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The French and Indian War just after Braddock's defeat is again the
background for an Altsheler triumph.
Young Robert Lennox and his friend Tayoga, an Onondaga Indian, undertake
to make a dangerous journey through the northern wilderness to warn the
garrison and settlers gathered at Fort Refuge of the hostile forces.
Afterwards they join the army as scouts, preceding it on an expedition
to Lake George and Lake Champlain, where they engage in many fierce
encounters. The story concludes with the battle of Lake George, in which
the Colonists win their first great success of the war.
The story takes place almost wholly in the wilderness, and gives a
picture of Iroquois life and warfare, historically true. The description
of life in the wilderness, of the intrigue and cunning necessary in
dealing with the French and Indians, of repeated encounters where
ultimate success depends on quick wit and wily cleverness, makes
fascinating reading for boys and girls.
THE RULERS OF THE LAKES
_A STORY OF GEORGE AND CHAMPLAIN_
BY
JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER
AUTHOR OF "THE SHADOW OF THE NORTH," "THE HUNTERS OF THE HILLS," "THE
EYES OF THE WOODS," ETC., ETC.
APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS, INC. NEW YORK
1917, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
Printed in the United States of America
FOREWORD
"The Rulers of the Lakes" is a complete story, but it is also the third
volume of the French and Indian War Series, following "The Hunters of
the Hills" and "The Shadow of the North." Robert Lennox, Tayoga, Willet,
and all the important characters in the earlier romances reappear.
CHARACTERS IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES
ROBERT LENNOX A lad of unknown origin
TAYOGA A young Onondaga warrior
DAVID WILLET A hunter
RAYMOND LOUIS DE ST. LUC A brilliant French officer
AGUSTE DE COURCELLES A French officer
FRANÇOIS DE JUMONVILLE A French officer
LOUIS DE GALISONNIÈRE A young French officer
JEAN DE MÉZY A corrupt Frenchman
ARMAND GLANDELET A young Frenchman
PIERRE BOUCHER A bully and bravo
PHILIBERT DROUILLARD A French priest
THE MARQUIS DUQUESNE Governor-General of Canada
MARQUIS DE VAUDREUIL Governor-General of Canada
FRANÇOIS BIGOT Intendant of Canada
MARQUIS DE MONTCALM French commander-in-chief
DE LEVIS A French general
BOURLAMAQUE A French general
BOUGAINVILLE A French general
ARMAND DUBOIS A follower of St. Luc
M. DE CHATILLARD An old French Seigneur
CHARLES LANGLADE A French partisan
THE DOVE The Indian wife of Langlade
TANDAKORA An Ojibway chief
DAGANOWEDA A young Mohawk chief
HENDRICK An old Mohawk chief
BRADDOCK A British general
ABERCROMBIE A British general
WOLFE A British general
COL. WILLIAM JOHNSON Anglo-American leader
MOLLY BRANT Col. Wm. Johnson's Indian wife
JOSEPH BRANT Young brother of Molly Brant,
afterward the great Mohawk
chief, Thayendanegea
ROBERT DINWIDDIE Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia
WILLIAM SHIRLEY Governor of Massachusetts
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Famous American patriot
JAMES COLDEN A young Philadelphia captain
WILLIAMWILTON A young Philadelphia lieutenant
HUGH CARSON A young Philadelphia lieutenant
JACOBUS HUYSMAN An Albany burgher
CATERINA Jacobus Huysman's cook
ALEXANDER MCLEAN An Albany schoolmaster
BENJAMIN HARDY A New York merchant
JOHNATHAN PILLSBURY Clerk to Benjamin Hardy
ADRIAN VAN ZOON A New York merchant
THE SLAVER A nameless rover
ACHILLE GARAY A French spy
ALFRED GROSVENOR A young English officer
JAMES CABELL A young Virginian
WALTER STUART A young Virginian
BLACK RIFLE A famous "Indian fighter"
ELIHU STRONG A Massachusetts colonel
ALAN HERVEY A New York financier
STUART WHYTE Captain of the British sloop,
_Hawk_
JOHN LATHAM Lieutenant of the British sloop,
