail against one, and he would push the attack. So the Onondaga +remained motionless, but confident. + +Nearly ten minutes of absolute silence followed, but his hearing was so +acute that he did not think any of the three could move without his +knowledge. Then a slight sliding sound came. One of the warriors was +passing to the right, and that, too, he had expected, as they would +surely try to flank him. He moved back a little, and with the end of his +bow shook gently a bush seven or eight feet away. In an instant, an +arrow, coming from the night, whistled through the bush. But Tayoga drew +back the bow quick as lightning, fitted an arrow to the string and shot +with all the power of his arm at a bronze body showing among the leaves +at the point whence the arrow had come. + +The shaft sang in the air, and so great was its speed and so short the +range that it passed entirely through the chest of the warrior, cutting +off his breath so quickly that he had no time to utter his death cry. +There was no sound but that of his fall as he crashed among the leaves. +Nor did Tayoga utter the usual shout of triumph. He sank back and fitted +another arrow to the string, turning his attention now to the left. + +It had been the Onondaga's belief that Tandakora would remain in front, +sending the warriors on either flank, and now he expected a movement on +the left. He did not have to make any feint of his own to draw the +second warrior, who must have been lacking somewhat in skill, as he +presently saw a dim figure in the bushes and his second arrow sped with +the same speed and deadly result that had marked the first. Fitting his +third arrow to the string, he called: + +"Stand forth, Tandakora, and show yourself like a man! Then we shall see +who shoots the better!" + +But being a knight of the woods, and to convince the Ojibway that it was +no trick, he showed himself first. Tandakora shot at once, but Tayoga +dropped back like a flash, and the arrow cut the air, where his +feathered head had been. Then all his Indian nature, the training and +habit of generations, leaped up in him and he began to taunt. + +"You shot quickly, Tandakora," he called, "and your arm was strong, but +the arrow struck not! You followed us all the way from Stadacona, and +you thought to have our scalps! The Great Bear and Lennox did not +suspect, but I did! The warriors who came with you are dead, and you and +I alone face each other! I have shown myself and I have risked your +arrow, now show yourself, Tandakora, and risk mine!" + +But the Ojibway, it seemed, had too much respect for the bow of Tayoga. +He remained close, and did not disclose an inch of his brown body. The +Onondaga did not show himself again, but crouched for a shot, in case +the opportunity came. He knew that Tandakora was a great bowman, but he +had supreme confidence in his own skill against anybody. Nothing stirred +where his enemy lay and no sound came from the little camp, which was +beyond the reach of the words they had uttered. + +A quarter of an hour, a half hour, an hour passed, and neither moved, +showing all the patience natural to the Indian on the war path. Then +Tayoga shook a bush a few feet from him, but Tandakora divined the +trick, and his arrow remained on the string. Another quarter of an hour, +and seeing some leaves quiver, Tayoga, at a chance, sent an arrow among +them. No sound came back, and he knew that it had been sped in vain. + +Then he began to move slowly and with infinite care toward the right, +resolved to bring the affair to a head. At the end of twenty feet he +rustled the bushes a little once more and lay flat. An arrow flew over +his head, but he did not reply, resuming his slow advance after his +enemy's shaft had sped. Another twenty feet and he made the bushes move +again. Tandakora shot, and in doing so he exposed a little of his right +arm. Tayoga sent a prompt arrow at the brown flesh. He heard a cry of +pain, wrenched in spite of his stoical self from the Ojibway, and then +as he sank down again and put his ear to the ground came the sound of +retreating footsteps. + +The affair, unfinished in a way, so far as the vital issue was +concerned, was concluded for the present, at least. Ear and mind told +Tayoga as clearly as if eye had seen. His arrow had ploughed its path +across Tandakora's arm near the shoulder, inflicting a wound that would +heal, but which was extremely painful and from which so much blood was +coming that a quick bandage was needed. Tandakora could no longer meet +Tayoga with the bow and arrow and so he must retreat. Nor was it likely +that his first wound was yet more than half healed. + +The Onondaga waited until he was sure his enemy was at least a half mile +away, when he rose boldly and approached the place where Tandakora had +last lain hidden. He detected at once drops of dark blood on the leaves +and grass, and he found his arrow, which Tandakora had snatched from +the wound and thrown upon the ground. He wiped the barb carefully and +replaced it in his quiver. Then he followed the trail at least three +miles, a trail marked here and there by ruddy spots. + +Tayoga did not feel sorry for his enemy. Tandakora was a savage and an +assassin, and he deserved this new hurt. He was a dangerous enemy, one +who had made up his mind to secure revenge upon the Onondaga and his +friends, but his fresh wound would keep him quiet for a while. One could +not have an arrow through his forearm and continue a hunt with great +vigor and zest. + +Tayoga marked twice the places where Tandakora had stopped to rest. +There the drops of blood were clustered, indicating a pause of some +duration, and a third stop showed where he had bound up his wound. Fresh +leaves had been stripped from a bush and a tiny fragment or two +indicated that the Ojibway had torn a piece from his deerskin waistcloth +to fasten over the leaves. After that the trail was free from the ruddy +spots, but Tayoga did not follow it much farther. He was sure that +Tandakora would not return, as he had lost much blood, and for a while, +despite his huge power and strength, exertion would make him weak and +dizzy. Evidently, the bullet in his shoulder, received when they were on +their way to Quebec, had merely shaken him, but the arrow had taken a +heavier toll. + +Tayoga returned to the camp of the three. All the fire had gone out, and +Willet and Robert, wrapped in their blankets, still slept peacefully. +The entire combat between the bowmen had passed without their knowledge, +and Tayoga, quietly returning the bow and quiver to their case, and +taking his rifle instead, sat down with his back against a tree, and his +weapon across his knees. He was on the whole satisfied. He had not +removed Tandakora, but he had inflicted another painful and mortifying +defeat upon him. The pride of the Indian had been touched in its most +sensitive place, and the Ojibway would burn with rage for a long time. +Tayoga's white education did not keep him from taking pleasure in the +thought. + +He had no intention of going to sleep. Although Tandakora would not +return, others might come, and for the night the care of the three was +his. It had grown a little darker, but the blue of the skies was merely +deeper and more luminous. There in the east was the great shining star, +on which Tododaho, mightiest of chiefs, lived with the wise serpents +coiled in his hair. He gazed and his heart leaped. The vapors about the +star were gathering again, and for a brief moment or two they formed the +face of Tododaho, a face that smiled upon him. His soul rejoiced. + +"O Tododaho," were his unspoken words. "Thou hast kept thy promise! Thou +hast watched over me in the fight with Tandakora, and thou hast given me +the victory! Thou hast sent all his arrows astray and thou hast sent +mine aright! I thank thee, O, Tododaho!" + +The vapors were dissolved, but Tayoga never doubted that he had seen for +a second time the face of the wise chief who had gone to his star more +than four hundred years ago. A great peace filled him. He had accepted +the white man's religion as he had learned it in the white man's school, +and at the same time he had kept his own. He did not see any real +difference between them. Manitou and God were the same, one was the name +in Iroquois and the other was the name in English. When he prayed to +either he prayed to both. + +The darkness that precedes the dawn came. The great star on which +Tododaho lived went away, and the whole host swam into the void that is +without ending. The deeper dusk crept up, but Tayoga still sat +motionless, his eyes wide open, his ecstatic state lasting. He heard the +little animals stirring once more in the forest as the dawn approached, +and he felt very friendly toward them. He would not harm the largest or +the least of them. It was their wilderness as well as his, and Manitou +had made them as well as him. + +The darkness presently began to thin away, and Tayoga saw the first +silver shoot of dawn in the east. The sun would soon rise over the great +wilderness that was his heritage and that he loved, clothing in fine, +spun gold the green forests, the blue lakes and the silver rivers. He +took a mighty breath. It was a beautiful world and he was glad that he +lived in it. + +He awoke Robert and Willet, and they stood up sleepily. + +"Did you have a good rest, Tayoga?" Robert asked. + +"I did not sleep," the Onondaga replied. + +"Didn't sleep? Why not, Tayoga?" + +"In the night, Tandakora and two more came." + +"What? Do you mean it, Tayoga?" + +"They were coming, seeking to slay us as we slept, but I heard them. +Lest the Great Bear and Dagaeoga be awakened and lose the sleep they +needed so much, I took my bow and arrows and went into the forest and +met them." + +Robert's breath came quickly. Tayoga's manner was quiet, but it was not +without a certain exultation, and the youth knew that he did not jest. +Yet it seemed incredible. + +"You met them, Tayoga?" he repeated. + +"Yes, Dagaeoga." + +"And what happened?" + +"The two warriors whom Tandakora brought with him lie still +in the forest. They will never move again. Tandakora escaped +with an arrow through his arm. He will not trouble us for a +week, but he will seek us later." + +"Why didn't you awake us, Tayoga, and take us with you?" + +"I wished to do this deed alone." + +"You've done it well, that's sure," said Willet, "and now that all +danger has been removed we'll light our fire and cook breakfast." + +After breakfast they shouldered their packs and plunged once more into +the greenwood, intending to reach as quickly as they could the hidden +canoe on the Richelieu, and then make an easy journey by water. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ON CHAMPLAIN + + +The three arrived at the Richelieu without further hostile encounter, +but they met a white forest runner who told them the aspect of affairs +in the Ohio country was growing more threatening. A small force from +Virginia was starting there under a young officer named Washington, and +it was reported that the French from Canada in numbers were already in +the disputed country. + +"We know what we know," said Willet thoughtfully. "I've never doubted +that English and French would come into conflict in the woods, and if I +had felt any such doubts, our visit to Quebec would have driven them +away. I don't think our letters from the Governor of New York to the +Governor General of Canada will be of any avail." + +"No," said Robert, soberly. "They won't. But I want to say to you, Dave, +that I'm full of gladness, because we've reached our canoe. Our packs +without increasing in size are at least twice as heavy as they were when +we started." + +"I can join you in your hosannas, Robert. Never before did a canoe look +so fine to me. It's a big canoe, a beautiful canoe, a strong canoe, a +swift canoe, and it's going to carry us in comfort and far." + +It was, in truth, larger than the one they had used coming up the +lakes, and, with a mighty sigh of satisfaction, Robert settled into his +place. Their packs, rifles, swords and the case containing Tayoga's bow +and arrows were adjusted delicately, and then, with a few sweeps of the +Onondaga's paddle, they shot out into the slow current of the river. +Robert and Willet leaned back and luxuriated. Tayoga wanted to do the +work at present, saying that his wrists, in particular, needed exercise, +and they willingly let him. They were moving against the stream, but so +great was the Onondaga's dexterity that he sent the canoe along at a +good pace without feeling weariness. + +"It's like old times," said Willet. "There's no true happiness like +being in a canoe on good water, with the strong arm of another to paddle +for you. I'm glad you winged that savage, Tandakora, Tayoga. It would +spoil my pleasure to know that he was hanging on our trail." + +"Don't be too happy, Great Bear," said Tayoga. "Within a week the +Ojibway will be hunting for us. Maybe he will be lying in wait on the +shores of the great lake, Champlain." + +"If so, Tayoga, you must have him to feel the kiss of another arrow." + +Tayoga smiled and looked affectionately at his bow and quiver. + +"The Iroquois shaft can still be of use," he said, "and we will save our +ammunition, because the way is yet far." + +"Deer shouldn't be hard to find in these woods," said Willet, "and when +we stop for the night we'll hunt one." + +They took turns with the paddle, and now and then, drawing in under +overhanging boughs, rested a little. Once or twice they saw distant +smoke which they believed was made by Canadian and therefore hostile +Indians, but they did not pause to investigate. It was their desire to +make speed, because they wished to reach as quickly as they could the +Long House in the vale of the Onondaga. It was still possible to arrive +there before St. Luc should go away, because he would have to wait until +the fifty sachems chose to go in council and hear him. + +On this, their return journey, Robert thought much of the chevalier and +was eager to see him again. Of all the Frenchmen he had met St. Luc +interested him most. De Galisonnière was gallant and honest and +truthful, a good friend, but he did not convey the same impression of +foresight and power that the chevalier had made upon him, and there was +also another motive, underlying but strong. He wished to match himself +in oratory before the fifty chiefs with Duquesne's agent. He was +confident of his gifts, discovered so recently, and he knew the road to +the mind and hearts of the Iroquois. + +"What are you thinking so hard about, Robert?" asked Willet. + +"Of St. Luc. I think we'll meet him in the vale of Onondaga. Do you ever +feel that you can look into the future, Dave?" + +"Just what do you mean?" + +"Nothing supernatural. Don't the circumstances and conditions sometimes +make you think that events are going to run in a certain channel? At the +very first glance the Chevalier de St. Luc interested me uncommonly, and +even in our exciting days in Quebec I thought of him. Now I have a +vision about him. His life and mine are going to cross many times." + +The hunter looked sharply at the lad. + +"That's a queer idea of yours, Robert," he said, "but when you think it +over it's not so queer, after all. It seems to be the rule that queer +things should come about." + +"Now I don't understand you, Dave." + +"Well, maybe I don't quite understand myself. But I know one thing, +Robert. St. Luc is always going to put you on your mettle, and you'll +always appear at your best before him." + +"That's the way I feel about it, Dave. He aroused in me an odd mixture +of emotions, both emulation and defiance." + +"Perhaps it's not so odd after all," said Willet. + +Robert could not induce him to pursue the subject. He shied away from +St. Luc, and talked about the more immediate part of their journey, +recalling the necessity of finding another deer, as their supplies of +food were falling very low. Just before sunset they drew into the mouth +of a large creek and made the canoe fast. Tayoga, taking bow and quiver, +went into the woods for his deer, and within an hour found him. Then +they built a small fire sheltered well by thickets, and cooked supper. + +The Onondaga reported game abundant, especially the smaller varieties, +and remarkably tame, inferring from the fact that no hunting parties had +been in the region for quite a while. + +"We're almost in the country of the Hodenosaunee," he said, "but the +warriors have not been here. All of the outlying bands have gone back +toward Canada or westward into the Ohio country. This portion of the +land is deserted." + +"Still, it's well to be careful, Tayoga," said the hunter. "That savage, +Tandakora, is going to make it the business of his life to hunt our +scalps, and if there's to be a great war I don't want to fall just +before it begins." + +That night they dressed as much of their deer as they could carry, and +the next day they passed into Lake Champlain, which displayed all of its +finest colors, as if it had been made ready especially to receive them. +Its waters showed blue and green and silver as the skies above them +shifted and changed, and both to east and west the high mountains were +clothed in dark green foliage. Robert's eyes kindled at the sight of +nature's great handiwork, the magnificent lake more than a hundred miles +long, and the great scenery in which it was placed. It had its story and +legend too. Already it was famous in the history of the land and for +unbroken generations the Indians had used it as their road between north +and south. It was both the pathway of peace and the pathway of war, and +Robert foresaw that hostile forces would soon be passing upon it again. + +They saw the distant smoke once more, and kept close to the western +shore where they were in the shadow of the wooded heights, their canoe +but a mote upon the surface of the water. In so small a vessel and +almost level with its waves, they saw the lake as one cannot see it from +above, its splendid expanse stretching away from north to south, until +it sank under the horizon, while the Green Mountains on the east and the +great ranges of New York on the west seemed to pierce the skies. + +"It's our lake," said Robert, "whatever happens we can't give it up to +the French, or at least we'll divide it with the Hodenosaunee who can +claim the western shore. If we were to lose this lake no matter what +happened elsewhere I should think we had lost the war." + +"We don't hold Champlain yet," said the hunter soberly. "The French +claim it, and it's even called after the first of their governors under +the Company of One Hundred Associates, Samuel de Champlain. They've put +upon it as a sign a name which we English and Americans ourselves have +accepted, and they come nearer to controlling it than we do. They're +advancing, too, Robert, to the lake that they call Saint Sacrement, and +that we call George. When it comes to battle they'll have the advantage +of occupation." + +"It seems so, but we'll drive 'em out," said Robert hopefully. + +"But while we talk of the future," said Tayoga in his measured and +scholastic English, "it would be well for us also to be watchful in the +present. The French and their Indians may be upon the lake, and we are +but three in a canoe." + +"Justly spoken," said Willet heartily. "We can always trust you, Tayoga, +to bring us back to the needs of the moment. Robert, you've uncommonly +good eyes. Just you look to the north and to south with all your might, +and see if you can see any of their long canoes." + +"I don't see a single dot upon the water, Dave," said the youth, "but I +notice something else I don't like." + +"What is it, Robert?" + +"Several little dark clouds hanging around the crests of the high +mountains to the west. Small though they are, they've grown somewhat +since I noticed them first." + +"I don't like that either, Robert. It may mean a storm, and the lake +being so narrow the winds have sudden and great violence. But meanwhile, +I suppose it's best for us to make as much speed southward as we can." + +Tayoga alone was paddling them, but the other two fell to work also, and +the canoe shot forward, Robert looking up anxiously now and then at the +clouds hovering over the lofty peaks. He noticed that they were still +increasing and that now they fused together. Then all the crests were +lost in the great masses of vapor which crept far down the slopes. The +blue sky over their heads turned to gray with amazing rapidity. The air +grew heavy and damp. Thunder, low and then loud, rolled among the +western mountains. Lightning blazed in dazzling flashes across the lake, +showing the waters yellow or blood red in the glare. The forest moaned +and rocked, and with a scream and a roar the wind struck the lake. + +The water, in an instant, broke into great waves, and the canoe rocked +so violently that it would have overturned at once had not the three +possessed such skill with the paddle. Even then the escape was narrow, +and their strength was strained to the utmost. + +"We must land somewhere!" exclaimed Willet, looking up at the lofty +shore. + +But where? The cliff was so steep that they saw no chance to pull up +themselves and the canoe, and, keeping as close to it as they dared, +they steadied the frail vessel with their paddles. The wind continually +increased in violence, whistling and screaming, and at times assuming an +almost circular motion, whipping the waters of the lake into white foam. +Day turned to night, save when the blazing flashes of lightning cut the +darkness. The thunder roared like artillery. + +Willet hastily covered the ammunition and packs with their blankets, and +continued to search anxiously for a place where they might land. + +"The rain will be here presently," he shouted, "and it'll be so heavy +it'll come near to swamping us if we don't get to shelter first! Paddle, +lads! paddle!" + +The three, using all their strength and dexterity, sent the canoe +swiftly southward, still hugging the shore, but rocking violently. After +a few anxious minutes, Robert uttered a shout of joy as he saw by the +lightning's flash a cove directly ahead of them with shores at a fair +slope. They sent the canoe into it with powerful strokes, sprang upon +the bank, and then drew their little craft after them. Selecting a spot +sheltered on the west by the lofty shore and on either side to a certain +extent by dense woods, they turned the canoe over, resting the edges +upon fallen logs which they pulled hastily into place, and crouched +under it. They considered themselves especially lucky in finding the +logs, and now they awaited the rain that they had dreaded. + +It came soon in a mighty sweep, roaring through the woods, and burst +upon them in floods. But the canoe, the logs and the forest and the +slope together protected them fairly well, and the contrast even gave a +certain degree of comfort, as the rain beat heavily and then rushed in +torrents down to the lake. + +"We made it just in time," said Willet. "If we had stayed on the water I +think we'd have been swamped. Look how high the waves are and how fast +they run!" + +Robert as he gazed at the stormy waters was truly thankful. + +"We have many dangers," he said, "but somehow we seem to escape them +all." + +"We dodge 'em," said Willet, "because we make ready for 'em. It's those +who think ahead who inherit the world, Robert." + +The storm lasted an hour. Then the rain ceased abruptly. The wind died, +the darkness fled away and the lake and earth, washed and cleansed anew, +returned to their old peace and beauty, only the skies seemed softer and +bluer, and the colors of the water more varied and intense. + +They launched the canoe and resumed their journey to the south, but +when they had gone a few hundred yards Robert observed a black dot +behind them on the lake. Willet and Tayoga at once pronounced it a great +Indian canoe, containing a dozen warriors at least. + +"Canadian Indians, beyond a doubt," said Tayoga, "and our enemies. +Perhaps Tandakora is among them." + +"Whether he is or not," said Willet, "they've seen us and are in +pursuit. I suppose they stayed in another cove back of us while the +storm passed. It's one case where our foresight couldn't guard against +bad luck." + +He spoke anxiously and looked up at the overhanging forest. But there +was no convenient cove now, and it was not possible for them to beach +the canoe and take flight on land. A new danger and a great one had +appeared suddenly. The long canoe, driven by a dozen powerful paddles, +was approaching fast. + +"Hurons, I think," said Tayoga. + +"Most likely," said the hunter, "but whether Hurons or not they're no +friends of ours, and there's hot work with the paddles before us. +They're at least four rifleshots away and we have a chance." + +Now the three used their paddles as only those can who have life at +stake. Their light canoe leaped suddenly forward, and seemed fairly to +skim over the water like some great aquatic bird, but the larger craft +behind them gained steadily though slowly. Three pairs of arms, no +matter how strong or expert, are no match for twelve, and the hunter +frowned as he glanced back now and then. + +"Only three rifleshots now," he muttered, "and before long it will be +but two. But we have better weapons than theirs, and ours can speak +fast. Easy now, lads! We mustn't wear ourselves out!" + +Robert made his strokes slower. The perspiration was standing on his +face, and his breath was growing painful, but he remembered in time the +excellence of Willet's advice. The gain of the long canoe increased more +rapidly, but the three were accumulating strength for a great spurt. The +pursuit and flight, hitherto, had been made in silence, but now the +Hurons, for such their paint proved them to be, uttered a long war +whoop, full of anticipation and triumph, a cry saying plainly that they +expected to have three good scalps soon. It made Robert's pulse leap +with anger. + +"They haven't taken us yet," he said. + +Willet laughed. + +"Don't let 'em make you lose your temper," he said. "No, they haven't +taken us, and we've escaped before from such places just as tight. They +make faster time than we can, Robert, but our three rifles here will +have a word or two to say." + +After the single war whoop the warriors relapsed into silence and plied +their paddles, sure now of their prey. They were experts themselves and +their paddles swept the water in perfect unison, while the long canoe +gradually cut down the distance between it and the little craft ahead. + +"Two rifle shots," said the hunter, "and when it becomes one, as it +surely will, I'll have to give 'em a hint with a bullet." + +"It's possible,"' said Robert, "that a third power will intervene." + +"What do you mean?" asked Willet. + +"The storm's coming back. Look up!" + +It was true. The sky was darkening again, and the clouds were gathering +fast over the mountains on the west. Already lightning was quivering +along the slopes, and the forest was beginning to rock with the wind. +The air rapidly grew heavier and darker. Their own canoe was quivering, +and Robert saw that the long canoe was rising and falling with the +waves. + +"Looks as if it might be a question of skill with the paddles rather +than with the rifles," said Willet tersely. + +"But they are still gaining," said Tayoga, "even though the water is so +rough." + +"Aye," said Willet, "and unless the storm bursts in full power they'll +soon be within rifle shot." + +He watched with occasional keen backward looks, and in a few minutes he +snatched up his rifle, took a quick aim and fired. The foremost man in +the long canoe threw up his arms, and fell sideways into the water. The +canoe stopped entirely for a moment or two, but then the others, +uttering a long, fierce yell of rage, bent to their paddles with a +renewed effort. The three had made a considerable gain during their +temporary check, but it could not last long. Willet again looked for a +chance to land, but the cliffs rose above them sheer and impossible. + +"We are in the hands of Manitou," said Tayoga, gravely. "He will save +us. Look, how the storm gathers! Perhaps it was sent back to help us." + +The Onondaga spoke with the utmost earnestness. It was not often that a +storm returned so quickly, and accepting the belief that Manitou +intervened in the affairs of earth, he felt that the second convulsion +of nature was for their benefit. Owing to the great roughness of the +water their speed now decreased, but not more than that of the long +canoe, the rising wind compelling them to use their paddles mostly for +steadiness. The spray was driven like sleet in their faces, and they +were soon wet through and through, but they covered the rifles and +ammunition with their blankets, knowing that when the storm passed they +would be helpless unless they were kept dry. + +The Hurons fired a few shots, all of which fell short or wide, and then +settled down with all their numbers to the management of their canoe, +which was tossing dangerously. Robert noticed their figures were growing +dim, and then, as the storm struck with full violence for the second +time, the darkness came down and hid them. + +"Now," shouted Willet, as the wind whistled and screamed in their ears, +"we'll make for the middle of the lake!" + +Relying upon their surpassing skill with the paddle, they chose a most +dangerous course, so far as the risk of wreck was concerned, but they +intended that the long canoe should pass them in the dusk, and then they +would land in the rear. The waves were higher as they went toward the +center of the lake, but they were in no danger of being dashed against +the cliffs, and superb work with the paddles kept them from being +swamped. Luckily the darkness endured, and, as they were able to catch +through it no glimpse of the long canoe, they had the certainty of being +invisible themselves. + +"Why not go all the way across to the eastern shore?" shouted Robert. +"We may find anchorage there, and we'd be safe from both the Hurons and +the storm!" + +"Dagaeoga is right," said Tayoga. + +"Well spoken!" said Willet. "Do the best work you ever did with the +paddles, or we'll find the bottom of the lake instead of the eastern +shore!" + +But skill, strength and quickness of eye carried them in safety across +the lake, and they found a shore of sufficient slope for them to land +and lift the canoe after them, carrying it back at least half a mile, +and not coming to rest until they reached the crest of a high hill, +wooded densely. They put the canoe there among the bushes and sank down +behind it, exhausted. The rifles and precious ammunition, wrapped +tightly in the folds of their blankets, had been kept dry, but they were +wet to the bone themselves and now, that their muscles were relaxed, the +cold struck in. The three, despite their weariness, began to exercise +again vigorously, and kept it up until the rain ceased. + +Then the second storm stopped as suddenly as the first had departed, the +darkness went away, and the great lake stood out, blue and magnificent, +in the light. Far to the south moved the long canoe, a mere black dot +in the water. Tayoga laughed in his throat. + +"They rage and seek us in vain," he said. "They will continue pursuing +us to the south. They do not know that Manitou sent the second storm +especially to cover us up with a darkness in which we might escape." + +"It's a good belief, Tayoga," said Willet, "and as Manitou arranged that +we should elude them he is not likely to bring them back into our path. +That being the case I'm going to dry my clothes." + +"So will I," said Robert, and the Onondaga nodded his own concurrence. +They took off their garments, wrung the water out of them and hung them +on the bushes to dry, a task soon to be accomplished by the sun that now +came out hot and bright. Meanwhile they debated their further course. + +"The long canoe still goes south," said Tayoga. "It is now many miles +away, hunting for us. Perhaps since they cannot find us, the Hurons will +conclude that the storm sank us in the lake!" + +"But they will hunt along the shore a long time," said Willet. "They're +nothing but a tiny speck now, and in a quarter of an hour they'll be out +of sight altogether. Suppose we cross the lake behind them--I think I +see a cove down there on the western side--take the canoe with us and +wait until they go back again." + +"A wise plan," said Tayoga. + +In another hour their deerskins were dry, and reclothing themselves they +returned the canoe to the lake, the Hurons still being invisible. Then +they crossed in haste, reached the cove that Willet had seen, and +plunged into the deep woods, taking the canoe with them, and hiding +their trail carefully. When they had gone a full three miles they came +to rest in a glade, and every one of the three felt that it was time. +Muscles and nerves alike were exhausted, and they remained there all the +rest of the day and the following night, except that after dark Tayoga +went back to the lake and saw the long canoe going northward. + +"I don't think we'll be troubled by that band of Hurons any more," he +reported to his comrades. "They will surely think we have been drowned, +and tomorrow we can continue our own journey to the south." + +"And on the whole, we've come out of it pretty well," said Willet. + +"With the aid of Manitou, who so generously sent us the second storm," +said Tayoga. + +They brought the canoe back to the lake at dawn, and hugging the western +shore made leisurely speed to the south, until they came to the +neighborhood of the French works at Carillon, when they landed again +with their canoe, and after a long and exhausting portage launched +themselves anew on the smaller but more splendid lake, known to the +English as George and to the French as Saint Sacrement. Now, though, +they traveled by night and slept and rested by day. But Lake George in +the moonlight was grand and beautiful beyond compare. Its waters were +dusky silver as the beams poured in floods upon it, and the lofty +shores, in their covering of dark green, seemed to hold up the skies. + +"It's a grand land," said Robert for the hundredth time. + +"It is so," said Tayoga. "After Manitou had practiced on many other +countries he used all his wisdom and skill to make the country of the +Hodenosaunee." + +The next morning when they lay on the shore they saw two French boats on +the lake, and Robert was confirmed in his opinion that the prevision of +the French leaders would enable them to strike the first blow. Already +their armed forces were far down in the debatable country, and they +controlled the ancient water route between the British colonies and +Canada. + +On the second night they left the lake, hid the canoe among the bushes +at the edge of a creek, and began the journey by land to the vale of +Onondaga. It was likely that in ordinary times they would have made it +without event, but they felt now the great need of caution, since the +woods might be full of warriors of the hostile tribes. They were sure, +too, that Tandakora would find their trail and that he would not +relinquish the pursuit until they were near the villages of the +Hodenosaunee. The trail might be hidden from the Ojibway alone, but +since many war parties of their foes were in the woods he would learn of +it from some of them. So they followed the plan they had used on the +lake of traveling by night and of lying in the bush by day. + +Another deer fell to Tayoga's deadly arrow, and on the third day as they +were concealed in dense forest they saw smoke on a high hill, rising in +rings, as if a blanket were passed rapidly over a fire and back again +in a steady alternation. + +"Can you read what they say, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"No," replied the Onondaga. "They are strange to me, and so it cannot be +any talk of the Hodenosaunee. Ah, look to the west! See, on another +hill, two miles away, rings of smoke also are rising!" + +"Which means that two bands of French Indians are talking to each other, +Tayoga?" + +"It is so, Great Bear, and here within the lands of the Hodenosaunee! +Perhaps Frenchmen are with them, Frenchmen from Carillon or some other +post that Onontio has pushed far to the south." + +The young Onondaga spoke with deep resentment. The sight of the two +smokes made by the foes of the Hodenosaunee filled him with anger, and +Willet, who observed his face, easily read his mind from it. + +"You would like to see more of the warriors who are making those +signals," he said. "Well, I don't blame you for your curiosity and +perhaps it would be wise for us to take a look. Suppose we stalk the +first fire." + +Tayoga nodded, and the three, although hampered somewhat by their packs, +began a slow approach through the bushes. Half the distance, and Tayoga, +who was in advance, putting his finger upon his lips, sank almost flat. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" whispered Willet. + +"Someone else stalking them too. On the right. I heard a bush move." + +Both Willet and Robert heard it also as they waited, and used as they +were to the forest they knew that it was made by a human being. + +"What's your opinion, Tayoga?" asked the hunter. + +"A warrior or warriors of the Hodenosaunee, seeking, as we are, to see +those who are sending up the rings of smoke," replied the Onondaga. + +"If you're right they're likely to be Mohawks, the Keepers of the +Eastern Gate." + +Tayoga nodded. + +"Let us see," he said. + +Putting his fingers to his lips, he blew between them a note soft and +low but penetrating. A half minute, and a note exactly similar came from +a point in the dense bush about a hundred yards away. Then Tayoga blew a +shorter note, and as before the reply came, precisely like it. + +"It is the Ganeagaono," said Tayoga with certainty, "and we will await +them here." + +The three remained motionless and silent, but in a few minutes the +bushes before them shook, and four tall figures, rising to their full +height, stood in plain view. They were Mohawk warriors, all young, +powerful and with fierce and lofty features. The youngest and tallest, a +man with the high bearing of a forest chieftain, said: + +"We meet at a good time, O Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee." + +"It is so, O Daganoweda, of the clan of the Turtle, of the nation +Ganeagaono, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee," replied Tayoga. +"I see that my brethren, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, watch when the +savage tribes come within their territory." + +The brows of the young Mohawk contracted into a frown. + +"Most of our warriors are on the great trail to the vale of Onondaga," +he said. "We are but four, and, though we are only four, we intended to +attack. The smoke nearer by is made by Hurons and Caughnawagas." + +"You are more than four, you are seven," said Tayoga. + +Daganoweda understood, and smiled fiercely and proudly. + +"You have spoken well, Tayoga," he said, "but you have spoken as I +expected you to speak. Onundagaono and Ganeagaono be the first nations +of the Hodenosaunee and they never fail each other. We are seven and we +are enough." + +He took it for granted that Tayoga spoke as truly for the two white men +as for himself, and Robert and the hunter felt themselves committed. +Moreover their debt to the Onondaga was so great that they could not +abandon him, and they knew he would go with the Mohawks. It would also +be good policy to share their enterprise and their danger. + +"We'll support you to the end of it," said Willet quietly. + +"The English have always been the friends of the Hodenosaunee," said +Daganoweda, as he led the way through the undergrowth toward the point +from which the smoke come. Neither Robert nor Willet felt any scruple +about attacking the warriors there, as they were clearly invaders with +hostile purpose of Mohawk territory, and it was also more than likely +that their immediate object was the destruction of the three. Yet the +two Americans held back a little, letting the Indians take the lead, not +wishing it to be said that they began the battle. + +Daganoweda, whose name meant "Inexhaustible," was a most competent young +chief. He spread out his little force in a half circle, and the seven +rapidly approached the fire. But Robert was glad when a stick broke +under the foot of an incautious and eager warrior, and the Hurons and +Caughnawagas, turning in alarm, fired several bullets into the bushes. +He was glad, because it was the other side that began the combat, and if +there was a Frenchman with them he could not go to Montreal or Quebec, +saying the British and their Indians had fired the first shot. + +All of the bullets flew wide, and Daganoweda's band took to cover at +once, waiting at least five minutes before they obtained a single shot +at a brown body. Then all the usual incidents of a forest struggle +followed, the slow creeping, the occasional shot, a shout of triumph or +the death yell, but the Hurons and Caughnawagas, who were about a dozen +in number, were routed and took to flight in the woods, leaving three of +their number fallen. Two of the Mohawks were wounded but not severely. +Tayoga, who was examining the trail, suddenly raised his head and said: + +"Tandakora has been here. There is none other who wears so large a +moccasin. Here go his footsteps! and here! and here!" + +"Doubtless they thought we were near, and were arranging with the other +band to trap us," said Willet. "Daganoweda, it seems that you and your +Mohawks came just in time. Are the smoke rings from the second fire +still rising? We were too far away for them to hear our rifles." + +"Only one or two rings go up now," replied Tayoga. "Since they have +received no answer in a long time they wonder what has happened. See how +those two rings wander away and dissolve in the air, as if they were +useless, and now no more follow." + +"But the warriors may come here to see what is the matter, and we ought +to be ready for them." + +Daganoweda, to whom they readily gave the place of leader, since by +right it was his, saw at once the soundness of the hunter's advice, and +they made an ambush. The second band, which was about the size of the +first, approached cautiously, and after a short combat retired swiftly +with two wounded warriors, evidently thinking the enemy was in great +force, and leaving the young Mohawk chieftain in complete possession of +his victorious field. + +"Tayoga, and you, Great Bear, I thank you," said Daganoweda. "Without +your aid we could never have overcome our enemies." + +"We were glad to do what we could," said Willet sincerely, "since, as I +see it, your cause and ours are the same." + +Tayoga was examining the fleeing trail of the second band as he had +examined that of the first, and he beckoned to his white comrades and to +Daganoweda. + +"Frenchmen were here," he said. "See the trail. They wore moccasins, but +their toes turn out in the white man's fashion." + +There was no mistaking the traces, and Robert felt intense satisfaction. +If hostile Indians, led by Frenchmen, were invading the territory of the +Hodenosaunee, then it would be very hard indeed for Duquesne and Bigot +to break up the ancient alliance of the great League with the English. +But he was quite sure that no one of the flying Frenchmen was St. Luc. +The chevalier was too wise to be caught in such a trap, nor would he +lend himself to the savage purposes of Tandakora. + +"Behold, Daganoweda," he said, "the sort of friends the French would be +to the Hodenosaunee. When the great warriors of the Six Nations go to +the vale of Onondaga to hear what the fifty sachems will say at their +council, the treacherous Hurons and Caughnawagas, led by white men from +Montreal and Quebec, come into their land, seeking scalps." + +The power of golden speech was upon him once more. He felt deeply what +he was saying, and he continued, calling attention to the ancient +friendship of the English, and their long and bitter wars with the +French. He summoned up again the memory of Frontenac, never dead in the +hearts of the Mohawks, and as he spoke the eyes of Daganoweda and his +comrades flashed with angry fire. But he did not continue long. He knew +that at such a time a speech protracted would lose its strength, and +when the feelings of the Mohawks were stirred to their utmost depths he +stopped abruptly and turned away. + +"'Twas well done, lad! 'twas well done!" whispered Willet. + +"Great Bear," said Daganoweda, "we go now to the vale of Onondaga for +the grand council. Perhaps Tayoga, a coming chief of the clan of the +Bear, of the great nation Onondaga, will go with us." + +"So he will," said Willet, "and so will Robert and myself. We too wish +to reach the vale of Onondaga. An uncommonly clever Frenchman, one +Chevalier Raymond de St. Luc, has gone there. He is a fine talker and he +will talk for the French. Our young friend here, whom an old chief of +your nation has named Dagaeoga, is, as you have heard, a great orator, +and he will speak for the English. He will measure himself against the +Frenchman, St. Luc, and I think he will be equal to the test." + +The young Mohawk chieftain gave Robert a look of admiration. + +"Dagaeoga can talk against anybody," he said. "He need fear no +Frenchman. Have I not heard? And if he can use so many words here in the +forest before a few men what can he not do in the vale of Onondaga +before the gathered warriors of the Hodenosaunee? Truly the throat of +Dagaeoga can never tire. The words flow from his mouth like water over +stones, and like it, flow on forever. It is music like the wind singing +among the leaves. He can talk the anger from the heart of a raging +moose, or he can talk the otter up from the depths of the river. Great +is the speech of Dagaeoga." + +Robert turned very red. Willet laughed and even Tayoga smiled, although +the compliment was thoroughly sincere. + +"You praise me too much, Daganoweda," said young Lennox, "but in a great +cause one must make a great effort." + +"Then come," said the Mohawk chieftain. "We will start at once for the +vale of Onondaga." + +They struck the great trail, _waagwenneyu_, and traveled fast. The next +day six Mohawks from their upper castle, Ganegahaga on the Mohawk river +near the mouth of West Canada Creek, joined them and they continued to +press on with speed, entering the heart of the country of the +Hodenosaunee, Robert feeling anew what a really great land it was, with +its green forests, its blue lakes, its silver rivers and its myriad of +creeks and brooks. Nature had lavished everything upon it, and he did +not wonder that the Iroquois should guard it with such valor, and +cherish it with such tenderness. As he sped on with them he was +acquiring for the time at least an Indian soul under a white skin. Long +association and a flexible mind enabled him to penetrate the thoughts of +the Iroquois and to think as they did. + +He knew how the word had been passed through the vast forest. He knew +that every warrior, woman and boy of the Hodenosaunee understood how the +two great powers beyond the sea and their children here, were about to +go into battle on the edge of their country. And what must the +Hodenosaunee do? And he knew, too, that as the Six Nations went so might +go the war in America. He had seen too much to underrate their valor and +strength, and on that long march his heart was very anxious within him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE VALE OF ONONDAGA + + +The heavens favored their journey. They were troubled by no more storms +or rain, and as the soft winds blew, flowers opened before them. Game +was abundant and they had food for the taking. As they drew near the +vale they were joined by a small party of Oneidas, and a little later +were met by an Onondaga runner who spoke with great respect to Tayoga +and who gave them news. + +The Frenchman, St. Luc, and the Canadian, Dubois, who had come with +them, were in the vale of Onondaga, where they had been received as +guests, and had been treated with hospitality. The fifty sachems, taking +their own time, had not yet met in council, and St. Luc had been +compelled to wait, but he had made great progress in the esteem of the +Hodenosaunee. Onontio could not have sent a better messenger. + +"I knew that he would do it," said Willet. "That Frenchman, St. Luc, is +wonderful, and if anybody could convert the Hodenosaunee to the French +cause he's the man. Oh, he'll ply 'em with a thousand arguments, and +he'll dwell particularly on the fact that the French have moved first +and are ready to strike. We haven't come too soon, Robert." + +But the runner informed them further that it would yet be some time +before the great council in the Long House, since the first festival of +the spring, the Maple Dance, was to be held in a few days, and the +chiefs had refused positively to meet until afterward. The sap was +already flowing and the guardians of the faith had chosen time and place +for this great and joyous ceremony of the Hodenosaunee, joyous despite +the fact that it was preceded by a most solemn event, the general +confession of sins. + +The eyes of Tayoga and of the Mohawks and Oneidas glistened when they +heard. + +"We must be there in time for all," said Tayoga. + +"Truly we must, brother," said Daganoweda, the Mohawk. + +And now they hastened their speed through the fertile and beautiful +country, where spring was attaining its full glory, and, as the sap +began to run in the maples, so the blood leaped fresh and sparkling even +in the veins of the old. A band of Senecas joined them, and when they +came to the edge of the vale of Onondaga they were a numerous party, all +eager, keen, and surcharged with a spirit which was religious, political +and military, the three being inseparably intertwined in the lives of +the Hodenosaunee. + +They stood upon a high hill and looked over the great, beautiful valley +full of orchards and fields and far to the north they caught a slight +glimpse of the lake bearing the name of the Keepers of the Council Fire. +Smoke rose from the chimneys of the solid log houses built by this most +enlightened tribe, flecking the blue of the sky, and the whole scene +was one of peace and beauty. The eyes of Tayoga, the Onondaga, and of +Daganoweda, the Mohawk, glistened as they looked, and their hearts +throbbed with fervent admiration. It was more than a village of the +Onondagas that lay before them, it was the temple and shrine of the +great league, the Hodenosaunee. The Onondagas kept the council fire, and +ranked first in piety, but the Mohawks, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, +were renowned even to the Great Plains for their valor, and they stood +with the Onondagas, their equals man for man, while the Senecas, known +to themselves and their brother nations as the Nundawaono, were more +numerous than either. + +"We shall be in time for the great festival, the Maple Dance," said +Tayoga to the young Mohawk. + +"Yes, my brother, we have come before the beginning," said Daganoweda, +"and I am glad that it is so. We may not have the Maple Dance again for +many seasons. The shadow of the mighty war creeps upon the Hodenosaunee, +and when the spring returns who knows where the warriors of the great +League will be? We are but little children and we know nothing of the +future, which Manitou alone holds in his keeping." + +"You speak truth, Daganoweda. The Ganeagaono are both valiant and wise. +It is a time for the fifty sachems to use all the knowledge they have +gathered in their long lives, but we will hear what the Frenchman, St. +Luc, has to say, even though he belongs to the nation that sent +Frontenac against us." + +"The Hodenosaunee can do no less," said the Mohawk, tersely. + +Robert could not keep from hearing and he was glad of the little affair +with the two hostile bands, knitting as it did their friendship with the +Mohawks. But he too, since he had penetrated the Iroquois spirit and saw +as they did, felt the great and momentous nature of the crisis. While +the nations of the Hodenosaunee might decide whether English or French +were to win in the coming war they might, at the same time, decide the +fate of the great League which had endured for centuries. + +They descended into the vale of Onondaga, but at its edge, in a great +forest, the entire group stopped, as it became necessary there for +Tayoga, Willet and Robert to say a temporary farewell to the others who +would not advance into the Onondaga town until the full power of the +Hodenosaunee was gathered. The council, as Robert surmised and as he now +learned definitely, had been called by the Onondagas, who had sent +heralds with belts eastward to the Oneidas, who in turn had sent them +yet farther eastward to the Mohawks, westward to the Cayugas whose duty +it was to pass them on to the Senecas yet more to the west. The Oneidas +also gave belts to the Dusgaowehono, or Tuscaroras, the valiant tribe +that had come up from the south forty years before, and that had been +admitted into the Hodenosaunee, turning the Five Nations into the Six, +and receiving lands within the territory of the Oneidas. + +Already great numbers of warriors from the different nations, their +chiefs at their head, were scattered about the edges of the valley +awaiting the call of the Onondagas for participation in the Maple Dance, +and the great and fateful council afterward. And since they did not know +whether this council was for peace or for war, every sachem had brought +with him a bundle of white cedar fagots that typified peace, and also a +bundle of red cedar fagots that typified war. + +"Farewell, my friends," said Daganoweda, the Mohawk, to Tayoga, Robert +and Willet. "We rest here until the great sachems of the Onondagas send +for us, and yet we are eager to come, because never before was there +such a Maple Dance and never before such a council as these will be." + +"You speak true words, Daganoweda," said Robert, "and the Great Bear and +I rejoice that we are adopted sons of the Iroquois and can be here." + +Robert spoke from his heart. Not even his arrival at Quebec, great as +had been his anticipations and their fulfillment, had stirred in him +more interest and enthusiasm. The feeling that for the time being he was +an Iroquois in everything except his white skin grew upon him. He saw as +they saw, his pulses beat as theirs beat, and he thought as they +thought. It was not too much for him to think that the fate of North +America might turn upon the events that were to transpire within the +vale of Onondaga within the next few days. Nor was he, despite his +heated brain, and the luminous glow through which he saw everything, far +from the facts. + +Robert saw that Willet, despite his years and experience, was deeply +stirred also, and the dark eyes of Tayoga glittered, as well they might, +since the people who were the greatest in all the world to him were +about to deliberate on their fate and that of others. + +The three, side by side, their hearts beating hard, advanced slowly and +with dignity through the groves. From many points came the sound of +singing and down the aisles of the trees they saw young girls in +festival attire. All the foliage was in deepest green and the sky was +the soft but brilliant blue of early spring. The air seemed to be +charged with electricity, because all had a tense and expectant feeling. + +For Robert, so highly imaginative, the luminous glow deepened. He had +studied much in the classics, after the fashion of the time, in the +school at Albany, and his head was filled with the old Greek and Roman +learning. Now he saw the ancient symbolism reproduced in the great +forests of North America by the nations of the Hodenosaunee, who had +never heard of Greece or Rome, nor, to him, were the religion and poetry +of the Iroquois inferior in power and beauty, being much closer kin than +the gods of Greece and Rome to his own Christian beliefs. + +"Manitou favors us," said Tayoga, looking up at the soft blue velvet of +the sky. "Gaoh, the spirit of the Winds, moves but gently in his home, +Dayodadogowah." + +He looked toward the west, because it was there that Gaoh, who had the +bent figure and weazened face of an old man, always sat, Manitou having +imprisoned him with the elements, and having confined him to one place. +In the beautiful Iroquois mythology, Gaoh often struggled to release +himself, though never with success. Sometimes his efforts were but mild, +and then he produced gentle breezes, but when he fought fiercely for +freedom the great storms blew and tore down the forests. + +"Gaoh is not very restless today," continued Tayoga. "He struggles but +lightly, and the wind from the west is soft upon our faces." + +"And it brings the perfume of flowers and of tender young leaves with +it, Tayoga," said Willet. "It's a wonderful world and I'm just a boy +today, standing at its threshold." + +"And even though war may come, perhaps Manitou will smile upon us," said +Tayoga. "The Three Sisters whom Hawenneu, who is the same to the white +man as Manitou, gave to us, the spirit of the Corn, the spirit of the +Squash and the spirit of the Bean will abide with us and give us plenty. +The spirits in the shape of beautiful young girls hover over us. We +cannot see them, but they are there." + +He looked up and shadows passed over their heads. To the mystic soul of +the young Onondaga they were the spirits of the three sisters who +typified abundance, and Robert himself quivered. He still saw with the +eyes and felt with the heart of an Iroquois. + +Both he and Tayoga were conscious that the spirits were everywhere about +them. All the elements and all the powers of nature were symbolized and +typified. The guardians of fire, earth, water, healing, war, the chase, +love, winter, summer and a multitude of others, floated in the air. The +trees themselves had spirits and identity and all the spirits who +together constituted the Honochenokeh were the servants and assistants +of Hawenneyu. To the eyes of Tayoga that saw not and yet saw, it was a +highly peopled world, and there was meaning in everything, even in the +fall of the leaf. + +Tayoga presently put his fingers to his lips and uttered a long mellow +whistle. A whistle in reply came from a grove just ahead, and fourteen +men, all of middle years or beyond, emerged into view. Though elderly, +not one among them showed signs of weakness. They were mostly tall, they +held themselves very erect, and their eyes were of uncommon keenness and +penetration. They were the fourteen sachems of the Onondagas, and at +their head was the first in rank, Tododaho, a name that never ceased to +exist, being inherited from the great chief who founded the League +centuries before, and being passed on from successor to successor. Close +to him came Tonessaah, whose name also lasted forever and who was the +hereditary adviser of Tododaho, and near him walked Daatgadose and the +others. + +Tayoga, Robert and Willet stopped, and the great chief, Tododaho, a man +of splendid presence, in the full glory of Iroquois state costume, gave +them welcome. The sight of Tayoga, of lofty birth, of the clan of the +Bear, of the nation Onondaga, was particularly pleasing to his eyes. It +was well that the young warriors, who some day would be chiefs to lead +in council and battle, should be present. And the coming of the white +man and the white lad, who were known to be trusted friends of the +Hodenosaunee, was welcome also. + +The three, each in turn, made suitable replies, and Robert, his gift of +golden speech moving him, spoke a little longer than the others. He made +a free use of metaphor and allegory, telling how dear were the +prosperity and happiness of the Hodenosaunee to his soul, and he felt +every word he said. Charged with the thoughts and impressions of an +Iroquois, the fourteen chiefs were the quintessence of dignity and +importance to him, and when they smiled and nodded approval of his +youthful effort his heart was lifted up. Then he, Tayoga and Willet +bowed low to these men who in very truth were the keepers of the council +fire of the Hodenosaunee, and whose word might sway the destinies of +North America, and, bowing, passed on that they might rest in the Long +House, as became three great warriors who had valiantly done their duty +in the forest when confronted by their enemies, and who had come to do +another and sacred duty in the vale of Onondaga. + +Young warriors were their escort into one of the great log houses, which +in their nature were much like the community houses found at a later day +in the far southwest. The building they entered was a full hundred and +twenty feet in length and about forty feet broad, and it had five fires, +each built in the center of its space. The walls and roof were of poles +thatched with bark, and there were no windows, but over each fire was a +circular opening in the roof where the air entered and the smoke went +out. If rain or storm came these orifices were covered with great +pieces of bark. + +On the long sides of the walls extended platforms about six feet wide, +covered with furs and skins where the warriors slept. Overhead was a +bark canopy on top of which they placed their possessions. About a dozen +warriors were in the house, all lying down, but they rose and greeted +the three. Berths were assigned to them at once, food and water were +brought, and Robert, weary from the long march, decided that he would +sleep. + +"I think I'll do the same," said Willet, "and then we'll be fresh for +what's coming. Tayoga, I suppose, will want to see his kin first." + +Tayoga nodded, and presently disappeared. Then Robert and Willet took +their places upon the bark platforms and were soon asleep, not awakening +until the next morning when they went forth and found that the +excitement in the valley had increased. Tayoga came to them at once and +told them that Sanundathawata, the council of repentance, was about to +be held. The dawn was just appearing, and as the sun rose the sachems of +the Onondagas would proceed to the council grove and receive the sachems +of the allied nations. + +"You will wish to see the ceremony," he said. + +"Of course, of course!" said Robert, eagerly, who found that with the +coming of a new day he was as much an Iroquois in spirit as ever. Nor +could he see that Willet was less keen about it and the three proceeded +promptly to the council grove where a multitude was already hastening. +There was, too, a great buzz of talk, as the Iroquois here in the vale, +the very heart of their country, did not show the taciturnity in which +the red man so often takes refuge in the presence of the white. + +The fourteen Onondaga chiefs, Tododaho at their head and Tonessaah at +his right, were gathered in the grove, and the warriors of the allied +nations approached, headed by their chiefs, nine for the Mohawks, ten +for the Oneidas, nine for the Cayugas, and eight for the Senecas, while +the Tuscaroras, who were a new nation in the League, had none at all, +but spoke through their friends, the Oneidas, within whose lands they +had been allowed to settle. And when the roll of the nations of the +Hodenosaunee was called it was not the Onondagas, Keepers of the Council +Fire, who were called first, although they were equal in honor, and +leaders in council, but the fierce and warlike Mohawks. Then came the +Onondagas, after them the numerous Senecas, followed by the Oneidas, +with the Cayugas next and the sachemless Tuscaroras last, but filled +with pride that they, wanderers from their ancient lands, and not large +in numbers, had shown themselves so valiant and enduring that the +greatest of all Indian leagues, the Hodenosaunee, should be willing to +admit them as a nation. + +Behind the sachems stood the chiefs, the two names not being synonymous +among the Iroquois, and although the name of the Mohawks was called +first the Onondagas were masters of the ceremonies, were, in fact, the +priests of the Hodenosaunee, and their first chief, Tododaho, was the +first chief of all the League. Yet the Senecas, who though superior in +numbers were inferior in chiefs, also had an office, being Door Keepers +of the Long House, while the Onondagas were the keepers in the larger +sense. The eighth sachem of the Senecas, Donehogaweh, had the actual +physical keeping of the door, when the fifty sachems met within, and he +also had an assistant who obeyed all his orders, and who, upon occasion, +acted as a herald or messenger. But the Onondaga sachem, Honowenato, +kept the wampum. + +The more Robert saw of the intertwined religious, military and political +systems of the Hodenosaunee, the more he admired them, and he missed +nothing as the Onondaga sachems received their brother sachems of the +allied tribes, all together being known as the Hoyarnagowar, while the +chiefs who were elective were known collectively as the Hasehnowaneh. + +Robert, Willet, and Tayoga, who was yet too young to have a part in the +ceremonies, stood on one side with the crowd and watched with the most +intense interest. Among the nine Mohawk sachems they recognized +Dayohogo, who had given Robert the name Dagaeoga, and the lad resolved +to see him later and renew their friendship. + +Meanwhile the thirty-six visiting sachems formed themselves in a circle, +with Tododaho, highest of the Onondagas in rank, among them, and facing +the sun which was rising in a golden sea above the eastern hills. +Presently the Onondaga lifted his hand and the hum and murmur in the +great crowd that looked on ceased. Then starting towards the north the +sachems moved with measured steps around the circle three times. Every +one of them carried with him a bundle of fagots, and in this case half +of the bundle was red and half white. When they stopped each sachem put +his bundle of fagots on the ground, and sat down before it, while an +assistant sachem came and stood behind him. Tododaho took flint and +steel from his pouch, set fire first to his own fagots and then to all +the others, after which he took the pipe of peace, lighted it from one +of the fires, and, drawing upon it three times, blew one puff of smoke +toward the center of the heavens, another upon the ground, and the last +directly toward the rising sun. + +"He gives thanks," whispered Tayoga, to Robert, "first to Manitou, who +has kept us alive, next to our great mother, the Earth, who has produced +the food that we eat and who sends forth the water that we drink, and +last to the Sun, who lights and warms us." + +Robert thought it a beautiful ceremony, full of idealism, and he nodded +his thanks to Tayoga while he still watched. Tododaho passed the pipe to +the sachem on his right, who took the three puffs in a similar manner, +and thus it was passed to all, the entire act requiring a long time, but +at its end the fourteen Onondaga sachems and the thirty-six visiting +sachems sat down together and under the presidency of Tododaho the +council was opened. + +"But little will be done today," said Tayoga. "It is merely what you +call at the Albany school a preliminary. The really great meeting will +be after the Maple Dance, and then we shall know what stand the +Hodenosaunee will take in the coming war." + +Robert turned away and came face to face with St. Luc. He had known that +the chevalier was somewhere in the vale of Onondaga, but in his +absorption in the Iroquois ceremonies he had forgotten about him. Now he +realized with full force that he had come to meet the Frenchman and to +measure himself against him. Yet he could not hide from himself a +certain gladness at seeing him and it was increased by St. Luc's frank +and gay manner. + +"I was sure that we should soon meet again, Mr. Lennox," he said, "and +it has come to pass as I predicted and hoped. And you too, Mr. Willet! I +greet you both." + +He offered a hand to each, and the hunter, as well as Robert, shook it +without hesitation. + +"You reached Quebec and fulfilled your mission?" he said, giving Robert +a keen look of inquiry. + +"Yes, but not without event," replied the youth. + +"I take it from your tone that the event was of a stirring nature." + +"It was rather a chain of events. The Ojibway chief, Tandakora, whom we +first saw with you, objected to our presence in the woods." + +St. Luc frowned and then laughed. + +"For that I am sorry," he said. "I would have controlled the Ojibway if +I could, but he is an unmitigated savage. He left me, and did what he +chose. I hope you do not hold me responsible for any attacks he may have +made upon you, Mr. Lennox." + +"Not at all, Monsieur, but as you see, we have survived everything and +have taken no hurt. Quebec also, a great and splendid city, was not +without stirring event, not to say danger." + +"But not to heralds, for such I take you and Mr. Willet and Tayoga to +have been." + +"A certain Pierre Boucher, a great duelist, and if you will pardon me +for saying it, a ruthless bravo, also was disposed to make trouble for +us." + +"I know Boucher. He is what you say. But since you are here safe and +unhurt, as you have just reminded me, you escaped all the snares he set +for you." + +"True, Monsieur de St. Luc, but we have the word that the fowler may +fall into his own snare." + +"Your meaning escapes me." + +"Boucher, the duelist and bravo, will never make trouble for anybody +else." + +"You imply that he is dead? Boucher dead! How did he die?" + +"A man may be a great swordsman, and he may defeat many others, but the +time usually comes when he will meet a better swordsman than himself." + +"Yourself! Why, you're but a lad, Mr. Lennox, and skillful as you may be +you're not seasoned enough to beat such a veteran as Boucher!" + +"That is true, but there is another who was." + +He nodded toward the hunter and the chevalier's eyes opened wide. + +"And you, a hunter," he said, "could defeat Pierre Boucher, who has been +accounted the master swordsman! There is more in this than meets the +eye!" + +He stared at Willet, who met his gaze firmly. Then he shrugged his +shoulders and said: + +"I'm not one to pry into the secrets of another, but I did not think +there was any man in America who was a match for Boucher. Well, he is +gone to another world, and let us hope that he will be a better man in +it than he was in this. Meanwhile we'll return to the business that +brings us all here. I speak of it freely, since every one of us knows it +well. I wish to bring in the Hodenosaunee on the side of France. The +interests of these red nations truly lie with His Majesty King Louis, +since you British colonists will spread over their lands and will drive +them out." + +"Your pardon, Chevalier de St. Luc, but it is not so. The English have +always been the good friends of the Six Nations, and have never broken +treaties with them." + +"No offense was meant, Mr. Lennox. But we do not wish to waste our +energies here debating with each other. We will save our skill and +strength for the council of the fifty, where I know you will present the +cause of the British king in such manner that its slender justification +will seem better than it really is." + +Robert laughed. + +"A stab and praise at the same time," he said. "No, Monsieur de St. Luc, +I have no wish to quarrel with you now or at any other time." + +"And while we're in the vale of Onondaga we'll be friends." + +"If you wish it to be so." + +"And you too, Mr. Willet?" + +"I've nothing against you, Chevalier de St. Luc, although I shall fight +the cause of the king whom you represent here. On the other hand I may +say that I like you and I wish nothing better than to be friends with +you here." + +"Then it is settled," said St. Luc in a tone of relief. "It is a good +way, I think. Why be enemies before we must? I shall see, too, that my +good Dubois becomes one of us, and together we will witness the Maple +Dance." + +St. Luc's manner continued frank, and Robert could not question his +sincerity. He was glad that the chevalier had proposed the temporary +friendship and he was glad, too, that Willet approved of it, since he +had such a great respect for the opinion of the hunter. St. Luc, now +that the treaty was made, bore himself as one of their party, and the +dark Canadian, Dubois, who was not far away, also accepted the situation +in its entirety. Tayoga, too, confirmed it thoroughly and now that St. +Luc was with him on a footing of friendship Robert felt more deeply than +ever the charm of his manner and talk. It seemed to him that the +chevalier had the sincerity and honesty of de Galisonnière, with more +experience and worldly wisdom, his experience and worldly wisdom +matching those of de Courcelles with a great superiority in sincerity +and honesty. + +The three quickly became the five. St Luc and Dubois being accepted were +accepted without reserve, although Dubois seldom spoke, seeming to +consider himself the shadow of his chief. The next day the five stood +together and witnessed the confessions of sins in the council grove, +the religious ceremony that always preceded the Maple Dance. + +Tododaho spoke to the sachems, the chiefs and the multitude upon their +crimes and faults, the necessity for repentance and of resolution to do +better in the future. Robert saw but little difference between his +sermon and that of a minister in the Protestant faith in which he had +been reared. Manitou was God and God was Manitou. The Iroquois and the +white men had traveled by different roads, but they had arrived at +practically the same creed and faith. The feeling that for the time +being he was an Iroquois in a white man's skin was yet strong upon him. + +Many of the Indian sachems and chiefs were men of great eloquence, and +the speech of Tododaho amid such surroundings, with the breathless +multitude listening, was impressive to the last degree. Its solemnity +was increased, when he held aloft a belt of white wampum, and, +enumerating his own sins, asked Manitou to forgive him. When he had +finished he exclaimed, "Naho," which meant, "I have done." Then he +passed the wampum to Tonessaah, who also made his confession, and all +the other sachems and chiefs did the same, the people, too, joining with +intense fervor in the manifestation. + +A huge banquet of all that forest, river and field afforded was spread +the next morning, and at noon athletic games, particularly those with +the ball, in which the red man excelled long before the white man came, +began and were played with great energy and amid intense excitement. At +the same time the great Feather Dance, religious in its nature, was +given by twelve young warriors and twelve young girls, dressed in their +most splendid costumes. + +Night came, and the festival was still in progress. What the Indian did +he did with his whole heart, and all his strength. Darkness compelled +the ball games to cease, but the dancing went on by the light of the +fires and fresh banquets were spread for all who cared. Robert knew that +it might last for several days and that it would be useless until the +end for either him or St. Luc to mention the subject so dear to their +hearts. Hence came an agreement of silence, and all the while their +friendship grew. + +It is true that official enemies may be quite different in private life, +and Robert found that he and St. Luc had much in common. There was a +certain kindred quality of temperament. They had the same courage, the +same spirit of optimism, the same light and easy manner of meeting a +crisis, with the same deadly earnestness and concentration concealed +under that careless appearance. It was apparent that Robert, who had +spent so much of his life in the forest, was fitted for great events and +the stage upon which men of the world moved. He had felt it in Quebec, +when he came into contact with what was really a brilliant court, with +all the faults and vices of a court, one of the main objects of which +was pleasure, and he felt it anew, since he was in the constant +companionship of a man who seemed to him to have more of that knightly +spirit and chivalry for which France was famous than any other he had +ever met. St. Luc knew his Paris and the forest equally well. Nor was +he a stranger to London and Vienna or to old Rome that Robert hoped to +see some day. It seemed to Robert that he had seen everything and done +everything, not that he boasted, even by indirection, but it was drawn +from him by the lad's own questions, back of which was an intense +curiosity. + +Robert noticed also that Willet, to whom he owed so much, never +intervened. Apparently he still approved the growing friendship of the +lad and the Frenchman, and Tayoga, too, showed himself not insensible to +St Luc's charm. Although he was now among his own people, and in the +sacred vale of which they were the keepers, he still stayed in the +community house with Robert and sought the society of his white friends, +including St. Luc. + +"I had thought," said Robert to the hunter the third morning after their +arrival, "that you would prefer for us to show a hostile face to St. +Luc, who is here to defeat our purpose, just as we are here to defeat +his." + +"Nothing is to be gained by a personal enmity," replied the hunter. "We +are the enemies not of St. Luc, but of his nation. We will meet him +fairly as he will meet us fairly, and I see good reasons why you and he +should be friends." + +"But in the coming war he's likely to be one of our ablest and most +enterprising foes." + +"That's true, Robert, but it does not change my view. Brave men should +like brave men, and if it is war I hope you and St. Luc will not meet in +battle." + +"You, too, seem to take an interest in him, Dave." + +"I like him," said Willet briefly. Then he shrugged his shoulders, and +changed the subject. + +The great festival went on, and the agents of Corlear and Onontio were +still kept waiting. The sachems would not hear a word from either. As +Robert understood it, they felt that the Maple Dance might not be +celebrated again for years. These old men, warriors and statesmen both, +saw the huge black clouds rolling up and they knew they portended a +storm, tremendous beyond any that North America had known. France and +England, and that meant their colonies, too, would soon be locked fast +in deadly combat, and the Hodenosaunee, who were the third power, must +look with all their eyes and think with all their strength. + +While the young warriors and the maidens sang and danced without +ceasing, the sachems and the chiefs sat far into the night, and as +gravely as the Roman Senate, considered the times and their needs. +Runners, long of limb, powerful of chest, and bare to the waist, came +from all points of the compass and reported secretly. One from Albany +said that Corlear and the people there and at New York were talking of +war, but were not preparing for it. Another, a Mohawk who came out of +the far east, said that Shirley, the Governor of Massachusetts, was +thinking of war and preparing for it too. A third, a Tuscarora, who had +traveled many days from the south, said that Dinwiddie, the Governor of +Virginia, was already acting. He was sending men, led by a tall youth +named Washington, into the Ohio country, where the French had already +gone to build forts. An Onondaga out of the north said that Quebec and +Montreal were alive with military preparations. Onontio was giving to +the French Indians muskets, powder, bullets and blankets in a profusion +never known before. + +The red fagots were rapidly displacing the white, and the secret +councils of the fifty sachems were filled with anxiety, but they hid all +their disquietude from the people, and much of it from the chiefs. But, +to their eyes, all the heavens were scarlet and the world was about to +be in upheaval. It was a time for every sachem to walk with cautious +steps and use his last ounce of wisdom. + +On the fourth night a powerful ally of St. Luc's arrived, although the +chevalier had not called him, and did not know until the next day that +he had come. He was a tall, thin man of middle years, wrapped in a black +robe with a cross upon his breast, and he had traveled alone through the +wilderness from Quebec to the vale of Onondaga. He carried no weapon but +under the black robe beat a heart as dauntless as that of Robert, or of +Willet, or of Tayoga, and an invincible faith that had already moved +mountains. + +Onondaga men and women received Father Philibert Drouillard, and knelt +for his willing blessing. Despite the memories of Champlain and +Frontenac, despite the long and honored alliance with the English, the +French missionaries, whom no hardships could stop, had made converts +among the Onondagas, an enlightened nation with kindly and gentle +instincts, and of all these missionaries Father Drouillard had the most +tenacious and powerful will. And piety and patriotism could dwell +together in his heart. The love of his church and the love of his race +burned there with an equal brightness. He, too, had seen the clouds of +war gathering, thick and black, and knowing the power of the +Hodenosaunee, and that they yet waited, he had hastened to them to win +them for France. He was burning with zeal and he would have gone forth +the very night of his arrival to talk, but he was so exhausted that he +could not move, and he slept deeply in one of the houses, while his +faithful converts watched. + +Robert encountered the priest early the next morning, and the meeting +was wholly unexpected by him, although the Frenchman gave no sign of +surprise and perhaps felt none. + +"Father Drouillard!" he exclaimed. "I believed you to be in Canada! I +did not think there was any duty that could call you to the vale of +Onondaga!" + +The stern face of the priest relaxed into a slight smile. This youth, +though of the hostile race, was handsome and winning, and as Father +Drouillard knew, he had a good heart. + +"Holy Church sends us, its servants, poor and weak though we may be, on +far and different errands," he said. "We seek the wheat even among the +stones, and there are those, here in the vale of Onondaga itself, who +watch for my coming." + +Robert recalled that there were Catholic converts among the Onondagas, a +fact that he had forgotten for the time, and he realized at once what a +powerful factor Father Drouillard would be in the fight against him. + +"The Chevalier de St. Luc has been here for some time," he said, +"waiting until the fifty sachems are ready to hear him in council, when +he will speak for France. Mr. Willet and I are also waiting to speak for +England. But the Chevalier de St. Luc and I are the best of friends, and +I hope, Father Drouillard, that you, who have come also to uphold the +cause of France, will not look upon me as an enemy, but as one, +unfitting though he may be, who wishes to do what he can for his +country." + +Father Drouillard smiled again. + +"Ah, my son," he said, "you are a good lad. You bore yourself well in +Quebec, and I have naught against you, save that you are not of our +race." + +"And for that, reverend sir, you cannot blame me." + +Father Drouillard smiled for the third time. It was not often that he +smiled three times in one day, and again he reflected that this was a +handsome and most winning lad. + +"Peace, my son!" he said. "Protestant you are and Catholic am I, English +you are and French am I, but no ill wind can ever blow between you and +me. We are but little children in the hands of the Omnipotent and we can +only await His decree." + +Robert told Willet a little later that Father Drouillard had come, and +the hunter looked very grave. + +"Our task has doubled," he said. "Now we fight both St. Luc and Father +Drouillard, the army and the church." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE GREAT TEST + + +While Robert and Willet had been glad hitherto that the council of the +fifty sachems had delayed its meeting, they were anxious, now that +Father Drouillard had come, to hasten it. That the army and the church, +that is the French army and the French church, were in close alliance, +they soon had full proof. The priest and the chevalier were much +together, and Robert caught an occasional flash of exultation in St. +Luc's eyes. + +The new influence was visible also among a minority of the Onondagas. +The faith of the converts was very strong, and Father Drouillard was to +them not only a teacher but an emblem also, and through him, a +Frenchman, they looked upon France as the chosen country of the new God +whom they worshiped. And Father Drouillard never worked harder than in +those fateful days. His thin face grew thinner, and his lean figure +leaner, but the fire in his eyes burned brighter. The fifty sachems said +nothing. Whether they were for the priest or against him, they never +interfered with his energies, because without exception they respected +one who they knew sought nothing for himself, who could endure hardship, +privation and even torture as well as they, and who also had the gift +of powerful and persuasive speech. + +The other nations too, except one, listened to him, though less than the +Onondagas. The fierce and warlike Mohawks would have none of him, nor +would they allow St. Luc to speak to them. Never could a single Mohawk +warrior forget that Stadacona was theirs, though generations ago it had +become French Quebec. They recalled with delight the numerous raids they +had made into Canada, and their many wars with the French. Robert saw +that one nation, and it was the one standing on an equality with the +Onondagas, was irreconcilable. When the council met the nine sachems of +the Mohawks, and their names would be called first, would prove +themselves to the last man the bitter and implacable enemies of the +French. So, feeling that he was right and loving his own country as much +as the priest and the chevalier loved theirs, he deftly worked upon the +minds of the Mohawks. He talked to the fiery young chief, Daganoweda, of +lost Stadacona that he had seen with his own eyes. He spoke of its great +situation on the lofty cliffs above the grandest of rivers, and he +described it as the strongest fortress in America. The spirit of the +young Mohawk responded readily. Robert's appeal was not made to +prejudice. He felt that truth and right were back of it. As he saw it, +the future of the Hodenosaunee lay with the English, the French could +never be their real friends, the long breach between Quebec and the vale +of Onondaga could not be healed. + +He had an able and efficient assistant in Tayoga, who was devoted to +the alliance with the English and the Americans, and who was constantly +talking with the sachems and chiefs. Willet, too, who had a long +acquaintance with all the nations of the Hodenosaunee, and who had many +friends among them, used all his arts of persuasion, which were by no +means small, and thus the battle for the favor of the Iroquois went on. +The night before the council was to be held, Tayoga, his black eyes +flashing, came to Robert and the hunter and they talked together for a +long time. + +The great council was held the next day in the grove devoted to that +purpose, the entire ceremony being Greek in its simplicity and dignity, +and in its surroundings. The fifty sachems, arrayed in their finest +robes, sat once more in a half circle, save that Tododaho, the Onondaga, +was slightly in front of the others, with Tonessaah at his elbow. The +nine Mohawk chiefs, fierce and implacable, sat close together, and long +before the appeals of England and France were begun Robert knew how they +would vote. + +The effort that he would make had already taken definite shape in his +mind. He would be moderate, he would not ask the Hodenosaunee to fight +for the English and Americans, he would merely ask the great nations to +refuse the alliance of the French, and if they could not find it in +their hearts to take up the tomahawk for their old friends then to +remain at peace in their villages, while English and French fought for +the continent. + +Spring was now far advanced. Robert had never seen the forest in deeper +green and he had never looked up to a bluer sky than the one that bent +over them, as they walked toward the council grove. His heart was +beating hard, but it was with excitement, not with fear. He knew that a +great test was before him, but his mind responded to it, in truth sprang +forward to meet it. The breeze that came down from the hills seemed to +whisper encouragement in his ears, and the words that he would speak +were already leaping to his lips. + +A great crowd, men, women and children, was gathered about the grove, +and like the sachems they were clothed in their best. Brilliant red, +blue or yellow blankets gleamed in the sun's rays, and the beads on +leggings and moccasins of the softest tanned deerskin, flashed and +glittered. Robert, with his memories of the Albany school still fresh, +thought once more of the great Greek and Roman assemblies, where all the +people came to hear their orators discuss the causes that meant most. +And then his pulse leaped again and his confidence grew. + +Tododaho spoke first, and when he rose there was a respectful silence +broken only by the murmurs of the wind or the heavy breathing of the +multitude. In a spirit of love and exhortation he addressed his people, +all of the six great nations. He told them that the mighty powers beyond +the sea, England and France, who with their children divided nearly the +whole world between them, were about to begin war with each other. The +lands occupied by both bordered upon the lands of the Hodenosaunee, and +the storm of battle would hover over all their castles and over the vale +of Onondaga. It was well for them to take long and anxious thought, and +to listen with attention to what the orators of the English and the +French would have to say. + +Then Father Drouillard spoke for France. He made an impressive figure, +wrapped in his black robe, his eyes burning like coals of fire in his +thin, dead white face. Near him on the right, his Onondaga converts were +gathered, and he frequently looked at them as he told the fifty sachems +that France, the greatest and strongest son of Holy Church, was their +best friend, and their fitting ally. Such was the thread of his +discourse. He struck throughout the priestly note. He appealed not alone +to their sense of right in this world, but to the deeds they must do to +insure their entrance into the world to come. France alone could lead +them in the right path, she alone thought of their souls. + +The priest spoke with intense fervor, using the tongue of the Indians +with the greatest clearness and purity. His sincerity was obvious. +Neither Robert nor Willet could doubt it for an instant, and they saw, +too, that it was making an impression. Deep murmurs of approval came +often from the converts, and now and then the whole multitude stirred in +agreement. But the fifty sachems, all except the nine Mohawks, sat as +expressionless as stones. The Mohawks did not move, but the stern, +accusing gaze they bent upon the priest never relaxed. As Robert had +foreseen, the most eloquent orator might talk a thousand years, and he +could never bring them a single inch toward France. + +Willet followed the priest. He attempted no flights. He left the future +to itself and emphasized the present and the past. He recalled the +facts, so well known, that the English had always been their friends, +and the French always their enemies. The English had kept their treaties +with the Hodenosaunee, the French could not be trusted. + +The hunter, too, received applause, much of it, and when he finished he +took his position in the audience beside Tayoga. Then the Chevalier de +St. Luc stood before the fifty sachems, as gallant and as handsome a +figure as one could find in either the Old World or the New, clothed in +a white uniform faced with gold, his hair powdered and tied in a knot, +his small sword, gold hilted, by his side. + +The chevalier knew the children of the forest, and Robert recognized at +once in him an antagonist even more formidable than he had expected. His +appeal was to the lore of the woods and to valor. The French adapted +themselves to the ways of the forest. They practiced the customs of the +Indians, lived with them and often married their women. They could grow +and flourish together, while the Englishmen and the Bostonnais held +themselves aloof from the red men, and pretended to be their superiors. +The French soldier and the Indian warrior had much in common, side by +side they were invincible, and together they could drive the English +into the sea, giving back to the red races the lands they had lost. + +He was a graceful and impassioned speaker, and he, too, made his +impression. The principal point of his theme, that the French alone +fraternized with the Indians, was good and all were familiar with the +fact. He returned to it continually, and when he sat down the applause +was louder than it had been for either Willet or the priest. It was +evident that he had made a strong appeal, and the Onondaga and Seneca +sachems regarded him with a certain degree of favor, but the nine fierce +and implacable Mohawk sachems did not unbend a particle. + +Then Robert rose. Despite the fewness of his years, the times and hard +circumstance had given him wisdom. He was surcharged, too, with emotion. +He was yet an Iroquois for the time being, despite his white face. He +still saw as they saw, and felt as they felt, and while he wished them +to take the side of Britain and the British colonies, or at least not +join the side of France and the French colonies, he was moved, too, by a +deep personal sympathy. The fortunes of the Hodenosaunee were dear to +him. He had been adopted into the great League. Tayoga, as the red +people saw it, was his brother in more than blood. + +He trembled a little with emotion as he looked upon the grave +half-circle of the fifty sachems, and the clustering chiefs behind them, +and then upon the people, the old men, the warriors, the women and the +children. As he saw them, they were friendly. They knew him to be one of +them by all the sacred rites of adoption, they knew that he had fought +by the side of the great young warrior Tayoga of the clan of the Bear, +of the nation Onondaga, of the mighty League of the Hodenosaunee, and +after the momentary silence a deep murmur of admiration for the lithe, +athletic young figure, and the frank, open face, ran through the +multitude. + +He spoke with glowing zeal and in a clear, beautiful voice that carried +like a trumpet. After the first minute, all embarrassment and hesitation +passed away, and his gift shone, resplendent. The freshness and fervor +of youth were added to the logic and power of maturer years, and golden +words flowed from his lips. The Indians, always susceptible to oratory, +leaned forward, attentive and eager. The eyes of the fifty sachems began +to shine and the fierce and implacable Mohawks, who would not relax a +particle for any of the others, nodded with approval, as the speaker +played upon the strings of their hearts. + +He dwelled less upon the friendship of the English than upon the +hostility of the French. He knew that Champlain and Frontenac were far +away in time, but near in the feelings of the Hodenosaunee, especially +the Mohawks, the warlike Keepers of the Eastern Gate. He said that while +the French had often lived with the Indians, and sometimes had married +Indian women, it was not with the nations of the Hodenosaunee, but with +their enemies, Huron, Caughnawaga, St. Regis, Ojibway and other savages +of the far west. Onontio could not be the friend of their foes and their +friends also. Manitou had never given to any man the power to carry +water on both shoulders in such a manner. + +The promises of the French to the great nations of the League had never +been kept. He and Willet, the hunter whom they called the Great Bear, +and the brave young warrior, Tayoga, whom they all knew, had just +returned from the Stadacona of the Mohawks, which the French had seized, +and where they had built their capital, calling it Quebec. They had +covered it with stone buildings, palaces, fortresses and churches, but, +in truth and right, it was still the Stadacona of the Mohawks. When +Tayoga and Willet and he walked there, they saw the shades of the great +Mohawk sachems of long ago, come down from the great shining stars on +which they now lived, to confound the French, and to tell the children +of the Ganeagaono never to trust them. + +Stirred beyond control, a fierce shout burst from the nine Mohawk +sachems. It was the first time within the memory of the council that any +of its members had given evidence of feeling, while a question lay +before it, but their cry touched a common chord of sympathy. Applause +swept the crowd, and then, deep silence coming again, the orator +continued, his fervor and power increasing as he knew now that all the +nations of the Hodenosaunee were with him. + +He enlarged upon his theme. He showed to them what a victorious France +would do. If Quebec prevailed, the fair promises the priest and the +chevalier had made to the Hodenosaunee would be forgotten. Even as the +Mohawks had lost Quebec and other villages they would lose now their +castles, the Upper, the Lower and the Middle, the Cayugas and the +Oneidas would be crushed, and with them their new brethren the +Tuscaroras. The French would burst with fire and sword into the sacred +vale of Onondaga itself, they would cut down the council grove and burn +the Long House, then their armies would go forth to destroy the Senecas, +the Keepers of the Western Gate. + +The thousands, swayed by uncontrollable emotion, sprang to their feet +and a tremendous shout burst from them all. St. Luc, seeing the +Hodenosaunee slipping from his hands and from those of France, leaped +up, unable to contain himself, and cried: + +"Do not listen to him! Do not listen to him! What he says cannot come to +pass!" + +The people were in a turmoil, and the council strove in vain for order, +but the young speaker raised his hand and silence came again. + +"The Chevalier de St. Luc and Father Drouillard, who have spoken to you +in behalf of France, are brave and good men," he said, "but they cannot +control the acts of their country. They tell you what I say cannot come +to pass, but I tell you that it can come to pass, and what is more it +has come to pass. Behold!" + +He took from beneath his deerskin tunic a tomahawk, large and keen, and +held it up. Its shining blade was stained red with the blood of a human +being. The silence was now so intense that it became heavy and +oppressive. Everyone in the crowd expected something startling to +follow, and they were right. + +He swung the tomahawk about in a circle that all might see it, and the +blood upon its blade. His feeling for the dramatic was strong upon him, +and he knew that the right moment had come. + +"Do you know whose tomahawk this is?" he cried. + +The crowd was silent and waiting. + +"It is the tomahawk of Tandakora, the Ojibway, the friend and ally of +the French." + +A fierce shout like a peal of thunder from the crowd, and then the same +intense, waiting silence. + +"Do you know whose blood stains the tomahawk of Tandakora, the Ojibway, +the friend and ally of the French?" + +A deep breath from the crowd. + +"It is the blood of Hosahaho, the Onondaga. You knew him well, one of +your swiftest runners, a skillful hunter, a great warrior, one who lived +a truthful and upright life before the face of Manitou. But he is gone. +Three nights ago, Tandakora, the Ojibway, the friend and ally of the +French, with a band of his treacherous men, foully murdered him in +ambush. But other Onondagas came, and Tandakora and his band had to flee +so fast that he could not regain his tomahawk. It has been brought to +the vale of Onondaga by those who saw Tandakora, but who could not +overtake him. It was given by them to Tayoga, whom all of you know and +honor, and he has given it to me as proof of the faith of Onontio. +Tandakora and Onontio are brothers. What Tandakora does Onontio does +also, and the bright blood of Hosahaho, the Onondaga, that stains the +tomahawk of Tandakora, the Ojibway, was shed by Onontio as well as +Tandakora. Behold! Here are the promises of Onontio, written red in the +blood of your brother!" + +An immense tumult followed, but presently Tododaho, first among the +sachems, rose and stilled it with uplifted hands. Turning his eyes upon +Robert, he said: + +"You have spoken well, O Dagaeoga, and you have shown the proof of your +words. Never will the great nations of the Hodenosaunee be the friends +of the French. There is too much blood between us." + +Then, turning to Chevalier de St. Luc and Father Drouillard, he said: + +"Go you back to Quebec and tell Onontio that he cannot come to us with +promises in one hand and murder in the other. Our young men will guard +you and see that you are safe, until you pass out of our lands. Go! +Through me the fifty sachems speak for the great League of the +Hodenosaunee." + +The chevalier and the priest, disappointed but dignified, left the vale +of Onondaga that night, and St. Luc said to Robert that he bore him no +ill will because of his defeat. + +Several weeks later, as Robert, Willet, and Tayoga were on their way to +Albany, they heard from an Oneida runner that the English colonials from +Virginia, under young Washington, and the French had been in battle far +to the west. + +"The war has begun," said Willet solemnly, "a war that will shake both +continents." + +"And the Hodenosaunee will not help Onontio," said Tayoga. + +"And the French may lose Quebec," said Robert looking northward to the +city of his dreams. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUNTERS OF THE HILLS*** + + +******* This file should be named 14890-8.txt or 14890-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/8/9/14890 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/14890-8.zip b/14890-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..75fcab6 --- /dev/null +++ b/14890-8.zip diff --git a/14890.txt b/14890.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b870f3a --- /dev/null +++ b/14890.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10762 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Hunters of the Hills, by Joseph Altsheler + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Hunters of the Hills + +Author: Joseph Altsheler + +Release Date: February 3, 2005 [eBook #14890] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUNTERS OF THE HILLS*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Graeme Mackreth, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE HUNTERS OF THE HILLS + +A Story of the Great French and Indian War + +by + +JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + +Author of _The Tree Of Appomattox_, _The Keepers Of The Trail_, _The +Forest Of Swords_, etc. + +Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. +New York + +1916 + + + + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Hunters of the Hills" is the first volume of a series dealing with +the great struggle of France and England and their colonies for dominion +in North America, culminating with the fall of Quebec. It is also +concerned to a large extent with the Iroquois, the mighty league known +in their own language as the Hodenosaunee, for the favor of which both +French and English were high bidders. In his treatment of the theme the +author has consulted many authorities, and he is not conscious of any +historical error. + + + + +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 + FRANCOIS DE JUMONVILLE A French officer + LOUIS DE GALISONNIERE A young French officer + JEAN DE MEZY 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 + FRANCOIS 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 + WILLIAM WILTON 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 + + I. THE THREE FRIENDS + + II. ST. LUC + + III. THE TOMAHAWK + + IV. THE INTELLIGENT CANOE + + V. THE MOHAWK CHIEF + + VI. THE TWO FRENCHMEN + + VII. NEW FRANCE + + VIII. GUESTS OF THE ENEMY + + IX. AT THE INN + + X. THE MEETING + + XI. BIGOT'S BALL + + XII. THE HUNTER AND THE BRAVO + + XIII. THE BOWMEN + + XIV. ON CHAMPLAIN + + XV. THE VALE OF ONONDAGA + + XVI. THE GREAT TEST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE THREE FRIENDS + + +A canoe containing two boys and a man was moving slowly on one of the +little lakes in the great northern wilderness of what is now the State +of New York. The water, a brilliant blue under skies of the same intense +sapphire tint, rippled away gently on either side of the prow, or rose +in heaps of glittering bubbles, as the paddles were lifted for a new +stroke. + +Vast masses of dense foliage in the tender green of early spring crowned +the high banks of the lake on every side. The eye found no break +anywhere. Only the pink or delicate red of a wild flower just bursting +into bloom varied the solid expanse of emerald walls; and save for the +canoe and a bird of prey, darting in a streak of silver for a fish, the +surface of the water was lone and silent. + +The three who used the paddles were individual and unlike, none of them +bearing any resemblance to the other two. The man sat in the stern. He +was of middle years, built very powerfully and with muscles and sinews +developed to an amazing degree. His face, in childhood quite fair, had +been burned almost as brown as that of an Indian by long exposure. He +was clothed wholly in tanned deerskin adorned with many little colored +beads. A hatchet and knife were in the broad belt at his waist, and a +long rifle lay at his feet. + +His face was fine and open and he would have been noticed anywhere. But +the eyes of the curious would surely have rested first upon the two +youths with him. + +One was back of the canoe's center on the right side and the other was +forward on the left. The weight of the three occupants was balanced so +nicely that their delicate craft floated on a perfectly even keel. The +lad near the prow was an Indian of a nobler type than is often seen in +these later days, when he has been deprived of the native surroundings +that fit him like the setting of a gem. + +The Indian, although several years short of full manhood, was tall, with +limbs slender as was usual in his kind; but his shoulders were broad and +his chest wide and deep. His color was a light copper, the tint verging +toward red, and his face was illumined wonderfully by black eyes that +often flashed with a lofty look of courage and pride. + +The young warrior, Tayoga, a coming chief of the clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the League of the Hodenosaunee, known to white +men as the Iroquois, was in all the wild splendor of full forest +attire. His headdress, _gustoweh_, was the product of long and careful +labor. It was a splint arch, curving over the head, and crossed by +another arch from side to side, the whole inclosed by a cap of fine +network, fastened with a silver band. From the crest, like the plume of +a Roman knight, a cluster of pure white feathers hung, and on the side +of it a white feather of uncommon size projected upward and backward, +the end of the feather set in a little tube which revolved with the +wind, the whole imparting a further air of distinction to his strong and +haughty countenance. + +The upper part of his body was clothed in the garment called by the +Hodenosaunee _gakaah_, a long tunic of deerskin tanned beautifully, +descending to the knees, belted at the waist, and decorated elaborately +with the quills of the porcupine, stained red, yellow and blue and +varied with the natural white. + +His leggings, called in his own language _giseha_, were fastened by +bands above the knees, and met his moccasins. They too were of deerskin +tanned with the same skill, and along the seams and around the bottom, +were adorned with the quills of the porcupine and rows of small, colored +beads. The moccasins, _ahtaquaoweh_, of deerskin, were also decorated +with quills and beads, but the broad belt, _gagehta_, holding in his +tunic at the waist, was of rich blue velvet, heavy with bead work. The +knife at his belt had a silver hilt, and the rifle in the bottom of the +canoe was silver-mounted. Nowhere in the world could one have found a +young forest warrior more splendid in figure, manner and dress. + +The white youth was the equal in age and height of his red comrade, but +was built a little more heavily. His face, tanned red instead of brown, +was of the blonde type and bore an aspect of refinement unusual in the +woods. The blue eyes were thoughtful and the chin, curving rather +delicately, indicated gentleness and a sense of humor, allied with +firmness of purpose and great courage. His dress was similar in fashion +to that of the older man, but was finer in quality. He was armed like +the others. + +"I suppose we're the only people on the lake," said the hunter and +scout, David Willet, "and I'm glad of it, lads. It's not a time, just +when the spring has come and the woods are so fine, to be shot at by +Huron warriors and their like down from Canada." + +"I don't want 'em to send their bullets at me in the spring or any other +time," said the white lad, Robert Lennox. "Hurons are not good marksmen, +but if they kept on firing they'd be likely to hit at last. I don't +think, though, that we'll find any of 'em here. What do you say, +Tayoga?" + +The Indian youth flashed a swift look along the green wall of forest, +and replied in pure Onondaga, which both Lennox and Willet understood: + +"I think they do not come. Nothing stirs in the woods on the high banks. +Yet Onontio (the Governor General of Canada) would send the Hurons and +the other nations allied with the French against the people of Corlear +(the Governor of the Province of New York). But they fear the +Hodenosaunee." + +"Well they may!" said Willet. "The Iroquois have stopped many a foray +of the French. More than one little settlement has thriven in the shade +of the Long House." + +The young warrior smiled and lifted his head a little. Nobody had more +pride of birth and race than an Onondaga or a Mohawk. The home of the +Hodenosaunee was in New York, but their hunting grounds and real domain, +over which they were lords, extended from the Hudson to the Ohio and +from the St. Lawrence to the Cumberland and the Tennessee, where the +land of the Cherokees began. No truer kings of the forest ever lived, +and for generations their warlike spirit fed upon the fact. + +"It is true," said Tayoga gravely, "but a shadow gathers in the north. +The children of Corlear wish to plow the land and raise corn, but the +sons of Onontio go into the forest and become hunters and warriors with +the Hurons. It is easy for the man in the woods to shoot down the man in +the field." + +"You put it well, Tayoga," exclaimed Willet. "That's the kernel in the +nut. The English settle upon the land, but the French take to the wild +life and would rather be rovers. When it comes to fighting it puts our +people at a great disadvantage. I know that some sort of a wicked broth +is brewing at Quebec, but none of us can tell just when it will boil +over." + +"Have you ever been to Quebec, Dave?" asked Robert. + +"Twice. It's a fortress on a rock high above the St. Lawrence, and it's +the seat of the French power in North America. We English in this +country rule our selves mostly, but the French in Canada don't have +much to say. It's the officials sent out from France who govern as they +please." + +"And you believe they'll attack us, Dave?" + +"When they're ready, yes, but they intend to choose time and place. I +think they've been sending war belts to the tribes in the north, but I +can't prove it." + +"The French in France are a brave and gallant race, Dave, and they are +brave and gallant here too, but I think they're often more cruel than we +are." + +It was in David Willet's mind to say it was because the French had +adapted themselves more readily than the English to the ways of the +Indian, but consideration for the feelings of Tayoga restrained him. The +wilderness ranger had an innate delicacy and to him Tayoga was always a +nobleman of the forest. + +"You've often told me, Dave," said Lennox, "that I've French blood in +me." + +"There's evidence pointing that way," said Willet, "and when I was in +Quebec I saw some of the men from Northern France. I suppose we mostly +think of the French as short and dark, but these were tall and fair. +Some of them had blue eyes and yellow hair, and they made me think a +little of you, Robert." + +Young Lennox sighed and became very thoughtful. The mystery of his +lineage puzzled and saddened him at times. It was a loss never to have +known a father or a mother, and for his kindest and best friends to be +of a blood not his own. The moments of depression, however, were brief, +as he had that greatest of all gifts from the gods, a cheerful and +hopeful temperament. + +The three began to paddle with renewed vigor. Gasna Gaowo, the canoe in +which they sat, was a noble example of Onondaga art. It was about +sixteen feet in length and was made of the bark of the red elm, the rim, +however, being of white ash, stitched thoroughly to the bark. The ribs +also were of white ash, strong and flexible, and fastened at each end +under the rim. The prow, where the ends of the bark came together, was +quite sharp, and the canoe, while very light and apparently frail, was +exceedingly strong, able to carry a weight of more than a thousand +pounds. The Indians surpassed all other people in an art so useful in a +land of many lakes and rivers and they lavished willing labor upon their +canoes, often decorating them with great beauty and taste. + +"We're now within the land of the Mohawks, are we not, Tayoga?" asked +Lennox. + +"Ganeagaono, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, rule here," replied the +young warrior, "but the Hurons dispute their claim." + +"I've heard that the Mohawks and the Hurons, who now fight one another, +were once of the same blood." + +"It is so. The old men have had it from those who were old men when they +were boys. The Mohawks in a far, far time were a clan of the Wanedote, +called in your language the Hurons, and lived where the French have +built their capital of Quebec. Thence their power spread, and becoming a +great nation themselves they separated from the Wanedote. But many +enemies attacked them and they moved to the south, where they joined the +Onondagas and Oneidas, and in time the League of the Hodenosaunee grew +up. That, though, was far, far back, eight or ten of what the white men +call generations." + +"But it's interesting, tremendously so," said Robert, reflectively. "I +find that the red races and the white don't differ much. The flux and +movement have been going on always among them just as it has among us. +Races disappear, and new ones appear." + +"It is so, Lennox," said Tayoga gravely, "but the League of the +Hodenosaunee is the chosen of Manitou. We, the Onundagaono, in your +language Onondagas, Keepers of the Council, the Brand and the Wampum, +know it. The power of the Long House cannot be broken. Onundagaono, +Ganeogaono, Nundawaono (Senecas), Gweugwehono (Cayugas), Onayotekaono +(Oneidas) and the new nation that we made our brethren, Dusgaowehono +(Tuscaroras), will defend it forever." + +Robert glanced at him. Tayoga's nostrils expanded as he spoke, the chin +was thrown up again and his eyes flashed with a look of immeasurable +pride. White youth understood red youth. The forest could be as truly a +kingdom as cities and fields, and within the limits of his horizon +Tayoga, a coming chief of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, +of the League of the Hodenosaunee, was as thoroughly of royal blood as +any sovereign on his throne. He and his father and his father's father +before him and others before them had heard the old men and the women +chant the prowess and invincibility of the Hodenosaunee, and of that +great league, the Onondagas, the Keepers of the Wampum, the Brand and +the Council Fire, were in Tayoga's belief first, its heart and soul. + +Robert had pride of race himself--it was a time when an ancient stock +was thought to count for much--and he was sure that the blood in his +veins was noble, but, white though he was, he did not feel any +superiority to Tayoga. Instead he paid him respect where respect was due +because, born to a great place in a great race, he was equal to it. He +understood, too, why the Hodenosaunee seemed immutable and eternal to +its people, as ancient Rome had once seemed unshakable and everlasting +to the Romans, and, understanding, he kept his peace. + +The lake, slender and long, now narrowed to a width of forty or fifty +yards and curved sharply toward the east. They slowed down with habitual +caution, until they could see what lay in front of them. Robert and +Tayoga rested their paddles, and Willet sent the canoe around the curve. +The fresh reach of water was peaceful too, unruffled by the craft of any +enemy, and on either side the same lofty banks of solid green stretched +ahead. Above and beyond the cliffs rose the distant peaks and ridges of +the high mountains. The whole was majestic and magnificent beyond +comparison. Robert and Tayoga, their paddles still idle, breathed it in +and felt that Manitou, who is the same as God, had lavished work upon +this region, making it good to the eye of all men for all time. + +"How far ahead is the cove, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"About a mile," replied the Onondaga. + +"Then we'd better put in there, and look for game. We've got mighty +little venison." + +"It is so," said Tayoga, using his favorite words of assent. Neither he +nor Robert resumed the paddle, leaving the work for the rest of the way +to the hunter, who was fully equal to the task. His powerful arms swept +the broad blade through the water, and the canoe shot forward at a +renewed pace. Long practice and training had made him so skillful at the +task that his breath was not quickened by the exertion. It was a +pleasure to Robert to watch the ease and power with which he did so +much. + +The lake widened as they advanced, and through a change in the color of +the sky the water here seemed silver rather than blue. A flock of wild +ducks swam near the edge and he saw two darting loons, but there was no +other presence. Silence, beauty and majesty were everywhere, and he was +content to go on, without speaking, infused with the spirit of the +wilderness. + +The cove showed after a while, at first a mere slit that only a wary eye +could have seen, and then a narrow opening through which a small creek +flowed into the lake. Willet, with swift and skillful strokes of the +paddle, turned the canoe into the stream and advanced some distance up +it, until he stopped at a point where it broadened into an expanse like +a pool, covered partly with water lilies, and fringed with tall reeds. +Behind the reeds were slanting banks clothed with dense, green foliage. +It was an ideal covert, and there were thousands like it in the +wonderful wilderness of the North Woods. + +"You find this a good place, don't you, Tayoga?" said Willet, with a +certain deference. + +"It suits us well," replied the young Onondaga in his measured tones. +"No man, Indian or white, has been here today. The lilies are +undisturbed. Not a reed has been bent. Ducks that have not yet seen us +are swimming quietly up the creek, and farther on a stag is drinking at +its edge. I can hear him lapping the water." + +"That was wonderful, Tayoga," said Willet with admiration. "I wouldn't +have noticed it, but since you've spoken of it I can hear the stag too. +Now he's gone away. Maybe he's heard us." + +"Like as not," said Robert, "and he'd have been a good prize, but he's +taken the alarm, and he's safe. We'll have to look for something else. +Just there on the right you can see an opening among the leaves, Dave, +and that's our place for landing." + +Willet sent the canoe through the open water between the tall reeds, +then slowed it down with his paddle, and the prow touched the bank +gently. + +The three stepped out and drew the canoe with great care upon the shore, +in order that it might dry. The bank at that point was not steep and the +presence of the deer at the water's edge farther up indicated a slope +yet easier there. + +"Appears to be a likely place for game," said Willet. "While the stag +has scented us and gone, there must be more deer in the woods. Maybe +they're full of 'em, since this is doubtful ground and warriors and +white men too are scarce." + +"But red scouts from the north may be abroad," said Robert, "and it +would be unwise to use our rifles. We don't want a brush with Hurons or +Tionontati." + +"The Tionontati went into the west some years ago," said Tayoga, "and +but few of their warriors are left with their kinsmen, the Hurons." + +"But those few would be too many, should they chance to be near. We must +not use our rifles. Instead we must resort to your bow and arrows, +Tayoga." + +"Perhaps _waano_ (the bow) will serve us," said the young chief, with +his confident smile. + +"That being the case, then," said Willet, "I'll stay here and mind the +canoe, while the pair of you boys go and find the deer. You're younger +than I am, an' I'm willing for you to do the work." + +The white teeth of Tayoga flashed into a deeper smile. + +"Does our friend, the Great Bear, who calls himself Willet, grow old?" +he asked. + +"Not by a long sight, Tayoga," replied Willet with energy. "I'm no +braggart, I hope, but you Iroquois don't call me Great Bear for nothing. +My muscles are as hard as ever, and my wind's as good. I can lift more +and carry more upon my shoulders than any other man in all this +wilderness." + +"I but jested with the Great Bear," said Tayoga, smiling. "Did I not see +last winter how quick he could be when I was about to be cut to pieces +under the sharp hoofs of the wounded and enraged moose, and he darted in +and slew the animal with his long knife?" + +"Don't speak of it, Tayoga. That was just a little matter between +friends. You'd do as much for me if the chance came." + +"But you've done it already, Great Bear." + +Willet said something more in deprecation, and picking up the canoe, put +it in a better place. Its weight was nothing to him, and Robert noticed +with admiration the play of the great arms and shoulders. Seen now upon +the land and standing at his full height Willet was a giant, +proportioned perfectly, a titanic figure fitted by nature to cope with +the hardships and dangers of the wilderness. + +"I'm thinking stronger than ever that this is good deer country," he +said. "It has all the looks of it, since they can find here the food +they like, and it hasn't been ranged over for a long time by white man +or red. Tayoga, you and Robert oughtn't to be long in finding the game +we want." + +"I think like the Great Bear that we'll not have to look far for deer," +said the Onondaga, "and I leave my rifle with you while I take my bow +and arrows." + +"I'll keep your rifle for you, Tayoga, and if I didn't have anything +else to do I'd go along with you two lads and see you use the bow. I +know that you're a regular king with it." + +Tayoga said nothing, although he was secretly pleased with the +compliment, and took from the canoe a long slender package, wrapped +carefully in white, tanned deerskin, which he unrolled, disclosing the +bow, _waano_. + +The young Onondaga's bow, like everything he wore or used, was of the +finest make, four feet in length, and of such powerful wood that only +one of great strength and equal skill could bend it. He brought it to +the proper curve with a sudden, swift effort, and strung it. There he +tested the string with a quick sweeping motion of his hand, making it +give back a sound like that of a violin, and seemed satisfied. + +He also took from the canoe the quiver, _gadasha_, which was made of +carefully dressed deerskin, elaborately decorated with the stained +quills of the porcupine. It was two feet in length and contained +twenty-five arrows, _gano_. + +The arrows were three feet long, pointed with deer's horn, each carrying +two feathers twisted about the shaft. They, like the bow and quiver, +were fine specimens of workmanship and would have compared favorably +with those used by the great English archers of the Middle Ages. + +Tayoga examined the sharp tips of the arrows, and, poising the quiver +over his left shoulder, fastened it on his back, securing the lower end +at his waist with the sinews of the deer, and the upper with the same +kind of cord, which he carried around the neck and then under his left +arm. The ends of the arrows were thus convenient to his right hand, and +with one sweeping circular motion he could draw them from the quiver and +fit them to the bowstring. + +The Iroquois had long since learned the use of the rifle and musket, but +on occasion they still relied upon the bow, with which they had won +their kingdom, the finest expanse of mountain and forest, lake and +river, ever ruled over by man. Tayoga, as he strung his bow and hung +his quiver, felt a great emotion, the spirit of his ancestors he would +have called it, descending upon him. _Waano_ and he fitted together and +for the time he cherished it more than his rifle, the weapon that the +white man had brought from another world. The feel of the wood in his +hand made him see visions of a vast green wilderness in which the Indian +alone roamed and knew no equal. + +"What are you dreaming about, Tayoga?" asked Robert, who also dreamed +dreams. + +The Onondaga shook himself and laughed a little. + +"Of nothing," he replied. "No, that was wrong. I was dreaming of the +deer that we'll soon find. Come, Lennox, we'll go seek him." + +"And while you're finding him," said Willet, "I'll be building the fire +on which we'll cook the best parts of him." + +Tayoga and Robert went together into the forest, the white youth taking +with him his rifle, which, however, he did not expect to use. It was +merely a precaution, as the Hurons, Abenakis, Caughnawagas and other +tribes in the north were beginning to stir and mutter under the French +influence. And for that reason, and because they did not wish to alarm +possible game, the two went on silent foot. + +No other human beings were present there, but the forest was filled with +inhabitants, and hundreds of eyes regarded the red youth with the bow, +and the white youth with the rifle, as they passed among the trees. +Rabbits looked at them from small red eyes. A muskrat, at a brook's +edge, gazed a moment and then dived from sight. A chipmunk cocked up +his ears, listened and scuttled away. + +But most of the population of the forest was in the trees. Squirrels +chattering with anger at the invaders, or with curiosity about them, ran +along the boughs, their bushy tails curving over their backs. A huge +wildcat crouched in a fork, swelled with anger, his eyes reddening and +his sharp claws thrusting forth as he looked at the two beings whom he +instinctively hated much and feared more. The leaves swarmed with birds, +robins and wrens and catbirds and all the feathered tribe keeping up an +incessant quivering and trilling, while a distant woodpecker drummed +portentously on the trunk of an old oak. They too saw the passing +youths, but since no hand was raised to hurt them they sang, in their +way, as they worked and played. + +The wilderness spell was strong upon Tayoga, whose ancestors had lived +unknown ages in the forest. The wind from the north as it rustled the +leaves filled his strong lungs and made the great pulses leap. The bow +in his hand fitted into the palm like a knife in its sheath. He heard +the animals and the birds, and the sounds were those to which his +ancestors had listened a thousand years and more. Once again he was +proud of his heritage. He was Tayoga, a coming chief of the Clan of the +Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the League of the Hodenosaunee, and he +would not exchange places with any man of whom he had heard in all the +world. + +The forest was the friend of Tayoga and he knew it. He could name the +trees, the elm and the maple, and the spruce and the cedar and all the +others. He knew the qualities of their wood and bark and the uses for +which every one was best fitted. He noticed particularly the great +maples, so precious to the Iroquois, from which they took sap and made +sugar, and which gave an occasion and name to one of their most sacred +festivals and dances. He also observed the trees from which the best +bows and arrows were made, and the red elms and butternut hickories, the +bark of which served the Iroquois for canoes. + +When Tayoga passed through a forest it was not merely a journey, it was +also an inspection. He had been trained from his baby frame, _gaoseha_, +always to observe everything that met the human eye, and now he not only +examined the trees, but also the brooks and the little ravines and the +swell of the hills and the summits of the mountains that towered high, +many miles away. If ever he came back there he would know the ground and +all its marks. + +His questing eye alighted presently upon the delicate traces of hoofs, +and, calling Robert's attention, the two examined them with the full +care demanded by their purpose. + +"New," said Tayoga; "scarce an hour old." + +"Less than that," said Robert. "The deer can't be far away." + +"He is near, because there has been nothing to make him run. Here go the +traces in almost a half circle. He is feeding and taking his time." + +"It's a good chase to follow. The wind is blowing toward us, and he can +take no alarm, unless he sees or hears us." + +"It would be shame to an Onondaga if a deer heard him coming." + +"You don't stand in any danger of being made ashamed, Tayoga. As you're +to be the hunter, lead and I'll follow." + +The Onondaga slipped through the undergrowth, and Robert, a skillful +young woodsman also, came after with such care and lightness of foot +that neither made a twig or leaf rustle. Tayoga always followed the +traces. The deer had nibbled tender young shoots, but he had not +remained long in one place. The forest was such an abundant garden to +him that, fastidious as an epicure, he required the most delicate food +to please his palate. + +Tayoga stopped suddenly in a few minutes and raised his hand. Robert, +following his gaze, saw a stag about a hundred yards away, a splendid +fellow with head upraised, not in alarm, but to nuzzle some tender young +leaves. + +"I will go to the right," whispered the young warrior, "and will you, my +friend, remain here?" + +Robert nodded, and Tayoga slid silently among the bushes to secure a +nearer and better position for aim. The Indian admired the stag which, +like himself, fitted into the forest. He would not have hunted him for +sport, nor at any other time would he have shot him, but food was needed +and Manitou had sent the deer for that purpose. He was not one to oppose +the will of Manitou. + +The greatest bowman in the Northern wilderness crouched in the thicket, +and reaching his right hand over his left shoulder, withdrew an arrow, +which he promptly fitted to the string. It was a perfect arrow, made by +the young chief himself, and the two feathers were curved in the right +manner to secure the utmost degree of speed and accuracy. He fitted it +to the string and drew the bow far back, almost to the head of the +shaft. Now he was the hunter only and the spirit of hunting ancestors +for many generations was poured into him. His eye followed the line of +coming flight and he chose the exact spot on the sleek body beneath +which the great heart lay. + +The stag, with his head upraised, still pulled at the tender top of a +bush, and the deceitful wind, which blew from him toward Tayoga, brought +no warning. Nor did the squirrel chattering in the tree or the bird +singing on the bough just over his head tell him that the hunter was +near. Tayoga looked again down the arrow at the chosen place on the +gleaming body of the deer, and with a sudden and powerful contraction of +the muscles, bending the bow a little further, loosed the shaft. + +The arrow flew singing through the air as swift and deadly as a steel +dart and was buried in the heart of the stag, which, leaping upward, +fell, writhed convulsively a moment or two, and died. The young Onondaga +regarded his work a moment with satisfaction, and then walked forward, +followed by his white comrade. + +"One arrow was enough, Tayoga," said Robert, "and I knew before you +shot that another would not be needed." + +"The distance was not great," said Tayoga modestly. "I should have been +a poor marksman had I missed." + +He pulled his arrow with a great effort from the body of the deer, wiped +it carefully upon the grass, and returned it to _gadasha_, the quiver. +Arrows required time and labor for the making, but unlike the powder and +bullet in a rifle, they could be used often, and hence at times the bow +had its advantage. + +Then the two worked rapidly and skillfully with their great hunting +knives, skinning and removing all the choicer portions of the deer, and +before they finished they heard the pattering of light feet in the +woods, accompanied now and then by an evil whine. + +"The wolves come early," said Tayoga. + +"And they're over hungry," said Robert, "or they wouldn't let us know so +soon that they're in the thickets." + +"It is told sometimes, among my people, that the soul of a wicked man +has gone into the wolf," said Tayoga, not ceasing in his work, his +shining blade flashing back and forth. "Then the wolf can understand +what we say, although he may not speak himself." + +"And suppose we kill such a wolf, Tayoga, what becomes of the wicked +soul?" + +"It goes at once into the body of another wolf, and passes on from wolf +to wolf, being condemned to live in that foul home forever. Such a +punishment is only for the most vile, and they are few. It is but the +hundredth among the wicked who suffers thus." + +"The other ninety-nine go after death to _Hanegoategeh_, the land of +perpetual darkness, where they suffer in proportion to the crimes they +committed on earth, but _Hawenneyu_, the Divine Being, takes pity on +them and gives them another chance. When they have suffered long enough +in _Hanegoategeh_ to be purified he calls them before him and looks into +their souls. Nothing can be hidden from him. He sees the evil thought, +Lennox, as you or I would see a leaf upon the water, and then he judges. +And he is merciful. He does not condemn and send to everlasting torture, +because evil may yet be left in the soul, but if the good outweighs the +bad the good shall prevail and the suffering soul is sent to +_Hawenneyugeh_, the home of the just, where it suffers no more. But if +the bad still outweighs the good then its chance is lost and it is sent +to _Hanishaonogeh_, the home of the wicked, where it is condemned to +torture forever." + +"A reasonable religion, Tayoga. Your _Hanegoategeh_ is like the +purgatory, in which the Catholic church believes. Your God like ours is +merciful, and the more I learn about your religion the more similar it +seems to ours." + +"I think your God and our Manitou are the same, Lennox, we only see him +through different glasses, but our religion is old, old, very old, +perhaps older than yours." + +Although Tayoga did not raise his voice or change the inflection Robert +knew that he spoke with great pride. The young Onondaga did not believe +his religion resembled the white man's but that the white man's +resembled his. Robert respected him though, and knowing the reasons for +his pride, said nothing in contradiction. + +"The whining wolf is hungry," said Tayoga, "and since the soul of a +warrior may dwell in his body I will feed him." + +He took a discarded piece of the deer and threw it far into the bushes. +A fearful growling, and the noise of struggling ensued at once. + +"The wolf with the wicked soul in him may be there," said Robert, "but +even so he has to fight with the other wolves for the meat you flung." + +"It is a part of his fate," said Tayoga gravely. "Seeing and thinking as +a man, he must yet bite and claw with beasts for his food. Now I think +we have all of the deer we wish." + +As they could not take it with them for tanning, they cut the skin in +half, and each wrapped in his piece a goodly portion of the body to be +carried to the canoe. Both were fastidious, wishing to get no stain upon +their clothing, and, their task completed, they carefully washed their +hands and knives at the edge of a brook. Then as they lifted up their +burdens the whining and growling in the bushes increased rapidly. + +"They see that we are going," said Tayoga. "The wolf even without the +soul of a warrior in it knows much. It is the wisest of all the animals, +unless the fox be its equal. The foolish bear and the mad panther fight +alone, but the wolf, who is too small to face either, bands with his +brothers into a league, even as the Hodenosaunee, and together they +pull down the deer and the moose, and in the lands of the Ohio they dare +to attack and slay the mighty bull buffalo." + +"They know the strength of union, Tayoga, and they know, too, just now +that they're safe from our weapons. I can see their noses poking already +in their eagerness through the bushes. They're so hungry and so +confident that they'll hardly wait until we get away." + +As they passed with their burdens into the bushes on the far side of the +little opening they heard a rush of light feet, and angry snarling. +Looking back, Robert saw that the carcass of the stag was already +covered with hungry wolves, every one fighting for a portion, and he +knew it was the way of the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ST. LUC + + +Willet hailed them joyfully when they returned. + +"I'll wager that only one arrow was shot," he said, smiling. + +"Just one," said Robert. "It struck the stag in the heart and he did not +move ten feet from where he stood." + +"And the Great Bear has the fire ready," said Tayoga. "I breathe the +smoke." + +"I knew you would notice it," said Willet, "although it's only a little +fire yet and I've built it in a hollow." + +Dry sticks were burning in a sunken place surrounded by great trees, and +they increased the fire, veiling the smoke as much as possible. Then +they broiled luscious steaks of the deer and ate abundantly, though +without the appearance of eagerness. Robert had been educated carefully +at Fort Orange, which men were now calling Albany, and Tayoga and the +hunter were equally fastidious. + +"The deer is the friend of both the red man and the white," said Willet, +appreciatively. "In the woods he feeds us and clothes us, and then his +horn tips the arrow with which you kill him, Tayoga." + +"It was so ordered by Manitou," said the young Onondaga, earnestly. +"The deer was given to us that we might live." + +"And that being the case," said Willet, "we'll cook all you and Robert +have brought and take it with us in the canoe. Since we keep on going +north the time will come when we won't have any chance for hunting." + +The fire had now formed a great bed of coals and the task was not hard. +It was all cooked by and by and they stowed it away wrapped in the two +pieces of skin. Then Willet and Tayoga decided to examine the country +together, leaving Robert on guard beside the canoe. + +Robert had no objection to remaining behind. Although circumstances had +made him a lad of action he was also contemplative by nature. Some +people think with effort, in others thoughts flow in a stream, and now +as he sat with his back to a tree, much that he had thought and heard +passed before him like a moving panorama and in this shifting belt of +color Indians, Frenchmen, Colonials and Englishmen appeared. + +He knew that he stood upon the edge of great events. Deeply sensitive to +impressions, he felt that a crisis in North America was at hand. England +and France were not yet at war, and so the British colonies and the +French colonies remained at peace too, but every breeze that blew from +one to the other was heavy with menace. The signs were unmistakable, but +one did not have to see. One breathed it in at every breath. He knew, +too, that intrigue was already going on all about him, and that the +Iroquois were the great pawn in the game. British and French were +already playing for the favor of the powerful Hodenosaunee, and Robert +understood even better than many of those in authority that as the +Hodenosaunee went so might go the war. It was certain that the Indians +of the St. Lawrence and the North would be with the French, but he was +confident that the Indians of the Long House would not swerve from their +ancient alliance with the British colonies. + +Two hours passed and Willet and Tayoga did not return, but he had not +expected them. He knew that when they decided to go on a scout they +would do the work thoroughly, and he waited with patience, sitting +beside the canoe, his rifle on his knees. Before him the creek flowed +with a pleasant, rippling noise and through the trees he caught a +glimpse of the lake, unruffled by any wind. + +The rest was so soothing, and his muscles and nerves relaxed so much +that he felt like closing his eyes and going to sleep, but he was roused +by the sound of a footstep. It was so distant that only an ear trained +to the forest would have heard it, but he knew that it was made by a +human being approaching, and that the man was neither Willet nor Tayoga. + +He put his ear to the earth and heard three men instead of one, and then +he rose, cocking his rifle. In the great wilderness in those surcharged +days a stranger was an enemy until he was proved to be otherwise, and +the lad was alert in every faculty. He saw them presently, three +figures walking in Indian file, and his heart leaped because the leader +was so obviously a Frenchman. + +His uniform was of the battalion Royal Roussillon, white faced with +blue, and his hat was black and three-cornered, but face and manner were +so unmistakably French that Robert did not think of his uniform, which +was neat and trim to a degree not to be expected in the forest. He bore +himself in the carelessly defiant manner peculiar to the French cadets +and younger sons of noble families in North America at the time, an +accentuation of the French at home, and to some extent a survival of the +spirit which Richelieu partially checked. Even in the forest he wore a +slender rapier at his belt, and his hand rested now upon its golden +hilt. + +He was about thirty years old, tall, slender, and with the light hair +and blue eyes seen so often in Northern France, telling, perhaps, of +Norman blood. His glance was apparently light, but Robert felt when it +rested upon him that it was sharp, penetrating and hard to endure. +Nevertheless he met it without lowering his own gaze. The man behind the +leader was swart, short, heavy and of middle years, a Canadian dressed +in deerskin and armed with rifle, hatchet and knife. The third man was +an Indian, one of the most extraordinary figures that Robert had ever +seen. He was of great stature and heavy build, his shoulders and chest +immense and covered with knotted muscles, disclosed to the eye, as he +was bare to the waist. All the upper part of his body was painted in +strange and hideous designs which Robert did not recognize, although he +knew the fashions of all the tribes in the New York and St. Lawrence +regions. His cheek bones were unusually high even for an Indian and his +gaze was heavy, keen and full of challenge. Robert judged that he +belonged to some western tribe, that he was a Pottawatomie, an Ojibway +or a Chippewa or that perhaps he came from the distant Sioux race. + +He was conscious that all three represented strength, each in a +different way, and he felt the gaze of three pairs of eyes resting upon +him in a manner that contained either secret or open hostility. But he +faced them boldly, a gallant and defiant young figure himself, instinct +with courage and an intellectual quality that is superior to courage +itself. The Frenchman who confronted him recognized at once the thinker. + +"I bid you good day," said Robert politely. "I did not expect to meet +travelers in these woods." + +The Frenchman smiled. + +"We are all travelers," he said, "but it is you who are our guest, since +these rivers and mountains and lakes and forests acknowledge the +suzerainty of my royal master, King Louis of France." + +His tone was light and bantering and Robert, seeing the advantage of it, +chose to speak in the same vein. + +"The wilderness itself is king," he said, "and it acknowledges no +master, save perhaps the Hodenosaunee. But I had thought that the law of +England ran here, at least where white men are concerned." + +He saw the eyes of the great savage flash when he mentioned the +Hodenosaunee, and he inferred at once that he was a bitter enemy of the +Iroquois. Some of the tribes had a hereditary hatred toward one another +more ferocious than that which they felt against the whites. + +The Frenchman smiled again, and swept his hand in a graceful curve +toward the green expanse. + +"It is true," he said, "that the forest is yet lord over these lands, +but in the future I think the lilies of France will wave here. You +perhaps have an equal faith that the shadow of the British flag will be +over the wilderness, but it would be most unfitting for you and me to +quarrel about it now. I infer from the canoe and the three paddles that +you did not come here alone." + +"Two friends are with me. They have gone into the forest on a brief +expedition. They should return soon. We have food in abundance, a deer +that we killed a few hours ago. Will you share it?" + +"Gladly. Courtesy, I see, is not lost in the woods. Permit me to +introduce ourselves. The chief is Tandakora of the Ojibways, from the +region about the great western lake that you call Superior. He is a +mighty warrior, and his fame is great, justly earned in many a battle. +My friend in deerskin is Armand Dubois, born a Canadian of good French +stock, and a most valiant and trustworthy man. As for me, I am Raymond +Louis de St. Luc, Chevalier of France and soldier of fortune in the New +World. And now you know the list of us. It's not so long as Homer's +catalogue of the ships, nor so interesting, but it's complete." + +His manner had remained light, almost jesting, and Robert judged that it +was habitual with him like a cloak in winter, and, like the cloak, it +would be laid away when it was not needed. The man's blue eyes, even +when he used the easy manner of the high-bred Frenchman, were questing +and resolute. But the youth still found it easier than he had thought to +meet him in like fashion. Now he replied to frankness with frankness. + +"Ours isn't and shouldn't be a hostile meeting in the forest, Chevalier +de St. Luc," he said. "To you and your good friends I offer my +greetings. As for myself, I am Robert Lennox, with two homes, one in +Albany, and the other in the wilderness, wherever I choose to make it." + +He paused a moment, because he felt the gaze of St. Luc upon him, very +intent and penetrating, but in an instant he resumed: + +"I came here with two friends whom you shall see if you stay with me +long enough. One is David Willet, a hunter and scout, well known from +the Hudson to the Great Lakes, a man to whom I owe much, one who has +stood to me almost in the place of a father. The other I can truly call +a brother. He is Tayoga, a young warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of the League of the Hodenosaunee. My catalogue, sir, +is just the same length as yours, and it also is complete." + +The Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc laughed, and the laugh was +genuine. + +"A youth of spirit, I see," he said. "Well, I am glad. It's a pleasure +to meet with wit and perception in the wilderness. One prefers to talk +with gentlemen. 