_Hawk_
EDWARD CHARTERIS A young officer of the Royal
Americans
ZEBEDEE CRANE A young scout and forest runner
ROBERT ROGERS Famous Captain of American Rangers
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE HERALDS OF PERIL 1
II. THE KINDLY BRIDGE 22
III. THE FLIGHT 42
IV. A FOREST CONCERT 64
V. GATHERING FORCES 88
VI. THE DARK STRANGER 112
VII. ON THE GREAT TRAIL 136
VIII. ARESKOUI'S FAVOR 154
IX. ON ANDIATAROCTE 178
X. THE NAVAL COMBAT 198
XI. THE COMRADES 220
XII. THE SINISTER SIEGE 243
XIII. TANDAKORA'S GRASP 268
XIV. SHARP SWORD 289
XV. THE LAKE BATTLE 312
_The_ RULERS OF THE LAKES
_A STORY OF GEORGE AND CHAMPLAIN_
CHAPTER I
THE HERALDS OF PERIL
The three, the white youth, the red youth, and the white man, lay deep
in the forest, watching the fire that burned on a low hill to the west,
where black figures flitted now and then before the flame. They did not
stir or speak for a long time, because a great horror was upon them.
They had seen an army destroyed a few days before by a savage but
invisible foe. They had heard continually for hours the fierce
triumphant yells of the warriors and they had seen the soldiers dropping
by hundreds, but the woods and thickets had hid the foe who sent forth
such a rain of death.
Robert Lennox could not yet stop the quiver of his nerves when he
recalled the spectacle, and Willet, the hunter, hardened though he was
to war, shuddered in spite of himself at the memory of that terrible
battle in the leafy wilderness. Nor was Tayoga, the young Onondaga,
free from emotion when he thought of Braddock's defeat, and the blazing
triumph it meant for the western tribes, the enemies of his people.
They had turned back, availing themselves of their roving commission,
when they saw that the victors were not pursuing the remains of the
beaten army, and now they were watching the French and Indians. Fort
Duquesne was not many miles away, but the fire on the hill had been
built by a party of Indians led by a Frenchman, his uniform showing when
he passed between eye and flame, the warriors being naked save for the
breech cloth.
"I hope it's not St. Luc," said Robert.
"Why?" asked Willet. "He was in the battle. We saw him leading on the
Indian hosts."
"I know. That was fair combat, I suppose, and the French used the tools
they had. The Chevalier could scarcely have been a loyal son of France
if he had not fought us then, but I don't like to think of him over
there by the fire, leading a band of Indians who will kill and scalp
women and children as well as men along the border."
"Nor I, either, though I'm not worried about it. I can't tell who the
man is, but I know it's not St. Luc. Now I see him black against the
blaze, and it's not the Chevalier's figure."
Robert suddenly drew a long breath, as if he had made a surprising
recognition.
"I'm not sure," he said, "but I notice a trick of movement now and then
reminding me of someone. I'm thinking it's the same Auguste de
Courcelles, Colonel of France, whom we met first in the northern woods
and again in Quebec. There was one memorable night, as you know, Dave,
when we had occasion to mark him well."
"I think you're right, Robert," said the hunter. "It looks like De
Courcelles."
"I know he is right," said Tayoga, speaking for the first time. "I have
been watching him whenever he passed before the fire, and I cannot
mistake him."
"I wonder what he's doing here," said Robert. "He may have been in the
battle, or he may have come to Duquesne a day or two later."
"I think," said Willet, "that he's getting ready to lead a band against
the border, now almost defenseless."
"He is a bad man," said Tayoga. "His soul is full of wickedness and
cruelty, and it should be sent to the dwelling place of the evil minded.
If Great Bear and Dagaeoga say the word I will creep through the
thickets and kill him."
Robert glanced at him. The Onondaga had spoken in the gentle tones of
one who felt grief rather than anger. Robert knew that his heart was
soft, that in ordinary life none was kinder than Tayoga. And yet he was
and always would be an Indian. De Courcelles had a bad mind, and he was
also a danger that should be removed. Then why not remove him?
"No, Tayoga," said Willet. "We can't let you risk yourself that way. But
we might go a little closer without any great danger. Ah, do you see
that new figure passing before the blaze?"
"Tandakora!" exclaimed the white youth and the red youth together.
"Nobody who knows him could mistake him, even at this distance. I think
he must be the biggest Indian in all the world."
"But a bullet would bring him crashing to earth as quickly as any
other," said the Onondaga.
"Aye, so it would, Tayoga, but his time hasn't come yet, though it will
come, and may we be present when your Manitou deals with him as he
deserves. Suppose we curve to the right through these thick bushes, and
from the slope there I think we can get a much better view of the band."
They advanced softly upon rising ground, and being able to approach two
or three hundred yards, saw quite clearly all those around the fire. The
white man was in truth De Courcelles, and the gigantic Indian, although
there could have been no mistake about him, was Tandakora, the Ojibway.
The warriors, about thirty in number, were, Willet thought, a mingling
of Ojibways, Pottawattomies and Ottawas. All were in war paint and were
heavily armed, many of them carrying big muskets with bayonets on the
end, taken from Braddock's fallen soldiers. Three had small swords
belted to their naked waists, not as weapons, but rather as the visible
emblems of triumph.
As he looked, Robert's head grew hot with the blood pumped up from his
angry heart. It seemed to him that they swaggered and boasted, although
they were but true to savage nature.
"Easy, lad," said Willet, putting a restraining hand upon his shoulder.
"It's their hour. You can't deny that, and we'll have to bide a while."
"But will our hour ever come, Dave? Our army has been beaten,
destroyed. The colonies and mother country alike are sluggish, and now
have no plans, the whole border lies at the mercy of the tomahawk and
the French power in Canada not only grows all the time, but is directed
by able and daring men."
"Patience, lad, patience! Our strength is greater than that of the foe,
although we may be slower in using it. But I tell you we'll see our day
of triumph yet."
"They are getting ready to move," whispered the Onondaga. "The Frenchman
and the band will march northward."
"And not back to Duquesne?" said Willet. "What makes you think so,
Tayoga?"
"What is left for them to do at Duquesne? It will be many a day before
the English and Americans come against it again."
"That, alas, is true, Tayoga. They're not needed longer here, nor are
we. They've put out their fire, and now they're off toward the north,
just as you said they would be. Tandakora and De Courcelles lead,
marching side by side. A pretty pair, well met here in the forest. Now,
I wish I knew where they were going!"
"Can't the Great Bear guess?" said the Onondaga.
"No, Tayoga. How should I?"
"Doesn't Great Bear remember the fort in the forest, the one called
Refuge?"
"Of course I do, Tayoga! And the brave lads, Colden and Wilton and
Carson and their comrades who defended it so long and so well. That's
the most likely point of attack, and now, since Braddock's army is
destroyed it's too far in the wilderness, too exposed, and should be
abandoned. Suppose we carry a warning!"
Robert's eyes glistened. The idea made a strong appeal to him. He had
mellow memories of those Philadelphia lads, and it would be pleasant to
see them again. The three, in bearing the alarm, might achieve, too, a
task that would lighten, in a measure, the terror along the border. It
would be a relief at least to do something while the government
disagreed and delayed.
"Let's start at once for Fort Refuge," he said, "and help them to get
away before the storm breaks. What do you say, Tayoga?"
"It is what we ought to do," replied the Onondaga, in his precise
English of the schools.
"Come," said Willet, leading the way, and the three, leaving the fire
behind them, marched rapidly into the north and east. Two miles gone,
and they stopped to study the sun, by which they meant to take their
reckoning.