'Tis said that the English are heavy, but I do not +always find them so. Perhaps it's merely a slur that one nation wishes +to cast upon another." + +"It's scarcely correct to call me English," said Robert, "since I am a +native of this country, and the term American applies more properly." + +The eyes of St. Luc glistened. + +"I note the spirit," he said. "The British colonies left to themselves +grow strong and proud, while ours, drawing their strength from the King +and the government, would resent being called anything but Frenchmen. +Now, I'll wager you a louis against any odds that you'll claim the +American to be as good as the Englishman anywhere and at any time." + +"Certainly!" said Robert, with emphasis. + +St. Luc laughed again and with real pleasure, his blue eyes dancing and +his white teeth flashing. + +"And some day that independence will cause trouble for the good British +mother," he said, "but we'll pass from the future to the present. Sit +down, Tandakora, and you too, Dubois. Monsieur Lennox is, for the +present, our host, and that too in the woods we claim to be our own. But +we are none the less grateful for his hospitality." + +Robert unwrapped the venison and cut off large slices as he surmised +that all three were hungry. St. Luc ate delicately but the other two did +not conceal their pleasure in food. Robert now and then glanced a little +anxiously at the woods, hoping his comrades would return. He did not +know exactly how to deal with the strangers and he would find comfort in +numbers. He was conscious, too, that St. Luc was watching him all the +time intently, reading his expression and looking into his thoughts. + +"How are the good Dutch burghers at Albany?" asked the chevalier. "I +don't seek to penetrate any of your secrets. I merely make +conversation." + +"I reveal nothing," replied Robert, "when I say they still barter with +success and enjoy the pleasant ways of commerce. I am not one to +underrate the merchant. More than the soldier they build up a nation." + +"It's a large spirit that can put the trade of another before one's own, +because I am a soldier, and you, I judge, will become one if you are not +such now. Peace, Tandakora, it is doubtless the friends of Monsieur +Lennox who come!" + +The gigantic Indian had risen suddenly and had thrust forward the good +French musket that he carried. Robert had never beheld a more sinister +figure. The lips were drawn back a little from his long white teeth and +his eyes were those of a hunter who sought to kill for the sake of +killing. But at the chiding words of St. Luc the tense muscles relaxed +and he lowered the weapon. Robert was compelled to notice anew the great +influence the French had acquired over the Indians, and he recognized it +with dread, knowing what it might portend. + +The footsteps which the savage had heard first were now audible to him, +and he stood up, knowing that Tayoga and Willet were returning, and he +was glad of it. + +"My friends are here," he said. + +The Chevalier de St. Luc, with his customary politeness, rose to his +feet and Dubois rose with him. The Ojibway remained sitting, a huge +piece of deer meat in his hand. Tayoga and Willet appeared through the +bushes, and whatever surprise they may have felt they concealed it well. +The faces of both were a blank. + +"Guests have come since your departure," said Robert, with the formal +politeness of the time. "These gentlemen are the Chevalier Raymond Louis +de St. Luc, from Quebec, Monsieur Armand Dubois, from the same place, I +presume, and Tandakora, a mighty Ojibway chief, who, it seems, has +wandered far from his own country, on what errand I know not. Chevalier +my friends of whom I spoke, Mr. David Willet, the great hunter, and +Tayoga of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the League of +the Hodenosaunee, my brother of the forest and a great chief." + +He spoke purposely with sonority, and also with a tinge of satire, +particularly when he alluded to the presence of Tandakora at such a +great distance from his tribe. But St. Luc, of course, though noticing +it, ignored it in manner. He extended his hand promptly to the great +hunter who grasped it in his mighty palm and shook it. + +"I have heard of you, Mr. Willet," he said. "Our brave Canadians are +expert in the forest and the chase, and the good Dubois here is one of +the best, but I know that none of them can excel you." + +Robert, watching him, could not say that he spoke without sincerity, +and Willet took the words as they were uttered. + +"I've had a long time for learning," he said modestly, "and I suppose +experience teaches the dullest of us." + +Robert saw that the Ojibway had now risen and that he and the Onondaga +were regarding each other with a gaze so intent and fierce, so compact +of hatred that he was startled and his great pulses began to beat hard. +But it was only for an instant or two that the two warriors looked thus +into hostile eyes. Then both sat down and their faces became blank and +expressionless. + +The gaze of St. Luc roved to the Onondaga and rested longest upon him. +Robert saw the blue eyes sparkle, and he knew that the mind of the +chevalier was arrested by some important thought. He could almost +surmise what it was, but for the present he preferred to keep silent and +watch, because his curiosity was great and natural, and he wondered what +St. Luc would say next. + +The Onondaga and the hunter sat down on a fallen tree trunk and +inspected the others with a quiet but observant gaze. Each in his own +way had the best of manners. Tayoga, as became a forest chief, was +dignified, saying little, while Willet cut more slices from the deer +meat and offered them to the guests. But it was the Onondaga and not St. +Luc who now spoke first. + +"The son of Onontio wanders far," he said. "It is a march of many days +from here to Quebec." + +"It is, Tayoga," replied St. Luc gravely, "but the dominions of the +King of France, whom Onontio serves, also extend far." + +It was a significant speech, and Robert glanced at Tayoga, but the eyes +of the young chief were veiled. If he resented the French claim to the +lands over which the Hodenosaunee hunted it was in silence. St. Luc +paused, as if for an answer, but none coming he continued: + +"Shadows gather over the great nations beyond the seas. The French king +and the English king begin to look upon each other with hostile eyes." + +Tayoga was silent. + +"But Onontio, who stands in the French king's place at Quebec, is the +friend of the Hodenosaunee. The French and the great Six Nations are +friends." + +"There was Frontenac," said Tayoga quietly. + +"It was long ago." + +"He came among us when the Six Nations were the Five, burned our houses +and slew our warriors! Our old men have told how they heard it from +their fathers. We did not have guns then, and our bows and arrows were +not a match for the muskets of the French. But we have muskets and +rifles now, plenty of them, the best that are made." + +Tayoga's eyes were still veiled, and his face was without expression, +but his words were full of meaning. Robert glanced at St. Luc, who could +not fail to understand. The chevalier was still smooth and smiling. + +"Frontenac was a great man," he said, "but he has been gathered long +since to his fathers. Great men themselves make mistakes. There was bad +blood between Onontio and the Hodenosaunee, but if the blood is bad must +it remain bad forever? The evil was gone before you and I were born, +Tayoga, and now the blood flows pure and clean in the veins of both the +French and the Hodenosaunee." + +"The Hodenosaunee and Corlear have no quarrel." + +"Nor have the Hodenosaunee and Onontio. Behold how the English spread +over the land, cut down the forests and drive away all the game! But the +children of Onontio hunt with the Indians, marry with their women, leave +the forests untouched, and the great hunting grounds swarm with game as +before. While Onontio abides at Quebec the lands of the Hodenosaunee are +safe." + +"There was Frontenac," repeated Tayoga. + +St. Luc frowned at the insistence of the Onondaga upon an old wound, but +the cloud passed swiftly. In an instant the blue eyes were smiling once +more. + +"The memory of Frontenac shall not come between us," he said. "The heart +of Onontio beats for the Hodenosaunee, and he has sent me to say so to +the valiant League. I bring you a belt, a great belt of peace." + +Dubois handed him a large knapsack and he took from it a beautiful belt +of pure white wampum, uncommon in size, a full five feet in length, five +inches wide, and covered with many thousands of beads, woven in symbolic +figures. He held it up and the eyes of the Onondaga glistened. + +"It is a great belt, a belt of peace," continued St. Luc. "There is +none nobler, and Onontio would send no other kind. I give it to you, +Tayoga." + +The young warrior drew back and his hands remained at his sides. + +"I am Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee," he said, "but I am not yet a chief. +My years are too few. It is a great matter of which you speak, St. Luc, +and it must be laid before the fifty sachems of the allied tribes in the +Long House. The belt may be offered to them. I cannot take it." + +The flitting cloud passed again over the face of St. Luc, but he did not +allow any change to show in his manner. He returned the splendid belt to +Dubois, who folded it carefully and put it back in the great knapsack. + +"Doubtless you are right, Tayoga," he said. "I shall go to the Long +House with the belt, but meantime we thank you for the courtesy of +yourself and your friends. You have given us food when we were hungry, +and a Frenchman does not forget." + +"The Onondagas keep the council fire in their valley, and the sachems +will gather there," said Tayoga. + +"Where they will receive the belt of peace that I shall offer them," +said St. Luc. + +The Onondaga was silent. St. Luc, who had centered his attention upon +Tayoga, now turned it to Robert. + +"Mr. Lennox," he said, "we dwell in a world of alarms, and I am French +and you are English, or rather American, but I wish that you and I could +remain friends." + +The frankness and obvious sincerity of his tone surprised Robert. He +knew now that he liked the man. He felt that there was steel in his +composition, and that upon occasion, and in the service to which he +belonged, he could be hard and merciless, but the spirit seemed bright +and gallant. + +"I know nothing that will keep us from being friends," replied the lad, +although he knew well what the Frenchman meant. + +"Nor do I," said St. Luc. "It was merely a casual reference to the +changes that affect us all. I shall come to Albany some day, Mr. Lennox. +It is an interesting town, though perhaps somewhat staid and sober." + +"If you come," said Robert sincerely, "I hope I shall be there, and it +would please me to have you as a guest." + +St. Luc gave him a sharp, examining look. + +"I believe you mean it," he said. "It's possible that you and I are +going to see much of each other. One can never tell what meetings time +will bring about. And now having accepted your hospitality and thanking +you for it, we must go." + +He rose. Dubois, who had not spoken at all, threw over his shoulder the +heavy knapsack, and the Ojibway also stood up, gigantic and sinister. + +"We go to the Vale of Onondaga," said St. Luc, turning his attention +back to Tayoga, "and as you advised I shall lay the peace belt before +the fifty sachems of the Hodenosaunee, assembled in council in the Long +House." + +"Go to the southwest," said Tayoga, "and you will find the great trail +that leads from the Hudson to the mighty lakes of the west. The warriors +of the Hodenosaunee have trod it for generations, and it is open to the +son of Onontio." + +The young Indian's face was a mask, but his words and their tone alike +were polite and dignified. St. Luc bowed, and then bowed to the others +in turn. + +"At Albany some day," he said to young Lennox, and his smile was very +winning. + +"At Albany some day," repeated Robert, and he hoped the prophecy would +come true. + +Then St. Luc turned away, followed by the Canadian, with the Indian in +the rear. None of the three looked back and the last Robert saw of them +was a fugitive gleam of the chevalier's white uniform through the green +leaves of the forest. Then the mighty wilderness swallowed them up, as a +pebble is lost in a lake. Robert looked awhile in the direction in which +they had gone, still seeing them in fancy. + +"How much does their presence here signify?" he asked thoughtfully. + +"They would have the Hodenosaunee to forget Frontenac," replied Tayoga. + +"And will the Six Nations forget him?" + +"The fifty sachems in council alone can tell." + +Robert saw that the young Onondaga would not commit himself, even to +him, and he did not ask anything more, but the hunter spoke plainly. + +"We must wake up those fat Indian commissioners at Albany," he said. +"Those Dutchmen think more of cheating the tribes than they do of the +good of either white man or red man, but I can tell you, Robert, and you +too, Tayoga, that I'm worried about that Frenchman coming down here +among the Six Nations. He's as sharp as a razor, and as quick as +lightning. I could see that, and there's mischief brewing. He's not +going to the Onondaga Valley for nothing." + +"Tandakora, the Ojibway, goes with a heavy foot," said the Onondaga. + +"What do you mean, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"He comes of a savage tribe, which is hostile to the Hodenosaunee and +all white men. He has seen three scalps which still grow on the heads of +their owners." + +"Which means that he might not keep on following St. Luc. Well, we'll be +on our guard and now I don't see any reason why we should stay here +longer." + +"Nor I," said Robert, and, Tayoga agreeing with them, they returned the +canoe to the stream, paddling back into the lake, and continuing their +course until they came to its end. There they carried the canoe across a +portage and launched it on a second lake as beautiful as the first. None +of the three spoke much now, their minds being filled with thoughts of +St. Luc and his companions. + +They were yet on the water when the day began to wane. The green forest +on the high western shore was touched with flame from the setting sun. +Then the surface of the lake blazed with red light, and in the east the +gray of twilight came. + +"It will be night in half an hour," said Robert, "and I think we'd +better make a landing, and camp." + +"Here's a cove on the right," said Willet. "We'll take the canoe up +among the trees, and wrap ourselves in our blankets. It's a good thing +we have them, as the darkness is going to bring a chill with it." + +They found good shelter among the trees and bushes, a small hollow +protected by great trees and undergrowth, into which they carried the +canoe. + +"Since it's not raining this is as good as a house for us," said Willet. + +"I think it's better," said Robert. "The odor of spruce and hemlock is +so wonderful I wouldn't like to have it shut away from me by walls." + +The Onondaga drew in deep inhalations of the pure, healing air, and as +his black eyes gleamed he walked to the edge of the little hollow and +looked out in the dusk over the vast tangled wilderness of mountain and +lake, forest and river. The twilight was still infused with the red from +the setting sun, and in the glow the whole world was luminous and +glorified. Now the eyes of Tayoga, which had flashed but lately, gave +back the glow in a steady flame. + +"Hawenneyu, the Divine Being whom all the red people worship, made many +great lands," he said, "but he spent his work and love upon that which +lies between the Hudson and the vast lakes of the west. Then he rested +and looking upon what he had done he was satisfied because he knew it to +be the best in all the world, created by him." + +"How do you know it to be the best, Tayoga?" asked Willet. "You haven't +seen all the countries. You haven't been across the sea." + +"Because none other can be so good," replied the Iroquois with simple +faith. "When Hawenneyu, in your language the Great Spirit, found the +land that he had made so good he did not know then to whom to give it, +but in the greatness of his wisdom he left it to those who were most +fitted to come and take it. And in time came the tribes which Tododaho, +helped by Hayowentha, often called by the English Hiawatha, formed into +the great League of the Hodenosaunee, and because they were brave and +far-seeing and abided by the laws of Tododaho and Hayowentha, they took +the land which they have kept ever since, and which they will keep +forever." + +"I like your good, strong beliefs, Tayoga," said the hunter heartily. +"The country does belong to the Iroquois, and if it was left to me to +decide about it they'd keep it till the crack of doom. Now you boys roll +in your blankets. I'll take the first watch, and when it's over I'll +call one of you." + +But Tayoga waited a little until the last glow of the sun died in the +west, looking intently where the great orb had shone. Into his religion +a reverence for the sun, Giver of Light and Warmth, entered, and not +until the last faint radiance from it was gone did he turn away. + +Then he took from the canoe and unfolded _eyose_, his blanket, which was +made of fine blue broadcloth, thick and warm but light, six feet long +and four feet wide. It was embroidered around the edges with another +cloth in darker blue, and the body of it bore many warlike or hunting +designs worked skillfully in thread. If the weather were cold Tayoga +would drape the blanket about his body much like a Roman toga, and if he +lay in the forest at night he would sleep in it. Now he raked dead +leaves together, spread the blanket on them, lay on one half of it and +used the other half as a cover. + +Robert imitated him, but his blanket was not so fine as Tayoga's, +although he found it soft and warm enough. Willet sat on a log higher +up, his rifle across his knees and gazed humorously at them. + +"You two lads look pretty snug down there," he said, "and after all +you're only lads. Tayoga may have a head plumb full of the wisdom of the +wilderness, and Robert may have a head stuffed with different kinds of +knowledge, but you're young, mighty young, anyhow. An' now, as I'm +watching over you, I'll give a prize to the one that goes to sleep +first." + +In three minutes deep regular breathing showed that both had gone to the +land of slumber, and Willet could not decide which had led the way. The +darkness increased so much that their figures looked dim in the hollow, +but he glanced at them occasionally. The big man had many friends, but +young Lennox and Tayoga were almost like sons to him, and he was glad to +be with them now. He felt that danger lurked in the northern wilderness, +and three were better than two. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TOMAHAWK + + +Willet awakened Robert about two o'clock in the morning--it was +characteristic of him to take more than his share of the work--and the +youth stood up, with his rifle in the hollow of his arm, ready at once. + +"Tayoga did more yesterday than either of us," said the hunter, "and so +we'll let him sleep." + +But the Onondago had awakened, though he did not move. Forest discipline +was perfect among them, and, knowing that it was Robert's time to watch, +he wasted no time in vain talk about it. His eyes closed again and he +returned to sleep as the white lad walked up the bank, while the hunter +was soon in the dreams that Tarenyawagon, who makes them, sent to him. + +Robert on the bank, although he expected no danger, was alert. He had +plenty of wilderness skill and his senses, naturally acute, had been +trained so highly that he could discern a hostile approach in the +darkness. The same lore of the forest told him to keep himself +concealed, and he sat on a fallen tree trunk between two bushes that hid +him completely, although his own good eyes, looking through the leaves, +could see a long distance, despite the night. + +It was inevitable as he sat there in the silence and darkness with his +sleeping comrades below that his thoughts should turn to St. Luc. He had +recognized in the first moment of their meeting that the young Frenchman +was a personality. He was a personality in the sense that Tayoga was, +one who radiated a spirit or light that others were compelled to notice. +He knew that there was no such thing as looking into the future, but he +felt with conviction that this man was going to impinge sharply upon his +life, whether as a friend or an enemy not even Tarenyawagon, who sent +the dreams, would tell, but he could not be insensible to the personal +charm of the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc. + +What reception would the fifty sachems give to the belt that the +chevalier would bring? Would they be proof against his lightness, his +ease, his fluency and his ability to paint a glowing picture of French +might and French gratitude? Robert knew far better than most of his own +race the immensity of the stake. He who roamed the forest with Tayoga +and the Great Bear understood to the full the power of the Hodenosaunee. +It was true, too, that the Indian commissioners at Albany had not done +their duty and had given the Indians just cause of complaint, at the +very moment when the great League should be propitiated. Yet the +friendship between the Iroquois and the English had been ancient and +strong, and he would not have feared so much had it been any other than +St. Luc who was going to meet the sachems in council. + +Robert shook his head as if the physical motion would dismiss his +apprehensions, and walked farther up the hill to a point where he could +see the lake. A light wind was blowing, and little waves of crumbling +silver pursued one another across its surface. On the far side the bank, +crowned with dense forest showing black in the dusk, rose to a great +height, but the lad's eyes came back to the water, his heart missing a +beat as he thought he saw a shadow on its surface, but so near the +opposite shore that it almost merged with a fringe of bushes there. + +Then he rebuked himself for easy alarm. It was merely the reflection +from a bough above in the water below. Yet it played tricks with him. +The shadow reappeared again and again, always close to the far bank, but +there were many boughs also to reproduce themselves in the mirror of the +lake. He convinced himself that his eyes and his mind were having sport +with him, and turning away, he made a little circle in the woods about +their camp. All was well. He heard a swish overhead, but he knew that it +was a night bird, a rustling came, and an ungainly form lumbered through +a thicket, but it was a small black bear, and coming back to the hollow, +he looked down at his comrades. + +Tayoga and Willet slept well. Neither had stirred, and wrapped in their +blankets lying on the soft leaves, they were true pictures of forest +comfort. They were fine and loyal comrades, as good as anybody ever had, +and he was glad they were so near, because he began to have a feeling +now that something unusual was going to occur. The shadows on the lake +troubled him again, and he went back for another look. He did not see +them now, and that, too, troubled him. It proved that they had been made +by some moving object, and not by the boughs and bushes still there. + +Robert examined the lake, his eyes following the line where the far bank +met the water, but he saw no trace of anything moving, and his attention +came back to the woods in which he stood. Presently, he crouched in +dense bush, and concentrated all his powers of hearing, knowing that he +must rely upon ear rather than eye. He could not say that he had really +seen or heard, but he had felt that something was moving in the forest, +something that threatened him. + +His first impulse was to go back to the little hollow and awaken his +comrades, but his second told him to stay where he was until the danger +came or should pass, and he crouched lower in the undergrowth with his +hand on the hammer and trigger of his rifle. He did not stir or make any +noise for a long time. The forest, too, was silent. The wind that had +ruffled the surface of the lake ceased, and the leaves over his head +were still. + +But he understood too well the ways of the wilderness to move yet. He +did not believe that his faculties, attuned to the slightest alarm, had +deceived him, and he had learned the patience of the Indian from the +Iroquois themselves. His eyes continually pierced the thickets for a +hostile object moving there, and his ears were ready to notice the sound +of a leaf should it fall. + +He heard, or thought he heard after a while, a slight sliding motion, +like that which a great serpent would make as it drew its glistening +coils through leaves or grass. But it was impossible for him to tell how +near it was to him or from what point it came, and his blood became +chill in his veins. He was not afraid of a danger seen, but when it came +intangible and invisible the boldest might shudder. + +The noise, real or imaginary, ceased, and as he waited he became +convinced that it was only his strained fancy. A man might mistake the +blood pounding in his ears or the beat of his own pulse for a sound +without, and after another five minutes, taking the rifle from the +hollow of his arm, he stood upright. Certainly nothing was moving in the +forest. The leaves hung lifeless. His fancies had been foolish. + +He stepped boldly from the undergrowth in which he had knelt, and a +glimpse of a flitting shadow made him kneel again. It was instinct that +caused him to drop down so quickly, but he knew that it had saved his +life. Something glittering whistled where his head had been, and then +struck with a sound like a sigh against the trunk of a tree. + +Robert sank from his knees, until he lay almost fiat, and brought his +rifle forward for instant use. But, for a minute or two, he would not +have been steady enough to aim at anything. His tongue was dry in his +mouth, and his hair lifted a little at his marvelous escape. + +He looked for the shadow, his eyes searching every thicket; but he did +not find it, and now he believed that the one who had sped the blow had +gone, biding his time for a second chance. Another wait to make sure, +and hurrying to the hollow he awoke Tayoga and the hunter, who returned +at once with him to the place where the ambush had miscarried. + +"Ah!" said the Onondaga, as they looked about. _"Osquesont_! Behold!" + +The blade of an Indian tomahawk, _osquesont_, was buried deep in the +trunk of a tree, and Robert knew that the same deadly weapon had +whistled where his head had been but a second before. He shuddered. Had +it not been for his glimpse of the flitting shadow his head would have +been cloven to the chin. Tayoga, with a mighty wrench, pulled out the +tomahawk and examined it. It was somewhat heavier than the usual weapon +of the type and he pronounced it of French make. + +"Did it come from Quebec, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"Perhaps," replied the young warrior, "but I saw it yesterday." + +"You did! Where?" + +"In the belt of Tandakora, the Ojibway." + +"I thought so," said Robert. + +"And he threw it with all the strength of a mighty arm," said the +Onondaga. "There is none near us in the forest except Tandakora who +could bury it so deep in the tree. It was all I could do to pull it out +again." + +"And seeing his throw miss he slipped away as fast as he could!" said +Willet. + +"Yes, Great Bear, the Ojibway is cunning. After hurling the tomahawk he +would not stay to risk a shot from Lennox. He was willing even to +abandon a weapon which he must have prized. Ah, here is his trail! It +leads through the forest toward the lake!" + +They were able to follow it a little distance but it was lost on the +hard ground, although it led toward the water. Robert told of the shadow +he had seen near the farther bank, and both Willet and Tayoga were quite +sure it had been a small canoe, and that its occupant was Tandakora. + +"It's not possible that St. Luc sent the Ojibway back to murder us!" +exclaimed Robert, his mind rebelling at the thought. + +"I don't think it likely," said Willet, but the Onondaga was much more +emphatic. + +"The Ojibway came of his own wish," he said. "While the sons of Onontio +slept he slipped away, and it was the lure of scalps that drew him. He +comes of a savage tribe far in the west. An Iroquois would have scorned +such treachery." + +Robert felt an immense relief. He had become almost as jealous of the +Frenchman's honor as of his own, and knowing that Tayoga understood his +race, he accepted his words as final. It was hideous to have the thought +in his mind, even for a moment, that a man who had appeared so gallant +and friendly as St. Luc had sent a savage back to murder them. + +"The French do not control the western tribes," continued Tayoga, +"though if war comes they will be on the side of Onontio, but as equals +they will come hither and go thither as they please." + +"Which means, I take it," said the hunter, "that if St. Luc discovers +what Tandakora has been trying to do here tonight he'll be afraid to +find much fault with it, because the Ojibway and all the other Ojibways +would go straight home?" + +"It is so," said the Onondaga. + +"Well, we're thankful that his foul blow went wrong. You've had a mighty +narrow escape, Robert, my lad, but we've gained one good tomahawk which, +you boys willing, I mean to take." + +Tayoga handed it to him, and with an air of satisfaction he put the +weapon in his belt. + +"I may have good use for it some day," he said. "The chance may come for +me to throw it back to the savage who left it here. And now, as our +sleep is broken up for the night, I think we'd better scout the woods a +bit, and then come back here for breakfast." + +They found nothing hostile in the forest, and when they returned to the +hollow the thin gray edge of dawn showed on the far side of the lake. +Having no fear of further attack, they lighted a small fire and warmed +their food. As they ate day came in all its splendor and Robert saw the +birds flashing back and forth in the thick leaves over his head. + +"Where did the Ojibway get his canoe?" he asked. + +"The Frenchmen like as not used it when they came down from Canada," +replied the hunter, "and left it hid to be used again when they went +back. It won't be worth our while to look for it. Besides, we've got to +be moving soon." + +After breakfast they carried their own canoe to the lake and paddled +northward to its end. Then they took their craft a long portage across a +range of hills and launched it anew on a swift stream flowing northward, +on the current of which they traveled until nightfall, seeing throughout +that time no sign of a human being. It was the primeval wilderness, and +since it lay between the British colonies on the south and the French on +the north it had been abandoned almost wholly in the last year or two, +letting the game, abundant at any time, increase greatly. They saw deer +in the thickets, they heard the splash of a beaver, and a black bear, +sitting on a tiny island in the river, watched them as they passed. + +On the second day after Robert's escape from the tomahawk they left the +river, made a long portage and entered another river, also flowing +northward, having in mind a double purpose, to throw off the trail +anyone who might be following them and to obtain a more direct course +toward their journey's end. Knowing the dangers of the wilderness, they +also increased their caution, traveling sometimes at night and lying in +camp by day. + +But they lived well. All three knew the importance of preserving their +strength, and to do so an abundance of food was the first requisite. +Tayoga shot another deer with the bow and arrow, and with the use of +fishing tackle which they had brought in the canoe they made the river +pay ample tribute. They lighted the cooking fires, however, in the most +sheltered places they could find, and invariably extinguished them as +soon as possible. + +"You can't be too careful in the woods," said Willet, "especially in +times like these. While the English and French are not yet fighting +there's always danger from the savages." + +"The warriors from the wild tribes in Canada and the west will take a +scalp wherever there's a chance," said the young Onondaga. + +Robert often noticed the manner in which Tayoga spoke of the tribes +outside the great League. To him those that did not belong to the +Hodenosaunee, while they might be of the same red race, were +nevertheless inferior. He looked upon them as an ancient Greek looked +upon those who were not Greeks. + +"The French are a brave people," said the hunter, "but the most warlike +among them if they knew our errand would be willing for some of their +painted allies to drop us in the wilderness, and no questions would be +asked. You can do things on the border that you can't in the towns. We +might be tomahawked in here and nobody would ever know what became of +us." + +"I think," said Tayoga, "that our danger increases. Tandakora after +leaving the son of Onontio, St. Luc, might not go back to him. He might +fear the anger of the Frenchman, and, too, he would still crave a scalp. +A warrior has followed an enemy for weeks to obtain such a trophy." + +"You believe then," said Robert, "that the Ojibway is still on our +trail?" + +Tayoga nodded. After a moment's silence he added: + +"We come, too, to a region in which the St. Regis, the Caughnawaga, the +Ottawa and the Micmac, all allies of Onontio, hunt. The Ojibway may +meet a band and tell the warriors we are in the woods." + +His look was full of significance and Robert understood thoroughly. + +"I shall be glad," he said, "when we reach the St. Lawrence. We'll then +be in real Canada, and, while the French are undoubtedly our enemies, +we'll not be exposed to treacherous attack." + +They were in the canoe as they talked and Tayoga was paddling, the +swiftness of the current now making the efforts of only one man +necessary. A few minutes later he turned the canoe to the shore and the +three got out upon the bank. Robert did not know why, but he was quite +sure the reason was good. + +"Falls below," said Tayoga, as they drew the canoe upon the land. "All +the river drops over a cliff. Much white water." + +They carried the canoe without difficulty through the woods, and when +they came to the falls they stopped a little while to look at the +descent, and listen to the roar of the tumbling water. + +"I was here once before, three years ago," said Willet. + +"Others have been here much later," said the Onondaga. + +"What do you mean, Tayoga?" + +"My white brother is not looking. Let him turn his eyes to the left. He +will see two wild flowers broken off at the stem, a feather which has +not fallen from the plumage of a bird, because the quill is painted, and +two traces of footsteps in the earth." + +"As surely as the sun shines, you're right, Tayoga! Warriors have +passed here, though we can't tell how many! But the traces are not +more'n a half day old." + +He picked up the feather and examined it carefully. + +"That fell from a warrior's scalplock," he said, "but we don't know to +what tribe the warrior belonged." + +"But it's likely to be a hostile trail," said Robert. + +Tayoga nodded, and then the three considered. It was only a fragment of +a trail they had seen, but it told them danger was near. Where they were +traveling strangers were enemies until they were proved to be friends, +and the proof had to be of the first class, also. They agreed finally to +turn aside into the woods with the canoe, and stop until night. Then +under cover of the friendly darkness they would resume their journey on +the river. + +They chose the heavily wooded crest of a low hill for the place in which +to wait, because they could see some distance from it and remain unseen. +They put the canoe down there and Robert and Tayoga sat beside it, while +Willet went into the woods to see if any further signs of a passing band +could be discovered, returning in an hour with the information that he +had discovered more footprints. + +"All led to the north," he said, "and they're well ahead of us. There's +no reason why we can't follow. We're three, used to the wilderness, +armed well and able to take care of ourselves. And I take it the night +will be dark, which ought to help us." + +The Onondaga looked up at the skies, which were of a salmon color, and +shook his head a little. + +"What's the matter?" asked Robert. + +"The night will bring much darkness," he replied, "but it will bring +something else with it--wind, rain." + +"You may be right, Tayoga, but we must be moving, just the same," said +Willet. + +At dusk they were again afloat on the river and, all three using the +paddles, they sent the canoe forward with great speed. But it soon +became apparent that Tayoga's prediction would be justified. Clouds +trailed up from the southwest and obscured all the heavens. A wind arose +and it was heavy and damp upon their faces. The water seemed black as +ink. Low thunder far away began to mutter. The wilderness became uncanny +and lonely. All save forest rovers would have been appalled, and of +these three one at least felt that the night was black and sinister. +Robert looked intently at the forest on either shore, rising now like +solid black walls, but his eyes, unable to penetrate them, found nothing +there. Then the lightning flamed in the west, and for a moment the +surface of the river was in a blaze. + +"What do you think of it, Tayoga?" asked Willet, anxiety showing in his +tone, "Ought we to make a landing now?" + +"Not yet," replied the Onondaga. "The storm merely growls and threatens +at present. It will not strike for perhaps an hour." + +"But when it does strike it's going to hit a mighty blow unless all +signs fail. I've seen 'em gather before, and this is going to be a king +of storms! Hear that thunder now! It doesn't growl any more, but goes +off like the cracking of big cannon." + +"But it's still far in the west," persisted Tayoga, as the three bent +over their paddles. + +The forest, however, was groaning with the wind, and little waves rose +on the river. Now the lightning flared again and again, so fierce and +bright that Robert, despite his control of himself, instinctively +recoiled from it as from the stroke of a saber. + +"Do you recall any shelter farther on, Tayoga?" asked the hunter. + +"The overhanging bank and the big hollow in the stone," replied the +Onondaga. "On the left! Don't you remember?" + +"Now I do, Tayoga, but I didn't know it was near. Do you think we can +make it before that sky over our heads splits wide open?" + +"It will be a race," replied the young Iroquois, "but we three are +strong, and we are skilled in the use of the paddle." + +"Then we'll bend to it," said Willet. And they did. The canoe shot +forward at amazing speed over the surface of the river, inky save when +the lightning flashed upon it. Robert paddled as he had never paddled +before, his muscles straining and the perspiration standing out on his +face. He was thoroughly inured to forest life, but he knew that even the +scouts and Indians fled for shelter from the great wilderness +hurricanes. + +There was every evidence that the storm would be of uncommon violence. +The moan of the wind rose to a shriek and they heard the crash of +breaking boughs and falling trees in the forest. The river, whipped +continually by the gusts, was broken with waves upon which the canoe +rocked with such force that the three, expert though they were, were +compelled to use all their skill, every moment, to keep it from being +overturned. If it had not been for the rapid and vivid strokes of +lightning under which the waters turned blood red their vessel would +have crashed more than once upon the rocks, leaving them to swim for +life. + +"That incessant flare makes me shiver," said Robert. "It seems every +time that I'm going to be struck by it, but I'm glad it comes, because +without it we'd never see our way on the river." + +"Manitou sends the good and evil together," said Tayoga gravely. + +"Anyhow," said Willet, "I hope we'll get to our shelter before the rain +comes. Look out for that rock on the right, Robert!" + +Young Lennox, with a swift and powerful motion of the paddle, shot the +canoe back toward the center of the river, and then the three tried to +hold it there as they sped on. + +"Three or four hundred yards more," said Tayoga, "and we can draw into +the smooth water we wish." + +"And not a minute too soon," said Willet. "It seems to me I can hear the +rain coming now in a deluge, and the waves on the river make me think of +some I've seen on one of the big lakes. Listen to that, will you!" + +A huge tree, blown down, fell directly across the stream, not more than +twenty yards behind them. But the fierce and swollen waters tearing at +it in torrents would soon bear it away on the current. + +"Manitou was watching over us then," said Tayoga with the same gravity. + +"As sure as the Hudson runs into the sea, he was," said Willet in a tone +of reverence. "If that tree had hit us we and the canoe would all have +been smashed together and a week later maybe the French would have +fished our pieces out of the St. Lawrence." + +Robert, who was farthest forward in the canoe, noticed that the cliff +ahead, hollowed out at the base by the perpetual eating of the waters, +seemed to project over the stream, and he concluded that it was the +place in Tayoga's mind. + +"Our shelter, isn't it?" he asked, pointing a finger by the lightning's +flare. + +Tayoga nodded, and the three, putting their last ounce of strength into +the sweep of the paddles, sent the canoe racing over the swift current +toward the haven now needed so badly. As they approached, Robert saw +that the hollow went far back into the stone, having in truth almost the +aspects of a cave. Beneath the mighty projection he saw also that the +water was smooth, unlashed by the wind and outside the sweep of the +current, and he felt immense relief when the canoe shot into its still +depths and he was able to lay the paddle beside him. + +"Back a little farther," said Tayoga, and he saw then, still by the +flare of lightning, that the water ended against a low shelf at least +six feet broad, upon which they stepped, lifting the canoe after them. + +"It's all that you claimed for it, and more, Tayoga," said the hunter. +"I fancy a ship in a storm would be glad enough to find a refuge as good +for it as this is for us." + +Tayoga smiled, and Robert knew that he felt deep satisfaction because he +had brought them so well to port. Looking about after they had lifted up +the canoe, he saw that in truth nature had made a good harbor here for +those who traveled on the river, its waters so far never having been +parted by anything but a canoe. The hollow went back thirty or forty +feet with a sloping roof of stone, and from the ledge, whenever the +lightning flashed, they saw the river flowing before them in a rushing +torrent, but inside the hollow the waters were a still pool. + +"Now the rain comes," said Tayoga. + +Then they heard its sweep and roar and it arrived in such mighty volume +that the surface of the river was beaten almost flat. But in their snug +and well-roofed harbor not a drop touched them. Robert on the ledge with +his back to the wall had a pervading sense of comfort. The lightning and +the thunder were both dying now, but the rain came in a steady and +mighty sweep. As the lightning ceased entirely it was so dark that they +saw the water in front of them but dimly, and they had to be very +careful in their movements on the ledge, lest they roll off and slip +into its depths. + +"Robert," said Willet in a whimsical tone, "one of the first things I +tried to teach you when you were a little boy was always to be calm, +and under no circumstances to let your calm be broken up when there was +nothing to break it up. Now, we've every reason to be calm. We've got a +good home here, and the storm can't touch us." + +"I was already calm, Dave," replied Robert lightly. "I took your first +lesson to heart, learned it, and I've never forgotten it. I'm so calm +that I've unfolded my blanket and put it under me to soften the stone." + +"To think of your blanket is proof enough that you're not excited. I'll +do the same. Tayoga, in whose country is this new home of ours?" + +"It is the land of no man, because it lies between the tribes from the +north and the tribes from the south. Yet the Iroquois dare to come here +when they choose. It's the fourth time I have been on this ledge, but +before I was always with my brethren of the clan of the Bear of the +nation Onondaga." + +"Well, Tayoga," said Willet, in his humorous tone, "the company has +grown no worse." + +"No," said Tayoga, and his smile was invisible to them in the darkness. +"The time is coming when the sachems of the Onondagas will be glad they +adopted Lennox and the Great Bear into our nation." + +Willet's laugh came at once, not loud, but with an inflection of intense +enjoyment. + +"You Onondagas are a bit proud, Tayoga," he said. + +"Not without cause, Great Bear." + +"Oh, I admit it! I admit it! I suppose we're all proud of our race--it's +one of nature's happy ways of keeping us satisfied--and I'm free to +say, Tayoga, that I've no quarrel at having been born white, because I'm +so used to being white that I'd hardly know how to be anything else. But +if I wasn't white--a thing that I had nothing to do with--and your +Manitou who is my God was to say to me, 'Choose what else you'll be,' +I'd say, and I'd say it with all the respect and reverence I could bring +into the words, 'O Lord, All Wise and All Powerful, make me a strong +young warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +League of the Hodenosaunee, hunting for my clan and fighting to protect +its women and children, and keeping my word with everybody and trying to +be just to the red races and tribes that are not as good as mine, and +even to be the same to the poor white men around the towns that get +drunk, and steal, and rob one another,' and maybe your Manitou who is my +God would give to me my wish." + +"The Great Bear has a silver tongue, and the words drop from his lips +like honey," said Tayoga. But Robert knew that the young Onondaga was +intensely gratified and he knew, too, that Willet meant every word he +said. + +"You'd better make yourself comfortable on the blanket, as we're doing, +Tayoga," the youth said. + +But the Onondaga did not intend to rest just yet. The wildness of the +place and the spirit of the storm stirred him. He stood upon the shelf +and the others dimly saw his tall and erect young figure. Slowly he +began to chant in his own tongue, and his song ran thus in English: + +"The lightning cleaves the sky, + The Brave Soul fears not; + The thunder rolls and threatens, + Manitou alone speeds the bolt; + The waters are deep and swift, + They carry the just man unhurt." + +"O Spirit of Good, hear me, + Watch now over our path, + Lead us in the way of the right, + And, our great labors finished, + Bring us back, safe and well, + To the happy vale of Onondaga." + +"A good hymn, Tayoga, for such I take it to be," said Willet. "I haven't +heard my people sing any better. And now, since you've done more'n your +share of the work you'd better take Robert's advice and lie down on your +blanket." + +Tayoga obeyed, and the three in silence listened to the rushing of the +storm. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE INTELLIGENT CANOE + + +Lennox, Willet and Tayoga fell asleep, one by one, and the Onondaga was +the last to close his eyes. Then the three, wrapped in their blankets, +lay in complete darkness on the stone shelf, with the canoe beside them. +They were no more than the point of a pin in the vast wilderness that +stretched unknown thousands of miles from the Hudson to the Pacific, +apparently as lost to the world as the sleepers in a cave ages earlier, +when the whole earth was dark with forest and desert. + +Although the storm could not reach them it beat heavily for long hours +while they slept. The sweep of the rain maintained a continuous driving +sound. Boughs cracked and broke beneath it. The waters of the river, +swollen by the floods of tributary creeks and brooks, rose fast, bearing +upon their angry surface the wreckage of trees, but they did not reach +the stone shelf upon which the travelers lay. + +Tayoga awoke before the morning, while it was yet so dark that his +trained eyes could see but dimly the figures of his comrades. He sat up +and listened, knowing that he must depend for warning upon his hearing, +which had been trained to extreme acuteness by the needs of forest +life. All three of them were great wilderness trailers and scouts, but +Tayoga was the first of the three. Back of him lay untold generations +that had been compelled to depend upon the physical senses and the +intuition that comes from their uttermost development and co-ordination. +Now, Tayoga, the product of all those who had gone before, was also +their finest flower. + +He had listened at first, resting on his elbow, but after a minute or +two he sat up. He heard the rushing of the rain, the crack of +splintering boughs, the flowing of the rising river, and the gurgling of +its waters as they lapped against the stone shelf. They would not enter +it he knew, as he had observed that the highest marks of the floods lay +below them. + +The sounds made by the rain and the river were steady and unchanged. But +the intuition that came from the harmonious working of senses, developed +to a marvelous degree, sounded a warning note. A danger threatened. He +did not know what the danger was nor whence it would come, but the soul +of the Onondaga was alive and every nerve and muscle in his body was +attuned for any task that might lie before him. He looked at his +sleeping comrades. They did not stir, and their long, regular breathing +told him that no sinister threat was coming to them. + +But Tayoga never doubted. The silent and invisible warning, like a +modern wireless current, reached him again. Now, he knelt at the very +edge of the shelf, and drew his long hunting knife. He tried to pierce +the darkness with his eyes, and always he looked up the stream in the +direction in which they had come. He strained his ears too to the +utmost, concentrating the full powers of his hearing upon the river, but +the only sounds that reached him were the flowing of the current, the +bubbling of the water at the edges, and its lapping against a tree or +bush torn up by the storm and floating on the surface of the stream. + +The Onondaga stepped from the shelf, finding a place for his feet in +crevices below, the water rising almost to his knees, and leaned farther +forward to listen. One hand held firmly to a projection of stone above +and the other clasped the knife. + +Tayoga maintained the intense concentration of his faculties, as if he +had drawn them together in an actual physical way, until they bore upon +one point, and he poured so much strength and vitality into them that he +made the darkness thin away before his eyes and he heard noises of the +water that had not come to him before. + +A broken bough, a bush and a sapling washed past. Then came a tree, and +deflecting somewhat from the current it floated toward the shelf. +Leaning far over and extending the hand that held the knife, Tayoga +struck. When the blade came back it was red and the young Onondaga +uttered a tremendous war whoop that rang and echoed in the confines of +the stony hollow. + +Lennox and Willet sprang to their feet, all sleep driven away at once, +and instinctively grasped their rifles. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" exclaimed the startled Willet. + +"The attack of the savage warriors," replied the Onondaga. "One came +floating on a tree. He thought to slay us as we slept and take away our +scalps, but the river that brought him living has borne him away dead." + +"And so they know we're here," said the hunter, "and your watchfulness +has saved us. Well, Tayoga, it's one more deed for which we have to +thank you, but I think you'd better get back on the shelf. They can fire +from the other side, farther up, and although it would be at random, a +bullet or two might strike here." + +The Onondaga swung himself back and all three flattened themselves +against the rock. After Tayoga's triumphant shout there was no sound +save those of the river and the rain. But Robert expected it. He knew +the horde would be quiet for a while, hoping for a surprise the second +time after the first one had failed. + +"It was bold," he said, "for a single warrior to come floating down the +stream in search of us." + +"But it would have succeeded if Tayoga hadn't been awake," said the +hunter. "One warrior could have knifed us all at his leisure." + +"Where do you think they are now?" + +"They must be crouched in the shelter of rocks. If they had nothing over +them the storm would take the fighting spirit for the time out of +savages, even wild for scalps. I'm mighty glad we have the canoe. It +holds the food we need for a siege, and if the chance for escape comes +it will bear us away. I think, Tayoga, I can see a figure stirring +among the boulders on the other side farther up." + +"I see two," said the Onondaga, "and doubtless there are others whom we +cannot see. Keep close, my friends, I think they are going to fire." + +A dozen rifles were discharged from a point about a hundred yards away, +the exploding powder making red dots in the darkness, the bullets +rattling on the stone cliff or sending up little spurts of water from +the river. The volley was followed by a shrill, fierce war whoop, and +then nothing was heard but the flowing of the river and the rushing of +the rain. + +"You are not touched?" said Tayoga, and Robert and Willet quickly +answered in the negative. + +"They don't know just which way to aim their guns," said Willet, "and so +long as we keep quiet now they won't learn. That shout of yours, Tayoga, +was not enough to tell them." + +"But they must remember about where the hollow is, although they can't +pull trigger directly upon it, owing to the darkness and storm," said +Robert. + +"That about sums it up, my boy," said the hunter. "If they do a lot of +random firing the chances are about a hundred to one they won't hit us, +and the Indians don't have enough ammunition to waste that way." + +"I don't suppose we can launch the canoe and slip away in it?" + +"No, it would be swamped by the rain and the flood. It's likely, too, +that they're on watch for us farther down the stream." + +"Then this is our home and fortress for an indefinite time, and, that +being the case, I'm going to make myself as easy as I can." + +He drew the blanket under his body again and lay on his elbow, but he +held his rifle before him, ready for battle at an instant's notice. His +feeling of comfort returned and with it the sense of safety. The bullets +of the savages had gone so wild and the darkness was so deep that their +shelter appeared to him truly as a fortress which no numbers of +besiegers could storm. + +"Do you think they'll try floating down the stream on trees or logs +again, Tayoga?" he asked. + +"No, the danger is too great," replied the Onondaga. "They know now that +we're watching." + +An hour passed without any further sign from the foe. The rain decreased +somewhat in violence, but, as the wind rose, its rush and sweep made as +much sound as ever. Then the waiting was broken by scattering shots, +accompanied by detached war whoops, as if different bands were near. +From their shelter they watched the red dots that marked the discharges +from the rifles, but only one bullet came near them, and after chipping +a piece of stone over their heads it dropped harmlessly to the floor. + +"That was the one chance out of a hundred," said Willet, "and now we're +safe from the next ninety-nine bullets." + +"I trust the rule will work," said Robert. + +"I wish you'd hold my left hand in a firm grip," said Willet. + +"I will, but why?" returned the youth. + +"If I get a chance I'm going to drag up some of that dead and floating +wood and lay it along the edge of the shelf. In the dark the savages +can't pick us off, but we'll need a barrier in the morning." + +"You're right, Dave, of course. I'm sorry I didn't think of it myself." + +"One of us thought of it, and that's enough. Hold my hand hard, Robert. +Don't let your grip slip." + +By patient waiting and help from the others Willet was able to draw up +two logs of fair size, and some smaller pieces which they placed +carefully on the edge of the stone shelf. Lying flat behind them, they +would be almost hidden, and now they could await the coming of daylight +with more serenity. + +A long time passed. The three ate strips of the deer meat, and Robert +even slept for a short while. He awoke to find a further decrease in the +rain, although the river was still rising, and Tayoga and Willet were of +the opinion that it would stop soon, a belief that was justified in an +hour. Robert soon afterward saw the clouds move away, and disclose a +strip of dark blue sky, into which the stars began to come one by one. + +"The night will grow light soon," said Tayoga, "then it will darken +again for a little time before the coming of the day." + +"And we've built our breastwork none too soon," said Willet. "There'll +be so many stars by and by that those fellows can pick out our place and +send their bullets to it. What do you think, Tayoga? Is it just a band +taking the chance to get some scalps, or are they sent out by the +Governor General of Canada to do wicked work in the forest and then be +disowned if need be?" + +"I cannot tell," replied the Onondaga. "Much goes on in the land of +Onontio at Stadacona (Quebec). He talks long in whispers with the +northern chiefs, and often he does not let his left ear know what the +right ear hears. Onontio moves in the night, while Corlear sleeps." + +"That may be so, Tayoga, but whether it's so or not I like our +straightforward English and American way best. We may blunder along for +a while and lose at first, but to be open and honest is to be strong." + +"I did not say the ways of Corlear would prevail. It is not the talk of +Corlear that will keep the Hodenosaunee faithful to the English side, +but it is the knowledge of the fifty sachems that when Onontio is +speaking in a voice of honey he is to be trusted the least." + +Willet laughed. + +"I understand, Tayoga," he said. "You're for us not because you have so +much faith in Corlear, but because you have less in Onontio. Well, it's +a good enough reason, I suppose. But all Frenchmen are not tricksters. +Most of 'em are brave, and when they're friends they're good and true. +About all I've got to say against 'em is that they're willing to shut +their eyes to the terrible things their allies do in their name. But +I've had a lot to do with 'em on the border, and you can get to like +'em. Now, that St. Luc we met was a fine upstanding man." + +"But if an enemy, an enemy to be dreaded," said Tayoga with his usual +gravity. + +"I wouldn't mind that if it came to war. In such cases the best men make +the best enemies, I suppose. He had a sharp eye. I could see how he +measured us, and reckoned us up, but he looked most at Robert here." + +"His sharp eye recognized that I was the most important of the three," +said Robert lightly. + +"Every fellow is mighty important to himself," said Willet, "and he +can't get away from it. Tayoga, do you think you see figures moving on +the other bank there, up the stream?" + +"Two certainly, others perhaps, Great Bear," replied the Onondaga. "I +might reach one with my rifle." + +"Don't try it, Tayoga. We're on the defense, and we'll let 'em make all +the beginnings. The sooner they shoot away their ammunition the better +it will be for us. I think they'll open fire pretty soon now, because +the night is growing uncommon bright. The stars are so big and shining, +and there are so many of them they all look as if they had come to a +party. Flatten yourselves down, boys! I can see a figure kneeling by a +bowlder and that means one shot, if not more." + +They lay close and Robert was very thankful now for the logs they had +dragged up from the water, as they afforded almost complete shelter. The +crouching warrior farther up the stream fired, and his bullet struck the +hollow above their heads. + +"A better aim than they often show," said Willet. + +More shots were fired, and one buried itself in the log in front of +Robert. He heard the thud made by the bullet as it entered, and once +more he was thankful for their rude breastwork. But it was the only one +that struck so close and presently the savages ceased their fire, +although the besieged three were still able to see them in the brilliant +moonlight among the bowlders. + +"They're getting a bit too insolent," said the hunter. "Maybe they think +it's a shorter distance from them to us than it is from us to them, and +that our bullets would drop before they got to 'em. I think, Tayoga, +I'll prove that it's not so." + +"Choose the man at the edge of the water," said Tayoga. "He has fired +three shots at us, and we should give him at least one in return." + +"I'll pay the debt, Tayoga." + +Robert saw the warrior, his head and shoulders and painted chest +appearing above the stone. The distance was great for accuracy, but the +light was brilliant, and the rifle of the hunter rose to his shoulder. +The muzzle bore directly upon the naked chest, and when Willet pulled +the trigger a stream of fire spurted from the weapon. + +The savage uttered a cry, shot forward and fell into the stream. His +lifeless body tossed like dead wood on the swift current, reappeared and +floated by the little fortress of the three. Robert shuddered as he saw +the savage face again, and then he saw it no more. + +The savages uttered a shout of grief and rage over the loss of the +warrior, but the besieged were silent. Willet, as he reloaded his rifle, +gave it an affectionate little pat or two. + +"It's a good weapon," he said, "and with a fair light I was sure I +wouldn't miss. We've given 'em fair warning that they've got a nest of +panthers here to deal with, and that when they attack they're taking +risks. Can you see any of 'em now, Tayoga?" + +"All have taken to cover. There is not one among them who is willing to +face again the rifle of the Great Bear." + +Willet smiled with satisfaction at the compliment. He was proud of his +sharp-shooting, and justly so, but he said modestly: + +"I had a fair target, and it will do for a warning. I think we can look +for another long rest now." + +The dark period that precedes the dawn came, and then the morning +flashed over the woods. Robert, from the hollow, looking across the far +shore, saw lofty, wooded hills and back of them blue mountains. Beads of +rain stood on the leaves, and the wilderness seemed to emerge, fresh and +dripping, from a glorious bath. Pleasant odors of the wild came to him, +and now he felt the sting of imprisonment there among the rocks. He +wished they could go at once on their errand. It was a most unfortunate +chance to have been found there by the Indians and to be held +indefinitely in siege. The flooded river would have borne them swiftly +in their canoe toward the St. Lawrence. + +"Mourning, Robert?" said Willet who noticed his face. + +"For the moment, yes," admitted young Lennox, "but it has passed. I +wanted to be going on this lively river and through the green wood, but +since I have to wait I can do it." + +"I feel the same way about it, and we're lucky to have such a fort as +the one we are in. I think the savages will hang on here for a long +while. Indians always have plenty of time. That's why they're more +patient than white men. Like as not we won't get a peep out of them all +the morning." + +"Lennox feels the beauty of the day," said Tayoga, "and that's why he +wants to leave the hollow and go into the woods. But if Lennox will only +think he'll know that other days as fine will come." + +The eye of the young Onondaga twinkled as he delivered his jesting +advice. + +"I'll be as patient as I can," replied Robert in the same tone, "but +tomorrow is never as good as today. I wait like you and Dave only +because I have to do so." + +"In the woods you must do as the people who live there do," said the +hunter philosophically. "They learn how to wait when they're young. We +don't know how long we'll be here. A little more of the deer, Tayoga. +It's close to the middle of the day now and we must keep our strength. I +wish we had better water than that of a flooded and muddy river to +drink, but it's water, anyhow." + +They ate, drank and refreshed themselves and another long period of +inaction followed. The warriors--at intervals--fired a few shots but +they did no damage. Only one entered the hollow, and it buried itself +harmlessly in their wooden barrier. They suffered from nothing except +the soreness and stiffness that came from lying almost flat and so long +in one position. The afternoon, cloudless and brilliant, waned, and the +air in the recess grew warm and heavy. Had it not been for the necessity +of keeping guard Robert could have gone to sleep again. The flood in the +river passed its zenith and was now sinking visibly. No more trees or +bushes came floating on the water. Willet showed disappointment over the +failure of the besiegers to make any decided movement. + +"I was telling you, Robert, a while ago," he said, "that Indians mostly +have a lot of time, but I'm afraid the band that's cornered us here has +got too much. They may send out a warrior or two to hunt, and the others +may sit at a distance and wait a week for us to come out. At least it +looks that way to a 'possum up a tree. What do you think of it, Tayoga?" + +"The Great Bear is right," replied the Onondaga. "He is always right +when he is not wrong." + +"Come now, Tayoga, are you making game of me?" + +"Not so, my brother, because the Great Bear is nearly always right and +very seldom wrong. It is given only to Manitou never to be wrong." + +"That's better, Tayoga. If I can keep up a high average of accuracy I'm +satisfied." + +Tayoga's English was always precise and a trifle bookish, like that of a +man speaking a language he has learned in a school, which in truth was +the case with the Onondaga. Like the celebrated Thayendanegea, the +Mohawk, otherwise known as Joseph Brant, he had been sent to a white +school and he had learned the English of the grammarian. Willet too +spoke in a manner much superior to that of the usual scout and hunter. + +"If the Indians post lines out of range and merely maintain a watch what +will we do?" asked Robert. "I, for one, don't want to stay here +indefinitely." + +"Nor do any of us," replied Willet. "We ought to be moving. A long delay +here won't help us. We've got to think of something." + +The two, actuated by the same impulse, looked at Tayoga. He was very +thoughtful and presently glanced up at the heavens. + +"What does the Great Bear think of the sky?" he asked. + +"I think it's a fine sky, Tayoga," Willet replied with a humorous +inflection. "But I've always admired it, whether it's blue or gray or +just black, spangled with stars." + +Tayoga smiled. + +"What does the Great Bear think of the sky?" he repeated. "Do the signs +say to him that the coming night will be dark like the one that has just +gone before?" + +"They say it will be dark, Tayoga, but I don't believe we'll have the +rain again." + +"We do not want the rain, but we do want the dark. Tonight when the moon +and stars fail to come we must leave the hollow." + +"By what way, Tayoga?" + +The Onondaga pointed to the river. + +"We have the canoe," he said. + +"But if they should hear or see us we'd make a fine target in it," said +Robert. + +"We won't be in it," said the Onondaga, "although our weapons and +clothes will." + +"Ah, I understand! We're to launch the canoe, put in it everything +including our clothes, except ourselves, and swim by the side of it. +Three good swimmers are we, Tayoga, and I believe we can do it." + +The Onondaga looked at Willet, who nodded his approval. + +"The chances will favor us, and we'd better try it," he said, "that is, +if the night is dark, as I think it will be." + +"Then it is agreed," said Robert. + +"It is so," said Tayoga. + +No more words were needed, and they strengthened their hearts for the +daring attempt, waiting patiently for the afternoon to wane and die into +the night, which, arrived moonless and starless and heavy with dark, as +they had hoped and predicted. Just before, a little spasmodic firing +came from the besiegers, but they did not deign to answer. Instead they +waited patiently until the night was far advanced and then they prepared +quickly for running the gauntlet, a task that would require the greatest +skill, courage and presence of mind. Robert's heart beat hard. Like the +others he was weary of the friendly hollow that had served them so well, +and the murmuring of the river, as it flowed, invited them to come on +and use it as the road of escape. + +The three took off all their clothing and disposed everything carefully +in the canoe, laying the rifles on top where they could be reached with +a single swift movement of the arm. Then they stared up and down the +stream, and listened with all their powers of hearing. No savage was to +be seen nor did anyone make a sound that reached the three, although +Robert knew they lay behind the rocks not so very far away. + +"They're not stirring, Tayoga," whispered the hunter. "Perhaps they +think we don't dare try the river, and in this case as in most others +the boldest way is the best. Take the other end of the canoe, and we'll +lift it down gently." + +He and the Onondaga lowered the canoe so slowly that it made no splash +when it took the water, and then the three lowered themselves in turn, +sinking into the stream to their throats. + +"Keep close to the bank," whispered the hunter, "and whatever you do +don't make any splash as you swim." + +The three were on the side of the craft next to the cliff and their +heads did not appear above its side. Then the canoe moved down the +stream at just about the speed of the current, and no human hands +appeared, nor was any human agency visible. It was just a wandering +little boat, set adrift upon the wilderness waters, a light shell, but +with an explorer's soul. It moved casually along, keeping nearest to the +cliff, the safest place for so frail a structure, hesitating two or +three times at points of rocks, but always making up its mind to go on +once more, and see where this fine but strange river led. + +Luckily it was very dark by the cliff. The shadows fell there like black +blankets, and no eye yet rested upon the questing canoe which kept its +way, idly exploring the reaches of the river. Gasna Gaowo, this bark +canoe of red elm, was not large, but it was a noble specimen of its +kind, a forest product of Onondaga patience and skill. On either side +near the prow was painted in scarlet a great eagle's eye, and now the +two large red eyes of the canoe gazed ahead into the darkness, seeking +to pierce the unknown. + +The canoe went on with a gentle, rocking motion made by the current, +strayed now and then a little way from the cliff, but always came back +to it. The pair of great red eyes stared at the cliff so close and at +the other cliff farther away and at the middle of the stream, which was +now tranquil and unruffled by the wreckage of the forest blown into the +water by the storm. The canoe also looked into one or two little coves, +and seeing nothing there but the river edge bubbling against the stone, +went on, came to a curve, rounded it in an easy, sauntering but skillful +fashion, and entered a straight reach of the stream. + +So far the canoe was having a lone and untroubled journey. The river +widening now and flowing between descending banks was wholly its own, +but clinging to the habit it had formed when it started it still hung to +the western bank. The night grew more and more favorable to the +undiscovered voyage it wished to make. Masses of clouds gathered and +hovered over that particular river, as if they had some especial object +in doing so, and they made the night so dark that the red eyes of the +canoe, great in size though they were, could see but a little way down +the stream. Yet it kept on boldly and there was a purpose in its course. +Often it seemed to be on the point of recklessly running against the +rocky shore, but always it sheered off in time, and though its advance +was apparently casual it was moving down the stream at a great rate. + +The canoe had gone fully four hundred yards when an Abenaki warrior on +the far side of the river caught a glimpse of a shadow moving in the +shadow of the bank, and a sustained gaze soon showed to him that it was +a canoe, and, in his opinion, a derelict, washed by the flood from some +camp a long distance up the stream. He watched it for a little while, +and was then confirmed in his opinion by its motion as it floated lazily +with the current. + +The darkness was not too great to keep the Abenaki from seeing that it +was a good canoe, a fine shell of Iroquois make, and canoes were +valuable. He had not been able to secure any scalp, which was a sad +disappointment, and now Manitou had sent this stray craft to him as a +consolation prize. He was not one to decline the gifts of the gods, and +he ran along the edge of the cliff until he came to a low point well +ahead of the canoe. Then he put his rifle on the ground, dropped lightly +into the stream, and swam with swift sure strokes for the derelict. + +As the warrior approached he saw that his opinion of the canoe was more +than justified. It had been made with uncommon skill and he admired its +strong, graceful lines. It was not often that such a valuable prize came +to a man and asked to be taken. He reached it and put one hand upon the +side. Then a heavy fist stretched entirely over the canoe and struck him +such a mighty blow upon the jaw that he sank senseless, and when he +revived two minutes later on a low bank where the current had cast him, +he did not know what had happened to him. + +Meanwhile the uncaptured canoe sailed on in lonely majesty down the +stream. + +"That was a shrewd blow of yours, Dave," said Robert. "You struck fairly +upon his jaw bone." + +"It's not often that I fight an Indian with my fists, and the chance +having come I made the most of it," said the hunter. "He may have been a +sentinel set to watch for just such an attempt as we are making, but +it's likely they thought if we made a dash for it we'd be in the canoe." + +"It was great wisdom for us to swim," said Tayoga. "Another sentinel +seeing the canoe may also think it was washed away somewhere and is +merely floating on the waters. I can see a heap of underbrush that has +gathered against a projecting point, and the current would naturally +bring the canoe into it. Suppose we let it rest there until it seems to +work free by the action of the water, and then go on down the river." + +"It's a good idea, Tayoga, but it's a pretty severe test to remain under +fire, so to speak, in order to deceive your enemy, when the road is open +for you to run away." + +"But we can do it, all three of us," said Tayoga, confidently. + +A spit of high ground projected into the river and in the course of time +enough driftwood brought by the stream and lodged there had made a raft +of considerable width and depth, against which the canoe in its +wandering course lodged. But it was evident that its stay in such a port +would be but temporary, as the current continually pushed and sucked at +it, and the light craft quivered and swayed continually under the action +of the current. + +The three behind the canoe thrust themselves back into the mass of +vegetation, reckless of scratches, and were hidden completely for the +time. Since he was no longer kept warm by the act of swimming Robert +felt the chill of the water entering his bones. His physical desire to +shiver he controlled by a powerful effort of the will, and, standing on +the bottom with his head among the boughs, he remained quiet. + +None of the three spoke and in a few minutes a warrior on the other side +of the stream, watching in the bushes, saw the dim outline of the canoe +in the darkness. He came to the edge of the water and looked at it +attentively. It was apparent to him, as it had been to the other savage, +that it was a stray canoe, and valuable, a fine prize for the taking. +But he was less impulsive than the first man had been and at that point +the river spread out to a much greater width. He did not know that his +comrade was lying on the bank farther up in a half stunned condition, +but he was naturally cautious and he stared at the canoe a long time. +He saw that the action of the current would eventually work it loose +from the raft, but he believed it would yet hang there for at least ten +minutes. So he would have time to go back to his nearest comrade and +return with him. Then one could enter the water and salvage the canoe, +while the other stayed on the bank and watched. Having reached this wise +conclusion he disappeared in the woods, seeking the second Indian, but +before the two could come together the canoe had worked loose and was +gone. + +The three hidden in the bushes had watched the Indian as well as the +dusk would permit and they read his mind. They knew that when he turned +away he had gone for help and they knew equally well that it was time +for the full power of the current to take effect. + +"Shove it off, Tayoga," whispered Willet, "and I think we'd better help +along with some strokes of our own." + +"It is so," said Tayoga. + +Now the wandering canoe was suddenly endowed with more life and purpose, +or else the current grew much swifter. After an uneasy stay with the +boughs, it left them quickly, sailed out toward the middle of the +stream, and floated at great speed between banks that were growing high +again. The friendly dark was also an increasing protection to the three +who were steering it. The heavy but rainless clouds continued to gather +over them, and the canoe sped on at accelerated speed in an opaque +atmosphere. A mile farther and Willet suggested that they get into the +canoe and paddle with all their might. The embarkation, a matter of +delicacy and difficulty, was made with success, and then they used the +paddles furiously. + +The canoe, suddenly becoming a live thing, leaped forward in the water, +and sped down the stream, as if it were the leader in a race. Far behind +them rose a sudden war cry, and the three laughed. + +"I suppose they've discovered in some way that we've fled," said Robert. + +"That is so," said Tayoga. + +"And they'll come down the river as fast as they can," said Willet, "but +they'll do no more business with us. I don't want to brag, but you can't +find three better paddlers in the wilderness than we are, and with a +mile start we ought soon to leave behind any number of warriors who have +to run through the woods and follow the windings of the stream." + +"They cannot catch us now," said Tayoga, "and I will tell them so." + +He uttered a war whoop so piercing and fierce that Robert was startled. +It cut the air like the slash of a sword, but it was a long cry, full of +varied meaning. It expressed satisfaction, triumph, a taunt for the foe, +and then it died away in a sinister note like a threat for any who tried +to follow. Willet laughed under his breath. + +"That'll stir 'em, Tayoga," he said. "You put a little dart squarely in +their hearts, and they don't like it. But they can squirm as much as +they please, we're out of their reach now. Hark, they're answering!" + +They heard a cry from the savage who had besieged them, but it was +followed by a long silence. The three paddled with their utmost +strength, the great muscles on their arms rising and falling with their +exertions, and beads of perspiration standing out on their foreheads. + +Hours passed. Mile after mile fell behind them. The darkness began to +thin, and then the air was shot with golden beams from the rising sun. +Willet, heaving an immense sigh of relief, laid his paddle across the +canoe. + +"The danger has passed," he said. "Now we'll land, put on our clothes +and become respectable." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MOHAWK CHIEF + + +The canoe was passing between low shores, and they landed on the left +bank, lifting out of the water the little vessel that had served them so +well, and carrying it to a point some distance in the bushes. There they +sat down beside it a while and drew long, deep and panting breaths. + +"I don't want to repeat that experience soon," said Robert. "I think +every muscle and bone in me is aching." + +"So do mine," said Willet, "but they ache in a good cause, and what's of +more importance just now a successful one too. Having left no trail the +Indians won't be able to follow us, and we can rest here a long time, +which compels me to tell you again to put on your clothes and become +respectable." + +They were quite dry now, and they dressed. They also saw that their arms +and ammunition were in order, and after Willet had scouted the country a +bit, seeing that no human-being was near, they ate breakfast of the deer +meat and felt thankful. + +"The aches are leaving me," said Willet, "and in another half-hour I'll +be the man I was yesterday. Not I'll be a better man. I've been in +danger lots of times and always there's a wonderful feeling of +happiness when I get out of it." + +"That is, risk goes before real rest," said Robert. + +"That's about the way to put it, and escaping as we've just done from a +siege, this dawn is about the finest I've ever seen. Isn't that a big +and glorious sun over there? I suppose it's the same sun I've been +looking at for years, but it seems to me that it has a new and +uncommonly splendid coat of gilding this morning." + +"I think it was put on to celebrate our successful flight," said Robert. +"It's not only a splendid sun, Dave, but it's an uncommonly friendly one +too. I can look it squarely in the eye for just a second and it fairly +beams on me." + +"My brothers are right," said Tayoga gravely. "If it had not been the +will of Manitou for us to escape from the trap that had been set for us +the sun rising newly behind the mountains would not smile upon us." + +"I take that as allegorical," said Robert. "We see with our souls, and +our eyes are merely the mirrors through which we look. Seeing, or at +least the color of it, is a state of mind." + +Tayoga followed him perfectly and nodded. + +"You are getting too deep," interrupted the hunter. "Let's be satisfied +with our escape. Here, each of you take another piece of venison. I'm +glad you still have your bow and arrows, Tayoga, because it won't be +long before we'll have to begin looking for another deer." + +"The woods swarm with game. It will not be difficult to find one," said +Tayoga. + +"But for the present I think we'd better lie close. Of course the chief +danger of attack from those savages has passed, but we're some distance +from Canada, and it's still doubtful ground. Another wandering band may +run upon us and that Ojibway, Tandakora, will never quit hunting us, +until a bullet stops him. He has a terrible attack of the scalp fever. +We want to make good time on our journey, but we mustn't spoil +everything by trying to go too fast." + +"It might be wise for us to remain the entire day in the forest," +replied the Onondaga. "After the great and long trial of our strength +last night, we need much rest. And tonight we can make speed on the +river again. What says Lennox?" + +"I'm for it," replied Robert, "but I suggest that we go deeper into the +forest, taking the canoe with us, and hide our trail. I think I see the +gleam of water to our right and if I'm correct it means a brook, up +which we can walk carrying the canoe with us." + +"A good idea, Robert," said Willet. "Suppose you look first and see if +it's really a brook." + +The lad returned in a moment or two with a verification. The water of +the little stream was clear, but it had a fine sandy bottom on which +footprints were effaced in a few seconds. They waded up it nearly a mile +until they came to stony ground, when they left the brook and walked on +the outcrop or detached stones a considerable distance, passing at last +through dense thickets into a tiny open space. They put the canoe down +in the center of the opening, which was circular, and stretched their +own bodies on the grass close to the bushes, through which they could +see without being seen. + +"That trail is well hidden," said Willet, "or rather it's no trail at +all. It's just about as much trace as a bird leaves, flying through the +air." + +"Do you know where we are, Dave?" asked Robert. + +"We're not so far from the edge of the wilderness. Before long the land +will begin to slope down toward the St. Lawrence. But it's all wild +enough. The French settlements themselves don't go very far back from +the big river. And the St. Lawrence is a mighty stream, Robert. I reckon +there's not another such river on the globe. The Mississippi I suppose +is longer, and carries more volume to the sea, but the St. Lawrence is +full of clear water, Robert, think of that! Most all the other big +rivers of the world, I hear, are muddy and yellow, but the St. Lawrence, +being the overflow of the big lakes, is pure. Sometimes it's blue and +sometimes it's green, according to the sunlight or the lack of it, and +sometimes it's another color, but always it's good, fresh water, flowing +between mighty banks to the sea, the stream getting deeper and deeper +and broader and broader the farther it goes, till beyond Quebec it's +five and then ten miles across, and near the ocean it's nigh as wide as +Erie or Ontario. I'm always betting on the St. Lawrence, Robert. I +haven't been on all the other continents, but I don't believe they can +show anything to beat it." + +"Have you seen much of the big lakes, Dave?" + +"A lot of Erie and Ontario, but not so much of those farther west, +Michigan, Huron and Superior, although they're far bigger and grander. +Nothing like 'em in the lake line in this world. We don't know much +about Superior, but I gather from the Indians that it's nigh to four +hundred miles long, and maybe a hundred and fifty miles across in the +middle. What a power of water! That's not a lake! It's a fresh-water +sea. I've seen Niagara, too, Robert, where the river comes tumbling over +two mighty cliffs, and the foam rises up to the sky, and the rainbow is +always arching over the chasm below. It's a tremendous sight and it +keeps growing on you the longer you look at it. The Indians, who like +myths and allegories, have a fine story about it. They say that Heno, to +whom Manitou gave charge of the thunderbolt, once lived in the great +cave or hollow behind the falls, liking the damp and the eternal roar of +the waters. And Manitou to help him keep a watch over all the +thunderbolts gave him three assistants who have never been named. Now, +the nations of the Hodenosaunee call themselves the grandchildren of +Heno, and when they make invocation to him they call him grandfather. +But they hold that Heno is always under the direction of Hawenneyu, the +Great Spirit, who I take it is the same in their minds as Manitou. The +more you learn of the Indians, and especially of the Hodenosaunee, +Robert, the more you admire the beauty and power of their minds." + +Willet spoke with great earnestness, his own mind through the +experiences of many years being steeped in forest lore and imagery. +Robert, although he knew less of Indian mythology, nevertheless knew +enough to feel for it a great admiration. + +"I studied the myths of the Greeks and Romans at Albany," he said, "and +I don't see that they were very much superior to those of the Indians." + +"Maybe they weren't superior at all," said Willet, "and I don't believe +the Greeks and Romans ever had a country like the one in which we are +roaming. The Book says God made the world in six days, and I think He +must have spent one whole day, and His best day, too, on the country in +here. Think of the St Lawrence, and all the big lakes and middle-sized +lakes and little lakes, and the Hudson and the other splendid rivers, +and the fine mountains east of the Hudson and west of it, and all the +grand valleys, and the great country of the Hodenosaunee, and the +gorgeous green forest running hundreds and hundreds of miles, every way! +I tell you, Robert--and it's no sacrilege either--after He did such a +splendid and well-nigh perfect job He could stop for the night and call +it a good and full day's work. I reckon that nowhere else on the earth's +surface are so many fine and wonderful things crowded into one region." + +He took a deep breath and gazed with responsive eyes at the dim blue +crests of the mountains. + +"It's all that you call it," said Robert, whose soul was filled with the +same love and admiration, "and I'm glad I was born within its limits. +I've noticed, Dave, that the people of old lands think they alone have +love of country. New people may love a new land just as much, and I love +all this country about us, the lakes, and the rivers, and the mountains +and the valleys and the forests." + +He flung out his arms in a wide, embracing gesture, and he, too, took +deep long breaths of the crisp air that came over the clean forest. +Tayoga smiled, and the smile was fathomless. + +"I, Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee, can rejoice more than either of you, +my white friends," he said, "because I and my fathers for ages before me +were born into this wonderful country of which you speak so well, but +not too well, and much of it belongs to the Hodenosaunee. The English +and the French are but of yesterday. Tododaho lighted the first council +fire in the vale of Onondaga many generations before either came across +the sea." + +"It's true, Tayoga," said Willet, "and I don't forget it for a moment. +All of us white people, English, French, Dutch, Germans and all other +breeds, are mere newcomers, and I'm not one ever to deny the rights of +the Hodenosaunee." + +"I know that the Great Bear is always our friend," said the young +Onondaga, "and Lennox too, no less." + +"I am, Tayoga," said Robert fervently. + +The white lad went to sleep by and by, the others to follow in their +turn, and when he woke it was afternoon. About midway of his comrade's +nap Tayoga had gone to sleep also, and now Willet followed him, leaving +Robert alone on guard. + +His eyes could pierce the bushes, and for some distance beyond, and he +saw that no intruder had drawn near. Nor had he expected any. The place +was too remote and well hidden, and the keenest warriors in the world +could not follow a vanished trail. + +He ate two or three strips of the deer meat, walked around the complete +circle of the opening, examining the approaches from every side, and +having satisfied himself once more that no stranger was near, returned +to his place on the grass near his comrades, full of the great peace +that can come only to those of sensitive mind and lofty imagination. His +sleep had rested him thoroughly. The overtaxed muscles were easy again, +and with the vast green forest about him and the dim blue mountains +showing on the horizon, he felt all the keen zest of living. + +He was glad to be there. He was glad to be with Tayoga. He was glad to +be with Willet and he was glad to be going on the important mission +which the three hoped to carry out, according to promise, no matter what +dangers surrounded them, and that there would be many they already had +proof. But, for the present, at least, there was nothing but peace. + +He lay on his back and stared up at the blue sky, in which clouds fleecy +and tiny were drifting. All were going toward the northeast and that way +the course of himself and his comrades lay. If Manitou prospered them, +they would come to the Quebec of the French, which beforetime had been +the Stadacona of old Indian tribes. That name, Quebec, was full of +significance to him. Standing upon its mighty rock, it was another +Gibraltar. It told him of the French power in North America, and he +associated it vaguely with young officers in brilliant uniforms, +powdered ladies, and all the splendor of an Old World court reproduced +in the New World. St. Luc had come from there, and with his handsome +face and figure and his gay and graceful manner he had typified the +Quebec of the chevaliers, which the grave and solid burghers of Albany +regarded with dread and aversion and yet with a strange sort of +attraction. + +He did not deny to himself that he too felt the attraction. An unknown +kinship with Quebec, either in blood or imagination, was calling. He +wondered if he would see St. Luc there, but on reflection he decided +that it was impossible. The mission of the chevalier to the Hodenosaunee +would require a long absence. He might arrive in the vale of Onondaga +and have to wait many days before the fifty sachems should decide to +meet in council and hear him. + +But Robert believed that if St. Luc should appear before the fifty he +would prove to be eloquent, and he would neglect no artifice of word and +manner to make the Hodenosaunee think the French power at Quebec +invincible. He would describe the great deeds of the French officers and +soldiers. He would tell them of that glittering court of Versailles, and +perhaps he would make them think their salvation depended upon an +alliance with France. + +Robert was sorry for the moment that his mission was taking him to +Quebec and not to the vale of Onondaga, where Willet and he--and Tayoga +too--could appear before the sachems as friends true and tested, and +prove to them that the English were their good and natural allies. They +would recall again what Frontenac had done. They would dwell upon the +manner in which he had carried sword and fire among the Six Nations, +then the Five, and they would keep open the old wound that yet rankled. + +It was a passing wish. The Iroquois would remain faithful to their +ancient allies, the English. The blood that Frontenac had shed would be +forever a barrier between the Long House and the Stadacona that was. +Once more Quebec filled his eye, and he gazed into the northeast where +the French capital lay upon its mighty and frowning rock. His curiosity +concerning it increased. He wanted to see what kind of city it was, and +he wanted to see what kind of a man the Marquis Duquesne, the +Governor-General of Canada, was. Well, he would be there before many +days and he would see for himself. He and his comrades already had been +triumphant over a danger so great that nothing could stop them now. He +felt all the elation and certainty that came from a victory over odds. + +He rose, parted the bushes and made another tour of the region about +their covert. When he was at a point about a hundred yards away he +fancied that he heard a sound in a thicket a considerable distance +ahead. Promptly taking shelter behind a large tree, he used both eyes +and ears, watching the thicket closely, and listening for any other +sound that might come. + +He heard nothing else but his keen eyes noted a bush swaying directly +into the teeth of the wind, a movement that could not occur unless +something alive in the thicket caused it. He slid his rifle forward and +still watched. Now the bush shook violently, and an awkward black +figure, shooting out, ran across the open. It was only a bear, and he +was about to resume his circling walk, but second thought told him that +the bear was running as if he ran away from an object of which he was +afraid, and there was nothing in the northern forests except human +beings to scare a bear. + +He settled back in his shelter and resumed his watch in the thicket, +leaving the bear to run where he pleased, which he did, disappearing +with a snort in another thicket. A full ten minutes passed. Robert had +not stirred. He was crouched behind the tree, blending with the grass, +and he held his rifle ready to be fired in an instant, should the need +arise. + +The bush that had moved against the wind had ceased stirring long since, +but now he saw another shaking and it, too, paid no attention to the +laws of nature, defying the wind as the first had done. Robert +concentrated his gaze upon it, thankful that he had not made the black +bear the original cause of things, and presently he saw the feathered +head of an Indian appear among the leaves. It was only a glimpse, he did +not see the body or even the face of the warrior, but it was enough. +Where one warrior was another was likely to be in those northern +marches, the most dangerous kind of neutral ground. + +He began to slide away, keeping the big tree trunk between him and the +thicket, using all the arts of the forest trailer that he had learned by +natural aptitude and long practice. He went back slowly, but the grass +stems moved only a little as he went, and he was confident that he not +only had not been seen, but would not be seen. Yet he scarcely dared to +breathe--until he reached the bushes inclosing the opening in which his +comrades lay. + +He paused a few moments before waking the others and filled his lungs +with air. He was surprised to find that the hands holding his rifle were +damp with perspiration, and he realized then how great the brief strain +had been. Suppose he had not seen the Indian in the bush, and had been +ambushed while on his scouting round! Or suppose he had stayed with his +comrades and had been ambushed there! But neither had happened, and, +taking Willet by the shoulder, he shook him, at the same time whispering +in his ear to make no noise. The hunter, his trained faculties at once +awake and on guard, sat up quietly, and Tayoga, who seemed to awake +instinctively at the same time, also, sat up. + +"What is it, Robert?" whispered Willet. + +"An Indian in the bush about two hundred yards away," replied the youth. +"I merely saw his hair and the feather in it, but it's safe to assume +that he's not the only one." + +"That is so," said Tayoga. "A warrior does not come here alone." + +"It can't be the band we beat off when we were in the hollow," said +Willet confidently. "They must be far south of us, even if they haven't +given up the chase." + +"It is so, Great Bear," said Tayoga. "Was the warrior's head bare, +Lennox, or did he have the headdress, gustoweh, like mine?" + +"I think," replied Robert, "that the feather projected something like +yours, perhaps from a cross-splint." + +"Could you tell from what bird the feather came?" + +"Yes, I saw that much. It was the plume of an eagle." + +Tayoga mused a moment or two. Then he put two fingers to his mouth and +blew between them a mellow, peculiar whistle, much like the notes of a +deep-throated forest bird. He waited half a minute and a reply exactly +similar came. + +"These," said Tayoga, "are our people," and rising and parting the +bushes, he walked, upright and fearless, toward the thicket in which +Robert had seen the warrior. Robert and Willet, influenced by boldness +as people always are, followed him with confidence, their rifles not +thrust forward, but lying in the hollows of their arms. + +A dozen warriors issued from the thicket, at their head a tall man of +middle age, open and noble in countenance and dignified in bearing. + +"These be Mohawks, Ganeagaono, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate," said +Tayoga, "and the sachem Dayohogo, which in English means, At the Forks, +leads them. He is a great man, valiant in battle and wise in council. +His words have great weight when the fifty sachems meet in the vale of +Onondaga to decide the questions of life and death." + +He paused and bent his head respectfully before the man of superior +age, and, as yet, of superior rank. A look of pleasure appeared upon the +face of the Mohawk chief when he saw the young Onondaga. + +"It is Tayoga of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onundagaono +(Onondaga)," he said. + +"It is so, Dayohogo of the clan of the Wolf, of the nation Ganeagaono +(Mohawk)," replied Tayoga. "Thou of the Keepers of the Eastern Gate and +my father, Daatgadose, of the Keepers of the Council Fire, have been +friends since they stood at the knees of their mothers, and we too are +friends, Dayohogo." + +"You speak true words, Tayoga," said the chief, looking with an +appraising eye upon the handsome face and athletic figure of the young +Onondaga. "And the white people with you? One I know to be the Great +Bear who calls himself Willet, but the boy I know not." + +"His name is Lennox, O Dayohogo. He is the true friend of the Great +Bear, of Tayoga and of the Hodenosaunee. He has within the last two +days, standing beside us, fought a valiant battle against the Abenakis, +the Hurons, the St. Regis and warriors of the other savage tribes that +call themselves the allies of Onontio." + +Robert felt the penetrating eye of the Mohawk chief upon him. But the +gaze of the Indian was friendly, and while he felt admiration for Tayoga +he felt equal approval of Lennox. + +"You have fought against odds and you have come away safe," he said. + +"None of us received any hurt," replied Tayoga, modestly, "but we slew +more than one of those who attacked. It was in a gorge of the river far +back, and we escaped in the night, swimming with our canoe. Now we rest +here, and truly, Dayohogo, we are glad to see you and your warriors. The +forest has become safe for us. We have part of a deer left, and we ask +you to share it with us." + +"Gladly," said Dayohogo. "We bring venison and corn meal, and we will +have food together." + +His warriors were stalwart men, armed well, and they had no fear of any +foe, lighting a fire in the open, warming their deer meat and making +bread of their corn meal. The three ate with them, and Robert felt that +they were among friends. The Mohawks not only had Frontenac to remember, +but further back Champlain, the French soldier and explorer, who had +defeated them before they knew the use of firearms. He felt that +Duquesne at Quebec would have great difficulty in overcoming the enmity +of this warlike and powerful red nation, and he resolved to do what he +could to keep them attached to the British cause. It might be only a +little, but a little many times amounted to much. + +Dayohogo and his warriors had been on a scout toward the north to the +very borders of the French settlements, and the chief told the three +that an unusual movement was going on there. Regular soldiers were +expected soon from France. War belts and splendid presents had been sent +to the tribes about the Great Lakes, both to the north and to the south, +and Onontio was addressing messages of uncommon politeness to his +brethren, the valiant Ganeagaono, otherwise the Mohawks, the Keepers of +the Eastern Gate. + +"And do the Mohawk chiefs listen to the words of Onontio?" asked Robert +anxiously. + +Dayohogo did not reply at once. He looked at the green woods. Birds, +blue or gray or brown, were darting here and there in the foliage, and +his eye rested for a moment on a tiny wren. + +"The voice of Onontio is the voice of a bird chattering in a tree," he +said. "In the day of my father's father's father the children of +Onontio, under Champlain, came with guns, which were strange to us, and +with presents they induced the Adirondack warriors to help them. They +came up the great lake which the white people call Champlain, then they +crossed to Ticonderoga, near the outlet of the lake, Saint Sacrement, +and fell upon two hundred warriors of the Ganeagaono, who then knew only +the bow and arrow and the war club, and slew many of them. It was four +generations ago, but we do not forget. Then when my father was a young +warrior Frontenac came with a host of white soldiers and the Canadian +Indians and killed the warriors and laid waste with fire the lands of +the Five Nations, now the Six. Can the Hodenosaunee forget?" + +The chief gloomed into the fire, and his eyes flashed with the memory of +ancient wrongs. + +"Onontio has sent belts to the Ganeagaono also, has he not?" asked +Robert. + +The eyes of the chief flashed again. + +"He has tried to do so," he replied, "but the Ganeagaono are loyal to +their brethren of the Hodenosaunee since Tododahoe first found the +sacred wampum on the shore of the lake, Chautauqua. Our three clans, the +Turtle, the Wolf and the Bear, met in our largest village south of the +river, Ganeagaono (Mohawk), and listened to the bearers of the belts. +Then we sent them back to Onontio, telling them if they wished to be +heard further they must bring the belt to the council of all the sachems +of the Hodenosaunee in the vale of Onondaga." + +"The other nations of the Hodenosaunee," said Tayoga, "have always known +that the Ganeagaono would do no less. The Keepers of the Eastern Gate +have never departed by the width of a single hair from their +obligations." + +Dayohogo turned his gloomy face upon the Onondaga youth, and it was +lighted up suddenly by a smile of appreciation and pleasure. + +"Tayoga of the Onundagaono," he said in measured tones, "you have spoken +well. The Onundagaono, the Keepers of the Council Fire, and the +Ganeagaono, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, be the first tribes of the +Hodenosaunee, and better it be for a warrior of either to burn two days +and two nights in the fire than to violate in the least the ancient +customs and laws of the Hodenosaunee." + +"Before we had the fight with the savage band," said Robert, "we met a +Frenchman, the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc, who was going to the +vale of Onondaga with belts from Onontio. St. Luc is a brave man, a +great orator, and his words will fall, golden and sweet like honey, on +the ears of the fifty chiefs. He will say that Champlain and Frontenac +belonged to an ancient day, that the forests have turned green and then +turned red a hundred and fifty times since Champlain and sixty times +since Frontenac. He will say that what they did was due to a false wind +that blew between the French and the Hodenosaunee, hiding the truth, and +making friends see in the faces of friends the faces of enemies. He will +say that a true wind blows now, and that it has blown away all the +falsehoods. He will say that Onontio is a better friend than Corlear to +the Hodenosaunee, and far more powerful." + +The veteran Mohawk chief looked at young Lennox, and again his gaze was +one of approval, also of comprehension. + +"My young white friend is already a great warrior," he said. "What he +did with Tayoga and the Great Bear proves it, but great as he is he is +even greater in the council. The words of the son of Onontio, St. Luc, +may drip from his lips like honey, but the speech of Lennox is the voice +of the south wind singing among the reeds. Lennox will be a great orator +among his people." + +Robert blushed, and yet his heart was beating at the praise of Dayohogo, +obviously so sincere. He felt with a sudden instinctive rush of +conviction that the Mohawk was telling him the truth. It was an early +and partial display of the liquid and powerful speech, which afterward +gave him renown in New York and far beyond, and which caused people +everywhere to call him the "Golden Mouthed." And he was always eager to +acknowledge that much of its strength came from the lofty thought and +brilliant imagery shown by many of the orators of the nations of the +Hodenosaunee, with whom so much of his youth was spent. + +"I only spoke the thought that was in my mind, Dayohogo," he said +modestly. + +"Wherein is the beginning of great speech," said the sachem sagely. +"When Lennox returns from the journey on which he is now going it would +be fit for him to go to the vale of Onondaga and meet St. Luc in debate +before the fifty sachems." + +Robert's heart leaped again. It was like a call to battle, and now he +knew what his great aim in life should be. He would strive with study +and practice to make himself first in it, but, for the present, he had +other thoughts and purpose. Willet, however, took fire too from the +words of the Mohawk chief. + +"I've noticed before, Robert," he said, "that you had the gift of +tongues, and we'll make a great orator of you. In times such as ours a +man of that kind is needed bad. Maybe what Dayohogo thinks ought to be, +will be, and you will yet oppose St. Luc before the fifty sachems in the +vale of Onondaga." + +"It would be well," said Dayohogo thoughtfully, "because the men at +Albany still give the Hodenosaunee trouble, making a promise seem one +thing when it is given, and another when the time to keep it comes." + +"I know, Dayohogo!" exclaimed Willet, vehemently. "I know how those +sleek traders who are appointed to deal with you cheat you out of your +furs and try to cheat you out of your lands! But be patient a little +longer, you who have been patient so long. Word has come from England +that the King will remove his commissioners, and make Sir William +Johnson his Indian agent for all North America." + +The eyes of Dayohogo and his warriors glistened. + +"Is it true?" he asked. "Is Waraiyageh (Johnson) to be the one who will +talk with us and make the treaties with us?" + +"I know it to be a fact, Dayohogo." + +"Then it is well. We can trust Waraiyageh, and he knows that he can +trust us. Where our trail runs to Kolaneha (Johnstown) on a hill not far +from our tower castle he has built a great house, and I and my brother +chiefs of all the three clans the Wolf, the Bear and the Turtle, have +been there and have received presents from him. He is the friend of the +Ganeagaono, and he knew that he could build a house among us and live +there in peace, with our warriors to guard him." + +The news that Johnson would be the King's Indian agent had an electric +effect upon the Mohawks. Whether he talked English or Iroquois he talked +a language they understood, and his acts were comprehensible by them. He +had their faith and he never lost it. + +Some of the hunters went out, and, the woods being full of game, they +quickly shot another deer. Then the warriors still feeling in their +strength that they had nothing to dread from enemies, built high the +fire, cut up the deer, cooked it and made a great feast. The good +feeling that existed between the Mohawks and the two whites increased. +Robert unconsciously began to exercise his gift of golden speech. He +dwelt upon the coming appointment of Waraiyageh, their best friend, to +deal in behalf of the King with the Hodenosaunee, and he harped +continually upon Champlain and Frontenac. He made them seem to be of +yesterday, instead of long ago. He opened the old wounds the Mohawks had +received at the hands of the French and made them sting and burn again. +He dwelt upon the faith of the English, their respect for the lands of +the Hodenosaunee and the ancient friendship with the Six Nations. He had +forgotten the words of Dayohogo that he would be a great orator, but +five minutes after they were spoken he was justifying them. + +Tayoga and Willet glanced at each other, but remained silent. Young +Lennox was saying enough for all three. Dayohogo did not take his eyes +from the speaker, following all his words, and the warriors, lying on +their elbows, watched him and believed what he said. When he stopped the +chief and all the warriors together uttered a deep exclamation of +approval. + +"You are called Lennox," said Dayohogo, "and after the white custom it +is the only name that you have ever had, but we have a better way. When +a warrior distinguishes himself greatly we give him a new name, which +tells what he has done. Hereafter, Lennox, you will be known to the +Ganeagaono as Dagaeoga, which is the name of a great chief of the clan +of the Turtle, of our nation." + +"I thank you much, Dahoyogo," said Robert, earnestly, knowing that a +high honor was conferred upon him. "I shall try to deserve in some small +way the great name you have conferred upon me." + +"One can but do his best," said the Mohawk gravely. + +But Willet rejoiced openly in the distinction that had been bestowed +upon his young comrade, saying that some day it might be carried out +with formal ceremonies by the Mohawk nation, and was a fact of great +value. To be by adoption a son of any nation of the Hodenosaunee would +be of enormous assistance to him, if he negotiated with the League in +behalf of the English colonists. But to be adopted by both Onondagas and +Mohawks gave him a double power. + +Robert had already been influenced powerfully by Tayoga, the young +Onondaga, and now the words of Dayohogo, the Mohawk, carried that +influence yet further. He understood as few white men did the power of +the Hodenosaunee and how its nations might be a deciding factor in the +coming war between French and English, just as he understood long after +that war was over their enormous weight in the new war between the +Americans and English, and he formed a resolution as firm as tempered +steel that his main effort for many years to come should be devoted to +strengthening the ties that connected the people of New York and the +great League. + +The afternoon went on in pleasant talk. The Indians, among themselves or +with those whom they knew from long experience to be good friends, were +not taciturn. Robert told the Mohawks that they were going to Quebec, +and Dayohogo expressed curiosity. + +"It is the story in our nation, and it is true," he said, "that +generations ago we held the great rock of Stadacona, and that the first +Frenchman, Cartier, who came to Canada, found us there, and drove us +away with firearms, which we had never seen before, and which we did not +know how to meet. It is said also by our old men that we had a town with +palisades around it at Hochelaga (Montreal), but whether it is true or +not I do not know. It may be that it was a town of the Wanedote +(Hurons), our enemies. And yet the Wanedote are of our blood, though far +back in the past we split asunder, and now they take the peace belts of +the French, while we take those of the English." + +"And the capital of the French, which they call Quebec, and which you +call Stadacona, stands on land which really belongs to the Mohawks," +said Robert meaningly. + +Dayohogo made no answer, but gloomed into the fire again. After a while +he said that his warriors and he must depart. They were going toward +Ticonderoga, where the French had built the fort, Carillon, within the +territory of the Mohawks. He had been glad to meet Tayoga, the Great +Bear, and the new young white chief, Dagaeoga, whose speech was like the +flowing of pleasant waters. It was a favoring wind that had brought them +together, because they had enjoyed good talk, and had exchanged wise +counsel with one another. Robert agreed with him in flowery allegory and +took from the canoe where it had been stored among their other goods a +present for the chief--envoys seldom traveled through the Indian +country without some such article for some such occasion. + +It was _gajewa_, a war club, beautifully carved and polished, made of +ironwood about three feet long, and with tufts of brilliant feathers at +either end. Inserted at one end was a deer's horn, about five inches in +length, and as sharp as a razor. While it was called a war club, it was +thus more of a battle ax, and at close range and wielded by a powerful +arm it was a deadly weapon. It had been made at Albany, and in order to +render it more attractive three silver bands had been placed about it at +equal intervals. + +It was at once a weapon and a decoration, and the eyes of Dayohogo +glistened as he received it. + +"I take the gift, Dagaeoga," he said, "and I will not forget." + +Then they exchanged salutations, and the Mohawks disappeared silently in +the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE TWO FRENCHMEN + + +When the three were left alone in the glade the hunter turned to young +Lennox. + +"You've done good work today, Robert," he said. "I didn't know you had +in you the makings of an orator and diplomatist. The governor of New +York did better than he knew when he chose you for one of this mission." + +Robert blushed again at praise and modestly protested. + +"Lennox has found that for which he is best fitted," said Tayoga, slyly. + +"If I'm to talk without end I'll do my best," said Robert, laughing, +"and I suggest that we resume our journey now. There doesn't appear to +be any further danger from the Indians who besieged us." + +"You're right about it, Robert," said the hunter. "The coming of the +Mohawks has put a barrier between us and them. I've an idea that +Dayohogo and his warriors won't go far toward Ticonderoga, but will soon +turn south to meet those savages and acquire a few scalps if they can, +and if they do meet 'em I hope they'll remove that Ojibway, Tandakora, +who I think is likely to make us a lot of trouble." + +Willet never spoke of the Iroquois as "savages," but he often applied +the term to the Canadian and Western Indians. Like Robert, he regarded +those who had built up the great political and military power of the +Hodenosaunee as advanced, and, in a sense, civilized nations. + +"I think my friend, the Great Bear, is right," said Tayoga. "Unless +Tandakora and his band have gone toward the west it is likely that +Dayohogo will meet them, and they cannot stand before the Mohawks." + +"I think it more probable," said Robert, "that after the failure to +destroy us Tandakora went back to St. Luc, giving a false explanation of +his absence or none at all, just as he pleased." + +"It may be so," said Tayoga, "but I have another opinion." + +While they talked they were taking the canoe from its shelter, and then +they bore it down to the river again, putting it back into the stream +and listening with pleasure to the gurgle of the water by its sides. + +"Paddling isn't the easiest work in the world," said Willet with +satisfaction, "but when you're used to it your muscles can stand it a +long time, and it's far ahead of walking. Now, ho for Canada!" + +"Ho for Canada!" said Robert, and the three paddles flashed again in the +clear water. The canoe once more became a live thing and shot down the +stream. They were still in the wilderness, racing between solid banks of +green forest, and they frequently saw deer and bear drinking at the edge +of the river, while the foliage was vivid with color, and musical with +the voices of singing birds. + +Robert had a great elation and he had reason to be satisfied with +himself. They had triumphed over the dangers of the gorge and savage +siege, and he had sowed fruitful seed in the mind of Dayohogo, the +powerful Mohawk chief. He had also come to a realization of himself, +knowing for the first time that he had a great gift which might carry +him far, and which might be of vast service to his people. + +Therefore, the world was magnificent and beautiful. The air of forest +and mountain was keen with life. His lungs expanded, all his faculties +increased in power, and his figure seemed to grow. Swelling confidence +bore him on. He was anxious to reach Quebec and fulfill his mission. +Then he would go back to the vale of Onondaga and match himself against +the clever St. Luc or any other spokesman whom the Marquis Duquesne +might choose to send. + +But his golden dreams were of Quebec, which was a continuous beacon and +lure to him. Despite a life spent chiefly in the woods, which he loved, +he always felt the distant spell of great capitals and a gorgeous +civilization. In the New World Quebec came nearer than any other city to +fulfilling this idea. There the nobles of France, then the most +glittering country in the world, came in silks and laces and with gold +hilted swords by their sides. The young French officers fought with a +jest on their lips, but always with skill and courage, as none knew +better than the British colonials themselves. There was a glow and +glamor about Quebec which the sober English capitals farther south did +not have. It might be the glow and glamor of decay, but people did not +know it then, although they did know that the Frenchman, with his love +of the forest and skill in handling the Indians, was a formidable foe. + +"When do you think we'll reach the St. Lawrence, Dave?" he asked. + +"In two or three days if we're not attacked again," replied the hunter, +"and then we'll get a bigger boat and row down the river to Quebec." + +"Will they let us pass?" + +"Why shouldn't they? There's no war, at least not yet." + +"That battle back there in the gorge may not have been war, but it +looked precisely like it." + +The hunter laughed deep in his throat, and it was a satisfied laugh. + +"It did look like it," he said, "and it was war, red war, but nobody was +responsible for it. The Marquis Duquesne, the Governor General of +Canada, who is Onontio to our Iroquois, will raise his jeweled hand, and +protest that he knew nothing about those Indians, that they were wild +warriors from the west, that none of his good, pious Indians of Canada +could possibly have been among them. And the Intendant, Francois Bigot, +the most corrupt and ambitious man in North America, will say that they +obtained no rifles, no muskets, no powder, no lead from him or his +agents. Oh, no, these fine French gentlemen will disown the attack upon +us, as they would have disavowed it, just the same, if we had been +killed. I want to warn you, Robert, and you, Tayoga, that when you reach +Quebec you'll breathe an air that's not that of the woods, nor yet of +Albany or New York. It's a bit of old Europe, it's a reproduction on a +small scale of the gorgeous Versailles over there that's eating the +heart out of France. The Canadian Frenchman is a good man, brave and +enduring, as I ought to know, but he's plundered and fooled by those +people who come from France to make fame or quick fortunes here." + +He spoke with earnestness, but not as a hunter. Rather he seemed now to +Robert, despite his forest dress, to be a man of the world, one who +understood cities as well as the wilderness. + +"I don't know all your life, Dave," said young Lennox, "but I'm quite +sure you know a great deal more than you would have people to think. +Sometimes I believe you've been across the great water." + +"Then you believe right, Robert. I never told you in so many words +before, but I've been in Europe. I'll talk to you about it another time, +not now, and I'll choose where and when." + +He spoke so positively that Robert did not pursue the topic, knowing +that if the hunter wished to avoid it he had good reasons. Yet he felt +anew that David Willet, called the Great Bear by the Iroquois, had not +spent his whole life in the woods and that when the time came he could +tell a tale. There was always the fact that Willet spoke excellent +English, so unlike the vernacular of the hunters. + +The afternoon was waning fast. The sun was setting in an ocean of fire +that turned the blue line of the mountains in the east to red. The slope +of the land made the current of the river much swifter, and Robert and +Willet drew in their paddles, leaving the work to Tayoga alone, who sat +in the prow and guided their light craft with occasional strokes, +letting the stream do the rest. + +There was no more expert canoeman than Tayoga in the whole northern +wilderness. A single sweep of his paddle would send the canoe to any +point he wished, and apparently it was made without effort. There was no +shortening of the breath nor any sudden and violent movement of his +figure. It was all as smooth and easy as the flowing of the water +itself. It seemed that Tayoga was doing nothing, and that the canoe once +more was alive, the master of its own course. + +The ocean of fire faded into a sea of gray, and then black night came, +but the canoe sped on in the swift current toward the St. Lawrence. It +was still the wilderness. The green forest on either side of the stream +was unbroken. No smoke from a settler's chimney trailed across the sky. +It was the forest as the Indian had known it for centuries. Robert, +sitting in the center of the canoe, quit dreaming of great cities and +came back to his own time and place. He felt the majesty of all that +surrounded him, but he was not lonely, nor was he oppressed. Instead, +the night, the great forest, the swift river and the gliding canoe +appealed to his sensitive and highly imaginative mind. He was uplifted +and he felt the confidence and elation that contribute so much to +success. + +It was characteristic of the three, so diverse in type, and yet knitted +so closely together in friendship, that they would talk much at times +and at other times have silence long and complete. Now, neither spoke +for at least three hours. Tayoga, in the prow, made occasional strokes +of his paddle, but the current remained swift and the speed of the canoe +was not slackened. The young Onondaga devoted most of his time to +watching. Much wreckage from storms or the suction of flood water often +floated on the surface of these wild rivers, and his keen eyes searched +for trunk or bough or snag. They also scanned at intervals the green +walls speeding by on either side, lest they might pass some camp fire +and not notice it, but finding no lighter note in the darkness he felt +sure that no hostile bands were near. + +About midnight the force of the current began to abate and Robert and +Willet used the paddles. The darkness also thinned. The rainless clouds +drifted away and disclosed a full moon, which turned the dusk of the +water to silver. The stars came out in cluster after cluster and the +skies became a shining blue. The wilderness revealed itself in another +and splendid phase, and Robert saw and admired. + +"How long will we go on, Dave?" The words were his and they were the +first to break the long silence. + +"Until nearly daylight," replied Willet. "Then we can land, take the +canoe into the bushes and rest. What do you say, Tayoga?" + +"It is good," replied the Onondaga. "We are not weary, because the +river, of its own accord, has borne us on its bosom, but we must sleep. +We would not wish to appear heavy of eye and mind before the children of +Onontio." + +"Well spoken, Tayoga," said the hunter. "An Iroquois chief knows that +appearance and dignity count, and you were right to remind us of it. I +think that by the next sunset we'll be meeting French, not the Canadian +French that they call _habitants_, but outposts made up mostly of +officers and soldiers from France. They'll be very curious about us, +naturally so, and since your new friend Dayohogo has announced that you +are a great orator, you can do most of the talking and explaining, +Robert." + +"I'll talk my best," replied young Lennox. "Nobody can do more." + +As agreed, they drew the canoe into the bushes shortly before daylight, +and slept several hours. Then they returned to the river and resumed +their journey. By the middle of the afternoon they saw signs of +habitation, or at least of the presence of human beings. They beheld two +smokes on the right bank, and one on the left, trailing black lines +against the blue of the sky, but they were all far away, and they did +not care to stop and determine their origin. + +Shortly before sunset they saw a camp fire, very close on the eastern +shore, and as they drew near the figures of men in uniform were visible +against the red glow. + +"I think we'd better draw in here," said Robert. "This is undoubtedly an +outpost, and, likely, an officer of some importance is in charge. Ours +is a mission of peace, and we want to placate as many people as we can, +as we go." + +"It is so," said Tayoga, making a sweep or two of the paddle, and +sending the canoe in a diagonal line toward the designated shore. + +Two men in blue uniforms with white facings walked to the edge of the +water and looked at them with curiosity. Robert gave them a gaze as +inquiring as their own, and after the habit of the forest, noted them +carefully. He took them to be French of France. One was about forty +years of age, rather tall, built well, his face browned by forest life. +He had black, piercing eyes and a strong hooked nose. A man of +resolution but cold of heart, Robert said to himself. The other, a +little smaller, and a little younger, was of much the same type. The +uniforms of both were fine and neat, and they bore themselves as +officers of importance. Like St. Luc, they fortified Robert's opinion of +what he was going to find at Quebec. + +Neither of the men spoke until the canoe touched the shore, and its +three occupants sprang out. Then they bowed politely, though Robert +fancied that he saw a trace of irony in their manner, and the elder said +in good English: + +"Good evening, gentlemen." + +"Good evening, Messieurs," said Robert, remembering that he was to be +spokesman. "We are English." + +"I can see readily that two of you are." + +"The third, Tayoga, the son of a great Onondaga chief, is English also +at heart." + +The lips of the Frenchman curled ever so little. Robert saw at once +that he challenged his assertion about Tayoga, but he did not seem to +notice it, as he expected that his comrades and himself would be guests +in the French camp. + +"I have mentioned Tayoga," he said, "but I will introduce him again. He +is of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League +of the Hodenosaunee. I also present Mr. David Willet, a famous scout and +hunter, known to the Indians, and perhaps to some of the French, too, as +the Great Bear. My own name is Robert Lennox, of Albany and New York, +and I have done nothing that is descriptive of me, but I bear important +letters from the Governor of New York to Quebec, to be delivered to the +Marquis Duquesne, the Governor General of Canada." + +"That, young sir, is no slight mission," said the elder man, "and it is +our good fortune to speed you on your way. My friend is the Chevalier +Francois de Jumonville, one of France's most gallant officers, and I am +Auguste de Courcelles, a colonel by fortune's favor, in the service of +His Majesty, King Louis." + +"I am sure," said Robert, "that it is not chance or the favor of fortune +that has given you such important rank. Your manner and presence are +sufficient assurance to me that you have won your rank with your own +merits." + +De Courcelles laughed a little, but it was a pleased laugh. + +"You have a more graceful tongue than most of the English," he said, +"and I could almost believe you had been at court." + +"No nearer a court than Albany or New York." + +"Then, sir, your credit is all the greater, because you have acquired so +much with so little opportunity." + +Robert bowed formally and Colonel de Courcelles bowed back in the same +manner. + +"The roads from Albany to Quebec are but trails," said de Courcelles, +"but I hope your journey has been easy and pleasant." + +Willet gave Robert a warning glance, and the lad replied: + +"Fairly pleasant. We have met a slight obstacle or two, but it was not +hard to remove them." + +De Courcelles lifted his eyebrows a little. + +"'Tis reported," he said, "that the savages are restless, that your +English governors have been making them presents, and, as they interpret +them, 'tis an inducement for them to take up the tomahawk against our +good Canadians. Oh, don't be offended, Mr. Lennox! I have not said I +believe such tales. Perhaps 'tis but the tongue of scandal wagging in +this way, because it must wag in some way." + +Robert believed much meaning underlay the man's words, and he made rapid +surmises. Was de Courcelles trying to draw him out? Did he know of the +attack made upon them at the hollow beside the river? Did he seek to +forestall by saying the English were corrupting the Indians and sending +them forth with the tomahawk? All these questions passed swiftly in his +mind, but the gift discovered so newly came to his aid. His face +expressed nothing, and smiling a little, he replied: + +"The tongue of scandal, sir, does indeed wag wildly. The Governor of New +York seeks at all times to keep peace among the Indians, and the fact +that I am bearing letters from him to the Marquis Duquesne is proof of +his good intentions." + +"I accept your professions," said de Courcelles, "as I trust you will +accept my own assurances of amity and good faith. Why should we discuss +politics, when we are well met here in the woods? We have a fairly good +camp, and it's at your service. If I may judge by appearances your +journey has been attended by some hardships." + +"You infer correctly," replied Robert, "and we shall be glad indeed to +share your fire and food with you." + +De Courcelles and Jumonville led the way to a large camp fire around +which at least fifty French, Canadians and Indians were seated. All the +French and Canadians were in uniform, and the Canadians, although living +in a colder climate, had become much darker than the parent stock. In +truth, many of them were quite as dark as the Indians. + +These Canadians of the French stock were, for the present, silent men, +and Robert regarded them with the deepest interest. Those who were not +in uniform wore long frock coats of dark gray or dark brown, belted at +the waist with a woolen sash of bright colors, decorated heavily with +beads. Trousers and waistcoats were of the same material as the coats, +but their feet were inclosed in Indian moccasins, also adorned +profusely with beads. They wore long hair in a queue, incased in an +eel-skin, and with their swarthy complexions and high cheek bones they +looked like wild sons of the forest to Robert. Tayoga, the Onondaga, was +to him a more civilized being. All the Canadians were smoking short +pipes, and, while they did not speak, their black eyes, restless with +eager curiosity, inspected the strangers. + +The Indians in de Courcelles' party were of two types, the converted +Indians of Canada, partly in white man's costume, and utterly savage +Indians of the far west, in very little costume at all, one or two of +them wearing only the breech cloth. The looks they bestowed upon Robert +and his comrades were far from friendly, and he wondered if any Ojibway, +a warrior who perhaps owned Tandakora as a chief, was among them. They +were sitting about the fire and none of them spoke. + +"We cannot offer you a banquet," said de Courcelles, "but we can give +you variety, none the less. This portion of His Majesty's territory is a +wilderness, but it provides an abundance of fish and game." + +Robert believed that he had alluded purposely to the territory as "His +Majesty's," and, his mind challenging it instantly, he was about to +reply that in reality it was the northern part of the Province of New +York, but his second and wiser thought caused him to refrain. He would +enter upon no controversy with the older man, especially when he saw +that the latter wished to draw him into one. De Courcelles, seeing that +his lead was not followed, devoted himself to hospitality. + +"We have venison, beaver tail, quail, good light bread and some thin +red wine," he said. "You Americans or English--which shall I call you?" + +"Either," replied Robert, "because we are both." + +"Then English it shall be for the present, because you are under that +flag. I was going to say that you are somewhat hostile to wine, which we +French love, and which we know how to drink in moderation. In some +respects we are a people of more restraint than you are. The slow, cold +English mind starts with an effort, but when it is started it is stopped +with equal difficulty. You either do too little or too much. You lack +the logic and precision of the Frenchman." + +Robert smiled and replied lightly. Having avoided controversy upon one +point, he was of no mind to enter it upon another, and de Courcelles, +not pressing a third attack, entered with Jumonville upon his duties as +host. Both were graceful, easy, assured, and they fulfilled Robert's +conception of French officers, as men of the world who knew courts and +manners. It was a time when courts were more important than they are +today, and they were recognized universally as the chief fountains from +which flowed honor and advancement. + +Robert did not like them as well as St. Luc, but he found a certain +charm in their company. They could talk of things that interested him, +and they exerted themselves, telling indirectly of the glories of Quebec +and alluding now and then to the greater splendors of Paris and +Versailles. It was a time when the French monarchy loomed as the +greatest power in the world. The hollowness and decay of the House of +Bourbon were not yet disclosed, even to the shrewdest observers, and a +spell was cast upon all the civilized nations by the gorgeous and +glittering world of fashion and the world of arms. The influence reached +even into the depths of the vast North American wilderness and was felt +by Robert as he sat beside the camp fire in the savage woods with the +Frenchmen. + +He drank a little of the red wine, but only a very little, and Tayoga +would not touch it at all. Willet took a small leather cup of it, but +declined a second. The food was good, better cooked than it usually was +among the English colonists, where the table was regarded as a +necessity, and in no particular as a rite. Robert, despite his habitual +caution, found his heart warming toward his French hosts. It could not +be possible that the Indians had been set upon his comrades and himself +by the French! The warmth of his heart increased when one of the +Canadians took a violin from a cloth cover and began to play wailing old +airs. Like so many others, Robert was not made melancholy by melancholy +music. Instead, he saw through a pleasing glow and the world grew poetic +and tender. The fire sank and Americans, French, Canadians and Indians +listened with the same silent interest. Presently the violinist played a +livelier tune and the _habitants_ sang to the music: + + "Malbrouck, s'en va t-en guerre + Mironton, mironton, mirontaine; + Malbrouck s'en va t-en guerre + Ne sait quand reviendra." + +Then he left Malbrouck, and it was: + + "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." + +The Canadians sang well, particularly in "The Bridge of Avignon," and +the dying fire, the black woods around them and the sighing wind created +an effect that no stage scenery could ever have given it. When the last +note melted with the wind de Courcelles sighed a little and stared into +the sinking fire. + +"It is a fair country, sweet France," he said; "I myself have stood upon +the bridge of Avignon, and I have watched the pretty girls. It may be +that I have had a kiss or two, but all that is far away now. This is a +bolder country than France, Mr. Lennox, larger, more majestic, but it is +wild and savage, and will be so for many years to come. Nor can the +rules that apply to old and civilized Europe apply here, where the deeds +of men, like the land, are wilder, too." + +Robert was conscious of some meaning in his words, perhaps a trace of +apology for a deed that he had done or would do, but in the mind of +young Lennox men's standards should be the same, whether in the +wilderness of New York and Canada or in the open fields of France and +England. De Courcelles, thoughtful for a moment, turned suddenly to the +man with the violin and cried: + +"Play! Play again!" + +The man played quaint old airs, folk songs that had been brought from +Normandy and Brittany, and the _habitants_ sang them in low voices or +rather hummed them in the subdued manner that seemed fitting to the +night, since the black shadows were creeping up closer, leaving only the +fire, as a core of light with the dusky figures around it. During all +the talk the Indians had been silent. They had eaten their food and +remained now, sitting in Turkish fashion, the flickering flames that +played across their faces giving to them a look sinister and menacing to +the last degree. + +The Frenchmen, too, fell silent, as if their courtesy was exhausted and +conversation had become an effort. The last of the old French airs was +finished, and the player put his violin away. Jumonville, who had spoken +but little, threw a fresh stick on the fire and looked at the black wall +of circling forest. + +"I can never get quite used to it," he said. "The wilderness is so +immense, so menacing that when I am in it at night a little shiver will +come now and then. I suppose our remote ancestors who lived in caves +must have had fear at their elbows all their lives." + +"Very likely," said de Courcelles, thoughtfully, staring into the coals. +"It isn't strange that many people have worshiped fire as God. Why +shouldn't they when it brings light in the dark, and lifts up our souls, +when it warms us and makes us feel strong, when it cooks our food and +when in the earlier day it drove away the great wild animals, with +which man was not able to fight on equal terms?" + +"I am not one to undervalue fire," said Robert. + +"Few of us do in the forest. The night grows chill, but two of our good +Canadians will keep the coals alive until morning. And now I suppose you +are weary with your day's travels and wish sleep. I see that you have +blankets of your own or I should offer you some of ours." + +Tayoga had been sitting before the fire, as silent as the Canadian +Indians, his rifle across his knees, his eyes turned toward the blaze. +The glow of the flames fell upon him, disclosing his lofty countenance, +his splendidly molded figure, and his superiority to the other Indians, +who were not of the Hodenosaunee and who to him were, therefore, as much +barbarians as all people who were not Greeks were barbarians to the +ancient Greeks. Not a word of kinship or friendship had passed between +him and them. For him, haughty and uncompromising, they did not exist. +For a long time his deep unfathomable eyes had never turned from the +fire, but now he rose suddenly and said: + +"Someone comes in the forest!" + +De Courcelles looked up in surprise. + +"I hear nothing," he said. + +"Someone comes in the forest!" repeated Tayoga with emphasis. + +De Courcelles glanced at his own Indians. They had not yet moved, but in +a moment or two they too rose to their feet, and then he knew that the +Onondaga was right. Now Robert also heard a moccasined and light +footstep approaching. A darker shadow appeared against the darkness, and +the figure of an Indian, gigantic and sinister, stepped within the +circle of the firelight. + +It was Tandakora, the Ojibway. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +NEW FRANCE + + +The huge and savage warrior had never looked more malignant. His face +and his bare chest were painted with the most hideous devices, and his +eyes, in the single glance that he cast upon Robert and his comrades, +showed full of black and evil passions. Then, as if they were no longer +present, he stalked to the fire, took up some cooked deer meat that lay +beside it, and, sitting down Turkish fashion like the other Indians, +began to eat, not saying a word to the Frenchmen. + +It was the action of a savage of the savages, but Robert, startled at +first by the unexpected appearance of such an enemy, called to his aid +the forest stoicism that he had learned and sat down, calm, outwardly at +least. The initiative was not his now, nor that of his comrades, and he +glanced anxiously at de Courcelles to see how he would take this rude +invasion of his camp. The French colonel looked at Tandakora, then at +Jumonville, and Jumonville looked at him. The two shrugged their +shoulders, and in a flash of intuition he was convinced that they knew +the Ojibway well. + +Whatever anger de Courcelles may have felt at the manners of the savage +he showed none at all. All the tact and forbearance which the French +used with such wonderful effect in their dealings with the North +American Indians were summoned to his aid. He spoke courteously to +Tandakora, but, as his words were in the Ojibway dialect, Robert did not +understand them. The Indian made a guttural reply and continued to gnaw +fiercely at the bone of the deer. De Courcelles still took no offense, +and spoke again, his words smooth and his face smiling. Then Tandakora, +in his deep guttural, spoke rapidly and with heat. When he had finished +de Courcelles turned to his guests, and with a deprecatory gesture, +said: + +"Tandakora's heart burns with wrath. He says that you attacked him and +his party in the forest and have slain some of his warriors." + +"Tandakora lies!" + +It was the Onondaga who spoke. His voice was not raised, but every +syllable was articulated clearly, and the statement came with the impact +of a bullet. The tan of de Courcelles' face could not keep a momentary +flush from breaking through, but he kept his presence of mind. + +"It is easy enough to call a man a liar," he said, "but it is another +thing to prove it." + +"Since when," said Tayoga, haughtily, "has the word of an Ojibway, a +barbarian who knows not the law, been worth more than that of one who is +a member of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee?" + +He spoke in English, which Robert knew the Ojibway understood and which +both Frenchmen spoke fluently. The great hand of Tandakora drifted down +toward the handle of his tomahawk, but Tayoga apparently did not see +him, his fathomless eyes again staring into the fire. Robert looked at +Willet, and he saw the hunter's eye also fall upon the handle of his +tomahawk, a weapon which he knew the Great Bear could hurl with a +swiftness and precision equal to those of any Indian. He understood at +once that Tayoga was protected by the hunter from any sudden movement by +the Ojibway and his great strain relaxed. + +De Courcelles frowned, but his face cleared in an instant. Robert, +watching him now, believed he was not at all averse to a quarrel between +the Onondaga and the Ojibway. + +"It is not a question for me to decide," he replied. "The differences of +the Hodenosaunee and the western tribes are not mine, though His +Majesty, King Louis of France, wishes all his red brethren to dwell +together in peace. Yet I but tell to you, Tayoga, what Tandakora has +told to me. He says that you three attacked him and peaceful warriors +back there in a gorge of the river, and slew some of his comrades." + +"Tandakora lies," repeated Tayoga in calm and measured tones. "It is +true that warriors who were with them fell beneath our bullets, but they +came swimming in the night, seeking to murder us while we slept, and +while there is yet no war between us. An Onondaga or a Mohawk or any +warrior of the Hodenosaunee hates and despises a snake." + +The words, quiet though they were, were fairly filled with concentrated +loathing. The eyes of the huge Ojibway flashed and his clutch on the +handle of his tomahawk tightened convulsively, but the fixed gaze of the +hunter seemed to draw him at that moment. He saw that Willet's eyes were +upon him, that every muscle was attuned and that the tomahawk would leap +from his belt like a flash of lightning, and seeing, Tandakora paused. + +The two Frenchmen looked at Tayoga, at Tandakora and at Willet. Then +they looked at each other, and being acute men with a full experience of +forest life, they understood the silent drama. + +"I don't undertake to pass any judgment here," said de Courcelles, after +a pause. "It is the word of one warrior against another, and I cannot +say which is the better. But since you are going to the Marquis Duquesne +at Quebec, Mr. Lennox, the matter may be laid before him, and it is for +those who make charges to bring proof." + +The words were silky, but Robert saw that they were intended to weave a +net. + +"We are on an official mission from the Governor of the Province of New +York to the Governor General of Canada," he said. "We cannot be tried at +Quebec for an offense that we have never committed, and for our +commission of which you have only the word of a barbarian who twice +tried to murder us." + +The hand of Tandakora on the handle of his tomahawk again made a +convulsive movement, but the gaze of the hunter was fixed upon him with +deadly menace, and another hand equally as powerful and perhaps quicker +than his own was clutched around the handle of another tomahawk. Again +the Ojibway paused and chose the way of peace. + +"Patience, Tandakora," said Jumonville, taking the initiative for the +first time. "If you have suffered wrongs Onontio will avenge them. His +eye sees everything, and he does not forget his children of the western +forests." + +"When we first saw him," said Robert, "he was with the Chevalier Raymond +Louis de St. Luc, who was going with belts from the Marquis Duquesne to +the council of the fifty chiefs in the vale of Onondaga. Now he has come +on another course, and is here far from the vale of Onondaga." + +"We will dismiss the matter," said de Courcelles, who evidently was for +peace also. "Since you and your friends are our guests, Mr. Lennox, we +cannot treat you except as such. Take to your blankets and you rest as +safely with us as if you were sleeping in your own town of Albany." + +Willet removed his hand from the handle of his tomahawk, and, rising to +his full height, stretched himself and yawned. + +"We accept your pledge in the spirit in which it is given, Colonel de +Courcelles," he said, "and being worn from a long day and long toil I, +for one, shall find sweet slumber here on the leaves with a kindly sky +above me." + +"Then, sir, I bid you a happy good night," said Colonel de Courcelles. + +Without further ado the three folded their blankets them and fell asleep +on the leaves. + +Robert, before closing his eyes, had felt assured that no harm would +befall them while they were in the camp of de Courcelles, knowing that +the French colonel could not permit any attack in his own camp upon +those who bore an important message from the Governor of New York to the +Governor General of Canada. Hence his heart was light as he was wafted +away to the land of slumber, and it was light again when he awoke the +next morning at the first rays of dawn. + +Tayoga and Willet still slept, and he knew that they shared his +confidence, else these wary rovers of the woods would have been watching +rather than sleeping. Jumonville also was still rolled in his blankets, +but de Courcelles was up, fully dressed, and alert. Several of the +Canadians and Indians were building a fire. Robert's questing eye sought +at once for the Ojibway, but he was gone, and the youth was not +surprised. His departure in the night was a relief to everybody, even to +the French, and Robert felt that an evil influence was removed. The air +that for a space the night before had been poisonous to the lungs was +now pure and bracing. He took deep breaths, and his eyes sparkled as he +looked at the vast green forest curving about them. Once more he felt to +the full the beauty and majesty of the wilderness. Habit and use could +never dull it for him. + +De Courcelles turned upon him a frank and appreciative eye. Robert saw +that he intended to be pleasant, even genial that morning, having no +reason for not showing his better side, and the lad, who was learning +not only to fence and parry with words, but also to take an +intellectual pleasure in their use, was willing to meet him half way. + +"I see, Mr. Lennox," said de Courcelles gayly, "that you are in a fine +humor this morning. Your experience with the Ojibway has left no ill +results. He departed in the night. One can never tell what strange ideas +these savages will take into their heads." + +"I have forgotten it," said Robert lightly. "I knew that a French +gentleman could not take the word of a wild Ojibway against ours." + +De Courcelles gave him a sharp glance, but the youth's face was a mask. + +"At least," he said, "the matter is not one of which I could dispose. +Nor can any government take note of everything that passes in a vast +wilderness. I, too, shall forget it. Nor is it likely that it will ever +be taken before the Marquis Duquesne. Come, our breakfast will soon be +ready and your comrades are awakening." + +Robert walked down to a small brook, bathed his face, and returned to +find the food ready. He did not wholly trust either de Courcelles or +Jumonville, but their manners were good, and it was quite evident that +they no longer wished to interfere with the progress of the mission. +Tayoga and Willet also seemed to have forgotten the episode of the night +before, and asked no questions about Tandakora. After breakfast, the +three put their canoe back in the river, and thanking their hosts for +the courtesy of a night in their camp, shot out into the stream. De +Courcelles and Jumonville, standing on the bank, waved them farewell, +and they held their paddles aloft a moment or two in salute. Then a bend +shut them from view. + +"I don't trust them," said Robert, after a long silence. "This is our +soil, but they march over it and calmly assume that it's their own." + +"King George claims it, and King Louis claims it, too," said Willet in a +whimsical tone, "but I'm thinking it belongs to neither. The ownership, +I dare say, will not be decided for many a year. Now, Tayoga, what do +you think has become of that demon, Tandakora?" + +The Onondaga looked at the walls of foliage on either side of the stream +before answering. + +"One cannot tell," he said in his precise language of the schools. "The +mind of the Ojibway is a fitful thing, but always it is wild and +lawless. He longs, night and day, for scalps, and he covets ours most. +It is because we have defeated the attempts he has made already." + +"Do you think he has gone ahead with the intention of ambushing us? +Would he dare?" + +"Yes, he would dare. If he were to succeed he would have little to fear. +A bullet in one of our hearts, fired from cover on the bank, and then +the wilderness would swallow him up and hide him from pursuit. He could +go to the country around the last and greatest of the lakes, where only +the white trapper or explorer has been." + +"It gives me a tremendously uncomfortable feeling, Tayoga, to think that +bloodthirsty wretch may be waiting for a shot at us. How are we to +guard against him?" + +"We must go fast and watch as we go. Our eyes are keen, and we may see +him moving among the trees. The Ojibway is no marksman, and unless we +sit still it is not likely that he can hit us." + +Tayoga spoke very calmly, but his words set Robert's heart to beating, +understanding what an advantage Tandakora had if he sought to lie in +ambush. He knew that the soul of the Ojibway was full of malice and that +his craving for scalps was as strong as the Onondaga had said it was. +Had it been anyone else he would not follow them, but Robert foresaw in +Tandakora a bitter and persistent enemy. Both he and Willet, feeling the +wisdom of Tayoga's advice, began to paddle faster. But the hunter +presently slowed down a little. + +"No use to take so much out of ourselves now that we'll just creep along +later on," he said. + +"The temptation to go fast is very strong," said Robert. "You feel then +that you're really dodging bullets." + +Tayoga was looking far ahead toward a point where the stream became much +narrower and both banks were densely wooded, as usual. + +"If Tandakora really means to ambush us," he said, "he will be there, +because it offers the best opportunity, and it is a place that the heart +of a murderer would love. Suppose that Dagaeoga and I paddle, and that +the Great Bear rests with his rifle across his knees ready to fire at +the first flash. We know what a wonderful marksman the Great Bear is, +and it may be Tandakora who will fall." + +"The plan, like most of yours, is good, Tayoga," said Willet. "The Lord +has given me some skill with the rifle, and I have improved it with +diligent practice. I think I can watch both sides of the stream pretty +well, and if the Ojibway fires I can fire back at the flash. We'll rely +upon our speed to make his bullet miss, and anyway we must take the +chance. You lads needn't exert yourselves until we come to the narrow +part of the stream. Then use the paddles for your lives." + +Robert found it hard to be slow, but his will took command of his +muscles and he imitated the long easy strokes of Tayoga. As the current +helped much, their speed was considerable, nevertheless. The river +flowed, a silver torrent, in the clear light of the morning, a fish +leaping up now and then in the waters so seldom stirred by any strange +presence. The whole scene was saturated with the beauty and the majesty +of the wilderness, and to the eye that did not know it suggested only +peace. But Robert often lifted his gaze from the paddle and the river to +search the green thickets on either side. They were only casual glances, +Willet being at once their sentinel and guard. + +The great hunter was never more keenly alert. His thick, powerful figure +was poised evenly in the canoe, and the long-barreled rifle lay in the +hollow of his arm, his hand on the lock and his finger on the trigger. +Eyes, trained by many years in the forest, searched continually among +the trees for a figure that did not belong there, and, at the same +time, he listened for the sound of any movement not natural to the +wilderness. He felt his full responsibility as the rifleman of the fleet +of one canoe, and he accepted it. + +"Lads," he said, "we're approaching the narrowest part of the river. It +runs straight, I can see a full mile ahead, and for all that distance +it's not more than thirty yards from shore to shore. Now use the +strength that you've been saving, and send the canoe forward like an +arrow. Those are grand strokes, Tayoga! And yours too, Robert! Now, our +speed is increasing! We fairly fly! Good lads! I knew you were both +wonderful with the paddle, but I did not know you were such marvels! +Never mind the woods, Robert, I'm watching 'em! Faster! A little faster, +if you can! I think I see something moving in a thicket on our right! +Bang, there goes his rifle! Just as I expected, his bullet hit the water +twenty feet from us! And bang goes my own rifle! How do you like that, +my good friend Tandakora?" + +"Did you make an end of him?" asked Robert breathlessly. + +"No," replied the hunter, although his tone was one of satisfaction. "I +had to shoot when I saw the flash of his rifle, and I had only a glimpse +of him. But I saw enough to know that my bullet took him in the +shoulder. His rifle fell from his hand, and then he dropped down in the +underbrush, thinking one of you might snatch up a weapon and fire. No, I +didn't make an end of him, Robert, but I did make an end of his warfare +upon us for a while. That bullet must have gone clean through his +shoulder, and for the present at least he'll have to quit scalp hunting. +But how he must hate us!" + +"Let him hate," said Robert. "I don't care how much his hate increases, +so long as he can't lie in ambush for us. It's pretty oppressive to have +an invisible death lurking around you, unable to fend it off, and never +knowing when or where it will strike." + +"But we did fend it off," said the big hunter, as he reloaded the rifle +of which he had made such good use. "And now I can see the stream +widening ahead of us, with natural meadows on either side, where no +enemy can lay an ambush. Easy now, lads! The danger has passed. That +fiend is lying in the thicket binding up his wounded shoulder as best he +can, and tomorrow we'll be in Canada. Draw in your paddles, and I'll +take mine. You're entitled to a rest. You couldn't have done better if +you had been in a race, and, after all, it was a race for life." + +Robert lifted his paddle and watched the silver bubbles fall from it +into the stream. Then he sank back in his seat, relaxing after his great +effort, his breath coming at first in painful gasps, but gradually +becoming long and easy. + +"I'm glad we'll be in Canada tomorrow, Dave," he said, "because the +journey has surely been most difficult." + +"Pretty thick with dangers, that's true," laughed the hunter, "but we've +run past most of 'em. The rest of the day will be easy, safe and +pleasant." + +His prediction came true, their journey on the river continuing without +interruption. Two or three times they saw distant smoke rising above the +forest, but they judged that it came from the camp fires of hunters, and +they paid no further attention to it. That night they took the canoe +from the river once more, carrying it into the woods and sleeping beside +it, and the next day they entered the mighty St. Lawrence. + +"This is Canada," said Willet. "Farther west we claim that our territory +comes to the river and that we have a share in it. But here it's surely +French by right of long occupation. We can reach Montreal by night, +where we'll get a bigger boat, and then we'll go on to Quebec. It's a +fine river, isn't it, Robert?" + +"So it is," replied Robert, looking at the vast sheet of water, blue +then under a perfectly blue sky, flowing in a mighty mass toward the +sea. Tayoga's eyes sparkled also. The young warrior could feel to the +full the splendors of the great forests, rivers and lakes of his native +land. + +"I too shall be glad to see Stadacona," he said, "the mighty rock that +once belonged to a nation of the Hodenosaunee, the Mohawks, the Keepers +of the Eastern Gate." + +"It is the French who have pressed upon you and who have driven you from +some of your old homes, but it is the English who have respected all +your rights," said Robert, not wishing Tayoga to forget who were the +friends of the Hodenosaunee. + +"It is so," said the Onondaga. + +Taking full advantage of the current, and sparing the paddles as much as +they could, they went down the stream, which was not bare of life. They +saw two great canoes, each containing a dozen Indians, who looked +curiously at them, but who showed no hostility. + +"It's likely they take us for French," said Willet. "Of what tribe are +these men, Tayoga?" + +"I cannot tell precisely," replied the Onondaga, "but they belong to the +wild tribes that live in the regions north of the Great Lakes. They +bring furs either to Montreal or Quebec, and they will carry back +blankets and beads and guns and ammunition. Above the Great Lakes and +running on, no man knows how far, are many other vast lakes. It is said +that some in the distant north are as large as Erie or Ontario or +larger, but I cannot vouch for it, as we warriors of the Hodenosaunee +have never been there, hearing the tales from warriors of other tribes +that have come down to trade." + +"It's true, Tayoga," said Willet. "I've roamed north of the Great Lakes +myself, and I've met Indians of the tribes called Cree and Assiniboine, +and they've told me about those lakes, worlds and worlds of 'em, and +some of 'em so big that you can paddle days without reaching the end. I +suppose there are chains and chains of lakes running up and down a +hollow in the middle of this continent of ours, though it's only a guess +of mine about the middle. Nobody knows how far it is across from sea to +sea." + +"We better go in closer to the shore," said Tayoga. "A wind is coming +and on so big a river big waves will rise." + +"That's so, Tayoga," said Willet. "A little bark canoe like ours wasn't +made to fight with billows." + +They paddled near to the southern shore, and, being protected by the +high banks, the chief force of the wind passed over their heads. In the +center of the stream the water rose in long combers like those of the +sea, and a distant boat with oarsmen rocked violently. + +"Hugging the land will be good for us until the wind passes," said +Willet. "Suppose we draw in among those bushes growing in the edge of +the water and stop entirely." + +"A good idea," said Robert, who did not relish a swamping of the canoe +in the cold St. Lawrence. + +A few strokes of the paddle and they were in the haven, but the three +still watched the distant boat, which seemed to be of large size, and +which still kept in the middle of the stream. + +"It has a mast and can carry a sail when it wishes," said Willet, after +a long examination. + +"French officers are in it," said Tayoga. + +"I believe you are right, boy. I think I caught the glitter of a +uniform." + +"And the boat has steered about and is coming this way, Great Bear. The +French officers no doubt have the glasses that magnify, and, having seen +us, are coming to discover what we are." + +"Correct again, Tayoga. They've turned their prow toward us, and, as we +don't want to have even the appearance of hiding, I think we'd better +paddle out of the bushes and make way slowly again close to the shore." + +A few sweeps of the paddle and the canoe was proceeding once more down +the St. Lawrence, keeping in comparatively quiet waters near the +southern side. The large boat was approaching them fast, but they +pretended not to have seen it. + +"Probably it comes from Hochelaga," said Tayoga. + +"And your Hochelaga, which is the French Montreal, was Iroquois once, +also," said Robert. + +"Our fathers and grandfathers are not sure," replied Tayoga. "Cartier +found there a great village surrounded by a palisade, and many of our +people think that a nation of the Hodenosaunee, perhaps the Mohawks, +lived in it, but other of our old men say it was a Huron town. It is +certain though that the Hodenosaunee lived at Stadacona." + +"In any event, most of this country was yours or races kindred to yours +owned it. So, Tayoga, you are traveling on lands and waters that once +belonged to your people. But we're right in believing that boat has come +to spy us out. I can see an officer standing up and watching us with +glasses." + +"Let 'em come," said Willet. "There's no war--at least, not yet--and +there's plenty of water in the St. Lawrence for all the canoes, boats +and ships that England and France have." + +"If they hail us," said Robert, "and demand, as they probably will, what +we're about, I shall tell them that we're going to the Marquis Duquesne +at Quebec and show our credentials." + +The large boat rapidly came nearer, and as men on board furled the sail +others at the oars drew it alongside the little canoe, which seemed a +mere cork on the waves of the mighty St. Lawrence. But Robert, Tayoga +and Willet paddled calmly on, as if boats, barges and ships were +everyday matters to them, and were not to be noticed unduly. A tall +young man standing up in the boat hailed them in French and then in +English. Robert, watching out of the corner of his eye, saw that he was +fair, like so many of the northern French, that he was dressed in a +uniform of white with violet facings, and that his hat was black and +three-cornered. He learned afterward that it was the uniform of a +battalion of Languedoc. He saw also that the boat carried sixteen men, +all except the oarsmen being in uniform. + +"Who are you?" demanded the officer imperiously. + +Robert, to whom the others conceded the position of spokesman, had +decided already that his course should be one of apparent indifference. + +"Travelers," he replied briefly, and the three bent to their paddles. + +"What travelers are you and where are you going?" demanded the officer, +in the same imperious manner. + +The wash of the heavy boat made the frail canoe rock perilously, but its +three occupants appeared not to notice it. Using wonderful skill, they +always brought it back to the true level and maintained a steady course +ahead. On board the larger boat the oarsmen, rowing hard, kept near, and +for the third time the officer demanded: + +"Who are you? I represent the authority of His Majesty, King Louis of +France, upon this river, and unless you answer explicitly I shall order +my men to run you down." + +"But we are messengers," said Robert calmly. "We bear letters of great +importance to the Marquis Duquesne at Quebec. If you sink us it's likely +the letters will go down with us." + +"It's another matter if you are on such a mission, but I must demand +once more your names." + +"The highest in rank among us is the young chief, or coming chief, +Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee. Next comes David Willet, a famous hunter and +scout, well known throughout the provinces of New York and Massachusetts +and even in Canada, and often called by his friends, the Iroquois, the +Great Bear. As for me, I am Robert Lennox, of Albany and sometimes of +New York, without rank or office." + +The officer abated his haughty manner. The answer seemed to please him. + +"That surely is explicit enough," he said. "I am Louis de Galisonniere, +a captain of the battalion Languedoc, stationed for the present at +Montreal and charged with the duty of watching the river for all +doubtful characters, in which class I was compelled to put the three of +you, if you gave no explanations." + +"Galisonniere! That is a distinguished name. Was there not a Governor +General of Canada who bore it?" + +"A predecessor of the present Governor General, the Marquis Duquesne. It +gives me pride to say that the Count de Galisonniere was my uncle." + +Robert saw that he had found the way to young Galisonniere's good +graces through his family and he added with the utmost sincerity, too: + +"New France has had many a great Governor General, as we of the English +colonies ought to know, from the Sieur de Roberval, through Champlain, +Frontenac, de Beauharnais and on to your uncle, the Count de +Galisonniere." + +Willet and the Onondaga gave Robert approving looks, and the young +Frenchman flushed with pleasure. + +"You have more courtesy and appreciation for us than most of the +Bostonnais," he said. "I would talk further with you, but conversation +is carried on with difficulty under such circumstances. Suppose we run +into the first cove, lift your canoe aboard, and we'll take you to +Montreal, since that's our own port of destination." + +Robert agreed promptly. He wished to make a good impression upon de +Galisonniere, and, since the big boat was now far safer and more +comfortable than the canoe, two ends would be served at the same time. +Willet and the Onondaga also nodded in acquiescence, and a mile or two +farther on they and the canoe too went aboard de Galisonniere's stout +craft. Then the sail was set again, they steered to the center of the +stream and made speed for Montreal. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +GUESTS OF THE ENEMY + + +Captain Louis de Galisonniere proved to be a genial host, pleased with +his guests, pleased with himself, and pleased with the situation. Brave +and alert, he had also a certain amount of vanity which Robert had +tickled. It was not for nothing that he was a nephew of Count de +Galisonniere, once Governor General of Canada, rank and birth counting +for so much then with the French nation, and it was not for nothing, +either, that he had won his captaincy by valiant and diligent service of +his own. So it afforded him great satisfaction to be hospitable now, and +also to patronize slightly these men from the south, with whom in all +probability New France would be at war before another year had passed. +It was well also to impress the Onondaga, whom his vigilant mind +recognized at once as a youth of station. None knew better than de +Galisonniere the power and importance of the Iroquois, and how they +might tip the scale in a great war between the French and British +colonies. + +His boat, which he proudly called the _Frontenac_, after the early and +great Governor General of Canada, was equipped with supplies needed on +trips between ports on the St. Lawrence. After providing stools for his +guests, he offered them the light wine of France, even as de Courcelles +had done, but Robert and Tayoga declined, although Willet accepted a +glass. + +"We appreciate your courtesy," said Robert, "but we descendants of the +English in America do not take much to wine. I find that my head is much +better without it." + +"The intoxicating drinks of the white men are not good for the red +race," said Tayoga gravely. "The warriors of the Hodenosaunee are able +to fight anything else, but strong liquors take away their brains and +make them like little children who fly into passions over trifles." + +De Galisonniere looked with great interest at the young Onondaga, being +impressed by the dignity of his manner and the soberness of his speech. + +"You speak perfect English," he observed. + +"I learned it in a white man's school at Albany," said Tayoga. "Lennox +was my comrade there, just as he has been in the woods." + +"You will see a much greater town than Albany when you arrive at Quebec. +You will see a noble city, on a noble site, an impregnable fortress, +guarded by the most valiant troops in the world. For its like you would +have to cross the sea to our old land of France." + +"I have heard much of Stadacona, which you call Quebec," said Tayoga, +without any alteration of tone. "Our old men speak often of it, when it +belonged to our brethren, the Ganeagaono, known to you as the Mohawks, +who never sold or ceded it to anybody." + +De Galisonniere's face fell a little, but he recovered himself quickly. + +"That was generations ago," he said, "and time makes many shifts and +changes. There is a flux and efflux of all people, including the white, +like the ceaseless movement of sand upon a beach." + +The Onondaga was silent, but Robert saw that he did not unbend, and de +Galisonniere, feeling that it was unwise to pursue the topic, turned his +attention to the mighty river and its lofty wooded banks. + +"I don't believe there's another river in the world the equal of this +giant French stream of ours," he said. + +"Our noble British river, the Hudson, has much to say for itself," said +Robert. + +"A grand river, in truth. I have seen it, but large and splendid as it +is it lacks the length and size of the St. Lawrence." + +"It is beyond question a noble stream to travel on. One makes greater +speed here and suffers less hardship than in the forest." + +"I am glad that I can take you to Montreal." + +"Your hospitality to us, Captain de Galisonniere, is appreciated. I have +found French officers courteous and ready to share with us all they had. +You are not the first whom we have met on this journey. We encountered +far down in our province of New York the Chevalier Raymond de St. Luc." + +"St. Luc! St. Luc! The very flower of French chivalry! He is a relative +of the famous La Corne de St. Luc, of whom you have doubtless heard, and +at Quebec he is considered a model of all the qualities that make a +soldier and a gentleman." + +"He made a like impression upon me. Farther north we were so fortunate +as to meet more of your countrymen, Colonel de Courcelles and Captain de +Jumonville." + +"I know them both! Brave officers!" said de Galisonniere. + +But he turned away the conversation from the Frenchmen who had gone down +into territory that Robert considered a portion of the Province of New +York, and the lad surmised that, knowing a good deal about the nature of +their errands, he feared lest he might reveal something through chance +allusions. Instead, he talked of the St. Lawrence, Montreal, and the +glories of Quebec to which he hoped he might return soon. He addressed +most of his talk to Robert, but he spoke at times to Willet and Tayoga, +both of whom responded briefly. The wind meanwhile remained strong, and +it was not necessary to use the oars, the large sail carrying them +swiftly toward Montreal. Robert, while talking with de Galisonniere, +watched eagerly the two shores, seeing the smoke rise from the stout log +houses of the Canadians, and once the tall steeple of a church +dominating a little village, and seeming out of all proportion to the +congregation that surrounded it. + +"Yes, the church is very powerful with us," said de Galisonniere, +following his eyes and noting his expression. "It suits our people, +particularly our good Canadian French. Our priests are patriotic, brave, +self-sacrificing, and are a power in our dealings with the Indians." + +"I know it," said Robert. + +At night they reached Montreal, then much inferior in size and +importance to Quebec, the canoe was lifted from the _Frontenac_, and +after many exchanges of courtesies, the three went to an inn. + +"If chance offers," said Robert, "we shall be glad to help you as you +have helped us." + +"One never knows," said de Galisonniere. "You and I need not conceal +from each other that there is much talk of war between England and +France, which, of course, would mean war also between the English and +French colonies. If it comes, and come it will, I think, I trust that no +ill luck will befall you upon the battlefield." + +"And I wish you as well," said Robert, sincerely. + +The canoe was left in trustworthy hands, it being their purpose to sell +it on the morrow and buy a larger boat, and they walked through the +streets of this town of Hochelaga toward their inn. There were other +Indians on the street--French Indians they were called to distinguish +them from those who formed a British alliance--but none could be +compared with Tayoga, arrayed in the full splendor of a coming chief of +the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the League of the +Hodenosaunee. Never had he borne himself more haughtily, never had his +height appeared greater or his presence grander. Robert, looking at him, +felt that if St. Luc was the very flower of French chivalry, this young +comrade of his was to an even greater degree the very spirit and +essence of all that was best in the great League of the Hodenosaunee. + +The Indians--Hurons, Abenakis, St. Regis, Ottawas, and warriors from +farther west--watched Tayoga with fascinated eyes. They knew perfectly +well who the tall youth was, that he belonged to the great Iroquois +league, and they knew, too, in their secret hearts that he had the +superiority which Onondaga, Mohawk and their allied nations claimed. +Hence, while their looks sometimes expressed an unwilling admiration, +they were also charged always with hostility and hate. But Tayoga +apparently took no notice. Once more he was the Greek to whom all outer +peoples were barbarians. + +"I don't think the French can make much progress with him," whispered +Willet to Robert. "As the Indian has no written language, his memory is +long. When we reach Quebec he'll never forget for an instant that it was +once Stadacona, a village of the Mohawks, the Keepers of the Eastern +Gate, and one of the great nations of the Hodenosaunee." + +"No, he will not," said Robert, "and look who is waiting to meet us!" + +Standing before a low house, which was crowded with the goods of a fur +trader, were a half-dozen Indians, wild and savage in looks to the last +degree, and in the center was one whose shoulder was bound tightly with +a great roll of deerskin. In stature he rose far above the other +warriors, and he had a thickness in proportion. The hate that the rest +had shown when they looked upon Tayoga was nothing to his, which was +the very concentrated essence of all malice. + +"Our good friend, Tandakora, despite his wound seems to have arrived +ahead of us," said Willet to Robert. + +"Yes, and he shows very clearly that he would like to give Tayoga to the +torture with himself as torturer, and yet he must know that it was you +who put the bullet through his shoulder." + +"Quite true, Robert, but he resents the Onondaga more than he does us. +We are strangers, aliens to him, and he makes no comparisons with us, +but Tayoga is an Indian like himself, whom he has fought against, and +against whom he has failed. Watch us pass. For Tayoga, Tandakora will +not exist, and it will instill more poison into the heart of the +Ojibway." + +Willet was a good prophet. The Onondaga walked within five feet of the +Ojibway, but he did not show by the slightest sign that he was aware of +the existence of Tandakora. The entire little drama, played by the +children of the forest, was perfectly clear. Tandakora was dirt under +the feet of Tayoga, and Tandakora felt that it was so. His heart burned +within him and a twinge through his shoulder added to his anger. Yet he +was powerless there in Montreal with the French troops about, and he +could merely glare impotently while the three walked by ignoring his +existence. But they did not forget him, and each in his heart resolved +to be on watch against treacherous attack. + +They found on the slope of a high hill the inn to which de Galisonniere +had recommended them, and obtained quarters for the night. Monsieur +Jolivet, the proprietor, had lodged Indians before, great chiefs +treating with the French Government, and he did not think it strange +that Tayoga should come there. In truth, Monsieur Jolivet was a thrifty +man who despised no patronage for which the pay was assured, and since +peace still existed between France and Great Britain he was quite +willing to entertain any number of Bostonnais at his most excellent inn +on the slope of a high hill overlooking the St. Lawrence. Willet had +shown him the color of gold, and from natural ability and long +experience as an innkeeper being a shrewd reader of faces he was sure +that his three unusual guests could be trusted. + +Willet knew Canada better than Robert, and now he acted as spokesman. + +"We will sleep here only one night," he said, "because early tomorrow +morning we take boat for Quebec. We three will occupy one large room. +You have such a room with three beds, have you not?" + +"I have the room," responded Monsieur Jolivet promptly, "and the beds +can be put in it at once. Then all will be arranged quickly by Lizette +and Marie, the maids. Will you permit my man, Francois, to carry your +weapons to the chamber now?" + +"I think not," replied Willet, giving his rifle an affectionate look. +"I've lived so long with this good old rifle of mine that we hate to be +parted even for an hour. Tayoga and Mr. Lennox are younger than I am, +but they're beginning to feel the same way about their arms. If you +don't mind, Monsieur Jolivet, we'll keep our weapons with us." + +"Ah, I see, sir, that you're a man of sentiment," said Monsieur Jolivet, +laughing and rubbing his hands. "It is well that one can feel it in this +rough world of ours. But will Monsieur see a young officer who has come +from the commandant? Merely a little inquiry about your identity and an +examination of your papers, if you have any. It's according to our +custom, and it's just a formality, nothing more." + +Robert knew that it was far from being a formality, but his comrades and +he had nothing to fear, as their mission was duly accredited and they +carried the letters to the Marquis Duquesne. The young officer, a +Frenchman of Canadian birth, entered presently, and with the courtesy +characteristic of the French race, a trait that Robert liked, asked for +an account of themselves, which was given readily. As usual the effect +of the letters addressed to the Marquis Duquesne was magical, and, as +the officer withdrew, he tendered them all the help he could give for a +speedy and pleasant voyage to Quebec. + +Monsieur Jolivet gave them a supper in his best style. Although a native +of New France he was of Provencal blood, and he had a poetic strain. He +offered to his guests not an excellent inn alone, but a magnificent view +also, of which he made full use. The evening being warm with a soft and +soothing wind, Marie and Lizette set the table in a little garden, in +which early flowers were blooming already, offering delicate colors of +pink and rose and pale blue. The table was spread with a white cloth, +and silver and china were not lacking. The eyes of Robert, who had a +fastidious taste, glistened. + +"Monsieur Jolivet may be our enemy or not," he said, "but I like him. It +is not often that one can dine at such an inn, with such a view of +mountain, forest and magnificent river. In truth, the French do some +things well." + +"They surpass us in the matter of inns," said Willet. "They think more +about it--and take more trouble. I'm sorry we have to quarrel with the +French. They're good people, though they haven't been oversqueamish in +the use of savages against us, and they're really responsible for the +cruelties done by the painted demons." + +He spoke freely of red "savages" before Tayoga, knowing that the young +Onondaga would never think of applying the word to himself. Willet had +shown too often that he considered the people of the Hodenosaunee the +equals of anybody. Then he took their three rifles, laid them together +on the grass by the side of a graveled walk and, looking at the vast +expanse of mountain, forest and river, drew a deep breath. + +"It's not much like fighting for our lives back there in the gorge, is +it, Robert?" he asked. "It's a strange world here in America. We're +lying in a rocky hollow one day, shooting at people who are shooting at +us, and both sides shooting to kill, and two or three days later we're +sitting at an inn in a town, eating off silver and china." + +"It's a quick and pleasant transformation," said Robert, +appreciatively. + +He would have called it supper, but in Montreal it was dinner, and it +was served by Lizette and Marie. There was fish from the St. Lawrence, +chicken, beef, many vegetables, good white bread and coffee, all +prepared in the excellent manner characteristic of Monsieur Jolivet's +famous inn. Tayoga ate abundantly but delicately. He had learned the use +of knife and fork at the school in Albany, and, like Robert, he was +fastidious at the table. + +Monsieur Jolivet, after his manner, gave them much of his own presence. +One must be polite to the Bostonnais at such a time. He discoursed quite +freely of Montreal, and of its advantages as a great trading post with +the Indians, who already brought there vast quantities of furs. It would +become one of the greatest and most brilliant jewels in the French +crown, second perhaps only to Paris. But for the present, the chief +glory of New France could be seen only at Quebec Ah, when the Bostonnais +arrived there they would behold great lords and great ladies! + +The three listened, each interested in his own way. Robert's fancy saw +the silken splendor of a vice-regal court, and, anxious to know the +larger world, he was more glad than ever that he had come upon this +errand, dangerous though it had proved to be. + +They sat a while after the dinner was over, looking down at the town and +the great view beyond, a clear moon and brilliant stars casting a silver +light which illuminated almost like the day. They saw lights gleaming +in houses, and now and then shadowy figures passing. Out in the river a +boat with a mast rocked in the current, and Robert believed it was the +_Frontenac_ of Louis de Galisonniere. + +As the dusk thickened over the great river, the island, the hills and +the forest, Hochelaga seemed very small, and the inn of the excellent +Monsieur Jolivet was just a tiny point of light in all that vast +darkness. It shone, nevertheless, by contrast, and was a little island +of warmth and comfort in the sea of the wilderness. Monsieur Jolivet, +who was deeply interested in the Bostonnais and the proud young +Iroquois, talked freely. Under his light and chattering manner lay great +powers of perception, and he saw that he had guests of quality, each in +his own way. The hunter even was not an ordinary hunter, but, as +Monsieur Jolivet judged, a man of uncommon intellectual power, and also +of education. He would discover as much about them as he could, for his +own personal gratification, because he might give valuable information +to the commandant at Montreal, who was his friend, and because later on +he might speak a useful word or two in the ear of Louis de Galisonniere, +whom he knew well and whose good opinion he valued. + +Robert, who was in a cheerful mood and who wished to exercise his gift +of golden speech, met him half way, and enlarged upon the splendor and +power of Britain, the great kingdom that bestrode the Atlantic, seated +immovable in Europe, and yet spreading through her colonies in America, +increasing and growing mightier all the time. It was soon a test of +eloquence between him and Monsieur Jolivet, in which each was seeking +to obtain from the other an expression of the opinion that swayed his +country. The Onondaga was silent, and the hunter spoke only a word or +two, but each listened intently to the dialogue, which, however earnest +it might be, never went beyond the bounds of good humor. + +"I cannot make you see the truth," said Monsieur Jolivet, at last, +smiling and spreading his hands. "I cannot convince you that France is +the first of nations, the nation of light and learning and humanity, and +yet it is so. And seated here upon the St. Lawrence we shall build up +another France, the New France of America, which will shed light upon +you English or Bostonnais down below, and teach you the grace and beauty +of civilization." + +"We should be willing to learn from any who can teach us," said Robert, +"and such a willingness I claim is a chief merit of us English who are +born in America, or Bostonnais, as you would call us." + +Monsieur Jolivet once more spread out his hands in deprecation. + +"We argue in vain," he said. "But now Lizette comes with the coffee, +which is one of the most glorious triumphs of my inn. Does the young +chief drink coffee?" + +"Yes," replied Robert, "he learned at Albany all the white man's +habits." + +After the coffee they rose from the table and mine host prepared to show +them to their room. The darkness had thickened meanwhile and glimpses of +the river and the hills were faint. The little garden was enclosed by +three walls of darkness, being lighted on the side where it joined the +inn. Yet Robert thought he saw a shifting figure blacker than the +shadows in which it moved. + +Marie and Lizette took away the silver and china and Monsieur Jolivet +went ahead to show them to their room. Then something whistled in the +darkness, and an arrow buried to the head of the barb stood out in the +rear wall of the inn. The three seized their rifles, but the darker +shadow in the shadows was gone. Tayoga broke off the arrow level with +the wall, and threw the shaft into the garden. + +"It was Tandakora," he said, "seeking revenge. But since the arrow has +sped wrong he will not loose another shaft tonight. If it had not been +for his wounded shoulder the arrow might have gone true. It was a +treacherous deed, worthy of the savage Ojibway." + +"I hope the time will come," said Willet, "when I shall send a bullet +not through Tandakora's shoulder, but through his heart. I don't love +the shedding of blood, but the forest will be a better forest without +him. Meanwhile, say nothing, lads. Monsieur Jolivet is coming back, but +don't mention the arrow to him. He may find the head of it later on in +the wall, and then he can wonder about it as much as he pleases." + +Mine host bustled back. The foul and treacherous attempt, the breaking +off of the arrow, and the comment upon it had taken less than a minute, +and, good observer though he was, he noticed nothing unusual in the +appearance of his guests. They carried their rifles in their hands, but +many visitors to Montreal did the same, and as they were beautiful +weapons they might well guard against their loss. + +"Follow me, my Bostonnais," he said lightly. "I have the great room with +three beds for you, and I trust that you have enjoyed the dinner." + +"We have enjoyed it greatly, all of it, Monsieur Jolivet, and especially +the dessert," replied Robert with meaning. + +"Ah, the pastry," said Monsieur Jolivet, clasping his hands. "It is +Marie who made it. It is the gift that she has, and I shall tell her of +your praise." + +But Robert was not thinking of the pastry. It was of the arrow that he +spoke as dessert, although the excellent Monsieur Jolivet was destined +never to know the hidden significance of his words. The room which he +showed them with so much pride was a large apartment worthy of their +praise, having a polished, shining floor of oak, with furs spread here +and there upon it, and a low ceiling crossed with mighty beams also of +oak. Robert looked at the windows, three in number, and he saw with +satisfaction that they had heavy shutters. Monsieur Jolivet's glance +followed his own, and he said: + +"The shutters are for use in the winter, when the great colds come, and +the fierce winds rage. But you, messieurs, who live so much in the +forest, will, of course, prefer to keep them wide open tonight." + +Robert murmured assent, but when Monsieur Jolivet departed, wishing +them a polite good night, he looked at his comrades. + +"We are used to air," said Willet, "and lots of it, but those shutters +will be closed until morning. As Tayoga truly said, he will hardly dare +another arrow, but we mustn't take any risk, however small." + +Tayoga nodded approval, and drawing the shutters close, they fastened +them. Then they undressed and lay down upon their beds, but each +prepared to sleep with his rifle beside him. + +"The catches on those shutters are good and strong," said Willet, "and +Tandakora, even if he should come again, won't try to break them. It +wouldn't suit the purposes of the French for a warrior of a tribe allied +with them to be caught trying to murder English visitors, and, that +being the case, I expect to go to sleep soon and sleep well." + +He was as good as his word. Robert, who blew out the candle, soon heard +his regular breathing. Tayoga, who was used to rooms, the Iroquois +themselves having strong log houses, quickly followed him in slumber, +but young Lennox was not able to compose his nerves for a little while. +He was perhaps more sensitive and imaginative than his comrades, or the +close air may have kept him awake. He could not help feeling that +Tandakora was outside trying the fastenings of the shutters, and at last +rising, he walked on tiptoe and listened at every window in turn. He +heard nothing without but the breathing of the gentle wind, and then, +knowing that it had been only his vivid fancy, he went back to bed and +slept soundly. + +"Wake up, Robert, and breathe this air! After our having been sealed up +in a room all night the breeze is heavenly." + +The shutters were thrown back, and the hunter and Tayoga, fully dressed, +stood by the windows. The air, fresh, life-giving, coming over the great +forests and the mighty river, was pouring into the room in streams, and +Tayoga and Willet were facing it, in order that they might receive it +straight upon their foreheads. Robert joined them, and soon felt as if +he had been created anew and stronger. + +"I'll never again sleep in a room closed tight and hard," said Willet, +"not even to protect my life. I've roamed the free woods for so many +years that I think another such experience would make me choke to +death." + +"I'm not in love with it myself," said Robert, "but it makes the world +outside look all the grander and all the more beautiful." + +At their wish breakfast was served for them by Monsieur Jolivet in the +garden, Willet insisting that for the present he could not stay any +longer in a house. Robert from his seat could see the end of the broken +barb embedded in the wall, but neither mine host nor any of his +assistants had yet noticed it. + +Monsieur Jolivet was pleased that they should have such a brilliant day +to begin their journey to Quebec, and he was telling them where they +could sell their canoe and buy a good boat when Louis de Galisonniere +appeared in the garden and presented them the compliments of the +morning. He looked so trim and so gay that he brought with him a +cheerful breeze, and the three felt the effect of it, although they +wondered at the nature of his errand there. Robert invited him to join +them at breakfast and he accepted their invitation, taking a roll and +butter and a cup of coffee after the French custom which even then +prevailed. + +"I see that you've slept well," he said, "and that the inn of Monsieur +Jolivet is as kind to the Bostonnais as it is to the French and the +Canadians." + +"Its hospitality to us could be no finer if we came from Paris itself, +instead of the Province of New York," said Robert. "Our stay in Canada +has been short, but most interesting." + +Monsieur Jolivet had gone into the inn, and de Galisonniere said: + +"Montreal is a fine town and I would not depreciate it in the presence +of our host, but as I have told you before, our Quebec to which you are +going is the true glory of New France. My knowledge that you're going +there is the reason why I've come here this morning." + +"How is that?" asked Robert + +"Because I received orders last night to depart in the _Frontenac_ for +Quebec, a journey that I undertake with great willingness, since it +takes me where I wish to go. I have also the authority of the commandant +to ask your presence as guests for the voyage on board my vessel. Until +we French and you English actually go to war we might as well be +friends." + +Robert glanced at Tayoga and Willet and they nodded slightly. Then he +replied warmly that they accepted the invitation and would go with much +pleasure in the _Frontenac_. After breakfast they sold the canoe and +embarked presently, having first said goodby to Monsieur Jolivet, who +with his best napkin, waved them farewell. + +Robert was more than pleased at their good luck. The _Frontenac_ offered +them a better passage than any boat they could buy and have to row +perhaps with their own strength. Moreover, they were already on +excellent terms with de Galisonniere, and it would be a good thing for +them to arrive at Quebec in his company. + +A strong wind was blowing, and the _Frontenac_ moved swiftly over the +surface of the great stream which was like liquid green glass that +morning. The three had put their weapons, including Tayoga's bow and +arrows, in the cabin, and they sat on deck with de Galisonniere, who +looked with pride at the magnificent river which was the very artery of +life in the New France of the chevaliers. Robert's own heart throbbed as +he knew that this last stage of their journey would take them to famous +Quebec. + +"If the St. Lawrence didn't freeze over for such a long period," said de +Galisonniere, "this region would become in time the greatest empire in +the world." + +"But isn't that a huge 'if'?" asked Robert, laughing. + +De Galisonniere smiled. + +"It is," he said, "but New France is the chief jewel in the French +crown, nevertheless. In time the vice-regal court at Quebec will rule an +empire greater than that of France itself. Think of the huge lakes, the +great rivers, the illimitable forests, beyond them the plains over which +the buffalo herds roam in millions, and beyond them, so they say, range +on range of mountains and forests without end." + +"I have been thinking of them," said Robert, "but I've been thinking of +them in a British way." + +De Galisonniere laughed again and then grew serious. + +"It's natural," he said, "that you should think of them in a British +way, while I think of them in a French way. I suppose we shall have war, +Mr. Lennox, but doesn't it seem strange that England and France should +fight about American territory, when there's so much of it? Here's a +continent that civilized man cannot occupy for many generations. Both +England and France could be hidden away in its forests, and it would +take explorers to find them, and yet we must fight over a claim to +regions that we cannot occupy." + +Robert decided then that he liked young de Galisonniere very much. Some +such thoughts had been passing through his own mind, and he was glad +that he could talk frankly about the coming war with one who would be on +the other side, one who would be an official but not a personal enemy. +As the _Frontenac_ slid on through the tumbling green current they +talked earnestly. Willet, sitting near, glanced at them occasionally, +but he too had plenty of thoughts of his own, while Tayoga, saying +nothing, gazed at the high green southern shore. This, so the old men +said, had once been the land of the Mohawks, one of the great nations +of the Hodenosaunee, and now the children of Onontio, who had come with +firearms against bows and arrows, spoke of it as theirs since Manitou +first made the land rise from the deep. Tayoga was silent but he had +many thoughts, and they were thoughts that came to him often and stayed +long. + +"De Courcelles and Jumonville, whom you met in the forest," said de +Galisonniere, at length, "arrived in Montreal early last night, and +after a stay of only two or three hours sailed in a schooner for +Quebec." + +"Did you see them at all while they were in Montreal?" asked Robert, who +seemed to detect significance in the young Frenchman's tone. + +"Only for a few moments," replied de Galisonniere, and Robert, judging +that he wished to avoid more talk on the subject, made no further +reference to de Courcelles. But the knowledge that he had gone on ahead +to Quebec troubled him. De Courcelles was not so young and frank as de +Galisonniere, nor did he seem to have the fine soul and chivalric spirit +of St. Luc. Robert felt the three had cause to fear him. + +But the journey down the St. Lawrence continued without serious delay, +although the wind failed now and then and they took to the oars. It was +a voyage full of variety and interest to Robert. He slept that night +with his comrades on the deck of the _Frontenac_, and the next morning +he found a strong wind again blowing. + +In time they approached Quebec, and saw the increasing signs of +population that betokened proximity to what was then in the eyes of +North Americans a great capital. On either shore they saw the manor +houses of the seigneurs, solid stone structures, low, steep of roof and +gabled, with clustering outhouses, and often a stone mill near by. The +churches also increased in numbers, and at one point the _Frontenac_ +stopped and took on a priest, a tall strongly built man of middle years, +with a firm face. De Galisonniere introduced him as Father Philibert +Drouillard, and Robert felt his penetrating gaze upon his face. Then it +shifted to Willet and Tayoga, resting long upon the Onondaga. + +Robert, knowing the great power of the church in Canada, was curious +about Father Drouillard, whom he knew at once to be no ordinary man. His +lean ascetic face seemed to show the spirit that had marked Jogues and +Goupil and those other early priests whom no danger nor Indian torture +could daunt. But he was too polite to ask questions, feeling that time +would bring him all the information he wanted, in which he was right, as +de Galisonniere said later in the day when Father Drouillard was sitting +in the little cabin out of hearing: + +"A man of influence at Quebec. He has no parish, nor seems to wish any, +but he is deep in the councils of the Church. It is known, too, that he +corresponds with Rome, with the Holy Father himself, 'tis said, and +there are men high in office at Quebec who wish that he might be called +from New France back to the old land. Francois Bigot, the Intendant, +does not love him, nor does anyone of the group about Bigot, neither his +commissary general, Cadet, nor Pean, the Town Mayor of Quebec, nor +Descheneaux, nor the others of that group. It's a gorgeous life that our +own court circle leads at Quebec, and at the great Chateau Bigot, in the +midst of its walks and flowers and gardens. I don't know why I'm telling +you these things, Mr. Lennox! It seems they should be the very last to +say to one's official enemy, but I can't feel that I'm doing anything +wrong when I do tell them to you." + +His bright face was in gloom for a few moments, and Robert, quick in +perception, had a sudden feeling that this brilliant Quebec, enveloped +in so much color and glamour, might not be so sound within as the +English towns to the south, despite their wrangling. But it merely +increased his anxiety to see Quebec. Life would be all the more complex +there. + +The great river spread before them, blue now under a dazzling blue sky, +and the stout _Frontenac_ left a long white trailing wake. A stone +house, larger than usual, showed through the green foliage on the south +bank. Father Drouillard gazed at it, and his face darkened. Presently he +arose and shook his hand towards the house, as if he were delivering a +curse. + +"The chateau that you see belongs to the young Count Jean de Mezy, a +friend of the Intendant, Bigot. Sometimes they come from their revels at +Beaumanoir to the Chateau de Mezy, and continue them there. Now you can +see why Father Drouillard, who sympathizes with our _honnetes gens_, +delivers his malediction." + +The priest returned to his seat, and averted his face. An hour later the +mighty rock of Quebec rose before them. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +AT THE INN + + +When Quebec came into view Robert stood up and looked long at the great +rock and the town that crowned it, hung on its slopes and nestled at the +foot of the cliffs below. Brilliant sunshine gilded its buildings of +stone and gray wood, and played like burnished gold on the steeples of +its many churches. In the distance the streets leading up the steep +cliffs looked like mere threads, but in the upper town the great public +buildings, the Intendant's Palace, the Cathedral, Notre Dame de la +Victoire, the convents of the Ursuline Nuns and the Recollet Friars, the +Bishop's Palace, and others raised for the glory and might of France, +were plainly visible. + +In more than one place he saw the Bourbon lilies floating and from the +little boat on which he stood in the stream it looked like a grim and +impregnable fortress of the Old World. The wonderful glow of the air, +and the vast river flowing at its feet, magnified and colored +everything. It was a city ten times its real size and the distance +turned gray wood to gray stone. Everything was solid, immovable, and it +seemed fit to defy the world. + +Robert felt a catch in his breath. He had often seen Quebec, great and +beautiful, in his dreams, but the reality was equal to it and more. To +the American of that day Quebec was one of the vital facts of life. From +that fortress issued the daring young French soldiers of fortune who led +the forays against New York and New England. It was the seat of the +power that threatened them continually. Many of the Bostonnais, seized +in their fields, had been brought here as prisoners to be returned home +only after years, or never. From this citadel, too, poured the stream of +arms and presents for the Indians who were to lie in ambush along the +English border, or to make murderous incursions upon the villages. From +it flowed the countless dangers that had threatened the northern +provinces almost continually for a century and a half. The Bostonnais +themselves, mark of the initiative and energy that were to distinguish +them so greatly later on, made a mighty effort against it, and doubtless +would have succeeded, had they been allowed to carry the fight to a +finish. + +No man from New York or New England could look upon it without a +mingling of powerful emotions. It was the Carthage to their Rome. He +admired and yet he wished to conquer. He felt that permanent safety +could never come to the northern border until the Bourbon lilies ceased +to float over the great fortress that looked down on the St. Lawrence. +Robert was not the only one who felt strong emotion. Tayoga stood beside +him, his nostrils expanding and his gaze fierce: + +"Stadacona!" he said under his breath, "Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, +our great brother nation!" + +But the emotion of de Galisonniere was of pleasure only. His eyes +sparkled with joy and admiration. He was delighted to come back to +Quebec, the gay city that he beheld through the eyes of youth and +glowing recollections. He knew the corruption and wickedness of Bigot +and of Cadet and of Pean and of the whole reckless circle about the +Intendant, but Quebec, with its gallant men and its beautiful women; its +manners of an Old World aristocracy and its air of a royal court, had +many pleasures, and why should youth look too far into the future? + +And yet another stood up and looked at Quebec, with emotions all his +own, and unlike those of the three who were so young. Father Drouillard, +tall in his black robe, gazed fixedly at the rock, and raised his hand +in a gesture much like that with which he had cursed the chateau of +Count Jean de Mezy. His eyes were set and stern, but, as the sun fell in +floods of burnished gold on the cathedral and the convents, his accusing +look softened, became sad, then pitying, then hopeful. + +"A wonderful sight, Father Drouillard," said Willet, who stood at his +elbow and who also gazed at Quebec with feelings quite his own. "I've +seen it before, but I can never see it too often." + +"Mr. Willet," said the priest, "you and I are greater in years than +these youths, and perhaps for that reason we can look farther into the +future. Youth fears nothing, but age fears everything. You come to +Quebec now in peace, and I trust that you may never come in war. I can +feel, nay I can see the clouds gathering over our two lands. Why should +we fight? On a continent so vast is there not room enough for all?" + +"Room and to spare," replied the hunter, "but as you say, Father +Drouillard, you and I have lived longer than these youths, and age has +to think. If left to themselves I've no doubt that New France and the +English colonies could make a lasting peace, but the intrigues, the +jealousies and the hates of the courts at London and Paris keep our +forests, four thousand miles away, astir. When the Huron buries his +arrow in the heart of a foe the motive that sent him to the deed may +have had its start in Europe, but the poor savage never knows it." + +The priest sighed, and looked at Willet with an awakened curiosity. + +"I see that you're a man of education," he said, "and that you think. +What you say is true, but the time will come when other minds than those +of vain and jealous courtiers will sway the fortunes of all these vast +regions. I have asked you nothing of your mission in Quebec, Mr. Willet, +but I hope that I will see you again before you return." + +"I hope so too," said the hunter sincerely. + +The _Frontenac_ now drew in to a wharf between the Royal Battery and the +Dauphin's Battery, and Robert was still all eyes for the picturesque +sights that awaited him in the greatest French town of the New World. De +Galisonniere was hailed joyously by young officers and he made joyous +replies. Robert, as they landed, saw anew and in greater detail the +immense strength of Quebec. + +He beheld the line of huge earthworks that Frontenac had built from the +river St. Charles to Cape Diamond, and he saw the massive redoubts lined +with heavy cannon. Now, he wondered at the boldness of the New +Englanders who had assailed the town with so much vigor, and who might +have taken it. + +"I recommend to you," said de Galisonniere, "that you go to the Inn of +the Eagle in the Upper Town. It is kept by Monsieur Berryer, who as a +host is fully equal to Monsieur Jolivet of Montreal, and the merits of +Monsieur Jolivet are not unknown to you." + +"They are not," said Robert heartily, "and we may thank you, Captain de +Galisonniere, for your great courtesy in bringing us from Montreal. We +can only hope for a time in which we shall be able to repay your +kindness." + +After they had slipped some silver pieces to the boatmen and had said +farewell to Captain de Galisonniere, they took their way up a steep +street, a swarthy French-Canadian porter carrying their baggage. Here, +as at Montreal, the most attention was attracted by Tayoga, and, if +possible, the young Onondaga grew more haughty in appearance and manner. +His moccasined feet spurned the ground, and he gazed about with a fierce +and defiant eye. + +Robert knew well what was stirring the spirit of the Onondaga. This was +not the Quebec of the French, it was the Stadacona of the Mohawks, the +great brother nation of the Onondagas, and the French here were but +interlopers and robbers. + +But Robert soon lost thought of Tayoga as he looked at the crowded city, +and its mingling of the splendid and the squalid, its French and +French-Canadians, its soldiers and priests and civilians and Indians, +its great stone houses, and its wooden huts, its young officers in fine +white uniforms and its swarthy _habitants_ in brown homespun. Albany had +its Dutch, and New York had its Dutch, too, and people from many parts +of Europe, but Quebec was different, something altogether new, without a +trace of English or Dutch about it, and, for that reason, it made a +great appeal to his curiosity. + +A light open carriage drawn by two stout ponies passed them at an +amazing pace considering the steepness of the street, and they saw in it +a florid young man in a splendid costume, his powdered hair tied in a +queue. + +"De Mezy," said the priest, who was just behind them. + +Then they knew that it was the young man, the companion of Bigot in his +revels, against whose chateau Father Drouillard had raised his +threatening hands. Now the priest spoke the name with the most intense +scorn and contempt, and Robert, feeling that he might encounter de Mezy +again in this pent-up Quebec, gazed at his vanishing figure with +curiosity. They had their gay blades in New York and Albany and even a +few in Boston of the Puritans, but he had not seen anybody like de Mezy. + +"It is such as he who are pulling down New France," murmured Father +Drouillard. + +A moment or two later the priest said farewell and departed in the +direction of the cathedral. + +"There goes a man," said Willet, as he looked after the tall figure in +the black robe. "I don't share in the feeling of church against church. +I don't see any reason why Protestant should hate Catholic and Catholic +should hate Protestant. I've lived long enough and seen enough to know +that each church holds good men, and unless I make a big mistake, and I +don't think I make any mistake at all, Father Drouillard is not only a +good man, but he has a head full of sense and he's as brave as a lion, +too." + +"Lots of priests are," said Robert. "Nobody ever endured the Indian +tortures better than they. And what's the figure over the doorway, +Dave?" + +"That, Robert, is Le Chien d'Or, The Golden Dog. It's the sign put up by +Nicholas Jaquin, whom they often called Philibert. This is his warehouse +and he was one of the _honnetes gens_ that we've been talking about. He +fought the corrupt officials, he tried to make lower prices for the +people, and beneath his Golden Dog he wrote:" + + "Je suis un chien qui ronge l'os, + En le rongeant je prends mon repos; + Un jour viendra qui n'est pas venu, + Que je mordrai qui m'aura mordu." + +"That is, some day the dog will bite those who have bitten him?" + +"That's about it, Robert, and I suppose it generally comes true. If you +keep on striking people some of them in time will strike you and strike +you pretty hard." + +"And does Philibert still run his warehouse beneath his sign of the +Golden Dog?" + +"No, Robert. He was too brave, or not cautious enough, and they +assassinated him, but there are plenty of others like him. The French +are a brave and honest people, none braver or more honest. I tell you +so, because I know them, but their government is corrupt through and +through. The House of Bourbon is dying of its own poison. It may seem +strange to you, hearing me say it here in the Western world, so far from +Versailles, but I'm not the only one who says so." + +"But I like Quebec," said Robert. "I haven't seen another city that +speaks to the eye so much." + +They were now well into the Upper Town, and the porter guided them to +the Inn of the Eagle, where Monsieur Paul Berryer, the host, gave them a +welcome, and from whom they learned that the Governor General, the +Marquis Duquesne, was absent in the east, but would return in two or +three days. Robert was not sorry for the delay, as it would give them a +chance to see the city, and perhaps, through de Galisonniere, make +acquaintances among the French officers. + +They were able to secure a large room with three beds, and both Robert +and Willet drew from their small store of baggage suits quite in the +fashion, three-cornered hats, fine coats and waistcoats, knee breeches, +stockings and buckled shoes, and as a last and crowning triumph they +produced handsome small swords or rapiers that they buckled to their +belts. + +"That canoe of ours wasn't large, but it brought a lot in it," said the +hunter. + +Robert surveyed himself in a small glass, and his clothes brought great +pride. A chord in his nature responded to splendor of raiment, and the +surroundings of the great world. Quebec might be corrupt but he could +not hide from himself his immense interest in it. He noticed, too, that +Willet wore his fine costume naturally. + +"It's not the first time that you've been in such clothes, Dave," he +said, "and it's not the first time that you've been in a society like +that which makes its home in Quebec." + +"No, it is not," replied Willet, "and some time, Robert, I'll tell you +about those days, but not now." + +Tayoga remained in his dress of a young Indian chief. Even if he had had +any other he would not have put it on, and the fine deerskin and the +lofty headdress became him and stamped him for what he was, a prince of +the forest. He held in his heart, too, a deeper feeling against the +French than any that animated either Robert or Willet. He could not +forget that this was not Quebec, but Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, whose +rights were also the rights of the other nations of the Hodenosaunee, +and it was here that Frontenac, who had slaughtered the Iroquois, had +made his home and fortress. The heart of Tayoga of the clan of the Bear +of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, burned +within him and the blood in his veins would not grow cool. + +"I suppose, Dave," said Robert, "since we have to wait two days for the +Marquis Duquesne, that we might go forth at once and begin seeing the +town." + +"Food first," said the hunter. "We've come a long journey on the river +and we'll test the quality of the, inn." + +It was too cool for the little terrace that adjoined the Inn of the +Eagle, and Monsieur Berryer had a table set for them in the great +dining-room, which had an oaken floor, oaken beams and much china and +glass on shelves about the walls, the whole forming an apartment in +which the host took a just pride. It was gayer and brighter than the +inns of Albany and New York, and again Robert found his spirit +responding to it. + +A fire of light wood that blazed and sparkled merrily burned in a huge +stone fireplace at the end of the room, and its grateful warmth entered +into Robert's blood. He suddenly felt a great exaltation. He was glad to +be there. He was glad that Tayoga and Willet were with him. He was glad +that they had encountered dangers on their journey because they had won +a triumph in overcoming them, and by the very act of victory they had +increased their own strength and confidence. His sensitive, imaginative +nature, easily kindled to supreme efforts, thrilled with the thoughts of +the great deeds they might do. + +His pleasure in the company and the atmosphere increased. Everything +about him made a strong appeal to good taste. At the end of the room, +opposite the fireplace, stood a vast sideboard, upon which china and +glass, arranged in harmonious groups, shone and glittered. The broad +shelves or niches in the walls held much cut glass, which now and then +threw back from many facets the ruddy light of the fire. Before sitting +down, they had dipped their hands in a basin of white china filled with +water, and standing beside the door, and that too had pleased Robert's +fastidious taste. + +At their table each of the three found an immaculate white napkin, a +large white china plate and goblet, knife, fork and spoon, all of +silver, polished to the last degree. Again Robert's nature responded and +he looked at himself in his fine dress in the glittering silver of the +goblet. Then his right hand stole down and caressed the hilt of his +rapier. He felt himself very much of a gentleman, very much of a +chevalier, fit to talk on equal terms with St. Luc, de Galisonniere or +the best French officer of them all. And Willet, wearing his costly +costume with ease, was very much of a gentleman too, and Tayoga, dressed +as the forest prince, was in his own way, and quite as good a way, as +much of a gentleman as either. + +At least a dozen others were in the great room, and many curious eyes +were upon the three visitors from the south. It was likely that the +presence of such marked figures as theirs would become known quickly in +Quebec. They had shown the papers bearing their names at the gate by +which they had entered, and doubtless the news of their arrival had been +spread at once by the officer in command there. Well, they would prove +to the proud chevaliers of Quebec how the Bostonnais could bear +themselves, and Robert's pulses leaped. + +They were served by an attentive and quiet waiter, and the three, each +in his own way, watched everything that was going on. They were aware +that not all would be as friendly as de Galisonniere or Father +Drouillard, but they were fully prepared to meet a challenge of any kind +and uphold the honor of their own people. Robert was hoping that de +Galisonniere might come, as he had recommended the inn to them. He did +not appear, but the others who did so lingered and young Lennox knew +that it was because of the three, who received many hostile glances, +although most were intended for the Onondaga. Robert was aware, too, +that if the Iroquois had lost this Stadacona of the Mohawks and had been +ravaged by Frontenac, they had taken a terrible revenge upon the French +and their chief allies, the Hurons. For generations the Hodenosaunee had +swept the villages along the St. Lawrence with fire and tomahawk, +slaying and capturing their hundreds. But to Tayoga it was and always +would be the French who had struck first, and the vital fact remained +that they lived upon land upon which the Iroquois themselves had once +lived, no man knew how long. + +Robert saw that the looks were growing more menacing, although the good +Monsieur Berryer glided among his guests, and counseled caution. + +"Take no notice," said Willet in a low tone. "The French are polite, +and although they may not like us they will not molest us." + +Robert followed his advice. Apparently he had no thought except for his +food, which was delicate, but his ears did not miss any sound that could +reach them. He understood French well, and he caught several whispers +that made the red come to his cheeks. Doubtless they thought he could +not speak their language or they would have been more careful. + +Half way through the dinner and the door was thrown open, admitting a +gorgeous figure and a great gust of words. It was a young man in a +brilliant uniform, his hair long, perfumed, powdered and curled, and his +face flushed. Robert recognized him at once as that same Count Jean de +Mezy who had passed them in the flying carriage. Behind came two +officers of about the same age, but of lower rank, seeking his favor and +giving him adulation. + +His roving eye traveled around the room, and, resting upon the three +guests, became inflamed. + +"Ah, Nemours, and you, Le Moyne," he said, "look there and behold the +two Bostonnais and the Iroquois of whom we have heard, sitting here in +our own Inn of the Eagle!" + +"But there is no war, not as yet," said Nemours, although he spoke in an +obsequious tone. + +"But it will come," said de Mezy loudly, "and then, gentlemen, this +lordly Quebec of ours, which has known many English captives, will hold +multitudes of them." + +There were cries of "Silence!" "Not so loud!" + +"Don't insult guests!" but de Mezy merely laughed and said: "They don't +understand! The slow-witted English never know any tongue but their +own." + +The red flush in Robert's face deepened and he moved angrily. + +"Quiet, boy! Quiet!" whispered the hunter. "He wants a quarrel, and he +is surrounded by his friends, while we're strangers in a strange land +and a hostile city. Take a trifle of the light white wine that Monsieur +Berryer is pouring for you. It won't hurt you." + +Robert steadied himself and sipped a little. De Mezy and his satellites, +Nemours and Le Moyne, sat down noisily at a table and ordered claret. De +Mezy gave the cue. They talked of the Bostonnais, not only of the two +Bostonnais who were present, but of the Bostonnais in all the English +colonies, applying the word to them whether they came from Massachusetts +or New York or Virginia. Robert felt his pulses leaping and the hunter +whispered his warning once more. + +De Mezy evidently was sincere in his belief that the three understood no +French, as he continued to talk freely about the English colonies, the +prospect of war, and the superiority of French troops to British or +American. Meanwhile he and his two satellites drank freely of the claret +and their faces grew more flushed. Robert could stand it no longer. + +"Tayoga," he said clearly and in perfect French, "it seems that in +Quebec there are people of loose speech, even as there are in Albany and +New York." + +"Our sachems tell us that such is the way of man," said the Onondaga, +also in pure French. "Vain boasters dwell too in our own villages. For +reasons that I do not know, Manitou has put the foolish as well as the +wise into the world." + +"To travel, Tayoga, is to find wisdom. We learn what other people know, +and we learn to value also the good that we have at home." + +"It is so, my friend Lennox. It is only when we go into strange +countries and listen to the tongues of the idle and the foolish that we +learn the full worth of our own." + + +"It is not wise, Tayoga, to give a full rein to a loose tongue in a +public place." + +"Our mothers teach us so, Lennox, as soon as we leave our birch bark +cradles." + +Willet had raised his hand in warning, but he saw that it was too late. +The young blood in the veins of both Tayoga and Robert was hot, and the +Iroquois was stirred not less deeply than the white man. + +"The sachems tell us," he said, "that sometimes a man speaks foolish +words because he is born foolish, again he says them at times because +his temper or drink makes him foolish, or he may say them because it is +his wish to be foolish and he has cultivated foolish ways all his life. +This last class is the worst of all, Lennox, my friend, but there is a +certain number of them in all lands, as one finds when one travels." + +The Onondaga spoke with great clearness and precision in his measured +school French and a moment of dead silence followed. Then Robert said: + +"It is true, Tayoga. The chiefs of the Hodenosaunee are great and wise +men. They have lived and seen much, and seeing they have remembered. +They know that speech was given to man in order that he might convey his +thoughts to another, and not that he might make a fool of himself." + +An angry exclamation came from the table at which de Mezy sat, and his +satellites, Nemours and Le Moyne, swept the three with looks meant to be +contemptuous. Monsieur Berryer raised deprecating hands and was about to +speak, but, probably seeing that both hands and words would be of no +avail, moved quietly to one side. He did not like to have quarrels in +his excellent Inn of the Eagle, but they were no new thing there, for +the gilded youth of Quebec was hot and intemperate. + +"But when a man is foolish in our village," resumed Tayoga, "and the +words issue from his mouth in a stream like the cackling of a jay bird, +the chiefs do not send warriors to punish him, but give him into the +hands of the old women, who bind him and beat him with sticks until they +can beat sense back into him." + +"A good way, Tayoga, a most excellent way," said Robert. "People who +have reached the years of maturity pay no attention to the vaporings and +madness of the foolish." + +He did not look around, but he heard a gusty exclamation, the scrape of +a chair on the floor, and a hasty step. Then he felt a hot breath, and, +although he did not look up, he knew that de Mezy, flushed with drink +and anger, was standing over him. The temperament that nature had given +to him, the full strength of which he was only discovering, asserted +itself. He too felt wrath inside, but he retained all the presence of +mind for which he afterward became famous. + +"Shall we go out and see more of the city, Tayoga?" he asked. + +"Not until I have had a word with you, young sprig of a Bostonnais," +said de Mezy, his florid face now almost a flaming red. + +"Your pardon, sir," said Robert, with his uncommon fluency of speech, "I +have not the advantage of your acquaintance, which, no doubt, is my +loss, as I admit that there are many good and brave men whom I do not +know." + +"I am Jean de Mezy, a count of France, a captain in the army of King +Louis, and one of the most valued friends of our able Intendant, +Francois Bigot." + +"I have heard of France, of course, I have heard, equally of course, of +His Majesty, King Louis, I have even heard of the Intendant, Francois +Bigot, but, and sorry I am to say it, I have never heard of the Count +Jean de Mezy." + +A low laugh came from a distant corner of the room, and the red of de +Mezy's face turned to purple. His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, +but Le Moyne whispered to him and he became more collected. + +"In Quebec," he said, throwing back his shoulders and raising his chin, +"an officer of His Majesty, King Louis, does not accept an insult. We +preserve our honor with the edge of our swords, and for that reason I +intend to let a good quantity of the hot blood out of you with mine. +There is a good place near the St. Louis gate, and the hour may be as +early as you wish." + +"He is but a boy," interposed Willet. + +"But I know the sword," said Robert, who had made up his mind, and who +was measuring his antagonist. "I will meet you tomorrow morning just +after sunrise with the small sword, and my seconds will confer with +yours tonight." + +He stood up that they might see his size. Although only a boy in years, +he was as large and strong as de Mezy, and his eyes were clearer and his +muscles much firmer. A hum of approval came from the spectators, who now +numbered more than a score, but the approval was given for different +reasons. Some, and they belonged to the _honnetes gens_, were glad to +see de Mezy rebuked and hoped that he would be punished; others, the +following of Bigot, Cadet, Pean and their corrupt crowd, were eager to +see the Bostonnais suffer for his insolence to one of their number. But +most of them, both the French of old France and the French of Canada, +chivalric of heart, were resolved to see fair play. + +Monsieur Berryer shrugged his shoulders, but made no protest. The affair +to his mind managed itself very well. There had been none of the +violence that he had apprehended. The quarrel evidently was one of +gentlemen, carried out in due fashion, and the shedding of blood would +occur in the proper place and not in his inn. And yet it would be an +advertisement. Men would come to point out where de Mezy had sat, and +where the young Bostonnais had sat, and to recount the words that each +had said. And then the red wine and the white wine would flow freely. +Oh, yes, the affair was managing itself very well indeed, and the +thrifty Monsieur Berryer rubbed his hands together with satisfaction. + +"We have beds here at the Inn of the Eagle," said Robert coolly--he was +growing more and more the master of speech; "you can send your seconds +this evening to see mine, and they will arrange everything, although I +tell you now that I choose small swords. I hope my choice suits you." + +"It is what I would have selected myself," said de Mezy, giving his +antagonist a stare of curiosity. Such coolness, such effrontery, as he +would have called it, was not customary in one so young, and in an +American too, because Americans did not give much attention to the study +of the sword. New thoughts raced through his head. Could it be possible +that here, where one least expected it, was some marvelous swordsman, a +phenomenon? Did that account for his indifference? A slight shudder +passed over the frame of Jean de Mezy, who loved his dissolute life. But +such thoughts vanished quickly. It could not be possible. The confidence +of the young Bostonnais came from ignorance. + +Robert had seen de Mezy's face fall, and he was confirmed in the course +that he had chosen already. + +"_Gusgaesata_," he said to Tayoga in Iroquois. + +"Ah, the deer buttons!" the Onondaga said in English, then repeating it +in French. + +"You will pardon us," said Robert carelessly to de Mezy, "but Tayoga, +who by the way is of the most ancient blood of the Onondagas, and I +often play a game of ours after dinner." + +His manner was that of dismissal, and the red in de Mezy's cheeks again +turned to purple. Worst of all, the little dart of terror stabbed once +more at his heart. The youth might really be the dreaded marvel with the +sword. Such coolness in one so young at such a time could come only from +abnormal causes. Although he felt himself dismissed he refused to go +away and his satellites remained with him. They would see what the two +youths meant to do. + +Tayoga took from a pocket in his deerskin tunic eight buttons about +three quarters of an inch in diameter and made of polished and shining +elk's horn, except one side which had been burned to a darker color. +From another pocket he drew a handful of beans and laid them in one +heap. Then he shook the buttons in the palm of his hand, and put them +down in the center of the table. Six white sides were turned up and +taking two beans from the common heap he started a pile of his own. He +threw again and obtained seven whites. Then he took four beans. A third +throw and all coming up white twenty beans were subtracted from the heap +and added to his own pile. But on the next throw only five of the whites +appeared, and as at least six of the buttons had to be matched in order +to continue his right of throwing he resigned his place to Robert, who +threw with varying fortune until he lost in his turn to Tayoga. + +"A crude Indian game," said de Mezy in a sneering tone, and the two +satellites, Nemours and Le Moyne, laughed once more. Robert and Tayoga +did not pay the slightest attention to them, concentrating their whole +attention upon the sport, but Willet said quietly: + +"I've seen wise chiefs play it for hours, and the great men of the +Hodenosaunee would be great men anywhere." + +Angry words gathered on the lips of de Mezy, but they were not spoken. +He saw that he was at a disadvantage, and that he would lose prestige if +he kept himself in a position to be snubbed before his own people by two +strange youths. At length he said: "Farewell until morning," and stalked +out, followed by his satellites. Others soon followed but Robert and +Tayoga went on with their game of the deer buttons. They were not +interrupted until Monsieur Berryer bowed before them and asked if they +would have any more refreshment. + +"No, thank you," said Robert, and then he added, as if by afterthought, +although he did not take his eyes from the buttons: "What sort of a man +at sword play is this de Mezy?" + +"Very good! Very good, sir," replied the innkeeper, "that is if his eyes +and head are clear." + +"Then if he is in good condition it looks as if I ought to be careful." + +"Careful, sir! Careful! One ought always to be careful in a duel!" + +"In a way I suppose so. Monsieur Berryer. But I fancy it depends a good +deal upon one's opponent. There are some who are not worth much +trouble." + +Monsieur Berryer's eyes stood out. Robert had spoken with calculated +effect. He knew that his words uttered now would soon reach the ears of +Jean de Mezy, and it was worth while to be considered a miraculous +swordsman. He had read the count's mind when he stood at his elbow, +shuddering a little at the thought that a prodigy with the blade might +be sitting there, and he was resolved to make the thought return once +more and stay. + +"And, sir, you distinguish between swordsmen, and find it necessary to +make preparation only for the very best? And you so young too!" said the +wondering innkeeper. + +"Youth in such times as ours does not mean inexperience, Monsieur +Berryer," said Willet. + +"It is true, alas!" said the innkeeper, soberly. "The world grows old, +and there are seas of trouble. I wish no annoyance to any guests of +mine. I know the courtesy due to visitors in our Quebec, and I would +have stopped the quarrel had I been able, but the Count Jean de Mezy is +a powerful man, the friend and associate of the Intendant, Monsieur +Bigot." + +"I understand, Monsieur Berryer," said Robert, with calculated +lightness; "your courtesy is, in truth, great, but don't trouble +yourself on our account. We are fully able to take care of ourselves. +Come, Tayoga, we're both tired of the game and so let's to bed." + +Tayoga carefully put away the deer buttons and the beans, and the three +rose. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE MEETING + + +Only four or five men, besides themselves, were left in the great room +of the Inn of the Eagle. The looks they gave the three were not hostile, +and Robert judged that they belonged to the party known in Quebec as +honnetes gens and described to him already by de Galisonniere. He +thought once of speaking to them, but he decided not to put any strain +upon their friendliness. They might have very bitter feelings against +Bigot and his corrupt following, but the fact would not of necessity +induce them to help the Bostonnais. + +"I thought it would be best to go to bed," he said, "but I've changed my +mind. A little walk first in the open air would be good for all of us. +Besides we must stay up long enough to receive the seconds of de Mezy." + +"A walk would be a good thing for you," said Willet--it was noteworthy +that despite his great affection for the lad, he did not show any +anxiety about him. + +"Your wrist feels as strong as ever, doesn't it, Robert?" he asked. + +Young Lennox took his right wrist in his left hand and looked at it +thoughtfully. He was a tall youth, built powerfully, but his wrists were +of uncommon size and strength. + +"I suppose that paddling canoes during one's formative period over our +lakes and rivers develops the wrists and arms better than anything else +can," he said. + +"It makes them strong and supple, too," said the hunter. "It gives to +you a wonderful knack which with training can be applied with equal +ability to something else." + +"As we know." + +"As we know." + +They went out and walked a little while in the streets, curious eyes +still following them, a fact of which they were well aware, although +they apparently took no notice of it. Willet observed Robert closely, +but he could not see any sign of unsteadiness or excitement. Young +Lennox himself seemed to have forgotten the serious business that would +be on hand in the morning. His heart again beat a response to Quebec +which in the dusk was magnificent and glorified. The stone buildings +rose to the size of castles, the great river showed like silver through +the darkness and on the far shore a single light burned. + +A figure appeared before them. It was de Galisonniere, his ruddy face +anxious. + +"I was hoping that we might meet you," said Robert. + +"What's this I hear about a quarrel between you and de Mezy and a duel +in the morning?" + +"You hear the truth." + +"But de Mezy, though he is no friend of mine, is a swordsman, and has +had plenty of experience. You English, or at least you English in your +colonies, know nothing about the sword, except to wear it as a +decoration!" + +Robert laughed. + +"I appreciate your anxiety for me," he said. "It's the feeling of a +friend, but don't worry. A few of us in the English colonies do know the +use of the sword, and at the very head of them I should place David +Willet, whom you know and who is with us." + +"But de Mezy is not going to fight Willet, he is going to fight you." + +"David Willet has been a father to me, more, in truth, than most fathers +are to their sons. I've been with him for years, Captain de +Galisonniere, and all the useful arts he knows he has tried long and +continuously to teach to me." + +"Then you mean that the sword you now wear at your thigh is a weapon and +not an ornament?" + +"Primarily, yes, but before we go further into the matter of the sword, +I wish to ask you a favor." + +"Ask a dozen, Lennox. We've been companions of the voyage and your +quarrel with de Mezy does not arouse any hostility in me." + +"I felt that it was so, and for that reason I ask the favor. We are +strangers in Quebec. We did not come here to seek trouble with anybody, +and so I ask you to be a second for me in this affair with de Mezy. Dave +and Tayoga, of course, would act, but at the present juncture, ours +being an errand of peace and not of war, I'd prefer Frenchmen." + +"Gladly I'll serve you, Lennox, since you indicate that you're a +swordsman and are not going to certain death, and I'll bring with me in +the morning a trusty friend, Armand Glandelet, one of our _honnetes +gens_ who likes de Mezy as little as I do." + +"I thank you much, my good friend. I knew you would accept, and if all +are willing I suggest that we go back now to the Inn of the Eagle." + +"A little trial of the sword in your room would not hurt," said de +Galisonniere. + +"That's a good suggestion," said Willet. "A few turns will show whether +your wrists and your arms and your back are all right. You come with us, +of course, Captain de Galisonniere." + +They went to their large room, Captain de Galisonniere procuring on the +way two buttons for rapiers from Monsieur Berryer--it seemed that duels +were not uncommon in Quebec--and Willet and Robert, taking off their +coats and waistcoats, faced each other in the light of two large +candles. The young Frenchman watched them critically. He had assisted at +many affairs of honor in both Quebec and Montreal and he knew the build +of a swordsman when he saw one. When Robert stood in his shirt sleeves +he noted his powerful chest and shoulders and arms, and then his eyes +traveling to the marvelous wrists were arrested there. He drew in his +breath as he saw, from the way in which Robert flexed them for a moment +or two that they were like wrought steel. + +"If this lad has been taught as they indicate he has, our ruffling +bully, Jean de Mezy, is in for a bad half hour," he said to himself. +Then he looked at Willet, built heavily, with great shoulders and chest, +but with all the spring and activity of a young man. His glance passed +on to Tayoga, the young Onondaga, in all the splendor of his forest +attire, standing by the wall, his eyes calm and fathomless. It occurred +all at once to Captain de Galisonniere that he was in the presence of an +extraordinary three, each remarkable in his own way, and, liking the +unusual, his interest in them deepened. It did not matter that they were +his official enemies, because on the other hand they were his personal +friends. + +"Now, Robert," said Willet, "watch my eye, because I'm going to put you +to a severe test. Ready?" + +"Aye, ready, sir!" replied Robert, speaking like a pupil to his master. +Then the two advanced toward the center of the room and faced each +other, raising their slim swords which flashed in the flame of the +candles like thin lines of light. Then Willet thrust like lightning, but +his blade slipped off Robert's, and young Lennox thrust back only to +have his own weapon caught on the other. + +"Ah," exclaimed the gallant Frenchman. "Well done! Well done for both!" + +Then he held his breath as the play of the swords became so fast that +the eye could scarcely follow. They made vivid lines, and steel flashed +upon steel with such speed that at times the ringing sound seemed +continuous. Willet's agility was amazing. Despite his size and weight +he was as swift and graceful as a dancing master, and the power of his +wrist was wonderful. The amazement of young de Galisonniere increased. +He had seen the best swordsmanship in Quebec, and he had seen the best +swordsmanship in Paris, but he had never seen better swordsmanship than +that shown in a room of the Inn of the Eagle by a man whom he had taken +to be a mere hunter in the American wilderness. + +De Galisonniere was an artist with the sword himself, and he knew +swordsmanship when he saw it. He knew, too, that Lennox was but little +inferior to Willet. He saw that the older man was not sparing the youth, +that he was incessantly beating against the strongest parts of his +defense, and that he was continually seeking out his weakest. Robert was +driven around and around the room, and yet Willet did not once break +through his guard. + +"Ah, beautiful! beautiful!" exclaimed the Frenchman. "I did not know +that such swordsmen could come out of the woods!" + +His eyes met those of the Onondaga and for the first time he saw a gleam +in their dark depths. + +"Their swords are alive," said Tayoga. "They are living streaks of +flame." + +"That describes it, my friend," said de Galisonniere. "I shall be proud +to be one of the seconds of Mr. Lennox in the morning." + +Willet suddenly dropped the buttoned point of his rapier and raised his +left hand. + +"Enough, Robert," he said, "I can't allow you to tire yourself tonight, +and run the risk of stiffening in the wrist tomorrow. In strength you +are superior to de Mezy, and in wind far better. You should have no +trouble with him. Watch his eye and stand for a while on the defensive. +One of his habits, will soon wear himself down, and then he will be at +your mercy." + +"You are a wonderful swordsman, Mr. Willet," said de Galisonniere, frank +in his admiration. "I did not think such skill, such power and such a +variety in attack and defense could be learned outside of Paris." + +"Perhaps not!" said Willet, smiling. "The greatest masters of the sword +in the world teach in Paris, and it was there that I learned what I +know." + +"What, you have been in Paris?" + +"Aye, Captain de Galisonniere, I know my Paris well." + +But he volunteered nothing further and Louis de Galisonniere's delicacy +kept him from asking any more questions. Nevertheless he had an +intensified conviction that three most extraordinary people had come to +Quebec, and he was glad to know them. Jean de Mezy, count of France, and +powerful man though he might be, was going to receive a punishment +richly deserved. He detested Bigot, Cadet, Pean and all their corrupt +crowd, while recognizing the fact that they were almost supreme in +Quebec. It would be pleasing to the gods for de Mezy to be humiliated, +and it did not matter if the humiliation came from the hands of a +Bostonnais. + +"Would you mind trying a round or two at the foils with me?" he said to +Willet. "Since you don't have to fight in the morning you needn't fear +any stiffening of the wrist, and I should like to learn something about +that low thrust of yours, the one well beneath your opponent's guard, +and which only a movement like lightning can reach. You used it five +times, unless my eye missed a sixth." + +"And so you noticed it!" said Willet, looking pleased. "I made six such +thrusts, but Robert met them every time. I've trained him to be on the +watch for it, because in a real combat it's sure to be fatal, unless +it's parried with the swiftness of thought." + +"Then teach me," said de Galisonniere eagerly. "We're a fighting lot +here in Quebec, and it may save my life some day." + +Willet was not at all averse, and for nearly an hour he taught the young +Frenchman. Then de Galisonniere departed, cautioning Robert to sleep +well, and saying that he would come early in the morning with his +friend, Glandelet. + +"His advice about sleeping was good, Robert," said Willet. "Now roll +into bed and off with you to slumberland at once." + +Robert obeyed and his nerves were so steady and his mind so thoroughly +at peace that in fifteen minutes he slept. The hunter watched his steady +breathing with satisfaction and said to Tayoga: + +"If our bibulous friend, Count Jean de Mezy, doesn't have a surprise in +the morning, then I'll go back to the woods, and stay there as long as I +live." + +"Will Lennox kill him?" asked Tayoga. + +"I hadn't thought much about it, Tayoga, but he won't kill him. Robert +isn't sanguinary. He doesn't want anybody's blood on his hands, and it +wouldn't help our mission to take a life in Quebec." + +"The man de Mezy does not deserve to live." + +Willet laughed. + +"That's so, Tayoga," he said, "but it's no part of our business to go +around taking the lives away from all those who don't make good use of +'em. Why, if we undertook such a job we'd have to work hard for the next +thousand years. I think we'd better fall on, ourselves, and snatch about +eight good hours of slumber." + +In a few minutes three instead of one slept, and when the first ray of +sunlight entered the room in the morning Tayoga awoke. He opened the +window, letting the fresh air pour in, and he raised his nostrils to it +like a hound that has caught the scent. It brought to him the aromatic +odors of his beloved wilderness, and, for a time, he was back in the +great land of the Hodenosaunee among the blue lakes and the silver +streams. He had been educated in the white man's schools, and his +friendship for Robert and Willet was strong and enduring, but his heart +was in the forest. Enlightened and humane, he had nevertheless asked +seriously the night before the question: "Will Lennox kill him?" He had +discovered something fetid in Quebec and to him de Mezy was a noxious +animal that should be destroyed. He wished, for an instant, that he knew +the sword and that he was going to stand in Lennox's place. + +Then he woke Robert and Willet, and they dressed quickly, but by the +time they had finished Monsieur Berryer knocked on the door and told +them breakfast was ready. The innkeeper's manner was flurried. He was +one of the _honnetes gens_ who liked peace and an upright life. He too +wished the insolent pride of de Mezy to be humbled, but he had scarcely +come to the point where he wanted to see a Bostonnais do it. Nor did he +believe that it could be done. De Mezy was a good swordsman, and his +friends would see that he was in proper condition. Weighing the matter +well, Monsieur Berryer was, on the whole, sorry for the young stranger. + +But Robert himself showed no apprehensions. He ate his excellent +breakfast with an equally excellent appetite, and Monsieur Berryer +noticed that his hand did not tremble. He observed, too, that he had +spirit enough to talk and laugh with his friends, and when Captain de +Galisonniere and another young Frenchman, Lieutenant Armand Glandelet, +arrived, he welcomed them warmly. + +The captain carried under his arm a long thin case, in which Monsieur +Berryer knew that the swords lay. Lieutenant Armand Glandelet was +presented duly and Robert liked his appearance, his age apparently +twenty-three or four, his complexion fair and his figure slender. His +experience in affairs of honor was not as great as de Galisonniere's, +and he showed some excitement, but he was one of the _honnetes gens_ and +he too wished, the punishment of de Mezy. Perhaps he had suffered from +him some insult or snub which he was not in a position to resent fully. + +"Is your wrist strong and steady and without soreness, Mr. Lennox?" +asked Captain de Galisonniere. + +"It was never more flexible," replied Robert confidently. "Shall we go +to the field? I should like to be there first." + +"A praiseworthy attitude," said Captain de Galisonniere. "The sun is +just rising and the light is good. Come." + +Keeping the long, thin case under his arm, he went forth, and the rest +followed. Monsieur Berryer also came at a respectful distance, and +others fell into line with him. Robert walked by the side of Willet. + +"Don't forget that low thrust," said the hunter, "and watch his eye. You +feel no apprehensions?" + +"None at all, thanks to you. I'm quite sure I'm his master." + +"Then it's a good morning for a fight, and the setting is perfect. +You'll remember this day, Robert. What a wonderful situation has the +Quebec of the French that was the Stadacona of the Mohawks! A fine town, +a great rock and the king of rivers! The St. Lawrence looks golden in +the early sunlight, and what a lot of it there is!" + +"Yes, it's a great stream," said Robert, looking at the golden river and +the far shores, green and high. + +"Here we are," said de Galisonniere, passing beyond some outlying +houses. "It's a good, clear opening, pretty well surrounded by trees, +with plenty of sunlight at all points, and as you wished, Mr. Lennox, +we're the first to arrive." + +They stood together, talking with apparent unconcern, while the morning +unfolded, and the golden sunlight over the river deepened. Although he +had been trained with the sword for years, it would be Robert's first +duel, and, while he approached it with supreme confidence, he knew that +he could find no joy in the shedding of another's blood. He felt it a +strange chance that such an affair should be forced upon him, and yet +this was a dueling city. The hot young spirits of France had brought +their customs with them into the North American wilderness, and perhaps +the unsought chance, if he used it as he thought he could, would not +serve him so ill after all. + +De Mezy, with his seconds, Nemours and Le Moyne, was approaching among +the trees. It appeared that the seconds for both had arranged everything +at a meeting the night before, and nothing was left for the two +principals but to fight. Robert saw at a single glance that de Mezy's +head was clear. Some of the mottled color had left his cheeks, but the +effect was an improvement, and he bore himself like a man who was strong +and confident. He and his seconds wore dark blue cloaks over their +uniforms, which they laid aside when they saw that Robert and his +friends were present. + +Nemours stepped forward and asked to speak with Captain de Galisonniere. + +"Count Jean de Mezy," he said, "is an experienced swordsman, a victor in +a dozen duels, a man of great skill, and he does not wish to take an +advantage that might seem unfair to others. He considers the extreme +youth of his opponent, and if by chance his friend, Mr. Willet, should +know the sword, he will meet him instead." + +It was, on the whole, a handsome offer, better than they had expected +from de Mezy, and Galisonniere looked with inquiry, first at young +Lennox and then at Willet. But Robert shook his head. + +"No," he said, "Captain de Mezy's offer does him credit, but I decline +it. I am his inferior in years, but his equal in stature and strength, +and I have had some experience with the sword. Mr. Willet would gladly +take my place, but I can support the combat myself." + +Nemours stepped back, and Robert resolved that de Mezy's offer should +not have been made wholly in vain. It would save the Frenchman some of +his blood, but Nemours and de Galisonniere were now choosing the +positions in such a manner that neither would have the sun in his eyes +but merely his shoulder against the disc. Robert took off his coat and +waistcoat and Willet folded them over his own arm. De Mezy prepared in +like manner. Nemours gazed at young Lennox's shoulders and arms, and the +muscles swelling beneath his thin shirt, and he was not quite so sure of +his principal's victory as he had been. + +Then the two faced each other and Robert looked straight into his +opponent's eyes, reading there the proof that while outwardly de Mezy +might now show no signs of dissipation, yet drink and lost hours had +struck a blow at the vital organism of the human machine. He was more +confident than ever, and he repeated to himself Willet's advice to be +cautious and slow at first. + +"Your positions, gentlemen!" said de Galisonniere, and they stood face +to face. The turf was short and firm, and the place was ideal for their +purpose. Among the trees the eager eyes of Monsieur Berryer and a score +of others watched. + +"Ready!" said de Galisonniere, and then, after a pause of two or three +moments, he added: + +"Proceed!" + +Robert had not looked straight into his opponent's eye so long for +nothing. He knew now that de Mezy was choleric and impatient, that he +would attack at once with a vigorous arm and a furious heart, expecting +a quick and easy victory. His reading of the mind through the eye was +vindicated as de Mezy immediately forced the combat, cutting and +thrusting with a fire and power that would have overwhelmed an ordinary +opponent. + +Robert smiled. He knew now beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was de +Mezy's master. Not in vain did he have those large and powerful wrists, +firm and strong as wrought steel, and not in vain had he been taught for +years by the best swordsman in America. He contented himself with +parrying the savage cuts and thrusts, and gave ground slowly, retreating +in a circle. De Mezy's eyes blazed at first with triumph. He had +resented Robert's refusal of his offer to substitute Willet, and now, +the victory which he had regarded as easy seemed to be even easier than +he had hoped. He pushed the combat harder. His sword flashed in a +continuous line of light, and the whirring of steel upon steel was +unceasing. But the face of Nemours, as he watched with an understanding +eye, fell a little. He saw that the breathing of young Lennox was long +and regular, and that his eye was still smiling. + +Robert continued to give ground, but he never took his eye from that of +de Mezy, and at last the count began to feel that something lay behind +that calm, smiling gaze. The drink and the multitude of lost hours came +back to demand their price. Something bit into his bone. Was it physical +weakness or a sudden decay of confidence? He did not see any sign of +weariness in his young opponent, and putting forth every effort of his +muscles and every trick and device he knew he could not break through +that shining guard of circling steel. + +The strange apprehension that had suddenly found a place in de Mezy's +mind began to grow. The slow retreat of his young antagonist was +becoming slower and then it ceased entirely. Now the leaping sword +before him began to drive him back, and always the calm smiling eyes +probed into his, reading what he would keep hidden deep in his heart. +They saw the terror that was growing there. The disbelief in his +antagonist's prowess was now fast turning into a hideous contradiction, +and all the while drink and the lost hours that had clamored for their +price were taking it. + +De Mezy began to give back. His breath grew shorter and he gasped. The +deep mottled red returned to his cheeks, and terror took whole +possession of him. He had struck down his man before and he had laughed, +but he had never faced such a swordsman as this strange youth of the +woods, with his smiling eyes and his face which was a mask despite the +smile. + +Nemours and Le Moyne turned pale. They saw that their leader had never +once passed the bar of steel before him, and that while he panted and +grew weary Lennox seemed stronger than ever. They saw, too, that the +youth was a swordsman far surpassing de Mezy and that now he was playing +with his enemy. He struck down his opponent's guard at will, and his +blade whistled about his body and face. Nemours' hand fell to his own +hilt, but the watchful Willet saw. + +"Be careful," the hunter said in a menacing tone. "Obey the rules or +I'll know the reason why." + +Nemours' hand fell away from the hilt, and he and Le Moyne exchanged +glances, but stood helpless. De Mezy had been driven backward in an +almost complete circle. His wrist and arm ached to the shoulder, and +always he saw before him the leaping steel and the smiling mask of a +face. He caught a glimpse of the blue sky and the shining river, and +then his eyes came back to the one that held his fate. Well for de Mezy +that he had made the offer that morning to substitute Willet for Lennox, +since youth, with the hot blood of battle pulsing in its veins, may +think too late of mercy. But Robert remembered. His revenge was already +complete. All had seen the pallid face of de Mezy, and all, whether +they knew anything of the sword or not, knew that he lay at the mercy of +his foe. + +"Strike and make an end!" gasped de Mezy. + +The sword flashed before his eyes again, but the blade did not touch +him. Instead his own sword was torn from his weakening grasp, and was +flung far upon the grass. Young Lennox, turning away, sheathed his +weapon. + +"Well done, Robert!" said Willet. + +De Mezy put his hand to his face, which was wet with perspiration, and +steadied himself. He had grown quite dizzy in the last few moments, and +the pulses in his head beat so heavily that he could neither see nor +think well. He was conscious that he stood unarmed before a victorious +foe, but he did not know Robert had put away his sword. + +"Why don't you strike?" he muttered. + +"Mr. Lennox is satisfied," said Nemours. "He does not wish the combat to +go further." + +"Unless Captain de Mezy insists on another trial," said de Galisonniere, +smiling a little, "but if he will take the advice of a countryman of his +he will let the matter rest where it is. Enough has been done to satisfy +the honor of everybody." + +He and Nemours exchanged significant glances. It was quite evident to de +Mezy's seconds that he was no match for Robert, and that another trial +would probably result in greater disaster, so Nemours and Le Moyne, in +behalf of their principal, promptly announced that they were satisfied, +and de Galisonniere and Glandelet said as much for theirs. Meanwhile +Monsieur Berryer and the other spectators, who had now risen to the +number of two score, continued to watch from the shelter of the trees. +They had seen the result with protruding eyes, but they had not +understood when the young victor thrust his sword back in its sheath. +They could not hear the talk, but it was quite clear that the duel was +over, and they turned away, somewhat disappointed that one of their own +had lost the combat, but somewhat pleased, too, that he had not lost his +own life at the same time. + +"Shake hands, gentlemen," said de Galisonniere blithely. "Although no +blood was shed it was a hot battle and I hope when you two meet again it +will be in friendship and not in enmity. You are a fine swordsman, +Lennox, and it was honorable of you, de Mezy, when you didn't know his +caliber, to offer to take on, because of his youth, the older man, Mr. +Willet." + +Robert came back and offered his hand frankly. De Mezy, whose head was +still ringing from his uncommon exertions and chagrin, took it. It was +bitter to have lost, but he still lived. In a manner as he saw it, he +had been disgraced, but time and the red wine and the white would take +away the sting. He still lived. That was the grand and beautiful fact. +Many more joyous days and nights awaited him in the company of Bigot and +Cadet and Pean, powerful men who knew how to exercise their power and +how to live at the same time. He should be grateful for a little while, +at least, to the young Bostonnais, and he shook the proffered hand as +heartily as his own damp, limp fingers would admit. + +"May your stay in Quebec be as pleasant as you wish," he said, a bit +thickly. + +"Thanks," said Robert, who read the man's mind thoroughly. + +De Galisonniere put away the unstained swords, quite satisfied with the +affair, himself and everybody. An important follower of Bigot had been +humbled, and yet he had not suffered in such a manner that he could call +for the punishment of the one who had humbled him. The very youth of the +Bostonnais would disarm resentment against him. + +De Mezy's party with formal bows drew away, and Robert and his friends +returned to the Inn of the Eagle. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BIGOT'S BALL + + +"You needn't expect any trouble from the authorities," said de +Galisonniere, when they sat once more in the great room at the inn. +"Dueling is of course frowned upon theoretically, but it's a common +practice, and since no life has been lost, not even any wound inflicted, +you'll hear nothing of it from the government. And de Mezy, I imagine, +will say as little about it as possible. He rather fancies himself as a +swordsman, and he will not want everybody in Quebec to know that he was +defeated and disarmed by a boy. Still, it will spread." + +He and Glandelet took a courteous leave, and Robert thanked them for +their services. He liked them both, especially de Galisonniere, and he +was sorry that fate should put them on opposing sides in the war that +all of them felt was surely coming. + +"The French count gave you the hand of friendship, but not the spirit of +it," said Tayoga, who had not spoken at all while they were at the +dueling ground. "He was grateful to you for sparing his life, but his +gratitude will go like the wind, and then he will hate you. And he will +have the powerful friends, of whom the captain spoke, to plot against +you and us." + +"That's so, Tayoga," said the hunter, gravely, "I'm sorry the Governor +General wasn't here when we arrived. It was an unlucky chance, because +it would have been better for us to have given him our letters and have +departed at once." + +Robert, in his heart, knew that it was true, and that dangers would soon +cluster about them, but he was willing to linger. The spell of Quebec +had grown stronger, and he had made an entrance into its world in most +gallant fashion, sword in hand, like a young knight, and that would +appeal to the warlike French. + +They deemed it wise to stay in the inn for a while, but two or three +hours later Willet went out, returning soon, and showing some +excitement. + +"An old friend has come," he said. + +"A friend!" said Robert. "I know of no friend to expect." + +"I used the word 'friend' in exactly the opposite sense. It's an enemy. +I'm quite sure nobody in the world hates us more." + +"Tandakora!" + +"None other. It's the sanguinary Ojibway, his very self. I saw him +stalking along the streets of Quebec in the most hideous paint that man +ever mixed, a walking monument of savage pride, and I've no doubt in my +mind either why he came here." + +"To get some sort of revenge upon us." + +"That's it. He'll go before the Governor General, and charge that we +attacked him in the gorge and slew good, innocent men of his." + +"Tandakora is cunning," said Tayoga. "The Great Bear is right. He will +lie many times against us, and it is likely that the Frenchmen, de +Courcelles and Jumonville, will come also and tell that they met us in +the woods, although they said smooth words to us when we left them." + +"And we don't know what kind of a net they'll try to weave around us," +said Willet. "I say again I wish we'd delivered our letters and were out +of Quebec." + +But Robert could not agree with the hunter and Tayoga. He was still glad +of the lucky chance that had taken away the Governor General. There was +also a certain keen delight in speculating what their enemies would do +next. Conscious of right and strength he believed they could foil all +attempts upon them, and while the question was still fresh in his mind +Father Philibert Drouillard came in. Wrapped closely in his black robe +he looked taller, leaner, and more ascetic than ever, and his gaze was +even stronger and more penetrating. Now it rested upon Robert. + +"I had a fair opinion of you," he said. "Coming with you in the +_Frontenac_ down the river I judged you, despite your weapons and the +fact that you belong to another race than mine, a gentle youth and full +of the virtues. Now I find that you have been fighting and fighting with +intent to kill." + +"Hold hard, Father," said Willet in a good-humored tone. "Only half of +that is true. Your information is not full. He has been fighting, but +not with intent to kill. He held the life of Count Jean de Mezy on the +point of his sword, but gave it back to him, such as it was." + +The deep eyes of the priest smoldered. Perhaps there was a distant and +fiery youth of his own that the morning's deed recalled, but his +menacing gaze relaxed. + +"If you gave him back his life when you could have taken it, you have +done well," he said. "As the hunter intimates, it is a life of little +value, perhaps none at all, but you did not on that account have any +right to take it. And I say more, that if the misadventure had to happen +to any Frenchman here in Quebec I am glad it happened to one of the +wicked tribe of Bigot." + +"Your man Bigot, powerful though he may be, seems to have plenty of +enemies," said the hunter. + +"He has many, but not enough, I fear," said the priest gloomily. "He and +his horde are a terrible weight upon the shoulders of New France. But I +should not talk of these things to you who are our enemies, and who may +soon be fighting us." + +He quit the subject abruptly, and talked in a desultory manner on +irrelevant matters. But Robert saw that Quebec itself and the struggle +between the powerful Bigot ring and the _honnetes gens_ was a much +greater weight on his mind than the approaching war with the English +colonies. + +After a stay of a half hour he departed, saying that he was going to +visit a parish farther down the river, and might not see them again, but +he wished them well. He also bade them once more to beware of Tandakora. + +"A good man and a strong one," said Willet, when, he left. "I seem to +feel a kindred spirit in him, but I don't think his prevision about not +seeing us again is right, though his advice to look out for Tandakora is +certainly worth following." + +They saw the Ojibway warrior twice that afternoon. Either he concealed +the effects of the wound in his shoulder or it had healed rapidly, since +he was apparently as vigorous as ever and gave them murderous glances. +Tayoga shrugged his shoulders. + +"Tandakora has followed us far," he said, "but this is not the ground +that suits him. The forest is better than a city for the laying of an +ambush." + +"Still, we'll watch him," said Willet. + +The evening witnessed the arrival at the Inn of the Eagle of two new +guests to whom Monsieur Berryer paid much deference, Colonel de +Courcelles and Captain de Jumonville, who had been on an expedition in +behalf of His Majesty, King Louis, into the forests of the south and +west, and who, to the great surprise of the innkeeper, seemed to be well +acquainted with the three. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were having their dinner, or supper as it +would have been called in the Province of New York, when the two +Frenchmen dressed in their neat, close-fitting uniforms and with all the +marks of travel removed, came into the large room. They rose at once and +exchanged greetings. Robert, although he did not trust them, felt that +they had no cause of quarrel with the two, and it was no part of his +character to be brusque or seek trouble. + +De Courcelles gave them a swift, comprehensive glance, and then said, +as if they were chance visitors to Quebec: + +"You've arrived ahead of us, I see, and as I learn, you find the Marquis +Duquesne away. Perhaps, if your letters are urgent, you would care to +present them to the Intendant, Monsieur Bigot, a man of great perception +and judgment." + +Robert turned his examining look with interest. Was he also one of +Bigot's men, or did he incline to the cause of the _honnetes gens?_ Or, +even if he were not one of Bigot's followers, did he prefer that +Robert's mission should fail through a delivery of his letters to the +wrong man? Bigot certainly was not one with whom the English could deal +easily, since so far as Robert could learn he was wrapped in the folds +of a huge conceit. + +"We might do that," the youth replied, "but I don't think it's quite +proper. I make no secret of the fact that I bear letters for the +Governor General of Canada, and it would not be pleasing to the Governor +of the Province of New York for me to deliver them to someone else." + +"It was merely a suggestion. Let us dismiss it." + +He did not speak again of the immediate affairs that concerned them so +vitally, but talked of Paris, where he had spent a gay youth. He saw the +response in the glowing eyes of Robert, and exerted himself to please. +Moreover his heart was in his subject. Quebec was a brilliant city for +the New World, but Paris was the center of the whole world, the flower +of all the centuries, the city of light, of greatness and of genius. +The throne of the Bourbons was the most powerful in modern times, and +they were a consecrated family. + +Robert followed him eagerly. Both he and de Courcelles saw the Bourbons +as they appeared to be before the fall, and not as the world has seen +them since, in the light of revelation. The picture of Paris and its +splendors, painted by one who loved it, flung over him a powerful spell, +and only the warning words Willet had spoken recalled to him that the +Bourbon throne might not really be made for all time. + +De Courcelles and Jumonville, who had no permanent quarters in Quebec, +would remain two days at the inn, and, on the whole, Robert was glad. He +felt that the three could protect themselves from possible wiles and +stratagems of the two Frenchmen, and that they meant to attempt them he +believed he had proof later, as de Courcelles suggested they might call +in the course of the evening upon the Intendant, Bigot, who was then at +his palace. They need not say anything about their mission, but good +company could be found there, and they might be sure of a welcome from +the Intendant. Again Robert declined, and de Courcelles did not press +the matter. He and Jumonville withdrew presently, saying they had a +report to make to the commandant of the garrison, and the three went to +bed soon afterward. + +Tayoga, who slept lightly, awoke after midnight and went to a window. +The Onondaga, most of the three, distrusted Quebec. It was never Quebec +to him. It was Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, the great warrior nation of +the Hodenosaunee who stood beside the Onondagas, their lost Stadacona, +but their Stadacona still. In his heart too burned the story of +Frontenac and how he had ravaged the country of the Hodenosaunee with +fire and sword. He was here in the very shrine and fortress of the +ancient enemies of the great Iroquois. He had taken the education of the +white man, he had read in his books and he knew much of the story of the +human race, but nothing had ever disturbed his faith that a coming chief +of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the mighty League of +the Hodenosaunee was, by right, and in fact, a prince among men. + +But while Tayoga learned what civilization, as the European races called +it, had to offer, it did not make him value any the less the arts and +lore of his own forest. Rather, they increased in size and importance by +comparison. He had seen how the talk of de Courcelles had lighted a fire +in the soul of Lennox, he had seen how even Willett, the wary, had been +stirred, but he, Tayoga, had been left cold. He had read the purpose +behind it all, and never for an instant did he let himself put any faith +in de Courcelles or Jumonville. + +The air of the room was heavy and fetid to Tayoga. His free spirit +detected poison in the atmosphere of Quebec, and, for the moment, he +longed to be in the great, pure wilderness, pure at least to one of his +race. He opened the window more widely and inhaled the breeze which was +coming from the north, out of vast clean forests, that no white man +save the trapper had ever entered. + +He looked upward, at first toward the blue sky and its clustering stars, +and then, turning his eyes to the open space near the inn, caught sight +of two shadowy figures. The Onondaga was alert upon the instant, because +he knew those figures, thin though they seemed in the dusk. One was +Tandakora, the Ojibway, and the other was Auguste de Courcelles, Colonel +in the French army, a pair most unlike, yet talking together earnestly +now. + +Tayoga was not at all surprised. He had pierced the mind of de +Courcelles and he had expected him to seek Tandakora. He watched them a +full five minutes, until the Ojibway slipped away in the darkness, and +de Courcelles turned back toward the inn, walking slowly, and apparently +very thoughtful. + +Tayoga thought once of going outside to follow Tandakora, but he decided +that no good object would be served by it and remained at the window, +where the wind out of the cold north could continue to blow upon him. He +knew that the Indian and de Courcelles had entered into some conspiracy, +but he believed they could guard against it, and in good time it would +disclose itself. + +There might be many hidden trails in a city like Quebec, but he meant to +discover the one that Tandakora followed. He remained an hour at the +window, and then without awaking his comrades to tell what he had seen +went back to his bed. Nor did he say anything about it when they awoke +in the morning. He preferred to keep Tandakora as his especial charge. +A coming chief of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee, would know how to deal with a savage +Ojibway out of the western forests. + +At breakfast, Robert wondered what they would do during the coming day, +as it was not advisable to go much about Quebec owing to the notoriety +the duel had brought to them. Monsieur Berryer, suave, deferential and +full of gossip, informed them that the fame of young Mr. Lennox as a +master of the sword had spread through the city in a few hours. Brave +and skillful young Frenchmen were anxious to meet him and prove that +where Count Jean de Mezy had failed they might succeed. + +"The young gentleman will not lack opportunities for honor and glory in +Quebec," said Monsieur Berryer, rubbing his fat, white hands. + +"In view of our errand here you must let all these opportunities go, +Robert," said Willet. "If we show ourselves too much some of these hot +young French knights will force a fight upon you, not because they hate +you, but from sporting motives. But it would be just as bad for you to +lose your life in a friendly duel as in one full of hate." + +Robert chafed, nevertheless. The Inn of the Eagle was a good inn, but he +did not wish to spend an entire day within its walls. Young Captain +Louis de Galisonniere solved the problem, arriving just after breakfast +with a note addressed to Mr. Robert Lennox, which proved to be an +invitation for all three of them from Monsieur Francois Bigot, +Intendant of Canada, to attend a dinner given by him that evening at his +palace. The letter was full of polite phrases. The Intendant had heard +of young Mr. Lennox's surpassing skill with the sword, and of his +success with Count Jean de Mezy, who wielded a good blade himself. But +neither the Intendant nor those associated with him bore any ill will. +It was well known that Mr. Lennox was accredited with letters to the +Marquis Duquesne, but in the absence of the Governor General it would be +the pleasure of the Intendant to show courtesy to the messenger of the +Governor of the Province of New York and his comrades. + +It was a full and abounding letter, swarming with polite phrases, and it +appealed to Robert. Bigot might be corrupt, but he belonged to the great +world, and Robert felt that since he had come to Quebec he ought to see +the Intendant, his palace and what was done within its walls. It was +true that they had evaded suggestions to meet him, but a formal +invitation was different. He passed the letter to Willet, who read it +and handed it to Tayoga. + +"We'll have to go, Robert," said the hunter. "It's evident that Bigot +wants us, and if we don't accept he may make trouble for us. Yes, it's +wiser to go." + +Robert's eyes shone and Willet noticed it. + +"You'd have been disappointed if I had counseled a negative," he said. + +"I would," said Robert frankly. "I'm looking forward to the dinner with +the Intendant. Will you be there, Captain de Galisonniere?" + +"Yes, and I'm glad you've accepted. Mr. Willet was right when he said +it was wisdom to go. The Intendant is the most powerful man in Canada. +'Tis said that the Governor General, the Marquis Duquesne, will return +to France before long, and hence he lets a part of his authority slip +into the hands of Monsieur Bigot. You understand the dual nature of our +government in Canada. The Governor General is the immediate personal +representative of the King, but the Intendant is supreme over the +courts, finance, commerce and all the civil affairs of the country. So a +mighty power is lodged in his hands and it's also true here, as well as +elsewhere, that he who holds the purse holds more than the sword." + +"Will Colonel de Courcelles and Captain de Jumonville be there?" +continued Robert. + +"Undoubtedly. They belong to the military arm, of course, but they are +both favorites of Bigot, and they neglect no opportunity to strengthen +their position with him. Be careful what you say before them." + +Robert thanked him for his caution, although it was not needed, as he +had already resolved to be very wary in the presence of de Courcelles +and Jumonville, and the Onondaga also made a mental note of it, knowing +that de Courcelles was willing to plot in the dusk with a savage +Ojibway. + +De Galisonniere did not stay long, and after his departure Robert and +his friends reconsidered their determination, deciding that it was best +to brave Quebec and whatever it should have to offer in the full light +of day. The hunter's apprehensions that a quarrel might be forced upon +them were not justified, as Canadian and French politeness held true, +and they were received only with curiosity and interest. + +They gazed again at the great stone buildings and also took a brief view +of the Intendant's palace, where they expected to dine in the evening. +It was a palace in extent, but not in beauty, a great rambling building +of both timber and masonry, with a green lawn and flower gardens near +by. It was said that Bigot and his predecessors had spent huge sums on +the interior decoration, but that Robert expected soon to see for +himself. + +Returning to the Inn of the Eagle late in the afternoon, they began to +array themselves for Bigot's dinner, not wishing the Bostonnais to +appear at a disadvantage before the _noblesse_ of Quebec. Monsieur +Berryer sent them a barber, Gaston, who not only shaved the two white +faces, but who powdered and arranged their queues, and also manicured +their nails and gave their coats and waistcoats a rakish set, which he +assured them was quite the latest mode in Paris. Robert took all his +advice. He was very particular about his attire, knowing that however +much the jealous might criticize fine dress it always had its effect. + +The hunter watched Robert as he and Gaston arranged the new Paris styles +with a look that was almost paternal. The fine youth had exceeded +Willet's best hopes. Tall, straight, frank and open, he had the sound +mind in the sound body which is the sum of excellence, and the hunter +was glad to see him particular. It was a part of his heritage, and +became him. + +They were not to leave the Inn of the Eagle until after dusk, and Willet +suggested that they should not start until late, as they could walk to +the palace in a few minutes. But Robert said boldly that they would not +walk. It was fitting for the messengers of the Governor of New York to +ride and he would have Monsieur Berryer to call a caleche. Willet +assented with a laugh. + +"You're right, Robert," he said, "but I ride so little in carriages that +I didn't think of it." + +The night was rather dark, but when the three in the caleche approached +the palace they saw many men holding torches, and many people back of +them watching. The entertainments of Francois Bigot were famous in +Quebec for lavish splendor, and the uninvited usually came in numbers to +see the guests go in. + +"Be on your guard tonight, Robert," whispered Willet. "This is a society +to which you're not used, although I'll not deny that you could soon +learn it. But the French think we English, whether English English or +American English, are inferior in wit and quickness to themselves, and +there may be some attempts at baiting the bear before we leave." + +Robert felt his breath coming a little more quickly, and in the dusk, +Willet did not see the glow that appeared in his eyes. They might try to +"bait the bear" but he would be ready. The new powers that he had found +in himself not only accepted the challenge, but craved it. He was +conscious that he was not deficient in wit and quickness himself, and +if any follower of Francois Bigot, or if the great Bigot himself tried +to make sport of him he might find instead that the ruffler was +furnishing sport for the Bostonnais. So it was with a beating heart but +no apprehension that he alighted from the caleche with his friends, and +went into the palace to meet the Intendant. + +The interior of the great building was a singular mixture of barbaric +and civilized splendor, the American forests and the factories of France +alike being drawn upon for its furnishings. The finest of silken +tapestries and the rarest of furs often hung close together. Beyond the +anterooms was a large hall in which the chosen guests danced while the +people might look on from galleries that surrounded it. These people, +who were not so good as the guests, could dance as much as they pleased +in a second hall set aside exclusively for their use. In another and +more secluded but large room all kinds of games of chance to which Bigot +and his followers were devoted were in progress. In the huge dining-room +the table was set for forty persons, the usual number, until the war +came, when it was reduced to twenty, and Bigot gave a dinner there +nearly every evening, unless he was absent from Quebec. + +Robert felt as soon as he entered the palace that he had come into a +strange, new, exotic atmosphere, likely to prove intoxicating to the +young, and he remembered the hunter's words of warning. Yet his spirit +responded at once to the splendor and the call of a gayer and more +gorgeous society than any he had ever known. Wealth and great houses +existed even then in New York and upon occasion their owners made full +use of both, but there was a restraint about the Americans, the English +and the Dutch. Their display was often heavy and always decorous, and in +Quebec he felt for the first time the heedless gayety of the French, +when the Bourbon monarchy had passed its full bloom, and already was in +its brilliant decay. Truly, they could have carved over the doorway, +"Leave all fear and sorrow behind, ye who enter here." + +There were lights everywhere, flaming from tall silver candlesticks, and +uniforms, mostly in white and silver, or white with black or violet +facings, were thick in the rooms. Ladies, too, were present, in silk or +satin billowing in many a fold, their powdered hair rolled high in the +style made fashionable by Madame Jeanne Poisson de Pompadour. From an +inner room came the music of a band softly playing French songs or airs +from the Florentine opera. The air was charged with odors of perfume. + +It _was_ intoxicating, and yet it was pleasant. No, "pleasant" was not +the word, it was alluring, it played upon the senses, it threw a glow +over the rooms and the people, and the youth saw everything through a +tawny mist that heightened and deepened the colors. He was glad that he +had come. Nor was "glad" the word either. Seeing what he now saw and +knowing what he now knew, he would have blamed himself bitterly had he +stayed away. + +"Welcome, Mr. Lennox, my brave and generous opponent of the morning," +said a voice, and, looking through the tawny mist, he saw the man whom +he had fought and spared, Count Jean de Mezy, in a wonderful coat, +waistcoat and knee breeches of white satin, heavily embroidered, white +silk stockings, and low white shoes with great silver buckles, and a +small gold-hilted sword hanging at his thigh. The cheeks, a trifle too +fat, were mottled again, but his manner like his costume was silken. One +would have thought that he and not Robert was the victor in that trial +of skill by the St. Louis gate. + +"Welcome, Mr. Lennox," he said again in a tone that showed no malice. +"The Intendant's ball will be all the more brilliant for the presence of +yourself and your friends. What a splendid figure the young Onondaga +chief makes!" + +Tayoga bowed to the compliment, which was rather broad but true, and de +Mezy ran on: + +"We are accustomed here to the presence of Indian chiefs. We French have +known how to win the trust and friendship of the warriors and we ask +them to our parlors and our tables as you English do not do, although I +will confess that the Iroquois hitherto have come into Canada as enemies +and not as friends." + +"Quebec was once the Stadacona of the Ganeagaono, known to you as the +Mohawks," said Tayoga in his deep musical voice, "and there is no record +that they ever gave or sold it to Onontio." + +De Mezy was embarrassed for a moment, but he recovered himself quickly +and laughed. + +"You have us there!" he cried, "but it was long, long ago, when Cartier +came to Quebec. Times change and ownerships change with them. We can't +roll back the past." + +Tayoga said no more, content to remind the French at intervals that a +brother nation of the Hodenosaunee still asserted its title to Quebec. + +"You are not the only member of the great red race present," said de +Mezy to Tayoga. "We have a chief from the far west, a splendid type of +the forest man. What size! What strength! What a mien! By my faith, he +would make a stir in Paris!" + +"Tandakora, the Ojibway!" said Robert. + +"Yes, but how did you know?" + +"We have met him--more than once. We have had dealings with him, and we +may have more. He seems to be interested in what we're doing, and hence +we're never surprised when we see him." + +De Mezy looked puzzled, but at that moment de Courcelles and de +Jumonville, wearing uniforms of white and silver, came forward to add +their greeting to those of the count. They were all courtesy and the +words dropped from their lips like honey, but Robert felt that their +souls were not like the soul of de Galisonniere, and that they could not +be counted among the _honnetes gens_. But the three Frenchmen were ready +now to present the three travelers to Monsieur Francois Bigot, Intendant +of Canada, great and nearly all powerful, and Robert judged too that +they had made no complaint against his friends and himself. + +Bigot was standing near the entrance to the private dancing room, and +about him was a numerous company, including ladies, among them the wife +of Pean, to whom the gossip of the time gave great influence with him, +and a certain Madame Marin and her sister, Madame de Rigaud, and others. +As the three approached under the conduct of the three Frenchmen the +group opened out, and they were presented in order, Robert first. + +The youth was still under the influence of the lights, the gorgeous +rooms and the brilliant company, but he gazed with clear eyes and the +most eager interest at Bigot, whose reputation had spread far, even in +the British colonies. He saw a man of middle years, portly, his red face +sprinkled with many pimples, probably from high living, not handsome and +perhaps at first repellent, but with an expression of vigor and ease, +and an open, frank manner that, at length, attracted. His dress was much +like de Mezy's, but finer perhaps. + +Such was the singular man who had so much to do with the wrecking of New +France, a strange compound of energy and the love of luxury, lavish with +hospitality, an untiring worker, a gambler, a profligate, a thief of +public funds, he was also kindly, gracious and devoted to his friends. A +strange bundle of contradictions and disjointed morals, he represented +in the New World the glittering decadence that marked the French +monarchy at home. Now he was smiling as de Mezy introduced Robert with +smooth words. + +"Mr. Robert Lennox of Albany and New York," he said, "the brilliant +young swordsman of whom I spoke to you, the one who disarmed me this +morning, but who was too generous to take my life." + +Bigot's smiling gaze rested upon Robert, who was conscious, however, +that there was much penetration behind the smile. The Intendant would +seek to read his mind, and perhaps to learn the nature of the letters he +brought, before they were delivered to their rightful owner, the Marquis +Duquesne. Quebec was the home of intrigue, and the Intendant's palace +was the heart of it, but if Robert's pulse beat fast it was with +anticipation and not with fear. + +"It was fortune more than skill," he said. "The Count de Mezy credits me +with too much knowledge of the sword." + +"No," said Bigot, laughing, "Jean wouldn't do that. He'd credit you with +all you have, and no more. Jean, like the rest of us, doesn't relish a +defeat, do you, Jean?" + +De Mezy reddened, but he forced a laugh. + +"I suppose that nobody does!" he replied, "but when I suffer one I try +to make the best of it." + +"That's an honest confession, Jean," said Bigot, "and you'll feel better +for making it." + +He seemed now to Robert bluff, genial, all good nature, and the youth +stood on one side, while Willet and Tayoga were presented in their turn. +Bigot looked very keenly at the Onondaga, and the answering gaze was +fierce and challenging. Robert saw that Tayoga was not moved by the +splendor, the music and the perfumed air, and that he did not forget for +an instant that this gay Quebec of the French was the Stadacona of the +Mohawks, a great brother nation of the Hodenosaunee. + +Bigot's countenance fell a little as he met the intensely hostile gaze, +but in a moment he recovered himself and began to pay compliments to +Willet and the Iroquois. Robert felt the charm of his manner and saw why +he was so strong with a great body of the French in New France. Then his +eyes wandered to the others who stood near like courtiers around a king, +and he noticed that foremost among them was a man of mean appearance and +presuming manner, none other, he soon learned, than the notorious Joseph +Cadet, confederate of Bigot, in time to become Commissary General of New +France, the son of a Quebec butcher, who had begun life as a pilot boy, +and who was now one of the most powerful men in those regions of the New +World that paid allegiance to the House of Bourbon. Near him stood Pean, +the Town Mayor of Quebec, a soldier of energy, but deep in corrupt +bargains with Cadet, and just beyond Pean was his partner, Penisseault, +and near them were their wives, of whom scandal spoke many a true word, +and beyond them were the Commissary of Marine, Varin, a Frenchman, small +and insignificant of appearance, the Intendant's secretary, Deschenaux, +the son of a shoemaker at Quebec, Cadet's trusted clerk, Corpron and +Maurin, a humpback. + +A strange and varied company, one of the strangest ever gathered in any +outlying capital of a diseased and dying monarchy. Robert, although he +knew that it was corrupt and made a mockery of many things that he had +been taught to reverence, did not yet understand how deadly was the +poison that flowed in the veins of this society. At present, he saw only +the glow and the glitter. All these people were connected closely. The +Canadians intermarrying extensively were a great family, and the +Frenchmen were bound together by the powerful tie, a common interest. + +"Don't believe all you see, Robert," whispered Willet. "You're seeing +the surface, and it's hollow, hollow! I tell you!" + +"But we have nothing like it at home," said Robert. "We're lucky to +come." + +De Mezy had left them, but de Courcelles was near, and he saw that they +were not neglected. Robert was introduced to officers and powerful +civilians and the youngest and handsomest of the ladies, whose freedom +of language surprised him, but whose wit, which played about everything, +pleased a mind peculiarly sensitive to the charm of light and brilliant +talk. + +He had never before been in such an assembly, one that contained so much +of rank and experience in the great world. Surrounded by all that he +loved best, the people, the lights, the colors, and the anticipation of +what was to come, the Intendant shone. One forgot his pimply face and +portly figure in the geniality that was not assumed, and the ease of his +manners. He spoke to Robert more than once, asked him many questions +about Albany and New York, and referred incidentally, too, to the +Iroquois, but it was all light, as if he were asking them because of +interest in his guest, or merely to make conversation. + +The hues of everything gradually grew brighter and more brilliant to +Robert. The music from the next room steeped his senses, and he began to +feel the intoxication of which Willet had warned him. Many of the guests +were of the noblest families of France, young officers who had come to +Quebec, where it was reported promotion was rapid and sure, or where +younger sons, with the aid of such powerful men as Bigot and Cadet, +could make fortunes out of the customs or in the furnishing of supplies +to the government. Robert found himself talking much, his gift of speech +responding readily to the call. He answered their jests with a jest, +their quips with a quip, and when they were serious so was he. He felt +that while there may have been an undercurrent of hostility when he +entered the palace it had all disappeared now, and he was a favorite, or +at least they took a friendly interest in him, because he was a new type +and they did not think him brusque and rude, as the French believed all +Bostonnais to be. + +And through this picturesque throng stalked the two Indians, Tayoga and +Tandakora. The Ojibway wore a feather headdress, and a scarlet blanket +of richest texture was draped around his body, its hem meeting his +finely tanned deerskin leggings, while his feet were encased in beaded +moccasins. Nevertheless he looked, in those surroundings, which belonged +so thoroughly to an exotic civilization, more gigantic and savage than +ever. Robert was well aware that Bigot had brought him there for a +political purpose, to placate and win the western tribes, and to impress +him with the power and dignity of France. But whatever he may have +felt, the Ojibway, towering half a head above the tallest white man, +save Willet, was grim and lowering. His left arm lay in a fold of his +blanket, and, as he held it stiffly, Robert knew that his wound was yet +far from healed. He and Tayoga were careful to keep away from each +other, the Onondaga because he was a guest and was aware of the white +man's amenities, and the Ojibway because he knew it was not the time and +place for his purpose. + +They went in to dinner presently and the table of Francois Bigot was +splendid as became the powerful Intendant of New France, who had plenty +of money, who was lavish with it and who, when it was spent, knew where +to obtain more with ease and in abundance. Forty guests sat down, and +the linen, the silver and the china were worthy of the King's palace at +Versailles. A lady was on Robert's right and Colonel de Courcelles was +on his left. Willet and Tayoga were farther down on his own side of the +table, and he could not see them, unless he leaned forward, which he was +too well mannered to do. Bigot sat at the foot of the table and at its +head was Madame Pean, a native of Canada, born Mademoiselle Desmeloizes, +young, handsome and uncommonly vivacious, dressed gorgeously in the +latest Parisian style, and, as Robert put it to himself, coruscating +with talk and smiles. + +The dinner progressed amid a great loosening of tongues and much wit. +The perfume from the flowers on the table and the continuous playing of +the band made the air heavier and more intoxicating. It seemed to +Robert that if these people had any cares they had dismissed them all +for the time. Their capacity for pleasure, for snatching at the incense +of the fleeting moment, amazed him. War might be coming, but tonight +there was no thought of it. + +Bigot toasted the two Bostonnais and the young Iroquois chief who were +his guests in a flowery speech and Robert responded. When he rose to his +feet he felt a moment of dizziness, because he was so young, and because +he felt so many eyes upon him. But the gift of speech came to his +aid--he was not the golden-mouthed for nothing. The heavy sweet odor of +the roses was in his nostrils, inspiring him to liquid words, and +everything glittered before him. + +He had the most friendly feeling for all in the room except Tandakora, +and a new thought coming into his mind he spoke it aloud. He was, +perhaps, in advance of his time, but he told them that New France and +the British colonies could dwell in peace, side by side. Why should they +quarrel? America was vast. British and French were almost lost in its +forests. France and England together could be stowed away in the region +about the Great Lakes and the shades of the wilderness would encompass +them both. The French and British were great races, it was useless to +compare them and undertake to say which was the greater, because each +was great in its own way, and each excelled in its own particulars, but +the two combined were the sum of manly virtues and strength. What the +British lacked the French supplied, and what the French lacked the +British supplied. Together they could rule the world and spread +enlightenment. + +He sat down and the applause was great and hearty, because he had spoken +with fervor and well. His head was singing, and he was confused a +little, after an effort that had induced emotion. Moreover, the band had +begun to play again some swaying, lilting dance tune, and his pulses +beat to its measure. But he did lean forward, in spite of his manners, +and caught Willet's approving look, for which he was very glad. He +received the compliments of the lady on his right and of de Courcelles, +then the band ceased presently and he became conscious that Tayoga was +speaking. He had not heard Bigot call upon him, but that he had called +was evident. + +Tayoga stood up, tall, calm and dignified. He too had the oratorical +power which was afterward displayed so signally by the Seneca who was +first called by his own people Otetiani and was later known as +Sagoyewatha, but who was known to the white men as Red Jacket. + +"I speak to you not as a Frenchman nor as an Englishman," said Tayoga, +"but as a warrior of the clan of the Bear of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee. Most of this land belonged to our +fathers before ever Englishmen or Frenchmen crossed the great water and +put foot upon these shores. Where you sit now was Stadacona, the village +of our brother race, the Mohawks. Frenchmen or Englishmen may make war +upon one another, or they may make peace with one another, but the +Hodenosaunee cannot be forgotten. There are many beautiful rivers and +lakes and forests to the south and west, but they do not belong to +either Onontio or Corlear. The laws of the fifty sachems who sit in +council in the vale of Onondaga run there, and those who leave them out, +be they French or English, reckon ill. There was a time when Frontenac +came raiding their villages, burning and slaying, but we did not know +the use of firearms then. Now we do know their use and have them, and in +battle we can meet the white man on equal terms, be he English or +French. I have been to the white man's school and I have learned that +there are other great continents beyond the sea. I do not know what may +happen in them, nor does it matter, but in this vast continent which you +call America the wars and treaties of the English and the French are +alike unavailing, unless they consider the wishes of the Hodenosaunee." + +He spoke in a manner inexpressibly haughty, and when he had finished he +swept the table from end to end with his challenging glance, then he sat +down amid a deep silence. But they were French. They understood that he +had tossed a glove among them, their quick minds saw that the challenge +was intended not alone for them, but for the English as well, unless the +rights of the Hodenosaunee were respected, and such a speech at such a +time appealed to their gallant instincts. After a moment or two of +silence the applause burst forth in a storm. + +"'Twas a fair warning," said de Courcelles in Robert's ear, "and 'twas +meant for us both." + +It was on Robert's tongue to reply that the English were included for +the sake of courtesy, as they were the friends of the Hodenosaunee and +always kept faith with them, but second thought stopped the words on his +lips. Then the band began again, playing a warm song of the south from +the Florentine opera, and the talk increased. It seemed to Robert that +everybody spoke at once, and his senses were again steeped in the music +and the perfumed air, and the sound of so many voices. Presently he +realized that some one across the table was speaking to him. + +"The Onondaga said bold words in behalf of his league, but can he prove +them true?" the voice was saying. + +There was something provocative in his tone, and Robert looked closely +at the speaker. He saw a tall man of at least forty-five, thin but +obviously very powerful and agile. Robert noticed that his wrists were +thick like his own and that his fingers were long and flexible. His face +was freckled, his nose large and curved, giving to his face an +uncommonly fierce appearance, and his eyes were black and set close +together. It was a strong countenance and, when Robert looked at him, +the black brows were drawn together in a frown. His words undoubtedly +had a challenge in them, and the youth replied: + +"When Tayoga speaks he speaks from his head as well as his heart, and I +who am his sworn brother, although we are of different races, know that +he doesn't boast when he refers to the power of the Hodenosaunee." + +"And may it not be possible, sir, that you have been deceived by your +friendship?" + +Robert looked at him in surprise. The man's manner was pointed as if he +were making an issue, and so he did not answer just then, but de +Courcelles by his side leaned forward a little and said: + +"Perhaps, Mr. Lennox, you have not yet been introduced formally to the +chevalier, Chevalier Pierre Boucher, who has been only a year from +Paris, but who is already a comrade good and true." + +"No, I don't think I've been deceived," replied Robert, keeping his +temper, and bowing to the introduction. "The Hodenosaunee, better known +to you as the Iroquois, are a very powerful league, as many of the +villages of Canada can tell." + +The man's face darkened. + +"Is it wise," he asked, "to remind us of the ferocious deeds the +Iroquois have done upon us," + +But de Courcelles intervened. + +"Peace! Peace, chevalier!" he said in a good-humored tone. "Mr. Lennox +meant no innuendo. He merely stated a fact to prove a contention." + +The chevalier subsided into silence, but Robert saw a significant look +pass between them, and instantly he became keen and watchful. What did +it mean? Willet's warning words came back to him. The more he studied +Boucher the less he liked him. With his thin face, and great hooked +nose, and long, bony fingers like talons, he reminded him of some great +bird of prey. He noticed also that while the others were drinking wine, +although he himself did not, the chevalier was the only one within his +view who also abstained. + +The dinner was long. One or two of the ladies sang to the music, another +danced, and then de Galisonniere, in a full, round tenor voice, sang +"The Bridge of Avignon." + + "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." + +It was singularly appealing, and for a moment tears came to the eyes of +all those who were born in France. They saw open fields, stone fences, +and the heavy grapes hanging in the vineyards, instead of the huge +rivers, the vast lakes and the mighty wilderness that curved almost to +their feet. But it was only for a moment. This was Quebec, the seat of +the French power in America, and they were in the Intendant's palace, +the very core and heart of it. The laughter that had been hushed for a +thoughtful instant or two came back in full tide, and once more the +Chevalier Pierre Boucher spoke to Robert. + +"The songs of our France are beautiful," he said. "None other have in +them so much of poetry and haunting lament." + +The youth detected as before the challenging under note in a remark that +otherwise would have seemed irrelevant, and an angry contradiction +leaped swiftly to his lips, but with the recollection of Willet's +warning look he restrained himself again. + +"France has many beautiful things," he replied quietly. + +"Well spoken, Mr. Lennox! A compliment to us from one of another race is +worth having," said de Courcelles. But Robert thought he saw that +significant look pass for a second time between de Courcelles and +Boucher. The long dinner drew to its close and the invited guests passed +into the private ballroom, where the band began to play dance music. In +the other ballroom, the one intended for the general public, the people +were dancing already, and another band was playing. + +Now Bigot was in his element, swelling with importance and good humor, +easy, graceful, jesting with men and women, wishing the world well, +knowing that he could milk from the royal treasury the money he was +spending tonight, and troubled by no twinges of conscience. Cadet +hovered near his powerful partner and Pean, Maurin, Penisseault and +Corpron were not far away. Robert looked with interest at the ballroom +which was decorated gorgeously. The balcony was filled already with +spectators who would watch the lords and ladies dance. There was no +restraint. No Father Drouillard was present to give rebuke and all the +_honnetes gens_ were absent, unless a few young officers like de +Galisonniere, who sympathized with them, be excepted. + +They began to dance to light, tripping music, and to Robert all the +women seemed beautiful and graceful now, and all the men gay and +gallant. He could dance the latest dances himself, and meant to do so +soon, but for the present he would wait, standing by the wall and +looking on. Willet came to him, and evidently intended to whisper +something, but de Courcelles, by the youth's side, intervened +laughingly. + +"No secrets, Mr. Willet," he said. "No grave and serious matters can be +discussed at the Intendant's ball. It is one of our rules that when we +work we work and when we play we play. It is a useful lesson which you +Bostonnais should learn." + +Then Jumonville came and began to talk to the hunter in such direct +fashion that he was compelled to respond, and presently he was drawn +away, leaving Robert with de Courcelles. + +"You at least dance, do you not?" asked de Courcelles. + +"Yes," replied Robert, "I learned it at Albany." + +"Shall I get you a partner?" + +"In a little while, if you will be so good, Colonel de Courcelles, but +just now I'd rather see the others dancing. A most brilliant assemblage. +I never beheld its like before." + +"Brilliant for Quebec," said a voice at his elbow, "but you should go to +Paris, the very heart and center of the world, to see great pleasure and +great splendor in the happiest combination." + +It was the grim and freckle-faced Boucher, and again Robert detected +that challenging under note in his voice. In spite of himself his blood +grew hot. + +"I don't know much about Paris," he said. "I've never been there, +although I hope to go some day, but Quebec affords both pleasure and +splendor in high degree tonight." + +"You don't mean to say that Quebec, much as we French have labored to +build it up here in the New World, can compare with Paris?" + +Robert stared at him in astonishment. Both manner and tone were now +certainly aggressive, and as far as he could see aggressive about +nothing. Why should anyone raise an issue between Quebec and Paris, and +above all at such a time, there at Bigot's ball? He refused to be drawn +into a controversy, and shrugging his shoulders a little, he turned away +without an answer. He heard Boucher's voice raised again, but de +Courcelles laughingly waved him down. + +"Come! come, my Pierre," he said. "You're too ready to suspect that +someone is casting aspersions upon that beloved Paris of ours. Perhaps +you and I shall have the pleasure of showing the great city to Mr. +Lennox some day." + +He hooked his hand in Robert's arm and drew him away. + +"Don't mind Boucher," he said. "He has a certain brusqueness of manner +at times, although he is a good soul. He can't bear for anyone to +suggest that another city, even one of our own, could possibly rival +Paris in any particular. It's his pet devotion, and we won't disturb him +in it. There's your friend, Tayoga, standing by the wall with his arms +folded across his chest. What a splendid savage!" + +"He's not a savage. Tayoga was educated in our schools and he has both +the white man's learning and the red man's. He has the virtues, too, of +both races, and few, very few of their vices." + +"You're an enthusiast about your friend." + +"And so would you be if you knew him as well as I do. That little speech +he made showed his courage and the greatness of his soul." + +"Spoken at such a time, its appeal was strong. I don't want to boast of +my race, Mr. Lennox, but the French always respond to a gallant act." + +"I know it, and I know, too, that if we English, and Americans or +Bostonnais, as you call us, do go to war with you we could not possibly +have a more enterprising or dangerous foe." + +Colonel de Courcelles bowed to the compliment, and then with a nod +indicated Tandakora, also standing against the wall, huge, sullen and +looking like a splash of red flame, wrapped in his long scarlet blanket. + +"He, at least, is a savage," he said. + +"That I readily admit," said Robert. + +"And as you know by the charges that he made against you to me, he +wishes you and your comrades no good." + +"I know by those charges and by events that have occurred since. +Tandakora is a savage through and through, and as such my comrades and I +must guard against him." + +"But the Ojibway is a devoted friend of ours," said a harsh voice over +his shoulders. + +He turned and saw the lowering face of Boucher, and once more he was +amazed. De Courcelles did not give the youth time to answer. Again he +laughingly waved Boucher away. + +"Pierre, my friend," he said, "you seem to be seeking points of issue +tonight. Now, I refuse to let you and Mr. Lennox quarrel over the +manners, habits and personal characteristics of Tandakora. Come, Mr. +Lennox, I'm about to present you to a lady with whom you are going to +dance." + +Robert went away with him and he saw that Boucher, who was left behind, +was frowning, but he danced with the lady and others, and as the +excitement of the moment mounted again to his head he forgot all about +Boucher. He saw too that de Galisonniere had abandoned his restraint, +and had plunged into the gayety with all the enthusiasm and delight of +one to whom pleasure was natural. After a while de Courcelles hooked his +arm again in Robert's and said: "Come, I'll show you something." + +He led the way down a narrow passage, and then into a large apartment, +well lighted, though not so brilliantly as the ballroom. A clicking +sound had preceded their entrance, and Robert was aware that he was in +the famous gambling room of Monsieur Bigot. Nearly twenty men, including +the Intendant himself, Cadet and Pean, were there, gambling eagerly with +cards or dice. + +And standing by one of the tables, a frown on his freckled face, Robert +also saw the man, Boucher. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE HUNTER AND THE BRAVO + + +Robert turned away, not wishing to meet Boucher again, as he felt that +the man would say something provocative, and, standing on one side with +de Courcelles, he watched the players. The air was heated, and the faces +of the men were strained and eager. It was all unwholesome to the last +degree, and he felt repulsion, yet it held him for the time with a +fascination due to curiosity. He saw Boucher begin to play and as the +latter held his cards, noticed again his thick and strong, but supple +wrists. Uncommon wrists they were, and Robert knew that an uncommon +amount of power was stored in them. + +Bigot presently observed Robert, and asked him to play, but the lad +declined, and he was brave enough to say that he never played. Bigot +laughed and shook his head. + +"Ah, you Puritan Bostonnais!" he said; "you'll never learn how to live." + +Then he went back to his game. + +"I think," said Robert, upon whom the heat and thick air were beginning +to tell, "that I'd like to go outside and breathe a little fresh air." + +"It is like a hothouse in here," said de Courcelles. + +"It's but a step from this room to a little garden, where we can find +all the cool air we want." + +"Then show the way," said Robert quickly. He was eager to escape from +the room, not alone for the sake of air, but because the place choked +him. After a period of excitement and mental intoxication the reaction +had come. The colors were growing dimmer, the perfume in the air turned +to poison, and he longed for the clean out-of-doors. + +De Courcelles opened a small door and they stepped out. Robert did not +notice that Boucher instantly put down his cards and followed. Before +them was a grassy lawn with borders of rose bushes, and beyond, the vast +sweep of the hills, the river and the far shore showed dimly through the +dusk. The air, moved by a light wind, was crisp, fresh and pure, and, as +Robert breathed it deeply, he felt his head grow clear and cool. Several +men were walking in the garden. One of them was Jumonville, and the +others he did not know. + +"A wonderful site and a wonderful view," said Robert. + +"But from Montmartre in Paris one may see a far greater city," said +Boucher at his elbow. + +Robert turned angrily upon him. He felt that the man, in some manner, +was pursuing him, and that he had stood enough. + +"I did not speak to you, Monsieur Boucher," he said. + +"But I spoke to you, my young sprig of a Bostonnais." + +He spoke with truculence, and now de Courcelles did not interfere. The +others, hearing loud and harsh words, drew near. Jumonville came very +close and regarded Robert with great intentness, evidently curious to +see what he would do. The youth stared at Boucher in amazement, but he +exercised his utmost self-control. + +"I know that you spoke to me, Monsieur Boucher," he said, "but as I do +not see any relevancy in your remarks I will ask you to excuse me. I +came here merely for the air with Colonel de Courcelles." + +He turned away, expecting de Courcelles to resume the walk with him, but +the figure of the Frenchman stiffened and he did not move. All at once a +wind of hostility seemed to be blowing. Somewhere in the dusk, somebody +laughed lightly. Robert's face blazed, but he was still master of +himself. + +"And so you would leave after speaking to me in a manner that is an +insult," sneered Boucher. + +"You were the first to give an insult." + +"If you think so I am ready to return satisfaction." + +Boucher folded his arms across his chest, his powerful wrists crossed, +and stared at Robert, his lips wrinkling in ugly fashion. It was a look +like that which Tandakora had given him, and there in the background was +the huge and sinister figure of the Indian, wrapped in his blanket of +flame. He also saw de Mezy and he too was sneering in insolent triumph. +De Courcelles, from whom he had a right at that time to expect +friendship, or at least support, had drawn farther away. + +"I am a guest here," said Robert, "and I seek no trouble. I don't wish +to mar the hospitality of Monsieur Bigot by being a party to a quarrel +in his garden." + +Again that light laugh came from a point somewhere in the dusk and again +Robert's face blazed, but he still held himself under firm control. + +"You were ready enough to fight Count Jean de Mezy this morning," said +Boucher, "knowing that he was not in condition and that you had a skill +with the sword not suspected by him." + +The truth of it all flashed upon Robert with the certainty of +conviction. The entire situation had been arranged and de Courcelles was +one of its principals. He had been brought into the garden that a fight +might be forced upon him there. Boucher was a bravo and undoubtedly a +great swordsman. He understood now the secret of those thick flexible +wrists and of the man's insulting manner. His blood became ice in his +veins for a moment or two, but it was good for him, cooling his head and +quickening his mind. His heart beat with regularity and steadiness. + +"I thank you, Monsieur de Courcelles," he said, "for your action in this +matter, which I now understand. It's true that it departs in some +respects from what I have understood to be the code and practice of a +French gentleman, but doubtless, sir, it's your right to amend those +standards as you choose." + +De Courcelles flushed, bit his lip and was silent. + +"Very pretty! Very pretty!" sneered Boucher, "but French gentlemen are +the best judges of their own manners and morals. You have your sword, +sir, and I have mine. Here is a fine open space, well lighted by the +moon, and no time is better than the present. Will you draw, sir?" + +"He will not," said a voice over Robert's shoulder, which he instantly +recognized as that of the hunter. He felt suddenly as if a great wall +had been raised for his support. He was no longer alone among plotting +enemies. + +"And why will he not, and what affair is it of yours?" asked Boucher, +his manner threatening. + +Willet took a step forward, his figure towering and full of menace. Just +behind him was Tayoga. Robert had never seen the hunter look taller or +more charged with righteous wrath. But it was an anger that burned like +a white hot flame, and it was alive with deadly menace. + +"He will not draw because he was brought here to be assassinated by you, +bully and bravo that you are," replied Willet, plumbing the very depths +of Boucher's eyes with his stern gaze. "I like the French, and I know +them to be a brave and honest people. I did not think that in a +gathering of French gentlemen enough could be found to form a +treacherous and murderous conspiracy like this." + +Nobody laughed in the dusk. The silence was intense. A cool wind blew +across Robert's face, and he felt anew that an invincible champion stood +by his side. Boucher broke the silence with a contemptuous laugh. + +"Out of the way, sir," he said. "The affair does not concern you. If he +does not draw and defend himself I will chastise him with the flat of my +sword." + +"You will not," said the hunter, in his cool, measured tones. "You will +fight me, instead." + +"My quarrel is not with you." + +"But it soon will be." + +Near Willet was a rose bush with fresh earth heaped over its roots. +Stooping suddenly he picked up a handful and flung it with force into +the bravo's face. Boucher swore under his breath, stepped back, and +wiped away the earth. + +"You've earned the precedence, sir," he said, "though I reserve the +right to attend to Mr. Lennox afterward. 