"The fort lies there," said Willet, pointing a long finger, "and by my
calculations it will take us about five days and nights to reach it,
that is, if nothing gets in our way."
"You think, then," asked Robert, "that the French and Indians are
already spreading a net?"
"The Indians might stop, Robert, my lad, to exult over their victory and
to celebrate it with songs and dances, but the French leaders, whose
influence with them is now overwhelming, will push them on. They will
want to reap all the fruits of their great triumph by the river. I've
often told you about the quality of the French and you've seen for
yourself. Ligneris, Contrecoeur, De Courcelles, St. Luc and the others
will flame like torches along the border."
"And St. Luc will be the most daring, skillful and energetic of them
all."
"It's a fact that all three of us know, Robert, and now, having fixed
our course, we must push ahead with all speed. De Courcelles, Tandakora
and the warriors are on the march, too, and we may see them again before
we see Fort Refuge."
"The forest will be full of warriors," said Tayoga, speaking with great
gravity. "The fort will be the first thought of the western barbarians,
and of the tribes from Canada, and they will wish to avenge the defeat
they suffered before it."
It was not long until they had ample proof that the Onondaga's words
were true. They saw three trails in the course of the day, and all of
them led toward the fort. Willet and Tayoga, with their wonderful
knowledge of the forest, estimated that about thirty warriors made one
trail, about twenty another, and fifteen the smallest.
"They're going fast, too," said the hunter, "but we must go faster."
"They will see our traces," said Tayoga, "and by signaling to one
another they will tell all that we are in the woods. Then they will set
a force to destroy us, while the greater bands go on to take the fort."
"But we'll pass 'em," said Robert confidently. "They can't stop us!"
Tayoga and the hunter glanced at him. Then they looked at each other
and smiled. They knew Robert thoroughly, they understood his vivid and
enthusiastic nature which, looking forward with so much confidence to
success, was apt to consider it already won, a fact that perhaps
contributed in no small measure to the triumph wished so ardently. At
last, the horror of the great defeat in the forest and the slaughter of
an army was passing. It was Robert's hopeful temperament and brilliant
mind that gave him such a great charm for all who met him, a charm to
which even the fifty wise old sachems in the vale of Onondaga had not
been insensible.
"No, Robert," said the Great Bear gravely, "I don't think anything can
stop us. I've a prevision that De Courcelles and Tandakora will stand in
our way, but we'll just brush 'em out of it."
They had not ceased to march at speed, while they talked, and now Tayoga
announced the presence of a river, an obstacle that might prove
formidable to foresters less expert than they. It was lined on both
sides with dense forest, and they walked along its bank about a mile
until they came to a comparatively shallow place where they forded it in
water above their knees. However, their leggings and moccasins dried
fast in the midsummer sun, and, experiencing no discomfort, they pressed
forward with unabated speed.
All the afternoon they continued their great journey to save those at
the fort, fording another river and a half dozen creeks and leaping
across many brooks. Twice they crossed trails leading to the east and
twice other trails leading to the west, but they felt that all of them
would presently turn and join in the general march converging upon Fort
Refuge. They were sure, too, that De Courcelles, Tandakora and their
band were marching on a line almost parallel with them, and that they
would offer the greatest danger.
Night came, a beautiful, bright summer night with a silky blue sky in
which multitudes of silver stars danced, and they sought a covert in a
dense thicket where they lay on their blankets, ate venison, and talked
a little before they slept.
Robert's brilliant and enthusiastic mood lasted. He could see nothing
but success. With the fading of the great slaughter by the river came
other pictures, deep of hue, intense and charged with pleasant memories.
Life recently had been a great panorama to him, bright and full of
changes. He could not keep from contrasting his present position, hid in
a thicket to save himself from cruel savages, with those vivid days at
Quebec, his gorgeous period in New York, and the gay time with sporting
youth in the cozy little capital of Williamsburg.
But the contrast, so far from making him unhappy, merely expanded his
spirit. He rejoiced in the pleasures that he had known and adapted
himself to present conditions. Always influenced greatly by what lay
just around him, he considered their thicket the best thicket in which
he had ever been hidden. The leaves of last year, drifted into little
heaps on which they lay, were uncommonly large and soft. The light
breeze rustling the boughs over his head whispered only of peace and
ease, and the two comrades, who lay on either side of him, were the
finest comrades any lad ever had.
"Tayoga," he asked, and his voice was sincerely earnest, "can you see on
his star Tododaho, the founder and protector of the great league of the
Hodenosaunee?"
The young Onondaga, his face mystic and reverential, gazed toward the
west where a star of great size and beauty quivered and blazed.
"I behold him," he replied. "His face is turned toward us, and the wise
serpents lie, coil on coil, in his hair. There are wreaths of vapor
about his eyes, but I can see them shining through, shining with
kindness, as the mighty chief, who went away four hundred years ago,
watches over us. His eyes say that so long as our deeds are just, so
long as we walk in the path that Manitou wishes, we shall be victorious.
Now a cloud passes before the star, and I cannot see the face of
Tododaho, but he has spoken, and it will be well for us to remember his
words."
He sank back on his blanket and closed his eyes as if he, too, in
thought, had shot through space to some great star. Robert and Willet
were silent, sharing perhaps in his emotion. The religion and beliefs of
the Indian were real and vital to them, and if Tododaho promised success
to Tayoga then the promise would be fulfilled.
"I think, Robert," said Willet, "that you'd better keep the first watch.
Wake me a little while before midnight, and I'll take the second."
"Good enough," said Robert. "I think I can hear any footfall Tandakora
may make, if he approaches."
"It is not enough to hear the footfall of the Ojibway," said Tayoga,
opening his eyes and sitting up. "To be a great sentinel and forester
worthy to be compared with the greatest, Dagaeoga must hear the whisper
of the grass as it bends under the lightest wind, he must hear the sound
made by the little leaf as it falls, he must hear the ripple in the
brook that is flowing a hundred yards from us, and he must hear the wild
flowers talking together in the night. Only then can Dagaeoga call
himself a sentinel fit to watch over two such sleeping foresters as the
Great Bear and myself."
"Close your eyes and go to sleep without fear," said Robert in the same
vein. "I shall hear Tandakora breathing if he comes within a mile of us,
at the same distance I shall hear the moccasin of De Courcelles, when it
brushes against last year's fallen leaf, and at half a mile I shall see
the look of revenge and cruelty upon the face of the Ojibway seeking for
us."
Willet laughed softly, but with evident satisfaction.
"You two boys are surely the greatest talkers I've heard for a long
time," he said. "You have happy thoughts and you put 'em into words. If
I didn't know that you had a lot of deeds, too, to your credit, I'd call
you boasters, but knowing it, I don't. Go ahead and spout language,
because you're only lads and I can see that you enjoy it."
"I'm going to sleep now," said Tayoga, "but Dagaeoga can keep on talking
and be happy, because he will talk to himself long after we have gone to
the land of dreams."
"If I do talk to myself," said Robert, "it's because I like to talk to
a bright fellow, and I like to have a bright fellow talk to me. Sleep as
soundly as you please, you two, because while you're sleeping I can
carry on an intellectual conversation."
The hunter laughed again.
"It's no use, Tayoga," he said. "You can't put him down. The fifty wise
old sachems in the vale of Onondaga proclaimed him a great orator, and
great orators must always have their way."
"It is so," said the Onondaga. "The voice of Dagaeoga is like a river.
It flows on forever, and like the murmur of the stream it will soothe me
to deeper slumbers. Now I sleep."
"And so do I," said the hunter.