'Tis a pity that I should have +to waste my steel on a common hunter. I call all of you to witness that +this quarrel was forced upon me." + +"Your pity does you credit," said the hunter, "but it's not needed. +'Twere better, sir, if you have such a large supply of that commodity +that you save a little of it for yourself. And as for your attending to +Mr. Lennox afterward, that meeting, I think, will not occur." + +A long breath came from the crowd. This strange hunter spoke in a +confident tone, and so he must know more than a little of the sword. De +Galisonniere had just come into the garden, and was about to speak, but +when he saw that Willet was face to face with Boucher he remained +silent. + +"Robert," said the hunter, "do you give me full title to this quarrel of +yours?" + +"Yes, it is yours," replied the youth, knowing that the hunter would +not be denied, and having supreme confidence in him. + +"And now, Monsieur Boucher," continued Willet, "the quicker the better. +Mr. Lennox will be my second and I recommend that you choose for yours +one of three gentlemen, Colonel de Courcelles, Count de Mezy or the +Captain de Jumonville, all of whom conspired to lead a boy into this +garden and to his death." + +The faces of the three became livid. + +"And," said the hunter, "if any one of the three gentlemen whom I have +mentioned should feel the need of satisfaction after I have attended to +Monsieur Pierre Boucher, I shall be very glad to satisfy him." + +De Mezy recovering himself, and assuming a defiant manner, took the part +of Boucher's second. Willet removed his coat and waistcoat and handed +them to Robert, beside whom Tayoga was now standing. Then he drew his +sword and balanced it a moment in his hand, before he clasped it lightly +but firmly by the hilt. + +Another long breath came from the crowd which had increased. Every man +there was aware that something uncommon was afoot. Who and what Boucher +was most of them knew, but the hunter was an unknown quantity, all the +more interesting because of the mystery that enshrouded him. And the +interest was deepened when they saw his swift, easy motion, his +wonderful lightness for so large a man, and the manner in which the hilt +of his sword fitted into his hand, as if they had long been brothers. + +"I call you all to witness once again," said Boucher, "that this quarrel +was forced upon me, and that I had no wish to slay a wandering hunter +of the Bostonnais." + +Willet made no reply for the present. He took his position and Boucher +took his. The seconds gave the word, their swords clashed together, and +they stepped back, each looking for an opening in the other's guard. +Then it dawned upon the bravo that a swordsman stood before him. But he +had not the slightest fear. He knew his own skill and strength. + +"It's strange that a hunter should know anything about the sword," he +said, "but it seems that you do and the fact pleases me much. I would +not have it said that I cut down an ignorant man." + +"And yet it might be said," replied the hunter. "Do you remember the +boy, Gaston Lafitte, whom you fought behind the Luxembourg near twenty +years ago?" + +The face of Boucher suddenly went deathly white, and, for a moment, he +trembled. + +"Who are you, you mumming hunter?" he cried. "I know no Gaston Lafitte." + +"There you lie, Boucher. You knew him well enough and you can't forget +him if you would. Your face has shown it. It was well that you had +powerful friends then, or you would soon be completing your twentieth +year in the galleys." + +The blood rushed back into Boucher's face until it was a blazing red, +and he attacked savagely. Few men could have stood before that powerful +and cunning offense, but Willet met him at every point. Always the +flashing steel was turned aside, and the hunter, cool, patient and +wary, looked like one who, in absolute faith, bided his time. + +A gasp came from the spectators. The omens had foretold something +unusual, but here was more than they had expected or had hoped. The +greatest swordsman whom France could send forth had been checked and +held by an unknown hunter, by a Bostonnais, among whom one would not +look for swordsmanship. They stopped for breath and Boucher from under +his dark brows stared at the hunter. + +"Mummer," he said. "You claim to know something of me. What other lie +about me can you tell?" + +"It's not necessary to tell lies, Pierre Boucher. There was Raoul de +Bassempierre whom you compelled to fight you before he was fairly +recovered of a sickness. His blood is still on your hands. Time has not +dried it away. Look! Look! See the red bubbles standing on your wrists!" + +Boucher, again as white as death, looked down hastily, and then uttered +a fierce oath. The hunter laughed. + +"It's true, Boucher," he said, "and everyone here knows it's true. Why +speak of lies? I don't carry them in my stock, and I've proved that I +don't need them. Come, you wish my death, attack again, but remember +that I'm neither the untrained boy, Gaston Lafitte, nor Raoul de +Bassempierre, wasted from illness." + +Boucher rushed at him, and Robert thought he could hear the angry breath +whistling through his teeth. Then he grew cooler, steadied himself and +pushed the offense. His second attack was even more dangerous than the +first, and he showed all the power and cunning of the great swordsman +that he was. Willet slowly gave ground and the spectators began to +applaud. After all, Boucher was a Frenchman and one of themselves, +although it was not the best of the French who were gathered there in +the garden that night--except de Galisonniere and one or two others. + +Robert watched the hunter and saw that his breathing was still regular +and easy, and that his eye was as calm and confident as ever. Then his +own faith, shaken for a moment, returned. Boucher was still unable to +break through that guard of living steel, and when they paused a second +time for breath each was still untouched. + +"You are a swordsman, I'll admit that," said Boucher. + +"Yes, a better than the raw lad, Gaston Lafitte, or Raoul de +Bassempierre who was ill, and a better than a third whom I recall." + +"What do you mean, mummer?" + +"There was a certain Raymond de Neville who played at dice with another +whom I could name. Neville said that the other cheated, but he was a +great swordsman while Neville was but an indifferent fencer, and the +other slew him. Yet, they say Neville's charges were true. Shall I name +that man, Boucher?" + +Boucher, livid with rage, sprang at him. + +"Mummer!" he cried. "You know too much. I'll close your mouth forever!" + +Now it seemed to Boucher that a very demon of the sword stood before +him. His own fierce rush was met and he was driven back. The ghosts of +the boy, Gaston Lafitte, of the sick man Raoul de Bassempierre, and of +the indifferent swordsman, Raymond de Neville who had been cheated at +cards, came back, and they helped Willet wield his weapon. His figure +broadened and grew. His blade was no longer of steel, it was a strip of +lightning that played around the body and face of the dazzled bravo. It +was verily true that the hands of four men grasped the hilt, the ghosts +of the three whom he had murdered long ago, and Willet who stood there +in the flesh before him. + +A reluctant buzz of admiration ran through the crowd. Many of them had +come from Paris, but they had never seen such swordsmanship before. +Whoever the hunter might be they saw that he was the master swordsman of +them all. They addressed low cries of warning to Boucher: "Have a care!" +"Have a care!" "Save your strength!" they said. But de Galisonniere +stood, tight-lipped and silent. Nor did Robert and Tayoga feel the need +of saying anything to their champion. + +Now Boucher felt for the first time in his life that he had met the +better man. The great duelist who had ruffled it so grandly through the +inns and streets of Paris looked with growing terror into the stern, +accusing eyes that confronted him. But he did not always see Willet. It +was the ghosts of the boy, Gaston Lafitte, of the sick man Raoul de +Bassempierre and of the indifferent swordsman, Raymond de Neville, that +guided the hunter's blade, and his forehead became cold and wet with +perspiration. + +De Galisonniere had moved in the crowd, until he stood with Robert and +Tayoga. He was perhaps the only one of the _honnetes gens_ in the +garden, and while he was a Frenchman, first, last and all the time, he +knew who Boucher was and what he represented, he understood the reason +why Robert had been drawn into the garden and he was willing to see the +punishment of the man who was to have been the sanguinary instrument of +the plot. + +"A miracle will defeat the best of plans," he said to de Courcelles. + +"What do you mean, de Galisonniere?" asked de Courcelles with a show of +effrontery. + +"That an unknown hunter should prove himself a better swordsman than +your great duelist and bravo, Boucher." + +"Why do you call him my duelist and bravo, de Galisonniere?" + +"I understand that you brought young Lennox into the garden, apparently +his warm friend on the way, and then when he was here, stood aside." + +"You must answer for such insinuations, Captain de Galisonniere." + +"But not to you, my friend. My sword will be needed in the coming war, +and I'm not called upon to dull it now against one who was a principal +in a murderous conspiracy. I may be over particular about those with +whom I fight, de Courcelles, but I am what I am." + +"You mean you will not fight me?" + +"Certainly not. A meeting would cause the reasons for it to be threshed +out, and we are not so many here in Canada that those reasons would not +become known to all, and you, I fancy, would not relish the spread of +such knowledge. The Intendant is a powerful man, but the Marquis +Duquesne is the head of our military life, and he would not be pleased +to hear what one of his officers so high in rank has done here tonight." + +All the blood left de Courcelles' face, and he shook with anger, but he +knew in his heart that de Galisonniere spoke the deadly truth. Besides, +the whole plan had gone horribly wrong. And it had been so well laid. +Who could have thought that a wandering hunter would appear at such a +time, take the whole affair into his hands, and prove himself a better +swordsman than Boucher, who was reputed not to have had his equal in +France. It was the one unlucky chance, in a million! Nay, it was worse! +It was a miracle that had appeared against them, and in that de +Galisonniere had told the truth. Rage and terror stabbed at his heart, +rage that the plan laid so smoothly had failed, and terror for himself. +No, he would not challenge de Galisonniere. + +"You will notice, de Courcelles," said the young Captain, "that Boucher +is approaching exhaustion. Perhaps not another man in the world could +have withstood his tremendous offense so well, but the singular hunter +seems to be one man in a world, at least with the sword. Now, the +seconds will give them a little rest before they close once more, and, +I think, for the last time." + +"For God's sake, de Galisonniere, cease! It's bad enough without your +unholy glee!" + +"'Bad enough' and 'unholy glee,' de Courcelles! Not at all! It's very +well, and my pleasure is justified. I fear that villany is not always +punished as it should be, and seldom in the dramatic manner that leaps +to the eye and that has the powerful force of example. Ah, a foul blow +before the seconds gave the word! Boucher has gone mad! But you and I +won't trouble ourselves about him, since he will soon pay for it. I +think I see a change in the hunter's eye. It has grown uncommonly stern +and fierce. He has the look of an executioner." + +De Galisonniere had read aright. When the treacherous blow was dealt and +turned aside barely in time, Willet's heart hardened. If Boucher lived +he would live to add more victims to those who had gone before. The +man's whole fiber, body and mind, was poison, nothing but poison, and +the murdered three whom Willet had known cried upon him to take +vengeance. He began to press the bravo and Boucher's followers were +silent. De Galisonniere was not the only one who had marked the change +in the hunter's eye. + +"You will note, de Courcelles," said he, "that your man, Boucher, has +thrown his life away." + +"He's not my man, de Galisonniere!" + +"You compel me to repeat, de Courcelles, that your man, Boucher, has +thrown away his own life. It's not well to deal a foul blow at a +consummate swordsman. But I suppose it's hard for a murderer to change +his instincts. Ah, what a stroke! What a stroke! It was so swift that I +saw only a flash of light! And so, our friend, Boucher, has sped! And +when you seek the kernel of the matter, de Courcelles, it was you who +helped to speed him!" + +De Courcelles, unable to bear more, strode away. Boucher was lying upon +his back, and the bravo had fought his last fight. Willet looked down at +him, shook his head a little, but he did not feel remorse. The ghosts of +the untrained boy, Gaston Lafitte, of the sick man, Raoul de +Bassempierre, and of Raymond de Neville, who had been murdered at dice, +guided his hand, and it was they who had struck the blow. Robert helped +him to put on the waistcoat and coat, as a group of men, Bigot, Cadet, +and Pean at their head, invaded the garden. + +"What's this! What's this!" exclaimed Bigot, staring at the motionless +prostrate figure with the closed eyes. + +Then de Galisonniere spoke up, and Robert was very grateful to him. + +"It was done by Mr. Willet, as you see, sir, and if ever a man had +justification he has it. The quarrel was forced upon him, and, during a +pause, Boucher struck a foul blow, which, had it not been for Mr. +Willet's surpassing skill, would have proved mortal and would have +stained the honor of all Frenchmen in Quebec. Colonel de Courcelles will +bear witness to the truth of all that I have said, will you not, de +Courcelles?" + +"Yes," said de Courcelles, though he shook in his uniform with anger. + +"And so will Count Jean de Mezy. He too is eager to give testimony and +support me in what I say. Is it not so, de Mezy?" + +"Yes," said de Mezy, the purple spots in his face deepening. + +"Then," said the Intendant, "I see nothing left to do but bury Boucher. +He was but a quarrelsome fellow with none too good a record in France. +And keep it from the ladies at present." + +He returned with his courtiers to the house, and the dancing continued, +but Robert felt that he could not stay any longer. Such cynicism shocked +him, and paying his respects to Bigot and his friends, he left with +Tayoga and the hunter for the Inn of the Eagle. + +"It was a great fight," said Tayoga, as they stood outside and breathed +the cool, welcome air again. "What Hayowentha was with the bow and arrow +the Great Bear is with the sword." + +"I don't like to take human life," said the hunter, "and it scarcely +seems to me that I've done it now. I feel as if I had been an instrument +in the hands of others, giving to Boucher the punishment deferred so +long." + +"There will be no trouble about it," said Tayoga. "I read the face of +Bigot and no anger was there. It may be that he was glad to get rid of +the man Boucher. The assassin becomes at times a burden." + +But Willet remained silent and thoughtful. + +"I've a feeling, Robert," he said, "that our mission to Quebec will +fail. We've passed through too much, and all the signs are against us. +As for me, I'm going to get ready for war." + +"Maybe the Governor General will arrive tomorrow," said Robert, "and if +so we can give him our letters and go. I was glad to come to Quebec, and +I'll be equally glad to leave." + +"And we can see the lodges of the Hodenosaunee again," said Tayoga, his +eyes glistening. + +"Yes, Tayoga, and glad I'll be to be once more among your great people, +the hunters of the hills." + +It was about two o'clock in the morning, when Robert went to bed, and he +slept very late. Willet awoke shortly after dawn, dressed himself and +went to the window, where he stood, gazing absently at the deepening +sunlight on the green hills, although he saw the incidents of the heated +night before far more vividly. He was a man who did not favor bloodshed, +though it was a hard and stern age, and the slaying of Boucher, who +would have added another to his victims, did not trouble him even the +morning after. In his mind was the thought, expressed so powerfully, +that the mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small. +However, his anxiety to be away from Quebec had grown with the hours. +The dangers were too thick, and they also had a bad habit of increasing +continually. + +When Robert awoke he found the hunter and Tayoga awaiting him. + +"I've ordered breakfast," said Willet, "and it will be ready for us as +soon as you dress. After that I'll have to comply with some +formalities, owing to last night's affair, and then if the Governor +General arrives this afternoon, we can deliver our letters and depart. +It seems strange, Robert, that we should be here such a little while and +that both you and I should fight duels. Perhaps it will be Tayoga's turn +today, and he too will have to fight." + +"Not unless Tandakora seeks me," said the young Onondaga. + +"Did you see what became of him last night, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"I watched him all the time you and the Frenchman were fighting, and I +watched also when we came back to the inn. He would willingly have +thrown a tomahawk in the dark at the head of any one of us, but he knew +I watched and he did not dare." + +"And that Ojibway savage is another of our troubles. He's gone clean mad +with his hate of us." + +Their late breakfast was served by Monsieur Berryer himself with much +deference and some awe. The large room also held many more guests than +usual at such an hour, but most of them ate little, only an egg or a +roll, perhaps, or they dallied over a cup of coffee, reserving most of +their attention for Willet, whom they regarded covertly, but with +extraordinary interest. The youth with him had shown himself to be a +fine swordsman, as Count Jean de Mezy could testify, but the elder man, +who had appeared to be a hunter, and who claimed to be one, was such a +master of the weapon as had never before appeared in New France. And it +was said by the French officers that his equal could not be found in +old France either. The interest aroused by his fame was increased by the +mystery that enshrouded him, and they gave him an attention that was not +at all hostile. In truth, it was strongly compounded with admiration. A +man who had removed Pierre Boucher as he had done, was to be regarded +with respect. Boucher had given every promise of becoming a public +danger in Quebec, and perhaps they owed gratitude to the hunter, +Bostonnais though he was. + +Late in the afternoon they had word that the Marquis Duquesne had come +and would receive them. Again they arrayed themselves with the greatest +care, and took their way to the Castle of St. Louis. They found a man +very different in appearance and manner from the Intendant, Bigot. Tall, +austere, belonging to a race that was reckoned very noble in France, the +Marquis Duquesne was not popular in New France. He had none of the +geniality and easy generosity of Bigot, as he spent his own money, but +he had shown a military energy and foresight which the British governors +to the south were far from imitating. While Canada did not love him, it +respected him and his boldness, and his daring and foresight had deeply +impressed the powerful Indian tribes whose friendship and alliance were +so important in the coming war. + +The manner of the Marquis was high, when he received the three in his +chamber of audience, but it was not deficient in courtesy. He looked +intently at each of them in turn. + +"You come, so I am told, from the Governor of New York," he said, "and +judging from what I have heard he has chosen messengers who are able to +make a stir. Two days in Quebec and already you have fought two duels, +one of them ending fatally." + +"My lord," said Willet, gravely, "they were not of our seeking." + +"That also, I hear. They tell me, too, Mr. Willet, that you are an +incomparable swordsman, and it must be true, or you would not have been +able to defeat Boucher. But that matter is adjusted. You will not be +held here because of his death. It seems that the Intendant, Monsieur +Bigot himself, does not wish to carry it further. But the letters from +the Governor of New York?" + +"Mr. Lennox has them," said Willet. + +Robert bowed and took from an inner pocket of his waistcoat the letters +he had carried through so many dangers. They were contained in a small +deerskin pouch, and were only two in number. Bowing again, he handed +them to the Governor General, who said: + +"Pray be seated, and excuse me for a few minutes while I read them." + +He read slowly, stopping at times to consider, and when he had finished +he read them over again. + +"Do you and Mr. Willet know the contents of these letters?" he said to +Robert. + +"We do," replied the youth. "They were read to us by the Governor of New +York before he sealed them. If we were robbed of them on the way to +Quebec, and he knew the way was dangerous, we were to continue our +journey and deliver the message to you verbally." + +"Their nature does credit to both the heart and head of the Governor of +New York. He makes a personal appeal to me to use all my influence +against the war seemingly at hand. He says that England and France have +nothing to gain by attacking each other in the American woods, which are +large enough to hide whole European kingdoms. But he wishes the letters +to be a secret with him and me and you three who have brought them. You +understand that?" + +Robert bowed once more. + +"The second letter explains and amplifies the first, contains, I should +say, his afterthoughts. As I said, 'tis a noble act, but what can I do? +A war may look to many men like a sudden outburst, but it is nearly +always the result of conditions that have been a long time in the +growth. Your hunters, your traders and your surveyors pressed forward +into the Ohio country, which is ours." + +He looked at them as if he expected them to challenge the French claim +to the Ohio regions, but they were wisely silent. + +"The letters do not demand an immediate reply," he continued. "His +Excellency prays me to consider. Perhaps I shall send one later through +a trusted messenger by sloop or schooner to New York, and naturally, I +shall choose one of my own officers." + +"Naturally, my lord," said Robert. "We did not expect to take back the +answer." + +The Marquis Duquesne looked at him very keenly. + +"You speak as if you were relieved at not having the errand," he said. +"Perhaps there is something else on your mind which you wish to do and +with which such a mission would interfere." + +Robert was silent and the Marquis laughed. + +"I will not press the question, because I've no right to do so," he +said. "But I will let it remain an inference." + +Then his eye rested upon Tayoga, at whom he looked long and searchingly, +and the eye of the Onondaga met him with an answering gaze, fixed and +unfaltering. + +"Captain de Galisonniere has told me," said the Marquis, "that you are a +young chief, or coming chief, of the Iroquois, that despite your youth +you have thought much and have influence with your people. How do the +Iroquois feel toward the French who wish them so well?" + +"They do not forget that this Quebec is the Stadacona of one of their +great warrior nations, the Mohawks," replied Tayoga. + +The Marquis started and flushed. + +"Quebec is ours," he said slowly, after taking due thought. "You cannot +undo what was done two centuries ago." + +"The nations of the Hodenosaunee do not forget, what are two centuries +to them?" + +"When you return to the Long House in the vale of Onondaga, and the +fifty sachems meet in council, tell them Onontio has only kindness in +his heart for them. The war clouds that hang over England and France +grow many and thick, and my children are brave and vigilant. They know +the ways of the forest. They travel by day and by night, and they strike +hard. The English are not a match for them." + +"If I should tell them what Onontio tells to me they would say: 'Go back +to Quebec, which is by right the Stadacona of our great warrior nation, +the Mohawks, and say to Onontio that his words are like the songs of +birds, but we, the Hodenosaunee, do not forget. We remember Frontenac, +and we remember Champlain, the first of the white men to come among us +with guns, the use of which we did not know, killing our warriors.'" + +"Time makes changes, Tayoga, and the Iroquois must change too." + +Tayoga, was silent, but his haughty face did not relax a particle. The +Marquis was about to say more upon the subject, but he had a penetrating +mind and he saw that his words would be wasted. + +"We shall see what we shall see," he said. "My master, His Majesty King +Louis, keeps his promises. Mr. Lennox, as I take it, still clinging to +my inference, it will be some time before you see the Governor of New +York again. But, when you do see him, and if my letter has not then +reached him, tell him it is coming by ship to New York. As for you and +your comrades, I wish you a safe journey whithersoever you go. An +aide-de-camp will give the three of you, as you go out, passports which +will be your safe conduct until you reach the borders of Canada. Of +course, I cannot speak with certainty concerning anything that will +happen to you beyond that point. Mr. Willet, I am sorry that a sword +such as yours is not French." + +Willet bowed, and so did Robert. Then the three withdrew, receiving +their safe conducts as they went. At the inn they made hurried +preparations for departure, deciding that they would cross at once to +the south side of the St. Lawrence and travel on foot through the woods +until they reached the Richelieu, where in a secret cove a canoe +belonging to Willet lay hidden. The canoe would take them into Lake +Champlain and then they could proceed by water to the point they wished. + +Robert wrote a note of thanks to the Intendant for his courtesy, +expressing their united regrets that the brevity of time would not +permit them to pay a formal call, and as it departed in the hands of a +messenger, de Galisonniere came to say farewell. + +"It's likely," he said, "that if we meet again it will be on the +battlefield. I see nothing for it but a war, but if we do meet, Mr. +Willet, you must promise that you will not use that sword against me." + +"I promise, Captain de Galisonniere," said Willet, smiling, "but if the +war does come, and I hope it may not, it will be fought chiefly in the +woods, and there will be little need for swords. And now we wish to +thank you for your great kindness and help." + +He shook hands with them all, showing some emotion, and then left +hastily. The three deferred their departure, concluding to spend the +night at the inn, but before dawn the next morning they crossed the St. +Lawrence and began their journey. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE BOWMEN + + +Robert looked back and saw the roofs and spires of Quebec sitting on its +mighty rock, and he remembered how much had happened during their short +stay there. He could recall the whole time, hour by hour, and he knew +that he would never forget any part of it. The town was intense, +glowing, vivid in the clear northern sunlight, and he had seen it, as he +so often had longed to do. A quality in his nature had responded to it, +but at the last his heart had turned against it. The splendor of that +city into which he had enjoyed such a remarkable introduction had in it +something hot and feverish. + +"You're thinking a farewell to Quebec, Robert," said the hunter. "It +looks grand and strong up there, but I've an idea there'll be a day when +we'll come again." + +"Americans and English have besieged it before," said Robert, "but +they've never taken it." + +"Which proves nothing, but we'll turn our minds now to our journey into +the south. It's good to breathe this clean air again, and the sooner we +reach the deep woods the better I'll like it. What say you, Tayoga?" + +The nostrils of the Onondaga expanded, as he inhaled the odors of leaf +and grass, borne on the gentle wind. + +"I have lived in the white man's house in Albany," he said, "and in our +own log house in the vale of Onondaga, and I know the English and the +French have many things that the nations of the Hodenosaunee have not, +but we can do without most of them. If the great chiefs were to drink +and dance all night as Bigot and his friends do, then indeed would we +cease to be the mighty League of the Hodenosaunee." + +They traveled all that day on foot, but at a great pace, showing their +safe conduct twice to French soldiers, and so thin was the line of +settlements along the St. Lawrence that when night came they were beyond +the cultivated fields and had entered the deep woods. The three, in +addition to their weapons, carried on their backs packs containing +blankets and food, and as Willet and Tayoga put them down they drew long +breaths of relief like those of prisoners escaped. + +"Home, Tayoga! Home!" said the hunter, joyfully. "I've nothing against +cities in general, but I breathed some pretty foul air in Quebec, and +it's sweet and clean here. There comes a time when you are glad no house +crosses your view and you are with the world as it was made in the +beginning. Don't these trees look splendid! Did you ever see a finer lot +of tender young leaves? And the night sky you see up there has been +washed and scrubbed until it's nothing but clean blue!" + +"Why, you're only a boy, Dave, the youngest of us three," laughed +Robert. "Here you are singing songs about leaves and trees just as if +you were not the most terrible swordsman in the world." + +A shadow crossed Willet's face, but it was quick in passing. + +"Let's not talk about Boucher, Robert," he said. "I don't regret what I +did, knowing that it saved the lives of others, but I won't recall it +any oftener than I can help. You're right when you term me a boy, and I +believe you're right, too, when you say I'm the youngest of the three. +I'm so glad to be here that just now I'm not more'n fifteen years old. I +could run, jump, laugh and sing. And I think the woods are a deal safer +and friendlier than Quebec. There's nobody, at least not here, lying +around seeking a chance to stick a rapier in your back." + +He unbuckled his sword and laid it upon the grass. Robert put his beside +it. + +"I don't think we'll need to use 'em again for a long time," said the +hunter, "but they're mighty fine as decorations, and sometimes a +decoration is worth while. It impresses. Now, Tayoga, you kindle the +fire, and Robert, you find a spring. It's pleasant to feel that you're +again on land that belongs to nobody, and can do as you please." + +Robert found a spring less than a hundred yards away, and Tayoga soon +kindled a fire near it with his flint and steel, on which the hunter +warmed their food. Each had a small tin cup from which he drank clear +water as they ate, and Robert, elastic of temperament, rejoiced with the +hunter. + +"You are right, Dave," he said. "These are splendid trees, and every +leaf on 'em is splendid, too, and the little spring I found is just +about as fine a spring as the forest holds. I slept in a good bed at the +Inn of the Eagle, but when I scrape up the dead leaves here, roll myself +in my blanket and lie on 'em I think I'll sleep better than I did +between four walls. What did you think of the Marquis Duquesne, Dave?" + +"A man of parts, Robert. He has more military authority than any of our +Governors have, and if war comes he'll be a dangerous opponent." + +"And it will come, Dave?" + +"Looks like a certainty. You see, Robert, the King of France and the +King of England sitting on their golden thrones, only three or four +hundred miles apart, but three or four thousand miles from us, have a +dyspeptic fit, make faces at each other, and here in the woods we must +fall to fighting. Even Tayoga's people--and the King of France and the +King of England are nothing to them--must be drawn into it." + +"Both Kings claim the Ohio country, which they will never see, and of +which they know nothing," said Tayoga, with a faint touch of sarcasm, +"but perhaps it belongs to the people who live in it." + +"Maybe so, Tayoga! Maybe!" said Willet briskly, "but we'll not look for +trouble or unpleasant thoughts now. We three are too glad to be in the +woods again. Tayoga, suppose you scout about and see that no enemy's +near. Then we'll build up the fire, till it's burning bright, and +rejoice." + +"It is well!" said Tayoga, as he slipped away among the trees, making +no sound as he went. Robert meanwhile gathered dead wood which lay +everywhere in abundance, and heaped it beside the fire ready for use. +But as Tayoga was gone some time he sat down again with his back to a +tree, taking long deep breaths of the cool fresh air, and feeling his +pulses leap. The hunter sat in a similar position, gazing meditatively +into the fire. Robert heard a rattling of bark over his head, but he +knew that it was a squirrel scuttling up the trunk of the tree, and +pausing now and then to examine the strange invaders of his forest. + +"Do you see the squirrel, Dave?" he asked. + +"Yes, he's about twenty feet above you now, sitting in a fork. He's a +fine big fellow with a bushy tail curved so far over his back that it +nearly touches his head. He has little red eyes and he's just burning up +with curiosity. The firelight falls on him in such a way that I can see. +Perhaps he has never seen a man before. Now he's looking at you, Robert, +trying to decide what kind of an animal you are, and forming an estimate +of your character and disposition." + +"You're developing your imagination, Dave, but since I saw what you said +and did in Quebec I'm not surprised." + +"Encouraged by your motionless state he's left the fork, and come a half +dozen feet down the trunk in order to get a better look at you. I think +he likes you, Robert. He lies flattened against the bark, and if I had +not seen him descending I would not notice him now, but the glow of the +coals still enables me to make out his blazing little red eyes like +sparks of fire. Now he is looking at me, and I don't think he has as +much confidence in my harmlessness as he has in yours. Perhaps it's +because he sees my eyes are upon him and he doesn't like to be watched. +He's a saucy little fellow. Sit still, Robert! I see a black shadow over +your head, and I think our little friend, the squirrel, should look out. +Ah, there he goes! Missed! And our handsome young friend, the gray +squirrel, is safe! He has scuttled into his hole higher up the tree!" + +Robert had heard a rush of wings and he had seen a long black shadow +pass. + +"What was it, Dave?" he asked. + +"A great horned owl. His iron beak missed our little squirrel friend +just about three inches. Those three inches were enough, but I don't +think that squirrel will very soon again stay out at night so late. The +woods are beautiful, Robert, but you see they're not always safe even +for those who can't live anywhere else." + +"I know, Dave, but I'm not going to think about it tonight, because I've +made up my mind to be happy. Here comes Tayoga. Is any enemy near, +Tayoga?" + +"None," replied the Onondaga, sitting down by the fire. "But the forest +is full of its own people, and they are all very curious about us." + +"That's true," said Willet, "a squirrel over Robert's head was so +inquisitive that he forgot his vigilance for a few moments and came near +losing his life as the price of his carelessness. I'm not surprised to +hear you say, Tayoga, they're all looking at us. I've felt for some time +that we're being watched, admired and perhaps a little feared. It's a +tribute to the enormously interesting qualities of us three." + +"That is, Dave, because we're human beings we're kings in the forest +among the animals." + +"You put it right, Robert. They look up to us. Is anything watching us +among the leaves near by, Tayoga?" + +"A huge bald-headed eagle, Great Bear, is sitting on a bough in the +center of a mass of green leaves. He is looking at us, and while he is +full of curiosity and some admiration he fears and hates us more." + +"What is he saying to himself, Tayoga?" + +"You can read his words to himself by the look in his eyes. He is saying +that he does not like our appearance, that we are too large, that we +have created here something hot and flaming, that we behave with too +much assurance, going about just as if the forest was ours, and paying +no attention to its rightful owners." + +"He has got a grievance, and perhaps it's a just one," laughed Robert. + +"No, it is not," said Tayoga, "because there is plenty of room in the +forest for him and for us, too. I can read his eyes quite well. There is +much malice and anger in his heart, and I will give him some cause for +rage." + +He picked up a live coal between the ends of two sticks, and holding it +firmly in that manner, walked a little distance among the trees. Then +swinging the sticks he hurled the coal far up among the boughs. There +was an angry screech and whirr and Robert saw a swift shadow passing +between his eyes and the sky. + +"His heart can burn more than ever now," laughed Tayoga, as he returned +to the fire. + +"You've hurt his dignity, Tayoga," said Robert. + +"So I have, but why should he not suffer a loss of pride? He is ruthless +and cruel and when he has his way he makes desolation about him." + +"What else is watching us, Tayoga?" + +"A beast upon the ground, and his heart is much like that of the eagle +in the air. He is crouched in a thicket about twenty yards away, and his +lips are drawn back from his sharp fangs. His nostrils twitch with the +odor of our food, and his yellow eyes are staring at us. Oh, he hates us +because he hates everything except his own kind and very often he hates +that. He wants our food because he's hungry--he's always hungry--and he +would try to eat us too if he were not so much afraid of us." + +"Tayoga, one needs only a single glance to tell that this animal you're +talking about is a wolf." + +"It is so, Dagaeoga. A very hungry and a very angry wolf. He is cunning, +but he does not know everything. He thinks we do not see him, that we do +not know he is there and that maybe, after awhile, when we go to sleep, +he can slip up and steal our food, or perhaps he can bring many of his +brothers, and they can eat us before we awake. Now, I will tell him in a +language he can understand that it's time for him to go away." + +He picked up a heavy stick and threw it with all his might into the +bushes on their right. It sped straighter to the target than he had +hoped, as there was a thud, a snarling yelp, and then the swift pad of +flying feet. Tayoga lay back and laughed. + +"The Spirit of Jest guided my hand," he said, "and the stick struck him +upon the nose. He will run far and his wrath and fear will grow as he +runs. Then he will lie down again in some thicket, and he will not dare +to come back. Now, we will wait a little." + +"Anything more looking at us?" asked Robert after awhile. + +"Yes, we have a new visitor," replied Tayoga in a low tone. "Speak only +in a whisper and do not move, because the animal that is looking at us +has no malice in its heart, and does not wish us harm. It has come very +softly and, while its eyes are larger, they are mild and have only +curiosity." + +"A deer, I should say, Tayoga." + +"Yes, a deer, Lennox, a very beautiful deer. It has been drawn by the +fire, and having come as near as it dares it stands there, shivering a +little, but wondering and admiring." + +"We won't trouble it, Tayoga. We'll need the meat of a deer before long, +but we'll spare our guest of tonight." + +"He is staring very straight at us," said Tayoga, "but something has +stirred in the brushwood--perhaps it's another wolf--and now he has +gone." + +"We seem to be an attraction," said Willet, "and so I suppose we'd +better give 'em as good a look as we can." + +He cast a great quantity of the dry wood on the fire, and it blazed up +gayly, throwing the red glow in a wide circle, and lighting up the +pleasant glade. The figures of the three, as they leaned in luxurious +attitudes, were outlined clearly and sharply, a view they would not have +allowed had not Tayoga been sure no enemy was near. + +"Now let the spectators come on," said Willet genially, "because we +won't be on display forever. After a while we'll get sleepy, and then it +will be best to put out the fire." + +The flames leaped higher and the glowing circle widened. Robert, leaning +against a tree, with his blanket wrapped around him and the cushion of +dead leaves beneath him, felt the grateful warmth upon his face, and it +rejoiced body and mind alike. Tayoga and the hunter were in a similar +state of content, and they were silent for a while. Then Robert said: + +"Who's looking at us now, Tayoga?" + +"Two creatures, Dagaeoga, that belong upon the ground, but that are not +now upon it." + +"Your answer sounds like a puzzle. If they're not now upon the ground +they're probably in the air, but they're not birds, because birds don't +belong on the ground. Then they're animals that have climbed trees." + +"Dagaeoga's mind is becoming wondrous wise. In time he may be a sachem +among his adopted people." + +"Don't you have sport with me, Tayoga, because bear in mind that if you +do I will pay you back some day. Have these creatures a mean, vicious +look?" + +"I could not claim, Dagaeoga, that they are as beautiful as the deer +that came to look at us but lately." + +"Then I make so bold as to say, Tayoga, that they have tufted ear tips, +spotted fur, and short tails, in brief a gentleman lynx and a lady lynx, +his wife. They are gazing at us with respect and fear as the wolf did, +and also with just as much malice and hate. They're wondering who and +what we are, and why we come into their woods, the pair of bloodthirsty +rabbit slayers." + +"Did I not say you would be a sachem some day, Dagaeoga? You have read +aright. An Onondaga warrior could not have done better. The two lynxes +are on a bough ten feet from the ground, and perhaps in their foolish +hearts they think because they are so high above the earth that we +cannot reach them." + +"You're not going to shoot at 'em, Tayoga? We don't want to waste good +bullets on a lynx." + +"Not I, Dagaeoga, but I will make them acquainted with something they +will dread as much as bullets. It's right that those who come to look at +us should be made to pay the price of it." + +"So you think that Monsieur and Madame Lynx have looked long enough at +the illustrious three?" + +"Yes, Dagaeoga. It is time for them to go. And since they do not go of +their own will I must make them go." + +He snatched a long brand from the fire, and whirling it around his head, +and shouting at the same time, he dashed toward an old dead tree some +distance away. Two stump-tailed, tuft-eared animals, uttering loud +ferocious screams, leaped from the boughs and tore away through the +thickets, terror stabbing at their hearts, as the circling flame of red +pursued them. Tayoga returned laughing. + +"They will run and they will run," he said, throwing down his brand. + +"You don't give 'em much chance to see us, Tayoga," said the hunter. +"Since we're on exhibition tonight you might have let 'em look and +admire a while longer." + +"So I could, Great Bear, but I do not like the lynx. Its habits are +unpleasant, and its scream is harsh. Hence, I drove the two of them +away." + +"I suppose you're right. I don't dare care much about 'em either. Now +we'll rest and see what other visitors come to admire." + +Tayoga sat down again. Their packs were put in a neat heap near the +three, Robert's and Willet's swords, and Tayoga's bow and arrows in +their case resting on the top. Robert threw more wood on the fire, and +contentedly watched the great, glowing circle of light extend its +circumference. + +"We knew we'd find peace and rest here," said Willet, "but we didn't +know we'd be watched and admired like people on the stage at a theater." + +"Have you seen many plays, Dave?" asked Robert. + +"A lot, especially in London at Drury Lane and other theaters." + +"And so you know London, as well as Paris?" + +"Well, yes, I've been there. Some day, Robert, I'll tell you more about +both Paris and London and why I happened to be in such great cities, +but not now. We'll keep our minds on the forest, which is worth our +attention. Don't you hear a tread approaching, Tayoga?" + +"Yes, Great Bear, and it's very heavy. A lord of the forest is coming." + +"A moose, think you, Tayoga?" + +"Yes, Great Bear, a mighty bull, one far beyond the common size. I can +tell by his tread, and I think he is angry, or he would not march so +boldly toward the fire." + +"Then," said the hunter, "we'd better stand up, and be ready with our +weapons. I've no wish to be trodden to death by a mad bull moose, just +when I'm feeling so happy and so contented with the world." + +"The Great Bear's advice is good," said Tayoga, and the three took it. +The approaching tread grew heavier, and the largest moose that Robert +had ever seen, pushing his way through the bushes, stood looking at the +fire, and those who had built it. He was a truly magnificent specimen, +and Tayoga had been right in calling him a lord of the forest, but his +eyes were red and inflamed and his look was menacing. + +"Mad! Quite mad!" whispered the hunter. "He sees us, but he doesn't +admire us. He hates us, and he isn't afraid of us." + +The three moved softly and discreetly into a place where both trees and +bushes were so dense that the moose could not get at them. + +"What troubles him?" asked Robert. + +"I don't know," said the hunter. "He may be suffering yet from a wound +by an Indian arrow, or he may have a spell of some kind. We can be +certain only that he's raging mad, every inch of him. Look at those +great sharp hoofs of his, Robert. I'd as soon be struck with an axe." + +The moose, after some hesitation, rushed into the glade, leaped toward +the fire, leaped back again, pawed and trampled the earth in a terrible +convulsion of rage, and then sprang away, crashing through the forest. +They heard the beat of his hoofs a long time, and when the sound ceased +they returned and resumed their seats by the fire. + +"That moose was a great animal," said Tayoga with irony, "but his mind +was the mind of a little child. He did nothing with his strength and +agility but tear the earth and tire himself. Now he runs away among the +trees, scratching his body with bushes and briars." + +"At any rate, he was an important visitor, Tayoga," said the hunter, +"and since we've had a good look at him we're glad he's gone away. I +think it likely now that all who wanted to look at us have had their +look, and we might go to sleep. How are your leaves, Robert?" + +"Fine and soft. They make a splendid bed, and I'm off to slumberland." + +He pushed up the leaves at one end of his couch high enough to form a +pillow, and stretched himself luxuriously. The night was turning cold, +but he had his blanket, and there was the fire. He felt as comfortable +as at the Inn of the Eagle in Quebec, and freer from plots and danger. + +They were allowing the fire to die now, but the coals would glow for a +long time, and Robert looked at them sleepily. His feeling of coziness +and content increased, and presently he slept. The hunter soon followed +him, but Tayoga slept not at all. His subtle Indian instinct warned him +not to do so. For the Onondaga the forest was not free now from danger, +and he would watch while his white friends slept. + +Tayoga arose, after a while, and taking a stick, scattered the coals of +the fire. But he did it in such a manner that he made no noise, the +hunter and young Lennox continuing to sleep soundly. Then he watched the +embers, having lost that union which is strength, die one by one. The +conquered darkness came back, recovering its lost ground, slowly +invading the glade, until it was one in the dusk with the rest of the +forest. Then Tayoga felt better satisfied, and he looked at the +sleepers, whose faces he could still discern, despite the absence of the +fire, a fair moonlight falling. + +Robert and the hunter slept peacefully, but their sleep was deep. The +youth was weary from the long march in the woods, but as he slept his +strong healthy tissues rapidly regained their vitality. The Onondaga +looked at the two longer than usual. These comrades of his were knitted +to him by innumerable labors and dangers shared. In him dwelled the soul +of a great Indian chief, the spirit that has animated Pontiac, and +Little Turtle, and Tecumseh and Red Cloud and other dauntless leaders of +his race, but it had been refined though not weakened by his white +education. Gratitude and truth were as frequent Indian traits as the +memory of injuries, and while he was surcharged with pride because he +was born a warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of +the great League of the Hodenosaunee, he felt as truly as any knight +ever felt that he must accept and fulfill all the duties of his place. + +Standing in a dusk made luminous by a silvery moonlight he was a fitting +son of the forest, one of its finest products. He belonged to it, and it +belonged to him, each being the perfect complement of the other. His +face cut in bronze was lofty, not without a spiritual cast, and his +black eyes flamed with his resolve. He looked up at the heavens, fleecy +with white vapors, and shot with a million stars, the same sky that had +bent over his race for generations no man could count, and his soul was +filled with admiration. Then he made his voiceless prayer: + +"O, Tododaho, first and greatest sachem of the Onondagas, greatest and +noblest sachem of the League, look down from your home on another star, +and watch over your people, for whom the storms gather! Let the serpents +in your hair whisper to you of wisdom that you in turn may whisper it to +us through the winds! Direct our footsteps in the great war that is +coming between the white nations and save to us our green forests, our +blue lakes and our silver rivers! Remember, O, Tododaho, that although +the centuries have passed since Manitou took you from us, your name +still stands among us for all that is great, noble and wise! I beseech +you that you give sparks of your own lofty and strong spirit to your +children, to the Hodenosaunee in this, their hour of need, and I ask +too, that you help one who is scarcely yet a warrior in years, one who +invokes thee humbly, even, Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of thy own great League of the Hodenosaunee!" + +He bent his head a little to listen. All the legends and beliefs of his +race, passed from generation to generation, crowded upon him. Tododaho +leaning down from his star surely heard his prayer. Tayoga shivered a +little, not from cold or fear, but from emotion. The mystic spell was +upon him. Far above him in the limitless void little wreaths of vapor +united about a great shining star, taking the shape of a man, the shape +of a great chief, wise beyond all other chiefs that had ever lived, and +he distinctly saw the wise serpents, coil on coil, in Tododaho's hair. +They were whispering in his ear, and bending his head a little farther +he heard the words of the serpents which the rising wind brought, +repeated, from the lips of Tododaho: + +"Fear not, O young warrior of the Onondagas! Tododaho leaning down from +his star hears thy pious appeal! Tododaho, for more than four hundred +years, has watched over the great League, night and day! Let the fifty +sachems, old in years and wisdom, walk in the straight path of truth, +and let the warriors follow! Let them be keepers of the faith, friends +to those who have been their friends, sage in council, brave in battle, +and they shall hold their green forests, their blue lakes and their +silver rivers! And to thee, Tayoga, I say, thou shalt encounter many +dangers, but because thy soul is pure, thou shalt have great rewards!" + +Then the wind died suddenly. The leaves hung motionless. The vapors +about the great shining star dissolved, the face of Tododaho, with the +wise serpents, coil on coil in his hair, disappeared, and the luminous +heavens were without a sign. But they had spoken. + +Tayoga trembled, but again it was from emotion. Tododaho had sent his +words of promise on the wind, and they had been whispered in his ear. +Great would be his dangers but great would be his rewards. He was +uplifted. His heart exulted. His deeds would be all the mightier because +of the dangers, and he would never forget that he had the promise of +Tododaho, greatest, wisest and noblest of the chiefs of the +Hodenosaunee, who had gone to a shining star more than four hundred +years ago. + +He sat down under one of the trees and sleep remained far from him. He +still listened with all the power of his sensitive hearing for any sound +that might come in the forest, and after awhile he took his bow and +quiver from their case, putting his quiver over his shoulder. He covered +his rifle with the leaves, and holding the bow in his hand stole away +among the trees. + +The faintest of sounds had come to him, and Tayoga did not doubt its +nature. It was strange to the forest and it was hostile. The mystic +spell was still upon him, and it heightened his faculties to an +extraordinary degree. He had almost the power of divination. A hundred +yards, and he crouched low behind the trunk of a great oak. Then as the +moonlight fell upon a small opening just ahead he saw them, Tandakora +and two warriors. + +The Ojibway was in full war paint, and the luminous quality of the +moon's rays enlarged his huge form. He towered like Hanegoategeh, the +Evil Spirit, and the figures upon his shoulders and chest stood out like +carving. He and the two warriors also carried bows and arrows, and +Tayoga surmised that they had meant to slay in silence. His heart burned +with rage and he felt, too, an unlimited daring. Did he not have the +promise of Tododaho that he should pass through all dangers and receive +great rewards? He felt himself a match for the three, and he did not +need secrecy and silence. He raised his voice and cried: + +"Stand forth, Tandakora, and fight. I too have only _waano_ (the bow) +and _gano_ (the arrow), but I meet the three of you!" + +Tandakora and the two warriors sprang back and in an instant were hidden +by the trees, but Tayoga had expected them to do so, and he dropped +down, moving silently to another and hidden point, where he waited, an +arrow on the string. He knew that Tandakora had recognized his voice, +and would make every effort, his shoulder healed enough for use, to +secure such a prize. The Ojibway would believe, too, that three must +prevail against one, and he would push the attack. So the Onondaga +remained motionless, but confident. + +Nearly ten minutes of absolute silence followed, but his hearing was so +acute that he did not think any of the three could move without his +knowledge. Then a slight sliding sound came. One of the warriors was +passing to the right, and that, too, he had expected, as they would +surely try to flank him. He moved back a little, and with the end of his +bow shook gently a bush seven or eight feet away. In an instant, an +arrow, coming from the night, whistled through the bush. But Tayoga drew +back the bow quick as lightning, fitted an arrow to the string and shot +with all the power of his arm at a bronze body showing among the leaves +at the point whence the arrow had come. + +The shaft sang in the air, and so great was its speed and so short the +range that it passed entirely through the chest of the warrior, cutting +off his breath so quickly that he had no time to utter his death cry. +There was no sound but that of his fall as he crashed among the leaves. +Nor did Tayoga utter the usual shout of triumph. He sank back and fitted +another arrow to the string, turning his attention now to the left. + +It had been the Onondaga's belief that Tandakora would remain in front, +sending the warriors on either flank, and now he expected a movement on +the left. He did not have to make any feint of his own to draw the +second warrior, who must have been lacking somewhat in skill, as he +presently saw a dim figure in the bushes and his second arrow sped with +the same speed and deadly result that had marked the first. Fitting his +third arrow to the string, he called: + +"Stand forth, Tandakora, and show yourself like a man! Then we shall see +who shoots the better!" + +But being a knight of the woods, and to convince the Ojibway that it was +no trick, he showed himself first. Tandakora shot at once, but Tayoga +dropped back like a flash, and the arrow cut the air, where his +feathered head had been. Then all his Indian nature, the training and +habit of generations, leaped up in him and he began to taunt. + +"You shot quickly, Tandakora," he called, "and your arm was strong, but +the arrow struck not! You followed us all the way from Stadacona, and +you thought to have our scalps! The Great Bear and Lennox did not +suspect, but I did! The warriors who came with you are dead, and you and +I alone face each other! I have shown myself and I have risked your +arrow, now show yourself, Tandakora, and risk mine!" + +But the Ojibway, it seemed, had too much respect for the bow of Tayoga. +He remained close, and did not disclose an inch of his brown body. The +Onondaga did not show himself again, but crouched for a shot, in case +the opportunity came. He knew that Tandakora was a great bowman, but he +had supreme confidence in his own skill against anybody. Nothing stirred +where his enemy lay and no sound came from the little camp, which was +beyond the reach of the words they had uttered. + +A quarter of an hour, a half hour, an hour passed, and neither moved, +showing all the patience natural to the Indian on the war path. Then +Tayoga shook a bush a few feet from him, but Tandakora divined the +trick, and his arrow remained on the string. Another quarter of an hour, +and seeing some leaves quiver, Tayoga, at a chance, sent an arrow among +them. No sound came back, and he knew that it had been sped in vain. + +Then he began to move slowly and with infinite care toward the right, +resolved to bring the affair to a head. At the end of twenty feet he +rustled the bushes a little once more and lay flat. An arrow flew over +his head, but he did not reply, resuming his slow advance after his +enemy's shaft had sped. Another twenty feet and he made the bushes move +again. Tandakora shot, and in doing so he exposed a little of his right +arm. Tayoga sent a prompt arrow at the brown flesh. He heard a cry of +pain, wrenched in spite of his stoical self from the Ojibway, and then +as he sank down again and put his ear to the ground came the sound of +retreating footsteps. + +The affair, unfinished in a way, so far as the vital issue was +concerned, was concluded for the present, at least. Ear and mind told +Tayoga as clearly as if eye had seen. His arrow had ploughed its path +across Tandakora's arm near the shoulder, inflicting a wound that would +heal, but which was extremely painful and from which so much blood was +coming that a quick bandage was needed. Tandakora could no longer meet +Tayoga with the bow and arrow and so he must retreat. Nor was it likely +that his first wound was yet more than half healed. + +The Onondaga waited until he was sure his enemy was at least a half mile +away, when he rose boldly and approached the place where Tandakora had +last lain hidden. He detected at once drops of dark blood on the leaves +and grass, and he found his arrow, which Tandakora had snatched from +the wound and thrown upon the ground. He wiped the barb carefully and +replaced it in his quiver. Then he followed the trail at least three +miles, a trail marked here and there by ruddy spots. + +Tayoga did not feel sorry for his enemy. Tandakora was a savage and an +assassin, and he deserved this new hurt. He was a dangerous enemy, one +who had made up his mind to secure revenge upon the Onondaga and his +friends, but his fresh wound would keep him quiet for a while. One could +not have an arrow through his forearm and continue a hunt with great +vigor and zest. + +Tayoga marked twice the places where Tandakora had stopped to rest. +There the drops of blood were clustered, indicating a pause of some +duration, and a third stop showed where he had bound up his wound. Fresh +leaves had been stripped from a bush and a tiny fragment or two +indicated that the Ojibway had torn a piece from his deerskin waistcloth +to fasten over the leaves. After that the trail was free from the ruddy +spots, but Tayoga did not follow it much farther. He was sure that +Tandakora would not return, as he had lost much blood, and for a while, +despite his huge power and strength, exertion would make him weak and +dizzy. Evidently, the bullet in his shoulder, received when they were on +their way to Quebec, had merely shaken him, but the arrow had taken a +heavier toll. + +Tayoga returned to the camp of the three. All the fire had gone out, and +Willet and Robert, wrapped in their blankets, still slept peacefully. +The entire combat between the bowmen had passed without their knowledge, +and Tayoga, quietly returning the bow and quiver to their case, and +taking his rifle instead, sat down with his back against a tree, and his +weapon across his knees. He was on the whole satisfied. He had not +removed Tandakora, but he had inflicted another painful and mortifying +defeat upon him. The pride of the Indian had been touched in its most +sensitive place, and the Ojibway would burn with rage for a long time. +Tayoga's white education did not keep him from taking pleasure in the +thought. + +He had no intention of going to sleep. Although Tandakora would not +return, others might come, and for the night the care of the three was +his. It had grown a little darker, but the blue of the skies was merely +deeper and more luminous. There in the east was the great shining star, +on which Tododaho, mightiest of chiefs, lived with the wise serpents +coiled in his hair. He gazed and his heart leaped. The vapors about the +star were gathering again, and for a brief moment or two they formed the +face of Tododaho, a face that smiled upon him. His soul rejoiced. + +"O Tododaho," were his unspoken words. "Thou hast kept thy promise! Thou +hast watched over me in the fight with Tandakora, and thou hast given me +the victory! Thou hast sent all his arrows astray and thou hast sent +mine aright! I thank thee, O, Tododaho!" + +The vapors were dissolved, but Tayoga never doubted that he had seen for +a second time the face of the wise chief who had gone to his star more +than four hundred years ago. A great peace filled him. He had accepted +the white man's religion as he had learned it in the white man's school, +and at the same time he had kept his own. He did not see any real +difference between them. Manitou and God were the same, one was the name +in Iroquois and the other was the name in English. When he prayed to +either he prayed to both. + +The darkness that precedes the dawn came. The great star on which +Tododaho lived went away, and the whole host swam into the void that is +without ending. The deeper dusk crept up, but Tayoga still sat +motionless, his eyes wide open, his ecstatic state lasting. He heard the +little animals stirring once more in the forest as the dawn approached, +and he felt very friendly toward them. He would not harm the largest or +the least of them. It was their wilderness as well as his, and Manitou +had made them as well as him. + +The darkness presently began to thin away, and Tayoga saw the first +silver shoot of dawn in the east. The sun would soon rise over the great +wilderness that was his heritage and that he loved, clothing in fine, +spun gold the green forests, the blue lakes and the silver rivers. He +took a mighty breath. It was a beautiful world and he was glad that he +lived in it. + +He awoke Robert and Willet, and they stood up sleepily. + +"Did you have a good rest, Tayoga?" Robert asked. + +"I did not sleep," the Onondaga replied. + +"Didn't sleep? Why not, Tayoga?" + +"In the night, Tandakora and two more came." + +"What? Do you mean it, Tayoga?" + +"They were coming, seeking to slay us as we slept, but I heard them. +Lest the Great Bear and Dagaeoga be awakened and lose the sleep they +needed so much, I took my bow and arrows and went into the forest and +met them." + +Robert's breath came quickly. Tayoga's manner was quiet, but it was not +without a certain exultation, and the youth knew that he did not jest. +Yet it seemed incredible. + +"You met them, Tayoga?" he repeated. + +"Yes, Dagaeoga." + +"And what happened?" + +"The two warriors whom Tandakora brought with him lie still +in the forest. They will never move again. Tandakora escaped +with an arrow through his arm. He will not trouble us for a +week, but he will seek us later." + +"Why didn't you awake us, Tayoga, and take us with you?" + +"I wished to do this deed alone." + +"You've done it well, that's sure," said Willet, "and now that all +danger has been removed we'll light our fire and cook breakfast." + +After breakfast they shouldered their packs and plunged once more into +the greenwood, intending to reach as quickly as they could the hidden +canoe on the Richelieu, and then make an easy journey by water. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ON CHAMPLAIN + + +The three arrived at the Richelieu without further hostile encounter, +but they met a white forest runner who told them the aspect of affairs +in the Ohio country was growing more threatening. A small force from +Virginia was starting there under a young officer named Washington, and +it was reported that the French from Canada in numbers were already in +the disputed country. + +"We know what we know," said Willet thoughtfully. "I've never doubted +that English and French would come into conflict in the woods, and if I +had felt any such doubts, our visit to Quebec would have driven them +away. I don't think our letters from the Governor of New York to the +Governor General of Canada will be of any avail." + +"No," said Robert, soberly. "They won't. But I want to say to you, Dave, +that I'm full of gladness, because we've reached our canoe. Our packs +without increasing in size are at least twice as heavy as they were when +we started." + +"I can join you in your hosannas, Robert. Never before did a canoe look +so fine to me. It's a big canoe, a beautiful canoe, a strong canoe, a +swift canoe, and it's going to carry us in comfort and far." + +It was, in truth, larger than the one they had used coming up the +lakes, and, with a mighty sigh of satisfaction, Robert settled into his +place. Their packs, rifles, swords and the case containing Tayoga's bow +and arrows were adjusted delicately, and then, with a few sweeps of the +Onondaga's paddle, they shot out into the slow current of the river. +Robert and Willet leaned back and luxuriated. Tayoga wanted to do the +work at present, saying that his wrists, in particular, needed exercise, +and they willingly let him. They were moving against the stream, but so +great was the Onondaga's dexterity that he sent the canoe along at a +good pace without feeling weariness. + +"It's like old times," said Willet. "There's no true happiness like +being in a canoe on good water, with the strong arm of another to paddle +for you. I'm glad you winged that savage, Tandakora, Tayoga. It would +spoil my pleasure to know that he was hanging on our trail." + +"Don't be too happy, Great Bear," said Tayoga. "Within a week the +Ojibway will be hunting for us. Maybe he will be lying in wait on the +shores of the great lake, Champlain." + +"If so, Tayoga, you must have him to feel the kiss of another arrow." + +Tayoga smiled and looked affectionately at his bow and quiver. + +"The Iroquois shaft can still be of use," he said, "and we will save our +ammunition, because the way is yet far." + +"Deer shouldn't be hard to find in these woods," said Willet, "and when +we stop for the night we'll hunt one." + +They took turns with the paddle, and now and then, drawing in under +overhanging boughs, rested a little. Once or twice they saw distant +smoke which they believed was made by Canadian and therefore hostile +Indians, but they did not pause to investigate. It was their desire to +make speed, because they wished to reach as quickly as they could the +Long House in the vale of the Onondaga. It was still possible to arrive +there before St. Luc should go away, because he would have to wait until +the fifty sachems chose to go in council and hear him. + +On this, their return journey, Robert thought much of the chevalier and +was eager to see him again. Of all the Frenchmen he had met St. Luc +interested him most. De Galisonniere was gallant and honest and +truthful, a good friend, but he did not convey the same impression of +foresight and power that the chevalier had made upon him, and there was +also another motive, underlying but strong. He wished to match himself +in oratory before the fifty chiefs with Duquesne's agent. He was +confident of his gifts, discovered so recently, and he knew the road to +the mind and hearts of the Iroquois. + +"What are you thinking so hard about, Robert?" asked Willet. + +"Of St. Luc. I think we'll meet him in the vale of Onondaga. Do you ever +feel that you can look into the future, Dave?" + +"Just what do you mean?" + +"Nothing supernatural. Don't the circumstances and conditions sometimes +make you think that events are going to run in a certain channel? At the +very first glance the Chevalier de St. Luc interested me uncommonly, and +even in our exciting days in Quebec I thought of him. Now I have a +vision about him. His life and mine are going to cross many times." + +The hunter looked sharply at the lad. + +"That's a queer idea of yours, Robert," he said, "but when you think it +over it's not so queer, after all. It seems to be the rule that queer +things should come about." + +"Now I don't understand you, Dave." + +"Well, maybe I don't quite understand myself. But I know one thing, +Robert. St. Luc is always going to put you on your mettle, and you'll +always appear at your best before him." + +"That's the way I feel about it, Dave. He aroused in me an odd mixture +of emotions, both emulation and defiance." + +"Perhaps it's not so odd after all," said Willet. + +Robert could not induce him to pursue the subject. He shied away from +St. Luc, and talked about the more immediate part of their journey, +recalling the necessity of finding another deer, as their supplies of +food were falling very low. Just before sunset they drew into the mouth +of a large creek and made the canoe fast. Tayoga, taking bow and quiver, +went into the woods for his deer, and within an hour found him. Then +they built a small fire sheltered well by thickets, and cooked supper. + +The Onondaga reported game abundant, especially the smaller varieties, +and remarkably tame, inferring from the fact that no hunting parties had +been in the region for quite a while. + +"We're almost in the country of the Hodenosaunee," he said, "but the +warriors have not been here. All of the outlying bands have gone back +toward Canada or westward into the Ohio country. This portion of the +land is deserted." + +"Still, it's well to be careful, Tayoga," said the hunter. "That savage, +Tandakora, is going to make it the business of his life to hunt our +scalps, and if there's to be a great war I don't want to fall just +before it begins." + +That night they dressed as much of their deer as they could carry, and +the next day they passed into Lake Champlain, which displayed all of its +finest colors, as if it had been made ready especially to receive them. +Its waters showed blue and green and silver as the skies above them +shifted and changed, and both to east and west the high mountains were +clothed in dark green foliage. Robert's eyes kindled at the sight of +nature's great handiwork, the magnificent lake more than a hundred miles +long, and the great scenery in which it was placed. It had its story and +legend too. Already it was famous in the history of the land and for +unbroken generations the Indians had used it as their road between north +and south. It was both the pathway of peace and the pathway of war, and +Robert foresaw that hostile forces would soon be passing upon it again. + +They saw the distant smoke once more, and kept close to the western +shore where they were in the shadow of the wooded heights, their canoe +but a mote upon the surface of the water. In so small a vessel and +almost level with its waves, they saw the lake as one cannot see it from +above, its splendid expanse stretching away from north to south, until +it sank under the horizon, while the Green Mountains on the east and the +great ranges of New York on the west seemed to pierce the skies. + +"It's our lake," said Robert, "whatever happens we can't give it up to +the French, or at least we'll divide it with the Hodenosaunee who can +claim the western shore. If we were to lose this lake no matter what +happened elsewhere I should think we had lost the war." + +"We don't hold Champlain yet," said the hunter soberly. "The French +claim it, and it's even called after the first of their governors under +the Company of One Hundred Associates, Samuel de Champlain. They've put +upon it as a sign a name which we English and Americans ourselves have +accepted, and they come nearer to controlling it than we do. They're +advancing, too, Robert, to the lake that they call Saint Sacrement, and +that we call George. When it comes to battle they'll have the advantage +of occupation." + +"It seems so, but we'll drive 'em out," said Robert hopefully. + +"But while we talk of the future," said Tayoga in his measured and +scholastic English, "it would be well for us also to be watchful in the +present. The French and their Indians may be upon the lake, and we are +but three in a canoe." + +"Justly spoken," said Willet heartily. "We can always trust you, Tayoga, +to bring us back to the needs of the moment. Robert, you've uncommonly +good eyes. Just you look to the north and to south with all your might, +and see if you can see any of their long canoes." + +"I don't see a single dot upon the water, Dave," said the youth, "but I +notice something else I don't like." + +"What is it, Robert?" + +"Several little dark clouds hanging around the crests of the high +mountains to the west. Small though they are, they've grown somewhat +since I noticed them first." + +"I don't like that either, Robert. It may mean a storm, and the lake +being so narrow the winds have sudden and great violence. But meanwhile, +I suppose it's best for us to make as much speed southward as we can." + +Tayoga alone was paddling them, but the other two fell to work also, and +the canoe shot forward, Robert looking up anxiously now and then at the +clouds hovering over the lofty peaks. He noticed that they were still +increasing and that now they fused together. Then all the crests were +lost in the great masses of vapor which crept far down the slopes. The +blue sky over their heads turned to gray with amazing rapidity. The air +grew heavy and damp. Thunder, low and then loud, rolled among the +western mountains. Lightning blazed in dazzling flashes across the lake, +showing the waters yellow or blood red in the glare. The forest moaned +and rocked, and with a scream and a roar the wind struck the lake. + +The water, in an instant, broke into great waves, and the canoe rocked +so violently that it would have overturned at once had not the three +possessed such skill with the paddle. Even then the escape was narrow, +and their strength was strained to the utmost. + +"We must land somewhere!" exclaimed Willet, looking up at the lofty +shore. + +But where? The cliff was so steep that they saw no chance to pull up +themselves and the canoe, and, keeping as close to it as they dared, +they steadied the frail vessel with their paddles. The wind continually +increased in violence, whistling and screaming, and at times assuming an +almost circular motion, whipping the waters of the lake into white foam. +Day turned to night, save when the blazing flashes of lightning cut the +darkness. The thunder roared like artillery. + +Willet hastily covered the ammunition and packs with their blankets, and +continued to search anxiously for a place where they might land. + +"The rain will be here presently," he shouted, "and it'll be so heavy +it'll come near to swamping us if we don't get to shelter first! Paddle, +lads! paddle!" + +The three, using all their strength and dexterity, sent the canoe +swiftly southward, still hugging the shore, but rocking violently. After +a few anxious minutes, Robert uttered a shout of joy as he saw by the +lightning's flash a cove directly ahead of them with shores at a fair +slope. They sent the canoe into it with powerful strokes, sprang upon +the bank, and then drew their little craft after them. Selecting a spot +sheltered on the west by the lofty shore and on either side to a certain +extent by dense woods, they turned the canoe over, resting the edges +upon fallen logs which they pulled hastily into place, and crouched +under it. They considered themselves especially lucky in finding the +logs, and now they awaited the rain that they had dreaded. + +It came soon in a mighty sweep, roaring through the woods, and burst +upon them in floods. But the canoe, the logs and the forest and the +slope together protected them fairly well, and the contrast even gave a +certain degree of comfort, as the rain beat heavily and then rushed in +torrents down to the lake. + +"We made it just in time," said Willet. "If we had stayed on the water I +think we'd have been swamped. Look how high the waves are and how fast +they run!" + +Robert as he gazed at the stormy waters was truly thankful. + +"We have many dangers," he said, "but somehow we seem to escape them +all." + +"We dodge 'em," said Willet, "because we make ready for 'em. It's those +who think ahead who inherit the