It seemed marvelous that such formal announcements should be followed by
fact, but within three minutes both went to that pleasant land of dreams
of which they had been talking so lightly. Their breathing was long and
regular and, beyond a doubt, they had put absolute faith in their
sentinel. Robert's mind, so quick to respond to obvious confidence,
glowed with resolve. There was no danger now that he would relax the
needed vigilance a particle, and, rifle in the hollow of his arm, he
began softly to patrol the bushes.
He was convinced that De Courcelles and Tandakora were not many miles
away--they might even be within a mile--and memory of a former occasion,
somewhat similar, when Tayoga had detected the presence of the Ojibway,
roused his emulation. He was determined that, while he was on watch, no
creeping savage should come near enough to strike.
Hand on the hammer and trigger of his rifle he walked in an ever
widening circle about his sleeping comrades, searching the thickets with
eyes, good naturally and trained highly, and stopping now and then to
listen. Two or three times he put his ear to the earth that he might
hear, as Tayoga had bade him, the rustle of leaves a mile away.
His eager spirit, always impatient for action, found relief in the
continuous walking, and the steady enlargement of the circle in which he
traveled, acquiring soon a radius of several hundred yards. On the
western perimeter he was beyond the deep thicket, and within a
magnificent wood, unchoked by undergrowth. Here the trees stood up in
great, regular rows, ordered by nature, and the brilliant moonlight
clothed every one of them in a veil of silver. On such a bright night in
summer the wilderness always had for him an elusive though powerful
beauty, but he felt its danger. Among the mighty trunks, with no
concealing thickets, he could be seen easily, if prowling savages were
near, and, as he made his circles, he always hastened through what he
called to himself his park, until he came to the bushes, in the density
of which he was well hidden from any eye fifty feet away.
It was an hour until midnight, and the radius of his circle had
increased another fifty yards, when he came again to the great spaces
among the oaks and beeches. Halfway through and he sank softly down
behind the trunk of a huge oak. Either in fact or in a sort of mental
illusion, he had heard a moccasin brush a dry leaf far away. The command
of Tayoga, though spoken in jest, had been so impressive that his ear
was obeying it. Firm in the belief that his own dark shadow blurred
with the dark trunk, and that he was safe from the sight of a questing
eye, he lay there a long time, listening.
In time, the sound, translated from fancy into fact, came again, and now
he knew that it was near, perhaps not more than a hundred yards away,
the rustling of a real moccasin against a real dry leaf. Twice and
thrice his ear signaled to his brain. It could not be fancy. It was
instead an alarming fact.
He was about to creep from the tree, and return to his comrades with
word that the enemy was near, but he restrained his impulse, merely
crouching a little lower that his dark shadow might blend with the dark
earth as well as the dark trunk. Then he heard several rustlings and the
very low murmur of voices.
Gradually the voices which had been blended together, detached
themselves and Robert recognized those of Tandakora and De Courcelles.
Presently they came into the moonlight, followed by the savage band, and
they passed within fifty yards of the youth who lay in the shelter of
the trunk, pressing himself into the earth.
The Frenchman and the Ojibway were talking with great earnestness and
Robert's imagination, plumbing the distance, told him the words they
said. Tandakora was stating with great emphasis that the three whose
trail they had found had gone on very fast, obviously with the intention
of warning the garrison at the fort, and if they were to be cut off the
band must hasten, too. De Courcelles was replying that in his opinion
Tandakora was right, but it would not be well to get too far ahead. They
must throw out flankers as they marched, but there was no immediate
need of them. If the band spread out before dawn it would be sufficient.
Robert's fancy was so intense and creative that, beginning by imagining
these things so, he made them so. The band therefore was sure to go on
without searching the thickets on either right or left at present, and
all immediate apprehension disappeared from his mind. Tandakora and De
Courcelles were in the center of the moonlight, and although knowing
them evil, he was surprised to see how very evil their faces looked,
each in its own red or white way. He could remember nothing at that
moment but their wickedness, and their treacherous attacks upon his life
and those of his friends, and the memory clothed them about with a
hideous veil through which only their cruel souls shone. It was
characteristic of him that he should always see everything in extreme
colors, and in his mind the good were always very good and the bad were
very bad.
Hence it was to him an actual physical as well as mental relief, when
the Frenchman, the Ojibway and their band, passing on, were blotted from
his eyes by the forest. Then he turned back to the thicket in which his
comrades lay, and bent over them for the purpose of awakening them. But
before he could speak or lay a hand upon either, Tayoga sat up, his eyes
wide open.
"You come with news that the enemy has been at hand!"
"Yes, but how did you know it?"
"I see it in your look, and, also when I slept, the Keeper of Dreams
whispered it in my ear. An evil wind, too, blew upon my face and I knew
it was the breath of De Courcelles and Tandakora. They have been near."
"They and their entire band passed not more than four hundred yards to
the eastward of us. I lay in the bush and saw them distinctly. They're
trying to beat us to Fort Refuge."
"But they won't do it, because we won't let 'em," said Willet, who had
awakened at the talking. "We'll make a curve and get ahead of 'em again.
You watched well, Robert."
"I obeyed the strict injunctions of Tayoga," said young Lennox, smiling
faintly. "He bade me listen so intently that I should hear the rustle of
a dry leaf when a moccasin touched it a mile away in the forest. Well, I
heard it, and going whence the sound came I saw De Courcelles, Tandakora
and their warriors pass by."
"You love to paint pictures with words, Robert. I see that well, but
'tis not likely that you exaggerate so much, after all. I'm sorry you
won't get your share of sleep, but we must be up and away."
"I'll claim a double portion of it later on, Dave, but I agree with you
that what we need most just now is silence and speed, and speed and
silence."
The three, making a curve toward the east, traveled at high speed
through the rest of the night, Tayoga now leading and showing all his
inimitable skill as a forest trailer. In truth, the Onondaga was in his
element. His spirits, like Robert's, rose as dangers grew thicker around
them, and he had been affected less than either of his comrades by the
terrible slaughter of Braddock's men. Mentally at least, he was more of
a stoic, and woe to the vanquished was a part of the lore of all the
Indian tribes. The French and their allies had struck a heavy blow and
there was nothing left for the English and Americans to do but to strike
back. It was all very simple.
Day came, and at the suggestion of Willet they rested again in the
thickets. Robert was not really weary, at least the spirit uplifted him,
though he knew that he must not overtask the body. His enthusiasm, based
upon such a sanguine temperament, continued to rise. Again he foresaw
glittering success. They would shake off all their foes, reach the fort
in time, and lead the garrison and the people who had found refuge there
safely out of the wilderness.
Where they lay the bushes were very dense. Before hiding there they had
drunk abundantly at a little brook thirty or forty feet away, and now
they ate with content the venison that formed their breakfast. Over the
vast forest a brilliant sun was rising and here the leaves and grass
were not burned much by summer heat. It looked fresh and green, and the
wind sang pleasantly through its cool shadows. It appealed to Robert.
With his plastic nature he was all for the town when he was in town, and
now in the forest he was all for the forest.
"I can understand why you love it so well," he said to Tayoga, waving
his hand at the verdant world that curved about them.
"My people and their ancestors have lived in it for more generations
than anyone knows," said the Onondaga, his eyes glistening. "I have
been in the white man's schools, and the white man's towns, and I have
seen the good in them, but this is my real home. This is what I love
best. My heart beats strongest for the forest."
"My own heart does a lot of beating for the woods," said Willet,
thoughtfully, "and it ought to do so, I've spent so many years of my
life in them--happy years, too. They say that no matter how great an
evil may be some good will come out of it, and this war will achieve one
good end."
"What is that, Great Bear?"
"It will delay the work of the ax. Men will be so busy with the rifle
that they will have mighty little time for the ax. The trees will stop
falling for a while, and the forest will cover again the places where it
has been cleared away. Why, the game itself will increase!"
"How long do you think we'd better stay here?" asked Robert, his eager
soul anxious to be on again.