world, Robert." + +The storm lasted an hour. Then the rain ceased abruptly. The wind died, +the darkness fled away and the lake and earth, washed and cleansed anew, +returned to their old peace and beauty, only the skies seemed softer and +bluer, and the colors of the water more varied and intense. + +They launched the canoe and resumed their journey to the south, but +when they had gone a few hundred yards Robert observed a black dot +behind them on the lake. Willet and Tayoga at once pronounced it a great +Indian canoe, containing a dozen warriors at least. + +"Canadian Indians, beyond a doubt," said Tayoga, "and our enemies. +Perhaps Tandakora is among them." + +"Whether he is or not," said Willet, "they've seen us and are in +pursuit. I suppose they stayed in another cove back of us while the +storm passed. It's one case where our foresight couldn't guard against +bad luck." + +He spoke anxiously and looked up at the overhanging forest. But there +was no convenient cove now, and it was not possible for them to beach +the canoe and take flight on land. A new danger and a great one had +appeared suddenly. The long canoe, driven by a dozen powerful paddles, +was approaching fast. + +"Hurons, I think," said Tayoga. + +"Most likely," said the hunter, "but whether Hurons or not they're no +friends of ours, and there's hot work with the paddles before us. +They're at least four rifleshots away and we have a chance." + +Now the three used their paddles as only those can who have life at +stake. Their light canoe leaped suddenly forward, and seemed fairly to +skim over the water like some great aquatic bird, but the larger craft +behind them gained steadily though slowly. Three pairs of arms, no +matter how strong or expert, are no match for twelve, and the hunter +frowned as he glanced back now and then. + +"Only three rifleshots now," he muttered, "and before long it will be +but two. But we have better weapons than theirs, and ours can speak +fast. Easy now, lads! We mustn't wear ourselves out!" + +Robert made his strokes slower. The perspiration was standing on his +face, and his breath was growing painful, but he remembered in time the +excellence of Willet's advice. The gain of the long canoe increased more +rapidly, but the three were accumulating strength for a great spurt. The +pursuit and flight, hitherto, had been made in silence, but now the +Hurons, for such their paint proved them to be, uttered a long war +whoop, full of anticipation and triumph, a cry saying plainly that they +expected to have three good scalps soon. It made Robert's pulse leap +with anger. + +"They haven't taken us yet," he said. + +Willet laughed. + +"Don't let 'em make you lose your temper," he said. "No, they haven't +taken us, and we've escaped before from such places just as tight. They +make faster time than we can, Robert, but our three rifles here will +have a word or two to say." + +After the single war whoop the warriors relapsed into silence and plied +their paddles, sure now of their prey. They were experts themselves and +their paddles swept the water in perfect unison, while the long canoe +gradually cut down the distance between it and the little craft ahead. + +"Two rifle shots," said the hunter, "and when it becomes one, as it +surely will, I'll have to give 'em a hint with a bullet." + +"It's possible,"' said Robert, "that a third power will intervene." + +"What do you mean?" asked Willet. + +"The storm's coming back. Look up!" + +It was true. The sky was darkening again, and the clouds were gathering +fast over the mountains on the west. Already lightning was quivering +along the slopes, and the forest was beginning to rock with the wind. +The air rapidly grew heavier and darker. Their own canoe was quivering, +and Robert saw that the long canoe was rising and falling with the +waves. + +"Looks as if it might be a question of skill with the paddles rather +than with the rifles," said Willet tersely. + +"But they are still gaining," said Tayoga, "even though the water is so +rough." + +"Aye," said Willet, "and unless the storm bursts in full power they'll +soon be within rifle shot." + +He watched with occasional keen backward looks, and in a few minutes he +snatched up his rifle, took a quick aim and fired. The foremost man in +the long canoe threw up his arms, and fell sideways into the water. The +canoe stopped entirely for a moment or two, but then the others, +uttering a long, fierce yell of rage, bent to their paddles with a +renewed effort. The three had made a considerable gain during their +temporary check, but it could not last long. Willet again looked for a +chance to land, but the cliffs rose above them sheer and impossible. + +"We are in the hands of Manitou," said Tayoga, gravely. "He will save +us. Look, how the storm gathers! Perhaps it was sent back to help us." + +The Onondaga spoke with the utmost earnestness. It was not often that a +storm returned so quickly, and accepting the belief that Manitou +intervened in the affairs of earth, he felt that the second convulsion +of nature was for their benefit. Owing to the great roughness of the +water their speed now decreased, but not more than that of the long +canoe, the rising wind compelling them to use their paddles mostly for +steadiness. The spray was driven like sleet in their faces, and they +were soon wet through and through, but they covered the rifles and +ammunition with their blankets, knowing that when the storm passed they +would be helpless unless they were kept dry. + +The Hurons fired a few shots, all of which fell short or wide, and then +settled down with all their numbers to the management of their canoe, +which was tossing dangerously. Robert noticed their figures were growing +dim, and then, as the storm struck with full violence for the second +time, the darkness came down and hid them. + +"Now," shouted Willet, as the wind whistled and screamed in their ears, +"we'll make for the middle of the lake!" + +Relying upon their surpassing skill with the paddle, they chose a most +dangerous course, so far as the risk of wreck was concerned, but they +intended that the long canoe should pass them in the dusk, and then they +would land in the rear. The waves were higher as they went toward the +center of the lake, but they were in no danger of being dashed against +the cliffs, and superb work with the paddles kept them from being +swamped. Luckily the darkness endured, and, as they were able to catch +through it no glimpse of the long canoe, they had the certainty of being +invisible themselves. + +"Why not go all the way across to the eastern shore?" shouted Robert. +"We may find anchorage there, and we'd be safe from both the Hurons and +the storm!" + +"Dagaeoga is right," said Tayoga. + +"Well spoken!" said Willet. "Do the best work you ever did with the +paddles, or we'll find the bottom of the lake instead of the eastern +shore!" + +But skill, strength and quickness of eye carried them in safety across +the lake, and they found a shore of sufficient slope for them to land +and lift the canoe after them, carrying it back at least half a mile, +and not coming to rest until they reached the crest of a high hill, +wooded densely. They put the canoe there among the bushes and sank down +behind it, exhausted. The rifles and precious ammunition, wrapped +tightly in the folds of their blankets, had been kept dry, but they were +wet to the bone themselves and now, that their muscles were relaxed, the +cold struck in. The three, despite their weariness, began to exercise +again vigorously, and kept it up until the rain ceased. + +Then the second storm stopped as suddenly as the first had departed, the +darkness went away, and the great lake stood out, blue and magnificent, +in the light. Far to the south moved the long canoe, a mere black dot +in the water. Tayoga laughed in his throat. + +"They rage and seek us in vain," he said. "They will continue pursuing +us to the south. They do not know that Manitou sent the second storm +especially to cover us up with a darkness in which we might escape." + +"It's a good belief, Tayoga," said Willet, "and as Manitou arranged that +we should elude them he is not likely to bring them back into our path. +That being the case I'm going to dry my clothes." + +"So will I," said Robert, and the Onondaga nodded his own concurrence. +They took off their garments, wrung the water out of them and hung them +on the bushes to dry, a task soon to be accomplished by the sun that now +came out hot and bright. Meanwhile they debated their further course. + +"The long canoe still goes south," said Tayoga. "It is now many miles +away, hunting for us. Perhaps since they cannot find us, the Hurons will +conclude that the storm sank us in the lake!" + +"But they will hunt along the shore a long time," said Willet. "They're +nothing but a tiny speck now, and in a quarter of an hour they'll be out +of sight altogether. Suppose we cross the lake behind them--I think I +see a cove down there on the western side--take the canoe with us and +wait until they go back again." + +"A wise plan," said Tayoga. + +In another hour their deerskins were dry, and reclothing themselves they +returned the canoe to the lake, the Hurons still being invisible. Then +they crossed in haste, reached the cove that Willet had seen, and +plunged into the deep woods, taking the canoe with them, and hiding +their trail carefully. When they had gone a full three miles they came +to rest in a glade, and every one of the three felt that it was time. +Muscles and nerves alike were exhausted, and they remained there all the +rest of the day and the following night, except that after dark Tayoga +went back to the lake and saw the long canoe going northward. + +"I don't think we'll be troubled by that band of Hurons any more," he +reported to his comrades. "They will surely think we have been drowned, +and tomorrow we can continue our own journey to the south." + +"And on the whole, we've come out of it pretty well," said Willet. + +"With the aid of Manitou, who so generously sent us the second storm," +said Tayoga. + +They brought the canoe back to the lake at dawn, and hugging the western +shore made leisurely speed to the south, until they came to the +neighborhood of the French works at Carillon, when they landed again +with their canoe, and after a long and exhausting portage launched +themselves anew on the smaller but more splendid lake, known to the +English as George and to the French as Saint Sacrement. Now, though, +they traveled by night and slept and rested by day. But Lake George in +the moonlight was grand and beautiful beyond compare. Its waters were +dusky silver as the beams poured in floods upon it, and the lofty +shores, in their covering of dark green, seemed to hold up the skies. + +"It's a grand land," said Robert for the hundredth time. + +"It is so," said Tayoga. "After Manitou had practiced on many other +countries he used all his wisdom and skill to make the country of the +Hodenosaunee." + +The next morning when they lay on the shore they saw two French boats on +the lake, and Robert was confirmed in his opinion that the prevision of +the French leaders would enable them to strike the first blow. Already +their armed forces were far down in the debatable country, and they +controlled the ancient water route between the British colonies and +Canada. + +On the second night they left the lake, hid the canoe among the bushes +at the edge of a creek, and began the journey by land to the vale of +Onondaga. It was likely that in ordinary times they would have made it +without event, but they felt now the great need of caution, since the +woods might be full of warriors of the hostile tribes. They were sure, +too, that Tandakora would find their trail and that he would not +relinquish the pursuit until they were near the villages of the +Hodenosaunee. The trail might be hidden from the Ojibway alone, but +since many war parties of their foes were in the woods he would learn of +it from some of them. So they followed the plan they had used on the +lake of traveling by night and of lying in the bush by day. + +Another deer fell to Tayoga's deadly arrow, and on the third day as they +were concealed in dense forest they saw smoke on a high hill, rising in +rings, as if a blanket were passed rapidly over a fire and back again +in a steady alternation. + +"Can you read what they say, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"No," replied the Onondaga. "They are strange to me, and so it cannot be +any talk of the Hodenosaunee. Ah, look to the west! See, on another +hill, two miles away, rings of smoke also are rising!" + +"Which means that two bands of French Indians are talking to each other, +Tayoga?" + +"It is so, Great Bear, and here within the lands of the Hodenosaunee! +Perhaps Frenchmen are with them, Frenchmen from Carillon or some other +post that Onontio has pushed far to the south." + +The young Onondaga spoke with deep resentment. The sight of the two +smokes made by the foes of the Hodenosaunee filled him with anger, and +Willet, who observed his face, easily read his mind from it. + +"You would like to see more of the warriors who are making those +signals," he said. "Well, I don't blame you for your curiosity and +perhaps it would be wise for us to take a look. Suppose we stalk the +first fire." + +Tayoga nodded, and the three, although hampered somewhat by their packs, +began a slow approach through the bushes. Half the distance, and Tayoga, +who was in advance, putting his finger upon his lips, sank almost flat. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" whispered Willet. + +"Someone else stalking them too. On the right. I heard a bush move." + +Both Willet and Robert heard it also as they waited, and used as they +were to the forest they knew that it was made by a human being. + +"What's your opinion, Tayoga?" asked the hunter. + +"A warrior or warriors of the Hodenosaunee, seeking, as we are, to see +those who are sending up the rings of smoke," replied the Onondaga. + +"If you're right they're likely to be Mohawks, the Keepers of the +Eastern Gate." + +Tayoga nodded. + +"Let us see," he said. + +Putting his fingers to his lips, he blew between them a note soft and +low but penetrating. A half minute, and a note exactly similar came from +a point in the dense bush about a hundred yards away. Then Tayoga blew a +shorter note, and as before the reply came, precisely like it. + +"It is the Ganeagaono," said Tayoga with certainty, "and we will await +them here." + +The three remained motionless and silent, but in a few minutes the +bushes before them shook, and four tall figures, rising to their full +height, stood in plain view. They were Mohawk warriors, all young, +powerful and with fierce and lofty features. The youngest and tallest, a +man with the high bearing of a forest chieftain, said: + +"We meet at a good time, O Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee." + +"It is so, O Daganoweda, of the clan of the Turtle, of the nation +Ganeagaono, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee," replied Tayoga. +"I see that my brethren, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, watch when the +savage tribes come within their territory." + +The brows of the young Mohawk contracted into a frown. + +"Most of our warriors are on the great trail to the vale of Onondaga," +he said. "We are but four, and, though we are only four, we intended to +attack. The smoke nearer by is made by Hurons and Caughnawagas." + +"You are more than four, you are seven," said Tayoga. + +Daganoweda understood, and smiled fiercely and proudly. + +"You have spoken well, Tayoga," he said, "but you have spoken as I +expected you to speak. Onundagaono and Ganeagaono be the first nations +of the Hodenosaunee and they never fail each other. We are seven and we +are enough." + +He took it for granted that Tayoga spoke as truly for the two white men +as for himself, and Robert and the hunter felt themselves committed. +Moreover their debt to the Onondaga was so great that they could not +abandon him, and they knew he would go with the Mohawks. It would also +be good policy to share their enterprise and their danger. + +"We'll support you to the end of it," said Willet quietly. + +"The English have always been the friends of the Hodenosaunee," said +Daganoweda, as he led the way through the undergrowth toward the point +from which the smoke come. Neither Robert nor Willet felt any scruple +about attacking the warriors there, as they were clearly invaders with +hostile purpose of Mohawk territory, and it was also more than likely +that their immediate object was the destruction of the three. Yet the +two Americans held back a little, letting the Indians take the lead, not +wishing it to be said that they began the battle. + +Daganoweda, whose name meant "Inexhaustible," was a most competent young +chief. He spread out his little force in a half circle, and the seven +rapidly approached the fire. But Robert was glad when a stick broke +under the foot of an incautious and eager warrior, and the Hurons and +Caughnawagas, turning in alarm, fired several bullets into the bushes. +He was glad, because it was the other side that began the combat, and if +there was a Frenchman with them he could not go to Montreal or Quebec, +saying the British and their Indians had fired the first shot. + +All of the bullets flew wide, and Daganoweda's band took to cover at +once, waiting at least five minutes before they obtained a single shot +at a brown body. Then all the usual incidents of a forest struggle +followed, the slow creeping, the occasional shot, a shout of triumph or +the death yell, but the Hurons and Caughnawagas, who were about a dozen +in number, were routed and took to flight in the woods, leaving three of +their number fallen. Two of the Mohawks were wounded but not severely. +Tayoga, who was examining the trail, suddenly raised his head and said: + +"Tandakora has been here. There is none other who wears so large a +moccasin. Here go his footsteps! and here! and here!" + +"Doubtless they thought we were near, and were arranging with the other +band to trap us," said Willet. "Daganoweda, it seems that you and your +Mohawks came just in time. Are the smoke rings from the second fire +still rising? We were too far away for them to hear our rifles." + +"Only one or two rings go up now," replied Tayoga. "Since they have +received no answer in a long time they wonder what has happened. See how +those two rings wander away and dissolve in the air, as if they were +useless, and now no more follow." + +"But the warriors may come here to see what is the matter, and we ought +to be ready for them." + +Daganoweda, to whom they readily gave the place of leader, since by +right it was his, saw at once the soundness of the hunter's advice, and +they made an ambush. The second band, which was about the size of the +first, approached cautiously, and after a short combat retired swiftly +with two wounded warriors, evidently thinking the enemy was in great +force, and leaving the young Mohawk chieftain in complete possession of +his victorious field. + +"Tayoga, and you, Great Bear, I thank you," said Daganoweda. "Without +your aid we could never have overcome our enemies." + +"We were glad to do what we could," said Willet sincerely, "since, as I +see it, your cause and ours are the same." + +Tayoga was examining the fleeing trail of the second band as he had +examined that of the first, and he beckoned to his white comrades and to +Daganoweda. + +"Frenchmen were here," he said. "See the trail. They wore moccasins, but +their toes turn out in the white man's fashion." + +There was no mistaking the traces, and Robert felt intense satisfaction. +If hostile Indians, led by Frenchmen, were invading the territory of the +Hodenosaunee, then it would be very hard indeed for Duquesne and Bigot +to break up the ancient alliance of the great League with the English. +But he was quite sure that no one of the flying Frenchmen was St. Luc. +The chevalier was too wise to be caught in such a trap, nor would he +lend himself to the savage purposes of Tandakora. + +"Behold, Daganoweda," he said, "the sort of friends the French would be +to the Hodenosaunee. When the great warriors of the Six Nations go to +the vale of Onondaga to hear what the fifty sachems will say at their +council, the treacherous Hurons and Caughnawagas, led by white men from +Montreal and Quebec, come into their land, seeking scalps." + +The power of golden speech was upon him once more. He felt deeply what +he was saying, and he continued, calling attention to the ancient +friendship of the English, and their long and bitter wars with the +French. He summoned up again the memory of Frontenac, never dead in the +hearts of the Mohawks, and as he spoke the eyes of Daganoweda and his +comrades flashed with angry fire. But he did not continue long. He knew +that at such a time a speech protracted would lose its strength, and +when the feelings of the Mohawks were stirred to their utmost depths he +stopped abruptly and turned away. + +"'Twas well done, lad! 'twas well done!" whispered Willet. + +"Great Bear," said Daganoweda, "we go now to the vale of Onondaga for +the grand council. Perhaps Tayoga, a coming chief of the clan of the +Bear, of the great nation Onondaga, will go with us." + +"So he will," said Willet, "and so will Robert and myself. We too wish +to reach the vale of Onondaga. An uncommonly clever Frenchman, one +Chevalier Raymond de St. Luc, has gone there. He is a fine talker and he +will talk for the French. Our young friend here, whom an old chief of +your nation has named Dagaeoga, is, as you have heard, a great orator, +and he will speak for the English. He will measure himself against the +Frenchman, St. Luc, and I think he will be equal to the test." + +The young Mohawk chieftain gave Robert a look of admiration. + +"Dagaeoga can talk against anybody," he said. "He need fear no +Frenchman. Have I not heard? And if he can use so many words here in the +forest before a few men what can he not do in the vale of Onondaga +before the gathered warriors of the Hodenosaunee? Truly the throat of +Dagaeoga can never tire. The words flow from his mouth like water over +stones, and like it, flow on forever. It is music like the wind singing +among the leaves. He can talk the anger from the heart of a raging +moose, or he can talk the otter up from the depths of the river. Great +is the speech of Dagaeoga." + +Robert turned very red. Willet laughed and even Tayoga smiled, although +the compliment was thoroughly sincere. + +"You praise me too much, Daganoweda," said young Lennox, "but in a great +cause one must make a great effort." + +"Then come," said the Mohawk chieftain. "We will start at once for the +vale of Onondaga." + +They struck the great trail, _waagwenneyu_, and traveled fast. The next +day six Mohawks from their upper castle, Ganegahaga on the Mohawk river +near the mouth of West Canada Creek, joined them and they continued to +press on with speed, entering the heart of the country of the +Hodenosaunee, Robert feeling anew what a really great land it was, with +its green forests, its blue lakes, its silver rivers and its myriad of +creeks and brooks. Nature had lavished everything upon it, and he did +not wonder that the Iroquois should guard it with such valor, and +cherish it with such tenderness. As he sped on with them he was +acquiring for the time at least an Indian soul under a white skin. Long +association and a flexible mind enabled him to penetrate the thoughts of +the Iroquois and to think as they did. + +He knew how the word had been passed through the vast forest. He knew +that every warrior, woman and boy of the Hodenosaunee understood how the +two great powers beyond the sea and their children here, were about to +go into battle on the edge of their country. And what must the +Hodenosaunee do? And he knew, too, that as the Six Nations went so might +go the war in America. He had seen too much to underrate their valor and +strength, and on that long march his heart was very anxious within him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE VALE OF ONONDAGA + + +The heavens favored their journey. They were troubled by no more storms +or rain, and as the soft winds blew, flowers opened before them. Game +was abundant and they had food for the taking. As they drew near the +vale they were joined by a small party of Oneidas, and a little later +were met by an Onondaga runner who spoke with great respect to Tayoga +and who gave them news. + +The Frenchman, St. Luc, and the Canadian, Dubois, who had come with +them, were in the vale of Onondaga, where they had been received as +guests, and had been treated with hospitality. The fifty sachems, taking +their own time, had not yet met in council, and St. Luc had been +compelled to wait, but he had made great progress in the esteem of the +Hodenosaunee. Onontio could not have sent a better messenger. + +"I knew that he would do it," said Willet. "That Frenchman, St. Luc, is +wonderful, and if anybody could convert the Hodenosaunee to the French +cause he's the man. Oh, he'll ply 'em with a thousand arguments, and +he'll dwell particularly on the fact that the French have moved first +and are ready to strike. We haven't come too soon, Robert." + +But the runner informed them further that it would yet be some time +before the great council in the Long House, since the first festival of +the spring, the Maple Dance, was to be held in a few days, and the +chiefs had refused positively to meet until afterward. The sap was +already flowing and the guardians of the faith had chosen time and place +for this great and joyous ceremony of the Hodenosaunee, joyous despite +the fact that it was preceded by a most solemn event, the general +confession of sins. + +The eyes of Tayoga and of the Mohawks and Oneidas glistened when they +heard. + +"We must be there in time for all," said Tayoga. + +"Truly we must, brother," said Daganoweda, the Mohawk. + +And now they hastened their speed through the fertile and beautiful +country, where spring was attaining its full glory, and, as the sap +began to run in the maples, so the blood leaped fresh and sparkling even +in the veins of the old. A band of Senecas joined them, and when they +came to the edge of the vale of Onondaga they were a numerous party, all +eager, keen, and surcharged with a spirit which was religious, political +and military, the three being inseparably intertwined in the lives of +the Hodenosaunee. + +They stood upon a high hill and looked over the great, beautiful valley +full of orchards and fields and far to the north they caught a slight +glimpse of the lake bearing the name of the Keepers of the Council Fire. +Smoke rose from the chimneys of the solid log houses built by this most +enlightened tribe, flecking the blue of the sky, and the whole scene +was one of peace and beauty. The eyes of Tayoga, the Onondaga, and of +Daganoweda, the Mohawk, glistened as they looked, and their hearts +throbbed with fervent admiration. It was more than a village of the +Onondagas that lay before them, it was the temple and shrine of the +great league, the Hodenosaunee. The Onondagas kept the council fire, and +ranked first in piety, but the Mohawks, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, +were renowned even to the Great Plains for their valor, and they stood +with the Onondagas, their equals man for man, while the Senecas, known +to themselves and their brother nations as the Nundawaono, were more +numerous than either. + +"We shall be in time for the great festival, the Maple Dance," said +Tayoga to the young Mohawk. + +"Yes, my brother, we have come before the beginning," said Daganoweda, +"and I am glad that it is so. We may not have the Maple Dance again for +many seasons. The shadow of the mighty war creeps upon the Hodenosaunee, +and when the spring returns who knows where the warriors of the great +League will be? We are but little children and we know nothing of the +future, which Manitou alone holds in his keeping." + +"You speak truth, Daganoweda. The Ganeagaono are both valiant and wise. +It is a time for the fifty sachems to use all the knowledge they have +gathered in their long lives, but we will hear what the Frenchman, St. +Luc, has to say, even though he belongs to the nation that sent +Frontenac against us." + +"The Hodenosaunee can do no less," said the Mohawk, tersely. + +Robert could not keep from hearing and he was glad of the little affair +with the two hostile bands, knitting as it did their friendship with the +Mohawks. But he too, since he had penetrated the Iroquois spirit and saw +as they did, felt the great and momentous nature of the crisis. While +the nations of the Hodenosaunee might decide whether English or French +were to win in the coming war they might, at the same time, decide the +fate of the great League which had endured for centuries. + +They descended into the vale of Onondaga, but at its edge, in a great +forest, the entire group stopped, as it became necessary there for +Tayoga, Willet and Robert to say a temporary farewell to the others who +would not advance into the Onondaga town until the full power of the +Hodenosaunee was gathered. The council, as Robert surmised and as he now +learned definitely, had been called by the Onondagas, who had sent +heralds with belts eastward to the Oneidas, who in turn had sent them +yet farther eastward to the Mohawks, westward to the Cayugas whose duty +it was to pass them on to the Senecas yet more to the west. The Oneidas +also gave belts to the Dusgaowehono, or Tuscaroras, the valiant tribe +that had come up from the south forty years before, and that had been +admitted into the Hodenosaunee, turning the Five Nations into the Six, +and receiving lands within the territory of the Oneidas. + +Already great numbers of warriors from the different nations, their +chiefs at their head, were scattered about the edges of the valley +awaiting the call of the Onondagas for participation in the Maple Dance, +and the great and fateful council afterward. And since they did not know +whether this council was for peace or for war, every sachem had brought +with him a bundle of white cedar fagots that typified peace, and also a +bundle of red cedar fagots that typified war. + +"Farewell, my friends," said Daganoweda, the Mohawk, to Tayoga, Robert +and Willet. "We rest here until the great sachems of the Onondagas send +for us, and yet we are eager to come, because never before was there +such a Maple Dance and never before such a council as these will be." + +"You speak true words, Daganoweda," said Robert, "and the Great Bear and +I rejoice that we are adopted sons of the Iroquois and can be here." + +Robert spoke from his heart. Not even his arrival at Quebec, great as +had been his anticipations and their fulfillment, had stirred in him +more interest and enthusiasm. The feeling that for the time being he was +an Iroquois in everything except his white skin grew upon him. He saw as +they saw, his pulses beat as theirs beat, and he thought as they +thought. It was not too much for him to think that the fate of North +America might turn upon the events that were to transpire within the +vale of Onondaga within the next few days. Nor was he, despite his +heated brain, and the luminous glow through which he saw everything, far +from the facts. + +Robert saw that Willet, despite his years and experience, was deeply +stirred also, and the dark eyes of Tayoga glittered, as well they might, +since the people who were the greatest in all the world to him were +about to deliberate on their fate and that of others. + +The three, side by side, their hearts beating hard, advanced slowly and +with dignity through the groves. From many points came the sound of +singing and down the aisles of the trees they saw young girls in +festival attire. All the foliage was in deepest green and the sky was +the soft but brilliant blue of early spring. The air seemed to be +charged with electricity, because all had a tense and expectant feeling. + +For Robert, so highly imaginative, the luminous glow deepened. He had +studied much in the classics, after the fashion of the time, in the +school at Albany, and his head was filled with the old Greek and Roman +learning. Now he saw the ancient symbolism reproduced in the great +forests of North America by the nations of the Hodenosaunee, who had +never heard of Greece or Rome, nor, to him, were the religion and poetry +of the Iroquois inferior in power and beauty, being much closer kin than +the gods of Greece and Rome to his own Christian beliefs. + +"Manitou favors us," said Tayoga, looking up at the soft blue velvet of +the sky. "Gaoh, the spirit of the Winds, moves but gently in his home, +Dayodadogowah." + +He looked toward the west, because it was there that Gaoh, who had the +bent figure and weazened face of an old man, always sat, Manitou having +imprisoned him with the elements, and having confined him to one place. +In the beautiful Iroquois mythology, Gaoh often struggled to release +himself, though never with success. Sometimes his efforts were but mild, +and then he produced gentle breezes, but when he fought fiercely for +freedom the great storms blew and tore down the forests. + +"Gaoh is not very restless today," continued Tayoga. "He struggles but +lightly, and the wind from the west is soft upon our faces." + +"And it brings the perfume of flowers and of tender young leaves with +it, Tayoga," said Willet. "It's a wonderful world and I'm just a boy +today, standing at its threshold." + +"And even though war may come, perhaps Manitou will smile upon us," said +Tayoga. "The Three Sisters whom Hawenneu, who is the same to the white +man as Manitou, gave to us, the spirit of the Corn, the spirit of the +Squash and the spirit of the Bean will abide with us and give us plenty. +The spirits in the shape of beautiful young girls hover over us. We +cannot see them, but they are there." + +He looked up and shadows passed over their heads. To the mystic soul of +the young Onondaga they were the spirits of the three sisters who +typified abundance, and Robert himself quivered. He still saw with the +eyes and felt with the heart of an Iroquois. + +Both he and Tayoga were conscious that the spirits were everywhere about +them. All the elements and all the powers of nature were symbolized and +typified. The guardians of fire, earth, water, healing, war, the chase, +love, winter, summer and a multitude of others, floated in the air. The +trees themselves had spirits and identity and all the spirits who +together constituted the Honochenokeh were the servants and assistants +of Hawenneyu. To the eyes of Tayoga that saw not and yet saw, it was a +highly peopled world, and there was meaning in everything, even in the +fall of the leaf. + +Tayoga presently put his fingers to his lips and uttered a long mellow +whistle. A whistle in reply came from a grove just ahead, and fourteen +men, all of middle years or beyond, emerged into view. Though elderly, +not one among them showed signs of weakness. They were mostly tall, they +held themselves very erect, and their eyes were of uncommon keenness and +penetration. They were the fourteen sachems of the Onondagas, and at +their head was the first in rank, Tododaho, a name that never ceased to +exist, being inherited from the great chief who founded the League +centuries before, and being passed on from successor to successor. Close +to him came Tonessaah, whose name also lasted forever and who was the +hereditary adviser of Tododaho, and near him walked Daatgadose and the +others. + +Tayoga, Robert and Willet stopped, and the great chief, Tododaho, a man +of splendid presence, in the full glory of Iroquois state costume, gave +them welcome. The sight of Tayoga, of lofty birth, of the clan of the +Bear, of the nation Onondaga, was particularly pleasing to his eyes. It +was well that the young warriors, who some day would be chiefs to lead +in council and battle, should be present. And the coming of the white +man and the white lad, who were known to be trusted friends of the +Hodenosaunee, was welcome also. + +The three, each in turn, made suitable replies, and Robert, his gift of +golden speech moving him, spoke a little longer than the others. He made +a free use of metaphor and allegory, telling how dear were the +prosperity and happiness of the Hodenosaunee to his soul, and he felt +every word he said. Charged with the thoughts and impressions of an +Iroquois, the fourteen chiefs were the quintessence of dignity and +importance to him, and when they smiled and nodded approval of his +youthful effort his heart was lifted up. Then he, Tayoga and Willet +bowed low to these men who in very truth were the keepers of the council +fire of the Hodenosaunee, and whose word might sway the destinies of +North America, and, bowing, passed on that they might rest in the Long +House, as became three great warriors who had valiantly done their duty +in the forest when confronted by their enemies, and who had come to do +another and sacred duty in the vale of Onondaga. + +Young warriors were their escort into one of the great log houses, which +in their nature were much like the community houses found at a later day +in the far southwest. The building they entered was a full hundred and +twenty feet in length and about forty feet broad, and it had five fires, +each built in the center of its space. The walls and roof were of poles +thatched with bark, and there were no windows, but over each fire was a +circular opening in the roof where the air entered and the smoke went +out. If rain or storm came these orifices were covered with great +pieces of bark. + +On the long sides of the walls extended platforms about six feet wide, +covered with furs and skins where the warriors slept. Overhead was a +bark canopy on top of which they placed their possessions. About a dozen +warriors were in the house, all lying down, but they rose and greeted +the three. Berths were assigned to them at once, food and water were +brought, and Robert, weary from the long march, decided that he would +sleep. + +"I think I'll do the same," said Willet, "and then we'll be fresh for +what's coming. Tayoga, I suppose, will want to see his kin first." + +Tayoga nodded, and presently disappeared. Then Robert and Willet took +their places upon the bark platforms and were soon asleep, not awakening +until the next morning when they went forth and found that the +excitement in the valley had increased. Tayoga came to them at once and +told them that Sanundathawata, the council of repentance, was about to +be held. The dawn was just appearing, and as the sun rose the sachems of +the Onondagas would proceed to the council grove and receive the sachems +of the allied nations. + +"You will wish to see the ceremony," he said. + +"Of course, of course!" said Robert, eagerly, who found that with the +coming of a new day he was as much an Iroquois in spirit as ever. Nor +could he see that Willet was less keen about it and the three proceeded +promptly to the council grove where a multitude was already hastening. +There was, too, a great buzz of talk, as the Iroquois here in the vale, +the very heart of their country, did not show the taciturnity in which +the red man so often takes refuge in the presence of the white. + +The fourteen Onondaga chiefs, Tododaho at their head and Tonessaah at +his right, were gathered in the grove, and the warriors of the allied +nations approached, headed by their chiefs, nine for the Mohawks, ten +for the Oneidas, nine for the Cayugas, and eight for the Senecas, while +the Tuscaroras, who were a new nation in the League, had none at all, +but spoke through their friends, the Oneidas, within whose lands they +had been allowed to settle. And when the roll of the nations of the +Hodenosaunee was called it was not the Onondagas, Keepers of the Council +Fire, who were called first, although they were equal in honor, and +leaders in council, but the fierce and warlike Mohawks. Then came the +Onondagas, after them the numerous Senecas, followed by the Oneidas, +with the Cayugas next and the sachemless Tuscaroras last, but filled +with pride that they, wanderers from their ancient lands, and not large +in numbers, had shown themselves so valiant and enduring that the +greatest of all Indian leagues, the Hodenosaunee, should be willing to +admit them as a nation. + +Behind the sachems stood the chiefs, the two names not being synonymous +among the Iroquois, and although the name of the Mohawks was called +first the Onondagas were masters of the ceremonies, were, in fact, the +priests of the Hodenosaunee, and their first chief, Tododaho, was the +first chief of all the League. Yet the Senecas, who though superior in +numbers were inferior in chiefs, also had an office, being Door Keepers +of the Long House, while the Onondagas were the keepers in the larger +sense. The eighth sachem of the Senecas, Donehogaweh, had the actual +physical keeping of the door, when the fifty sachems met within, and he +also had an assistant who obeyed all his orders, and who, upon occasion, +acted as a herald or messenger. But the Onondaga sachem, Honowenato, +kept the wampum. + +The more Robert saw of the intertwined religious, military and political +systems of the Hodenosaunee, the more he admired them, and he missed +nothing as the Onondaga sachems received their brother sachems of the +allied tribes, all together being known as the Hoyarnagowar, while the +chiefs who were elective were known collectively as the Hasehnowaneh. + +Robert, Willet, and Tayoga, who was yet too young to have a part in the +ceremonies, stood on one side with the crowd and watched with the most +intense interest. Among the nine Mohawk sachems they recognized +Dayohogo, who had given Robert the name Dagaeoga, and the lad resolved +to see him later and renew their friendship. + +Meanwhile the thirty-six visiting sachems formed themselves in a circle, +with Tododaho, highest of the Onondagas in rank, among them, and facing +the sun which was rising in a golden sea above the eastern hills. +Presently the Onondaga lifted his hand and the hum and murmur in the +great crowd that looked on ceased. Then starting towards the north the +sachems moved with measured steps around the circle three times. Every +one of them carried with him a bundle of fagots, and in this case half +of the bundle was red and half white. When they stopped each sachem put +his bundle of fagots on the ground, and sat down before it, while an +assistant sachem came and stood behind him. Tododaho took flint and +steel from his pouch, set fire first to his own fagots and then to all +the others, after which he took the pipe of peace, lighted it from one +of the fires, and, drawing upon it three times, blew one puff of smoke +toward the center of the heavens, another upon the ground, and the last +directly toward the rising sun. + +"He gives thanks," whispered Tayoga, to Robert, "first to Manitou, who +has kept us alive, next to our great mother, the Earth, who has produced +the food that we eat and who sends forth the water that we drink, and +last to the Sun, who lights and warms us." + +Robert thought it a beautiful ceremony, full of idealism, and he nodded +his thanks to Tayoga while he still watched. Tododaho passed the pipe to +the sachem on his right, who took the three puffs in a similar manner, +and thus it was passed to all, the entire act requiring a long time, but +at its end the fourteen Onondaga sachems and the thirty-six visiting +sachems sat down together and under the presidency of Tododaho the +council was opened. + +"But little will be done today," said Tayoga. "It is merely what you +call at the Albany school a preliminary. The really great meeting will +be after the Maple Dance, and then we shall know what stand the +Hodenosaunee will take in the coming war." + +Robert turned away and came face to face with St. Luc. He had known that +the chevalier was somewhere in the vale of Onondaga, but in his +absorption in the Iroquois ceremonies he had forgotten about him. Now he +realized with full force that he had come to meet the Frenchman and to +measure himself against him. Yet he could not hide from himself a +certain gladness at seeing him and it was increased by St. Luc's frank +and gay manner. + +"I was sure that we should soon meet again, Mr. Lennox," he said, "and +it has come to pass as I predicted and hoped. And you too, Mr. Willet! I +greet you both." + +He offered a hand to each, and the hunter, as well as Robert, shook it +without hesitation. + +"You reached Quebec and fulfilled your mission?" he said, giving Robert +a keen look of inquiry. + +"Yes, but not without event," replied the youth. + +"I take it from your tone that the event was of a stirring nature." + +"It was rather a chain of events. The Ojibway chief, Tandakora, whom we +first saw with you, objected to our presence in the woods." + +St. Luc frowned and then laughed. + +"For that I am sorry," he said. "I would have controlled the Ojibway if +I could, but he is an unmitigated savage. He left me, and did what he +chose. I hope you do not hold me responsible for any attacks he may have +made upon you, Mr. Lennox." + +"Not at all, Monsieur, but as you see, we have survived everything and +have taken no hurt. Quebec also, a great and splendid city, was not +without stirring event, not to say danger." + +"But not to heralds, for such I take you and Mr. Willet and Tayoga to +have been." + +"A certain Pierre Boucher, a great duelist, and if you will pardon me +for saying it, a ruthless bravo, also was disposed to make trouble for +us." + +"I know Boucher. He is what you say. But since you are here safe and +unhurt, as you have just reminded me, you escaped all the snares he set +for you." + +"True, Monsieur de St. Luc, but we have the word that the fowler may +fall into his own snare." + +"Your meaning escapes me." + +"Boucher, the duelist and bravo, will never make trouble for anybody +else." + +"You imply that he is dead? Boucher dead! How did he die?" + +"A man may be a great swordsman, and he may defeat many others, but the +time usually comes when he will meet a better swordsman than himself." + +"Yourself! Why, you're but a lad, Mr. Lennox, and skillful as you may be +you're not seasoned enough to beat such a veteran as Boucher!" + +"That is true, but there is another who was." + +He nodded toward the hunter and the chevalier's eyes opened wide. + +"And you, a hunter," he said, "could defeat Pierre Boucher, who has been +accounted the master swordsman! There is more in this than meets the +eye!" + +He stared at Willet, who met his gaze firmly. Then he shrugged his +shoulders and said: + +"I'm not one to pry into the secrets of another, but I did not think +there was any man in America who was a match for Boucher. Well, he is +gone to another world, and let us hope that he will be a better man in +it than he was in this. Meanwhile we'll return to the business that +brings us all here. I speak of it freely, since every one of us knows it +well. I wish to bring in the Hodenosaunee on the side of France. The +interests of these red nations truly lie with His Majesty King Louis, +since you British colonists will spread over their lands and will drive +them out." + +"Your pardon, Chevalier de St. Luc, but it is not so. The English have +always been the good friends of the Six Nations, and have never broken +treaties with them." + +"No offense was meant, Mr. Lennox. But we do not wish to waste our +energies here debating with each other. We will save our skill and +strength for the council of the fifty, where I know you will present the +cause of the British king in such manner that its slender justification +will seem better than it really is." + +Robert laughed. + +"A stab and praise at the same time," he said. "No, Monsieur de St. Luc, +I have no wish to quarrel with you now or at any other time." + +"And while we're in the vale of Onondaga we'll be friends." + +"If you wish it to be so." + +"And you too, Mr. Willet?" + +"I've nothing against you, Chevalier de St. Luc, although I shall fight +the cause of the king whom you represent here. On the other hand I may +say that I like you and I wish nothing better than to be friends with +you here." + +"Then it is settled," said St. Luc in a tone of relief. "It is a good +way, I think. Why be enemies before we must? I shall see, too, that my +good Dubois becomes one of us, and together we will witness the Maple +Dance." + +St. Luc's manner continued frank, and Robert could not question his +sincerity. He was glad that the chevalier had proposed the temporary +friendship and he was glad, too, that Willet approved of it, since he +had such a great respect for the opinion of the hunter. St. Luc, now +that the treaty was made, bore himself as one of their party, and the +dark Canadian, Dubois, who was not far away, also accepted the situation +in its entirety. Tayoga, too, confirmed it thoroughly and now that St. +Luc was with him on a footing of friendship Robert felt more deeply than +ever the charm of his manner and talk. It seemed to him that the +chevalier had the sincerity and honesty of de Galisonniere, with more +experience and worldly wisdom, his experience and worldly wisdom +matching those of de Courcelles with a great superiority in sincerity +and honesty. + +The three quickly became the five. St Luc and Dubois being accepted were +accepted without reserve, although Dubois seldom spoke, seeming to +consider himself the shadow of his chief. The next day the five stood +together and witnessed the confessions of sins in the council grove, +the religious ceremony that always preceded the Maple Dance. + +Tododaho spoke to the sachems, the chiefs and the multitude upon their +crimes and faults, the necessity for repentance and of resolution to do +better in the future. Robert saw but little difference between his +sermon and that of a minister in the Protestant faith in which he had +been reared. Manitou was God and God was Manitou. The Iroquois and the +white men had traveled by different roads, but they had arrived at +practically the same creed and faith. The feeling that for the time +being he was an Iroquois in a white man's skin was yet strong upon him. + +Many of the Indian sachems and chiefs were men of great eloquence, and +the speech of Tododaho amid such surroundings, with the breathless +multitude listening, was impressive to the last degree. Its solemnity +was increased, when he held aloft a belt of white wampum, and, +enumerating his own sins, asked Manitou to forgive him. When he had +finished he exclaimed, "Naho," which meant, "I have done." Then he +passed the wampum to Tonessaah, who also made his confession, and all +the other sachems and chiefs did the same, the people, too, joining with +intense fervor in the manifestation. + +A huge banquet of all that forest, river and field afforded was spread +the next morning, and at noon athletic games, particularly those with +the ball, in which the red man excelled long before the white man came, +began and were played with great energy and amid intense excitement. At +the same time the great Feather Dance, religious in its nature, was +given by twelve young warriors and twelve young girls, dressed in their +most splendid costumes. + +Night came, and the festival was still in progress. What the Indian did +he did with his whole heart, and all his strength. Darkness compelled +the ball games to cease, but the dancing went on by the light of the +fires and fresh banquets were spread for all who cared. Robert knew that +it might last for several days and that it would be useless until the +end for either him or St. Luc to mention the subject so dear to their +hearts. Hence came an agreement of silence, and all the while their +friendship grew. + +It is true that official enemies may be quite different in private life, +and Robert found that he and St. Luc had much in common. There was a +certain kindred quality of temperament. They had the same courage, the +same spirit of optimism, the same light and easy manner of meeting a +crisis, with the same deadly earnestness and concentration concealed +under that careless appearance. It was apparent that Robert, who had +spent so much of his life in the forest, was fitted for great events and +the stage upon which men of the world moved. He had felt it in Quebec, +when he came into contact with what was really a brilliant court, with +all the faults and vices of a court, one of the main objects of which +was pleasure, and he felt it anew, since he was in the constant +companionship of a man who seemed to him to have more of that knightly +spirit and chivalry for which France was famous than any other he had +ever met. St. Luc knew his Paris and the forest equally well. Nor was +he a stranger to London and Vienna or to old Rome that Robert hoped to +see some day. It seemed to Robert that he had seen everything and done +everything, not that he boasted, even by indirection, but it was drawn +from him by the lad's own questions, back of which was an intense +curiosity. + +Robert noticed also that Willet, to whom he owed so much, never +intervened. Apparently he still approved the growing friendship of the +lad and the Frenchman, and Tayoga, too, showed himself not insensible to +St Luc's charm. Although he was now among his own people, and in the +sacred vale of which they were the keepers, he still stayed in the +community house with Robert and sought the society of his white friends, +including St. Luc. + +"I had thought," said Robert to the hunter the third morning after their +arrival, "that you would prefer for us to show a hostile face to St. +Luc, who is here to defeat our purpose, just as we are here to defeat +his." + +"Nothing is to be gained by a personal enmity," replied the hunter. "We +are the enemies not of St. Luc, but of his nation. We will meet him +fairly as he will meet us fairly, and I see good reasons why you and he +should be friends." + +"But in the coming war he's likely to be one of our ablest and most +enterprising foes." + +"That's true, Robert, but it does not change my view. Brave men should +like brave men, and if it is war I hope you and St. Luc will not meet in +battle." + +"You, too, seem to take an interest in him, Dave." + +"I like him," said Willet briefly. Then he shrugged his shoulders, and +changed the subject. + +The great festival went on, and the agents of Corlear and Onontio were +still kept waiting. The sachems would not hear a word from either. As +Robert understood it, they felt that the Maple Dance might not be +celebrated again for years. These old men, warriors and statesmen both, +saw the huge black clouds rolling up and they knew they portended a +storm, tremendous beyond any that North America had known. France and +England, and that meant their colonies, too, would soon be locked fast +in deadly combat, and the Hodenosaunee, who were the third power, must +look with all their eyes and think with all their strength. + +While the young warriors and the maidens sang and danced without +ceasing, the sachems and the chiefs sat far into the night, and as +gravely as the Roman Senate, considered the times and their needs. +Runners, long of limb, powerful of chest, and bare to the waist, came +from all points of the compass and reported secretly. One from Albany +said that Corlear and the people there and at New York were talking of +war, but were not preparing for it. Another, a Mohawk who came out of +the far east, said that Shirley, the Governor of Massachusetts, was +thinking of war and preparing for it too. A third, a Tuscarora, who had +traveled many days from the south, said that Dinwiddie, the Governor of +Virginia, was already acting. He was sending men, led by a tall youth +named Washington, into the Ohio country, where the French had already +gone to build forts. An Onondaga out of the north said that Quebec and +Montreal were alive with military preparations. Onontio was giving to +the French Indians muskets, powder, bullets and blankets in a profusion +never known before. + +The red fagots were rapidly displacing the white, and the secret +councils of the fifty sachems were filled with anxiety, but they hid all +their disquietude from the people, and much of it from the chiefs. But, +to their eyes, all the heavens were scarlet and the world was about to +be in upheaval. It was a time for every sachem to walk with cautious +steps and use his last ounce of wisdom. + +On the fourth night a powerful ally of St. Luc's arrived, although the +chevalier had not called him, and did not know until the next day that +he had come. He was a tall, thin man of middle years, wrapped in a black +robe with a cross upon his breast, and he had traveled alone through the +wilderness from Quebec to the vale of Onondaga. He carried no weapon but +under the black robe beat a heart as dauntless as that of Robert, or of +Willet, or of Tayoga, and an invincible faith that had already moved +mountains. + +Onondaga men and women received Father Philibert Drouillard, and knelt +for his willing blessing. Despite the memories of Champlain and +Frontenac, despite the long and honored alliance with the English, the +French missionaries, whom no hardships could stop, had made converts +among the Onondagas, an enlightened nation with kindly and gentle +instincts, and of all these missionaries Father Drouillard had the most +tenacious and powerful will. And piety and patriotism could dwell +together in his heart. The love of his church and the love of his race +burned there with an equal brightness. He, too, had seen the clouds of +war gathering, thick and black, and knowing the power of the +Hodenosaunee, and that they yet waited, he had hastened to them to win +them for France. He was burning with zeal and he would have gone forth +the very night of his arrival to talk, but he was so exhausted that he +could not move, and he slept deeply in one of the houses, while his +faithful converts watched. + +Robert encountered the priest early the next morning, and the meeting +was wholly unexpected by him, although the Frenchman gave no sign of +surprise and perhaps felt none. + +"Father Drouillard!" he exclaimed. "I believed you to be in Canada! I +did not think there was any duty that could call you to the vale of +Onondaga!" + +The stern face of the priest relaxed into a slight smile. This youth, +though of the hostile race, was handsome and winning, and as Father +Drouillard knew, he had a good heart. + +"Holy Church sends us, its servants, poor and weak though we may be, on +far and different errands," he said. "We seek the wheat even among the +stones, and there are those, here in the vale of Onondaga itself, who +watch for my coming." + +Robert recalled that there were Catholic converts among the Onondagas, a +fact that he had forgotten for the time, and he realized at once what a +powerful factor Father Drouillard would be in the fight against him. + +"The Chevalier de St. Luc has been here for some time," he said, +"waiting until the fifty sachems are ready to hear him in council, when +he will speak for France. Mr. Willet and I are also waiting to speak for +England. But the Chevalier de St. Luc and I are the best of friends, and +I hope, Father Drouillard, that you, who have come also to uphold the +cause of France, will not look upon me as an enemy, but as one, +unfitting though he may be, who wishes to do what he can for his +country." + +Father Drouillard smiled again. + +"Ah, my son," he said, "you are a good lad. You bore yourself well in +Quebec, and I have naught against you, save that you are not of our +race." + +"And for that, reverend sir, you cannot blame me." + +Father Drouillard smiled for the third time. It was not often that he +smiled three times in one day, and again he reflected that this was a +handsome and most winning lad. + +"Peace, my son!" he said. "Protestant you are and Catholic am I, English +you are and French am I, but no ill wind can ever blow between you and +me. We are but little children in the hands of the Omnipotent and we can +only await His decree." + +Robert told Willet a little later that Father Drouillard had come, and +the hunter looked very grave. + +"Our task has doubled," he said. "Now we fight both St. Luc and Father +Drouillard, the army and the church." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE GREAT TEST + + +While Robert and Willet had been glad hitherto that the council of the +fifty sachems had delayed its meeting, they were anxious, now that +Father Drouillard had come, to hasten it. That the army and the church, +that is the French army and the French church, were in close alliance, +they soon had full proof. The priest and the chevalier were much +together, and Robert caught an occasional flash of exultation in St. +Luc's eyes. + +The new influence was visible also among a minority of the Onondagas. +The faith of the converts was very strong, and Father Drouillard was to +them not only a teacher but an emblem also, and through him, a +Frenchman, they looked upon France as the chosen country of the new God +whom they worshiped. And Father Drouillard never worked harder than in +those fateful days. His thin face grew thinner, and his lean figure +leaner, but the fire in his eyes burned brighter. The fifty sachems said +nothing. Whether they were for the priest or against him, they never +interfered with his energies, because without exception they respected +one who they knew sought nothing for himself, who could endure hardship, +privation and even torture as well as they, and who also had the gift +of powerful and persuasive speech. + +The other nations too, except one, listened to him, though less than the +Onondagas. The fierce and warlike Mohawks would have none of him, nor +would they allow St. Luc to speak to them. Never could a single Mohawk +warrior forget that Stadacona was theirs, though generations ago it had +become French Quebec. They recalled with delight the numerous raids they +had made into Canada, and their many wars with the French. Robert saw +that one nation, and it was the one standing on an equality with the +Onondagas, was irreconcilable. When the council met the nine sachems of +the Mohawks, and their names would be called first, would prove +themselves to the last man the bitter and implacable enemies of the +French. So, feeling that he was right and loving his own country as much +as the priest and the chevalier loved theirs, he deftly worked upon the +minds of the Mohawks. He talked to the fiery young chief, Daganoweda, of +lost Stadacona that he had seen with his own eyes. He spoke of its great +situation on the lofty cliffs above the grandest of rivers, and he +described it as the strongest fortress in America. The spirit of the +young Mohawk responded readily. Robert's appeal was not made to +prejudice. He felt that truth and right were back of it. As he saw it, +the future of the Hodenosaunee lay with the English, the French could +never be their real friends, the long breach between Quebec and the vale +of Onondaga could not be healed. + +He had an able and efficient assistant in Tayoga, who was devoted to +the alliance with the English and the Americans, and who was constantly +talking with the sachems and chiefs. Willet, too, who had a long +acquaintance with all the nations of the Hodenosaunee, and who had many +friends among them, used all his arts of persuasion, which were by no +means small, and thus the battle for the favor of the Iroquois went on. +The night before the council was to be held, Tayoga, his black eyes +flashing, came to Robert and the hunter and they talked together for a +long time. + +The great council was held the next day in the grove devoted to that +purpose, the entire ceremony being Greek in its simplicity and dignity, +and in its surroundings. The fifty sachems, arrayed in their finest +robes, sat once more in a half circle, save that Tododaho, the Onondaga, +was slightly in front of the others, with Tonessaah at his elbow. The +nine Mohawk chiefs, fierce and implacable, sat close together, and long +before the appeals of England and France were begun Robert knew how they +would vote. + +The effort that he would make had already taken definite shape in his +mind. He would be moderate, he would not ask the Hodenosaunee to fight +for the English and Americans, he would merely ask the great nations to +refuse the alliance of the French, and if they could not find it in +their hearts to take up the tomahawk for their old friends then to +remain at peace in their villages, while English and French fought for +the continent. + +Spring was now far advanced. Robert had never seen the forest in deeper +green and he had never looked up to a bluer sky than the one that bent +over them, as they walked toward the council grove. His heart was +beating hard, but it was with excitement, not with fear. He knew that a +great test was before him, but his mind responded to it, in truth sprang +forward to meet it. The breeze that came down from the hills seemed to +whisper encouragement in his ears, and the words that he would speak +were already leaping to his lips. + +A great crowd, men, women and children, was gathered about the grove, +and like the sachems they were clothed in their best. Brilliant red, +blue or yellow blankets gleamed in the sun's rays, and the beads on +leggings and moccasins of the softest tanned deerskin, flashed and +glittered. Robert, with his memories of the Albany school still fresh, +thought once more of the great Greek and Roman assemblies, where all the +people came to hear their orators discuss the causes that meant most. +And then his pulse leaped again and his confidence grew. + +Tododaho spoke first, and when he rose there was a respectful silence +broken only by the murmurs of the wind or the heavy breathing of the +multitude. In a spirit of love and exhortation he addressed his people, +all of the six great nations. He told them that the mighty powers beyond +the sea, England and France, who with their children divided nearly the +whole world between them, were about to begin war with each other. The +lands occupied by both bordered upon the lands of the Hodenosaunee, and +the storm of battle would hover over all their castles and over the vale +of Onondaga. It was well for them to take long and anxious thought, and +to listen with attention to what the orators of the English and the +French would have to say. + +Then Father Drouillard spoke for France. He made an impressive figure, +wrapped in his black robe, his eyes burning like coals of fire in his +thin, dead white face. Near him on the right, his Onondaga converts were +gathered, and he frequently looked at them as he told the fifty sachems +that France, the greatest and strongest son of Holy Church, was their +best friend, and their fitting ally. Such was the thread of his +discourse. He struck throughout the priestly note. He appealed not alone +to their sense of right in this world, but to the deeds they must do to +insure their entrance into the world to come. France alone could lead +them in the right path, she alone thought of their souls. + +The priest spoke with intense fervor, using the tongue of the Indians +with the greatest clearness and purity. His sincerity was obvious. +Neither Robert nor Willet could doubt it for an instant, and they saw, +too, that it was making an impression. Deep murmurs of approval came +often from the converts, and now and then the whole multitude stirred in +agreement. But the fifty sachems, all except the nine Mohawks, sat as +expressionless as stones. The Mohawks did not move, but the stern, +accusing gaze they bent upon the priest never relaxed. As Robert had +foreseen, the most eloquent orator might talk a thousand years, and he +could never bring them a single inch toward France. + +Willet followed the priest. He attempted no flights. He left the future +to itself and emphasized the present and the past. He recalled the +facts, so well known, that the English had always been their friends, +and the French always their enemies. The English had kept their treaties +with the Hodenosaunee, the French could not be trusted. + +The hunter, too, received applause, much of it, and when he finished he +took his position in the audience beside Tayoga. Then the Chevalier de +St. Luc stood before the fifty sachems, as gallant and as handsome a +figure as one could find in either the Old World or the New, clothed in +a white uniform faced with gold, his hair powdered and tied in a knot, +his small sword, gold hilted, by his side. + +The chevalier knew the children of the forest, and Robert recognized at +once in him an antagonist even more formidable than he had expected. His +appeal was to the lore of the woods and to valor. The French adapted +themselves to the ways of the forest. They practiced the customs of the +Indians, lived with them and often married their women. They could grow +and flourish together, while the Englishmen and the Bostonnais held +themselves aloof from the red men, and pretended to be their superiors. +The French soldier and the Indian warrior had much in common, side by +side they were invincible, and together they could drive the English +into the sea, giving back to the red races the lands they had lost. + +He was a graceful and impassioned speaker, and he, too, made his +impression. The principal point of his theme, that the French alone +fraternized with the Indians, was good and all were familiar with the +fact. He returned to it continually, and when he sat down the applause +was louder than it had been for either Willet or the priest. It was +evident that he had made a strong appeal, and the Onondaga and Seneca +sachems regarded him with a certain degree of favor, but the nine fierce +and implacable Mohawk sachems did not unbend a particle. + +Then Robert rose. Despite the fewness of his years, the times and hard +circumstance had given him wisdom. He was surcharged, too, with emotion. +He was yet an Iroquois for the time being, despite his white face. He +still saw as they saw, and felt as they felt, and while he wished them +to take the side of Britain and the British colonies, or at least not +join the side of France and the French colonies, he was moved, too, by a +deep personal sympathy. The fortunes of the Hodenosaunee were dear to +him. He had been adopted into the great League. Tayoga, as the red +people saw it, was his brother in more than blood. + +He trembled a little with emotion as he looked upon the grave +half-circle of the fifty sachems, and the clustering chiefs behind them, +and then upon the people, the old men, the warriors, the women and the +children. As he saw them, they were friendly. They knew him to be one of +them by all the sacred rites of adoption, they knew that he had fought +by the side of the great young warrior Tayoga of the clan of the Bear, +of the nation Onondaga, of the mighty League of the Hodenosaunee, and +after the momentary silence a deep murmur of admiration for the lithe, +athletic young figure, and the frank, open face, ran through the +multitude. + +He spoke with glowing zeal and in a clear, beautiful voice that carried +like a trumpet. After the first minute, all embarrassment and hesitation +passed away, and his gift shone, resplendent. The freshness and fervor +of youth were added to the logic and power of maturer years, and golden +words flowed from his lips. The Indians, always susceptible to oratory, +leaned forward, attentive and eager. The eyes of the fifty sachems began +to shine and the fierce and implacable Mohawks, who would not relax a +particle for any of the others, nodded with approval, as the speaker +played upon the strings of their hearts. + +He dwelled less upon the friendship of the English than upon the +hostility of the French. He knew that Champlain and Frontenac were far +away in time, but near in the feelings of the Hodenosaunee, especially +the Mohawks, the warlike Keepers of the Eastern Gate. He said that while +the French had often lived with the Indians, and sometimes had married +Indian women, it was not with the nations of the Hodenosaunee, but with +their enemies, Huron, Caughnawaga, St. Regis, Ojibway and other savages +of the far west. Onontio could not be the friend of their foes and their +friends also. Manitou had never given to any man the power to carry +water on both shoulders in such a manner. + +The promises of the French to the great nations of the League had never +been kept. He and Willet, the hunter whom they called the Great Bear, +and the brave young warrior, Tayoga, whom they all knew, had just +returned from the Stadacona of the Mohawks, which the French had seized, +and where they had built their capital, calling it Quebec. They had +covered it with stone buildings, palaces, fortresses and churches, but, +in truth and right, it was still the Stadacona of the Mohawks. When +Tayoga and Willet and he walked there, they saw the shades of the great +Mohawk sachems of long ago, come down from the great shining stars on +which they now lived, to confound the French, and to tell the children +of the Ganeagaono never to trust them. + +Stirred beyond control, a fierce shout burst from the nine Mohawk +sachems. It was the first time within the memory of the council that any +of its members had given evidence of feeling, while a question lay +before it, but their cry touched a common chord of sympathy. Applause +swept the crowd, and then, deep silence coming again, the orator +continued, his fervor and power increasing as he knew now that all the +nations of the Hodenosaunee were with him. + +He enlarged upon his theme. He showed to them what a victorious France +would do. If Quebec prevailed, the fair promises the priest and the +chevalier had made to the Hodenosaunee would be forgotten. Even as the +Mohawks had lost Quebec and other villages they would lose now their +castles, the Upper, the Lower and the Middle, the Cayugas and the +Oneidas would be crushed, and with them their new brethren the +Tuscaroras. The French would burst with fire and sword into the sacred +vale of Onondaga itself, they would cut down the council grove and burn +the Long House, then their armies would go forth to destroy the Senecas, +the Keepers of the Western Gate. + +The thousands, swayed by uncontrollable emotion, sprang to their feet +and a tremendous shout burst from them all. St. Luc, seeing the +Hodenosaunee slipping from his hands and from those of France, leaped +up, unable to contain himself, and cried: + +"Do not listen to him! Do not listen to him! What he says cannot come to +pass!" + +The people were in a turmoil, and the council strove in vain for order, +but the young speaker raised his hand and silence came again. + +"The Chevalier de St. Luc and Father Drouillard, who have spoken to you +in behalf of France, are brave and good men," he said, "but they cannot +control the acts of their country. They tell you what I say cannot come +to pass, but I tell you that it can come to pass, and what is more it +has come to pass. Behold!" + +He took from beneath his deerskin tunic a tomahawk, large and keen, and +held it up. Its shining blade was stained red with the blood of a human +being. The silence was now so intense that it became heavy and +oppressive. Everyone in the crowd expected something startling to +follow, and they were right. + +He swung the tomahawk about in a circle that all might see it, and the +blood upon its blade. His feeling for the dramatic was strong upon him, +and he knew that the right moment had come. + +"Do you know whose tomahawk this is?" he cried. + +The crowd was silent and waiting. + +"It is the tomahawk of Tandakora, the Ojibway, the friend and ally of +the French." + +A fierce shout like a peal of thunder from the crowd, and then the same +intense, waiting silence. + +"Do you know whose blood stains the tomahawk of Tandakora, the Ojibway, +the friend and ally of the French?" + +A deep breath from the crowd. + +"It is the blood of Hosahaho, the Onondaga. You knew him well, one of +your swiftest runners, a skillful hunter, a great warrior, one who lived +a truthful and upright life before the face of Manitou. But he is gone. +Three nights ago, Tandakora, the Ojibway, the friend and ally of the +French, with a band of his treacherous men, foully murdered him in +ambush. But other Onondagas came, and Tandakora and his band had to flee +so fast that he could not regain his tomahawk. It has been brought to +the vale of Onondaga by those who saw Tandakora, but who could not +overtake him. It was given by them to Tayoga, whom all of you know and +honor, and he has given it to me as proof of the faith of Onontio. +Tandakora and Onontio are brothers. What Tandakora does Onontio does +also, and the bright blood of Hosahaho, the Onondaga, that stains the +tomahawk of Tandakora, the Ojibway, was shed by Onontio as well as +Tandakora. Behold! Here are the promises of Onontio, written red in the +blood of your brother!" + +An immense tumult followed, but presently Tododaho, first among the +sachems, rose and stilled it with uplifted hands. Turning his eyes upon +Robert, he said: + +"You have spoken well, O Dagaeoga, and you have shown the proof of your +words. Never will the great nations of the Hodenosaunee be the friends +of the French. There is too much blood between us." + +Then, turning to Chevalier de St. Luc and Father Drouillard, he said: + +"Go you back to Quebec and tell Onontio that he cannot come to us with +promises in one hand and murder in the other. Our young men will guard +you and see that you are safe, until you pass out of our lands. Go! +Through me the fifty sachems speak for the great League of the +Hodenosaunee." + +The chevalier and the priest, disappointed but dignified, left the vale +of Onondaga that night, and St. Luc said to Robert that he bore him no +ill will because of his defeat. + +Several weeks later, as Robert, Willet, and Tayoga were on their way to +Albany, they heard from an Oneida runner that the English colonials from +Virginia, under young Washington, and the French had been in battle far +to the west. + +"The war has begun," said Willet solemnly, "a war that will shake both +continents." + +"And the Hodenosaunee will not help Onontio," said Tayoga. + +"And the French may lose Quebec," said Robert looking northward to the +city of his dreams. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUNTERS OF THE HILLS*** + + +******* This file should be named 14890.txt or 14890.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/8/9/14890 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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