"Patience! patience, my lad," replied Willet. "It's one thing that
you'll have to practice. We don't want to run squarely into De
Courcelles, Tandakora and their band, and meanwhile we're very
comfortable here, gathering strength. Look at Tayoga there and learn
from him. If need be he could lie in the same place a week and be
happy."
"I hope the need will not come," laughed the Onondaga.
Robert felt the truth of Willet's words, and he put restraint upon
himself, resolved that he would not be the first to propose the new
start. He had finished breakfast and he lay on his elbow gazing up
through the green tracery of the bushes at the sky. It was a wonderful
sky, a deep, soft, velvet blue, and it tinted the woods with glorious
and kindly hues. It seemed strange to Robert, at the moment, that a
forest so beautiful should bristle with danger, but he knew it too well
to allow its softness and air of innocence to deceive him.
It was almost the middle of the morning when Willet gave the word to
renew the march, and they soon saw they had extreme need of caution.
Evidence that warriors had passed was all about them. Now and then they
saw the faint imprint of a moccasin. Twice they found little painted
feathers that had fallen from a headdress or a scalplock, and once
Tayoga saw a red bead lying in the grass where it had dropped, perhaps,
from a legging.
"We shall have to pass by Tandakora's band and perhaps other bands in
the night," said Tayoga.
"It's possible, too," said Willet, "that they know we're on our way to
the fort, and may try to stop us. Our critical time will soon be at
hand."
They listened throughout the afternoon for the signals that bands might
make to one another, but heard nothing. Willet, in truth, was not
surprised.
"Silence will serve them best," he said, "and they'll send runners from
band to band. Still, if they do give signals we want to know it."
"There is a river, narrow but deep, about five miles ahead," said
Tayoga, "and we'll have to cross it on our way to the fort. I think it
is there that Tandakora will await us."
"It's pretty sure to be the place," said Willet. "Do you know where
there's a ford, Tayoga?"
"There is none."
"Then we'll have to swim for it. That's bad. But you say it's a narrow
stream?"
"Yes, Great Bear. Two minutes would carry us across it."
"Then we must find some place for the fording where the trees lean over
from either side and the shadow is deep."
Tayoga nodded, and, after that, they advanced in silence, redoubling
their caution as they drew near to the river. The night was not so
bright as the one that had just gone before, but it furnished sufficient
light for wary and watching warriors to see their figures at a
considerable distance, and, now and then, they stopped to search the
thickets with their own eyes. No wind blew, their footsteps made no
sound and the intense stillness of the forest wove itself into the
texture of Robert's mind. His extraordinary fancy peopled it with
phantoms. There was a warrior in every bush, but, secure in the
comradeship of his two great friends, he went on without fear.
"There is no signal," whispered Tayoga at last. "They do not even
imitate the cry of bird or beast, and it proves one thing, Great Bear."
"So it does, Tayoga."
"You know as well as I do, Great Bear, that they make no sound because
they have set the trap, and they do not wish to alarm the game which
they expect to walk into it."
"Even so, Tayoga. Our minds travel in the same channel."
"But the game is suspicious, nevertheless," continued Tayoga in his
precise school English, "and the trap will not fall."
"No, Tayoga, it won't fall, because the game won't walk into it."
"Tandakora will suffer great disappointment. He is a mighty hunter and
he has hunted mighty game, but the game that he hunts now is more wary
than the stag or the bear, and has greater power to strike back than
either."
"Well spoken, Tayoga."
The hunter and the Onondaga looked at each other in the dark and
laughed. Their spirits were as wild as the wilderness, and they were
enjoying the prospect of the Ojibway's empty trap. Robert laughed with
them. Already in his eager mind success was achieved and the crossing
was made. After a while he saw dim silver through the trees, and he knew
they had come to the river. Then the three sank down and approached inch
by inch, sure that De Courcelles, Tandakora and their forces would be
watching on the other side.